PR stunts that reduce sales?

We love a good PR stunt as much as the next person. So when REI, the company that sells camping gear and other outdoorsy wares, told us it was closing all of it’s 143 U.S. stories on Black Friday, our ears pricked up.

For those of you that don’t know (and this is an international blog so don’t judge) Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November). Since the early 2000s, it has been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S., and most major retailers open very early (and more recently during overnight hours) and offer promotional sales. In 2014, 133 million U.S. consumers shopped, spending $50.9 billion during the 4-day Black Friday weekend.

Why isn’t REI closing and how will this affect their sales?

REI is one of the most powerful forces in outdoor retailing, with over $2 billion in sales in 2014. But it’s also a member-owned cooperative (REI’s more than 5 million members pay a one-time fee and contribute some 80% of its sales).

Authentic? REI’s CEO Stritzke said, “For 76 years, our co-op has been dedicated to one thing and one thing only: a life outdoors. We believe that being outside makes our lives better. And Black Friday is the perfect time to remind ourselves of this essential truth”. This sounds authentic (even through the PR lens) and as such should resonate well with customers – deepening their relationship with the company.

Will that deepening customer relationship (and the story behind it) be able to overshadow the loss of convenience to shoppers?

Oh, and is it a coincidence that this announcement came the same week that Amazon.com announced it’s latest financial earnings, making it the largest retail store in the world (click or mortar) overtaking Wal-Mart for the first time in history.

Of course, following Black Friday, we get Cyber Monday, when there are (allegedly) great online sales to be snapped up by the most finger nimble online shoppers.

Is REI pushing their cyber sales – it certainly has a robust and deep online sales offering? We have to assume that REI’s online store will be open on Black Friday.

Is this just a PR stunt?

Planning for 2016. What ALL marketing professionals MUST take into consideration

Yes, as we move into October, it’s time to look at next year, our plans and 

therefore what the marketing budget is going to be.

All things being equal, what would you predict is going to happen to the data in 

the graph below?

I know; it’s totally unfair. We haven’t given you anything to go on. You don’t have 

visibility on what is being measured and over what time period.  

Let’s assume it’s the number of purple dots appearing in the sky over Metropolis 

over the past three months.  Do you think the number of purple dots are going to 

increase or decrease? 

Want to know what this data really is and how it affects your 2016 marketing 

plan? Then continue reading on our blog.

The data isn’t purple dots (surprise). It is actually the S&P 500 since 1994… 

recognize that Oct 2008 drop?

OK, we’re not economists, or statisticians, but we do know we need to plan the 

marketing and public relations for a number of key clients on an international 

level.  We also know that the economy does affect business and therefore we 

need to be ready for upturns and downturns.

There is a school of thought that says you can’t predict the sales of an 

organization beyond the next 3 months. There are simply too many factors 

moving too fast for your predictions to be accurate.

As public relations and marketing meld closer to sales, we begin to ask the same 

question – can we really start predicting a year out our marketing actions? 

The simple answer is yes. And no.

We can predict annual events and cycles – such as opportunities at an annual 

trade show or that there is a larger IT spend in Q4. What we can’t do is 

categorically say how much effort to put behind such predictable events ten 

months out, as there are many factors that could affect that.

So planning for 2016, based purely on the fragile international economies, needs 

to be a mixture of both concrete and flexible actions and effort.

What do you think? What helps you plan?

Not tomorrow, but TODAY.

We say we want to have amazingly creative media campaigns, and that we want to be cutting edge.  We say we want to do fun things to attract the right customers and that our culture needs to be expressed in our marketing.

But first, we need to...

We say we intend to hire the best people to the team, put the right agencies on the project, and put a sensible budget behind our convictions.  But of course, in the interim, first we have to get...

This interim strategy, the notion that ideals and principles are for later, but right now, all the focus and resources have to be put into the emergency of getting successful—it doesn't work.

The interim is forever, so perhaps it makes sense to act in the interim as we expect to act in the long haul.

The most successful companies we have worked with have not worked on interim strategies.  They take the bull by the horns, and act now.

What’s the underlining characteristic that we see with individuals that are successful in running marketing campaigns?  Just like the entrepreneurs that started the companies that they work in, they take risks. 

Business is not safe.  We can’t just find one marketing solution and keep repeating. We have to try new things, move at break-neck speeds just to keep up with the changing business environment and sophisticated / rapid customer desires.

Risks don’t have to be risky.  They can be measured and calculated risks, but still risks need to happen if success is desired. 

Our advice for this month – take a self-review of your risk factor.

