This is the next entry in our “Best of” series, in which we venture deep into the vault to replay blog opinion and insight that has withstood the test of time. Today’s post hails from February 2008. We welcome your feedback.
By Francis Moran
About a month ago, as part of my continuing series of Francis’s favourite fictions, I tackled the too-widely held myth that public relations can’t be measured. I described how, at inmedia, we establish a critical path, or set of outputs, for every project and ongoing program that allows our clients to certify that we’re exerting the amount of effort we said we would. This, I said, was a good starting point for program measurement, but a woefully inadequate one.
I went on to describe what we call outcomes, a set of clear and unambiguous objectives we set that tell our clients what they should expect by way of actual coverage by our target media and analysts, with more granular objectives established for specific program elements such as news releases, product launches, contributed articles, speaking programs, trade show support and so on. Applying such an approach turns the whole PR value proposition on its ear; instead of a cost centre that should be managed down to its minimum, a client can now view the PR function as an investment centre, and can answer the question, “Are these results, or outcomes, a sufficient return on the investment my PR agency or department is asking me to make?”
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By Francis Moran
Very often when we’re pitching a new piece of business, the prospect starts to wonder out loud about whether everything that could be done for them on the marketing front is being done. It’s not an unreasonable line of inquiry.
Far too often, however, that line of inquiry leads to a terribly silly question being asked: “What’s the one thing we could be doing that we’re not doing that’s going to turn everything around?”
Marketing professionals working inside companies tell me they regularly hear the same thing from their executives.
In short, these people are wondering if there’s a marketing silver bullet.
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This is the 28th article in a continuing series that examines the state of the ecosystem necessary to successfully bring technology to market. Based on dozens of interviews with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, business leaders, academics, tech-transfer experts and policy makers, this series looks at what is working and what can be improved in the go-to-market ecosystem in the United States, Canada and Britain. We invite your feedback.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
Last week we aired a laundry list of challenges that hinder the commercialization of university IP in Canada. Several of our readers weighed in with their thoughts on Canada’s challenge to fully exploit its global reputation for cutting edge innovation.
How does Canada fall short? Let’s recap the ways:
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By Alexandra Reid
This is the last installment of my three-part series on tactical methods companies can use to carry out rebranding across multiple social media accounts. In the last two weeks, I have discussed common pitfalls companies face during the process of changing their names and images on a variety of social channels, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and blogs and how to overcome them. Today, I’ll focus on how to change your company’s social media voice during the rebranding process, and how to know if changing your voice is even necessary.
A strong social media company voice
In our every day social interactions, many of us naturally seek out others who are centered and grounded. These qualities are expressed through consistency and stability of personality and are integral to maintaining healthy, long-term relationships, whether they are personal or business.
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This is the next contribution to this blog by Associate Andrew Penny, an Ottawa-based business development and market strategist for B2B companies, and president of Kingsford Consulting Ltd. We welcome your comments.
By Andrew Penny
I work with dozens of business owners and executives every year. Many of them have been successfully running their businesses for the last 10 to 20 years – steady as she goes. What many of them don’t realize, however, is that a massive shift is taking place in business, driven by the relentless aging of the incumbent “decision making” class.
In fact there are 71 percent more people aged 45 to 65 than in 1990. In the next few years, these people will be leaving the workforce and the next generation will be in charge. The point is that it is not a gradual migration; it will be a rapid and exciting changeover.
About 11,000 people are retiring from the North American workforce every day – many of them are the decision makers you have been selling to for the last 20 years. As they retire, who is taking their place? I guarantee that this new person will be younger and think very differently.
What makes them different?
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Fiction: Public relations can’t be measured
August 05, 2011 by Francis Moran
Francis’s favourite fictions is a continuing series of posts on common myths surrounding the practice of public relations. When I give this as a presentation, I subtitle it, “Everything I know that’s wrong about PR I learned from technology company executives.” […]
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Is your invention novel enough to warrant a patent?
August 04, 2011 by David French
In my last post I addressed the concept of “right market circumstances.” This time I will address the concept of the “right patenting opportunity.” For there to be a right patenting opportunity, your invention or innovation has to possess a novel […]
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Best practices for rebranding using social media: Changing a company image
August 03, 2011 by Alexandra Reid
This is part two of my three-part series on tactical methods companies can use to carry out rebranding across multiple social media accounts. Last week, I discussed common pitfalls companies face during the process of changing their names on Facebook, LinkedIn […]
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Getting university IP to market: How Canada falls short
August 02, 2011 by Francis Moran
The Canadian university system costs about $25 billion a year. The total income for all Canadian universities from licensing their intellectual property is around $50 million. Subtract the cost of managing that IP and you’re left with a net income of only $15 million […]
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Embargos, yes; exclusives, no
August 01, 2011 by Francis Moran
My colleague Danny Sullivan made the strong case earlier this week in favour of negotiating embargos with trusted journalists that gives them advance access to your announcement and executives so they can do a better job with the story […]
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Reference customers add credibility to your PR program
July 29, 2011 by Linda Forrest
On this blog, we’ve written quite a bit about the PR value of reference customers and how to groom them. What we haven’t yet explored is how your PR team works with the balance of your team to cultivate that reference and ultimately exploit it to the highest degree within your PR program. This post aims to do just that. […]
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Fiction: It’s all about relationships
July 28, 2011 by Francis Moran
We heard this one again last week. Generating effective coverage of a client’s story is not all about the relationship I have with reporters; it’s all about the value of the story I have to tell. This has long been the top-ranked of Francis’s Favourite Fictions […]
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New companies need to export or die
July 27, 2011 by John Craig
As the co-founders of Purple Forge, Brian Hurley and I placed a significant amount of emphasis on exporting to the U.S. and around the world to get our business started. For those of you who don’t know Purple Forge, we develop and sell mobile applications as a service for politicians, event organizers, governments and interactive marketing firms […]
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By Francis Moran 
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The Future of A&R – Walabe : [...] http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/top-10-questions-every-strategic-communicator-should-ask... [...]
Traditional Marketing is Dead – Long Live Bikini Waxer Marketing | Scalexl : [...] pointed out by Alexandra Reid on the Francis Moran website content marketing is becoming more and more like journalism. So, it is not just about the content, [...]
It’s Summertime…and the Networking is Easy? | THE MERRAINE BRAIN : [...] In fact, summer is perhaps one of the times least used to network, yet at the same time has shown to be the most productive time to network. People tend to be in a brighter mood compared to during the gloomy winters-especially where I am from in England! Networking needs to be fun and not approached as another chore, like mowing the lawn. (http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/social-media-strategy-why-meeting-in-the-real-world-matt...) [...]