By Andrew Evangelista, Associate

Eastwick's Elizabeth Hilton, The Chronicle's Benny Evanvelista, eWeek's Chris Preimesberger and post author Andrew Evangelista

It’s ironic how I should be assigned to write a blog post focused on the value of personally meeting with the media.

I guess I can explain this value with in terms of an annoyance everyone has faced and some, on a nightly basis: Telemarketing Calls. “Hello, this is X from Y company, looking to offer you a once in a lifetime deal on Z product – can I speak with the head of the household?”

Bear with this analogy for a moment and place yourself in the shoes of that particular telemarketer. Would you rather call a stranger? Or would you rather call someone with whom you have met in person and had the pleasure of having a semi-coherent conversation; I should also add that this person will at least remember your first name and the sound of your voice.

  Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to this week’s Influence Report, Eastwick’s way of keeping you up to date on the changing communications landscape.

This issue’s feature is on the changing role of press releases, a hotly debated topic in the PR and media worlds. The name press release is even outdated since these documents are used to communicate with many more audiences than just the press. Our view is that companies and PR pros need to take a fresh look at when and how they distribute news and information. News releases are an important way to communicate directly (the ultimate vendor-generated content says my friend Barbara Krause, Krause-Taylor Associates) and there are now many other ways to push that content out. A few things that may change your thinking about news releases:

  Read the rest of this entry »

Source: The New Yorker, January 15, 2007

My typical workday is never really typical, which is great. But, I guess that’s what makes it so hard to explain what we do sometimes?

When people ask what I do, I usually answer with the compendious “Tech communications,” and I almost always get asked… “What’s that?” And then something clicks, “Ooooh, Public Relations, so that’s when you write press releases and get coverage, right?”

I’ve even received the evil eye and a negative response referring to corporate/political flacks who make their living covering up everything from the public.

<Deep breath>

Read the rest of this entry »

Drop and give me 20!

Bootcamp leaders Elaine and Barbara

Yes, I actually uttered those words on Friday and no, the offenders did nary a push up.

But it was Bootcamp day at Eastwick and I’m happy to report that our team was up to the task and then some.

Unlike past bootcamps (our version of an all-day professional development exercise), this one was less about PR skills and more about critical thinking skills.

The PR business is undergoing a radical transformation, which means we need to look at our clients’ challenges in new ways and offer different solutions.

  Read the rest of this entry »

Hiroshi Wald

Guest Post By Hiroshi Wald, Principal at The Wald Group and Program Chair at MIT/Stanford Venture Lab

In the current global economic climate, thinking long-term is more important than ever.  Today, we can lay the groundwork for growth. Many nations and businesses try to save their way out of a recession. It is much better to invest our way out.

 – Craig Barrett, CEO, Intel (retired) CeBit, 2009

Everyone is cutting back - or so the conventional wisdom goes. So what’s up with Intel? They just recently launched a new advertising campaign, making their employees stars. In addition to boosting their advertising presence Intel is investing heavily in R&D and Innovation. Shouldn’t they be focusing on deep discounts and layoffs and not worry about anything else? Turns out that the answer is a resounding: No. And Intel is in good company.

[media id=12] 

  Read the rest of this entry »

Before you make a decision about investing marketing dollars in social media or social networking, you should understand the current “online footprint” for your company as well as your competitors. We’re offering to do a free Social Media Audit to gauge a company’s current profile in these channels as well as the potential for using social media to reach new and existing customers. We also take a look at competitors to see if they’re beating you to the punch.

 
Influence is taking place on social networks today. The question is, are you doing the influencing, or is your competitor?

  Read the rest of this entry »

Sam Whitmore

I have great professional affection for people of  great integrity who can inform, occassionally provide “scoop” as well as educate. Sam Whitmore is in this class and is why it’s not uncommon to hear us say, “Thank God for Sam Whtmore!” every now and again…

Sam is behind the eponymously named Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey. His tag-line is, “Decision-making tools for PR pros.” His reports are of great interest AND help to us and we’re thrilled to have him on our Break through the Noise podcast today.

[Listen]

Read the rest of this entry »

Source: epromos.com

You don’t have to look hard to see some common threads in our blog posts. Influence… social media… tools vs. strategy… storytelling…

Yes, storytelling. For a communications company that owes it name (and least in part) to the author John Updike, we sure live up to our name.

We spend a lot of time on professional development to understand just what makes a good story so when we pitch writers; we know what we’re talking about.

Recently, Friend of Eastwick, and former journalist Sam Whitmore of Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey came in to give workshops on everything from writing mechanics to story archetypes.

  Read the rest of this entry »

As followers of this blog, and Eastwick in general, are well aware, we are all about influence. I remember one of the first business examples told to me in grammar school was the success of McDonalds in their early days, targeting ads at children knowing that they would talk to one another and eventually influence their parents to buy a Happy Meal.

That example seems so basic and possibly even outdated. But is it? With all the technology at our fingertips, has word of mouth shifted (at least partially) online, or do you still need to hear something face-to-face for the ultimate impact?

We decided to ask an expert.

Kristen Smith is the Executive Director of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and we’re delighted she’s this week’s guest on our podcast, Break through the Noise.

[Listen]

Read the rest of this entry »

Source: dotnot

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter… it’s the place to see and be seen these days. And it can be an effective strategy for targeted efforts.

Here’s our 6 step guide:

1. Set up separate company Twitter account to use as the main channel. Be sure to customize the page.
2. Push press releases to your Twitter feed. Ideally, use a free tool to feed them in automatically. You’ll also want to highlight content on your Web site, such as whitepapers, promote coverage as well as your presence at tradeshows.
3. Make sure your target publications and analysts retweet your tweets by identifying them ahead of time and making sure you are following them. Many users automatically follow people who follow them to help manage their Twitter activity, so just by following the right people, there’s a good chance they’ll start following you.

Read the rest of this entry »