Securing Outstanding Global PR in the Security Space

If you represent (in house or agency side) a security company, then chances are you’ll already know how dynamic the security market is and the hunger of start-ups and established security vendors alike to build a global brand.  As with any booming market, competition is fierce and the need to partner with genuine security PR experts is the only way to guarantee success.

While technology is global, it still takes a ‘think global and act local’ approach for successful PR campaigns. So, what are the noticeable differences between launching a company in the US and Europe?

Find out more in under two minutes:

To find out more on how NettResults can launch your security brand around the world, you know how to reach us.

Why PR Professionals Love Pandas

If you’re in the world of PR and you haven’t hugged a panda bear in the past 30 days, you’re missing a very big opportunity.

Panda 4.0 is the latest change to Google’s algorithm, the ‘secret sauce’ that determines which pages will feature in search results and how highly they rank. And these updates, along with many smaller iterations, are a key part of the search engine’s armory as it seeks to continually improve its ability to provide searchers with the most relevant results, pushing poor quality, spammy content lower down results pages.

Now, let me hear you roar like a panda, if you deal with companies that really don’t care about their Google ranking?  Over the sound of crickets all I can say is that I’m not surprised.

So, why the sudden love of Pandas from the PR community? Read on to find out why.

According to Google, what are the characteristics of a high quality web page? Well, some of the main characteristics that Google feels are important to the quality of a web page are; trust, value, written for searchers (rather than second guessing what might rank well), comprehensively covering a topic and originality.  These are elements most of searchers would probably use to define a quality page.

Since May, Google has introduced Panda 4.0 and it greatly benefits web sites that have solid public relations and professionally written content. The sites that are going to rank better keep their blogs updated with valuable content and are using social media to keep the conversation original, current and relevant.

Google is making strong writers the real heroes of the new online world. More than ever, the focus is on what’s interesting - funny, weird, horrifying or uplifting - rather than a bunch of arbitrary words that don’t have anything to do with your brand or business.

What makes your story unique and newsworthy? Whatever the subject of your press release, ask yourself why people should care. No longer can you get away with cramming words in the release, hoping people will get tricked into noticing your story. You have to write a great press release about your product/service so it spreads around the web on its own.

What’s truly interesting about your piece? Is it really news, or just fluff? If you don’t know, you’ll find out soon enough when your press release spreads or flops.

In short, like no time before in history, search engine optimization falls to the realm of public relations.  If you work in public relations today, not only should you be measured on quality, targeted published messages, but you can also, for the first time, be measured on Google ranking improvement.

Not only is the work of a public relations professional all about getting those killer articles, it’s now very clearly integrated into online marketing success.

Thank you Google, ranking now make sense to everyone who searches (especially the ones among us that appreciate good writing).

How to improve your PR

Or pretty much anything such as an employee problem or any area of your business. The system is simple and can be applied to anything.

Business is continually evolving, so too should your business. You need only concentrate on three elements to work in harmony to make improvements. Improvement requires systems, accountability and motivation

1 - Systems:

This is, what is needed to do the task.

Results – clearly define what the desired result is (e.g. what is the desired end result)

Documents – ensure that what we want done is documents (e.g. Word / Audio file)

Tools – helps employees do the work (e.g. computer, software, phone, coffee)

Ask yourself these questions –

Are there documented systems to deal with this?

Are the systems accurate and up to date?

Have responsibilities clearly been defined?

Do people have the tools they need to succeed?

2 - Accountability:

Making sure that you are accountable to a third party – ideally as a public relations executive, you report to your public relations manager. Your team need to be accountable to you if you want to improve your PR.

Trust – trust allows for open communication (trust must be bi-directional)

Education – team receives suitable education & training to carry out the task

Follow up – when delegated, there is follow-up to ensure it is completed on time and on budget as expected

Ask yourself these questions –

Are results being measured?

Is training being provided to teach correct actions?

How consistent and effective is the follow-up?

Are 1:1 meetings being held?

Does the employee trust their manager?

3 - Motivation:

Comes from within – so it’s he manager’s job to connect the task to the person:

Vision – business vision that is clear and can be communicated

Values – what we believe in – integrity, ethics etc

Cause – greater than money – why in business and why going to work

Ask yourself these questions –

Does the employee want to work at your company?

Have the company values been defined?

Does the employee believe in the company values?

Does the employee have a vision for their career?

Symptoms

Do you know what needs to be corrected? We’ve looked at this a lot, so I can tell you that the following will help you cut through the clutter:

Compliant – Good system and accountably – Poor motivation

Erratic performance – Good accountably and motivation – Poor system

Performance degrades over time – Good system and motivation – Poor accountably