In-depth PR case study materials follow. Last Updated 7 October 2021
Visual Timeline and PR Case Study: Leviathan
In-depth PR case study materials follow. Last Updated 7 October 2021
Conferences
In-depth PR case study materials follow. Last Updated 7 October 2021
Something SXSW special just for you
Thirty-two years ago, the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival began in Austin, Texas. Having grown to essentially become all things to all people, the event’s concurrent film, interactive media and music festivals and conferences attract over 400,000 attendees, which includes the lion’s share of the entertainment and advertising industries, as well as the brand marketers wanting to engage with them. This year’s SXSW launches on 9 March and runs on through the 18th. SXSW, Inc., also runs the SXSWedu conference on educational innovation (5-8 March this year in Austin), and the SXSW Cities Summit set for 12-13 March in Austin.
I’ve taken a fresh look at the most important channels to point you in the right directions: Enlightenment awaits!
Marketing Imperatives: Center Everything Around Your PR Strategy
I have a longstanding working relationship with a CEO who recently changed jobs. Coming into his new company, he told me that his mantra was this: He intended to center every marketing initiative around PR strategy. In virtually every industry, I’m seeing many wise marketing industry leaders endorsing this idea. Another prominent example from the past several years comes from Jason Harris of San Francisco- and NYC-based Mekanism, where in an interview with HubSpot.com, he described his agency’s framework for creating shareable content.
“Our approach is to always think about the PR headline. Why will the idea, content, innovation, etc., travel? Why will people care, and why will they want to talk about it and share it? If there is no PR headline, the idea won’t be shareable. That is our goal on every project.”
The video I’m embedding with this article perfectly demonstrates the increasing focus on PR, presenting the 47-minute “Content & Storytelling: Is the PR Landscape Shifting?” session from the 2014 CDO Summit in NYC.
Read moreMarketing Imperatives: Center Everything Around Your PR Strategy
Sharing secrets: Smart planning and production for marketing content
Ever since hearing that failing to plan is a sure plan for failure, I have been a firm believer in taking the time necessary to diligently and intelligently lay out plans for anything I’m seriously aiming to accomplish. When I attended the ReCourses New Business Summit (NBS) back in 2012 thanks to David C. Baker and Blair Enns, I witnessed a new approach for how creative businesses and professionals can change the way they handle sales. My understanding on the secret is this: The key is to think and operate like a publisher. Along those lines, naturally, the business model requires successful handling of content. The NBS lessons were very timely for me, as you have seen here; I have deep admiration for innovative publishers of all sizes, and as time moves forward, I hope to follow the best of them and achieve my own version of greatness.
Over the past two years, this idea of content marketing has really caught fire, so for anyone beginning the planning process of fathoming these types of practices and putting them to work in new ways, you are in luck. It’s my pleasure to share five different highly qualified paths toward brilliant content marketing – each of which is focused on helping to facilitate solid thinking and planning.
Read moreSharing secrets: Smart planning and production for marketing content
Reasons to Pause in 2016
Set to run 8-14 Feb. in Melbourne, Australia, Pause Fest is the premier annual digital event aimed at supporting and showcasing the best in creative, tech and business from Australia and all around the world. In the past two weeks, more than 30 new speakers have been added to this year’s agenda, which is chock-full of groundbreaking events. Be sure to visit the site to get up-to-speed with all the excitement underway. Officially, 10 Feb. is Creative Day, 11 Feb. is Tech Day and 12 Feb. is Business Day, but each day offers a dazzling array of curated offerings to inspire and feed every facet of your interests. For example, look for events
Celebrating the late, great DUMBO Arts Festival
Back in 1997, a very ambitious dream came to life at the hands of Joy Glidden and Tyson Daugherty, who were residents of the DUMBO or Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass area of Brooklyn. Thanks to their dedication, the first D.U.M.B.O. Art Under the Bridge Festival kicked-off, using the neighborhood’s unique urban landscape and its gifted occupants to vibrantly showcase new art and ideas. Since then, the highly successful event has been presented every year in late September, thanks to Glidden and Daugherty’s stewardship via the DUMBO Arts Center through 2009, and thanks to Two Trees Management Company since then.
While the DUMBO Arts Festival grew to welcome more than 200,000 visitors each year for its eclectic and popular mix of film screenings, live music, fashion shows, performances, open studios and arts-centered activities for all agees, from all appearances, its time has now passed. The event’s official website http://dumboartsfestival.com refers to the festival’s closure after 2014.
Interested in being a guest speaker? Start early!
If you have the goal of becoming a successful guest speaker in the business world, I have some tips to share about getting started. These are based on my experiences working with some very talented people who are currently on-the-rise as star presenters, including Sarofsky Corporation’s Erin Sarofsky – and Chad Hutson and Jason White, the principals of Leviathan. Here are the preliminary tips (two more follow below):
. Start early
. Focus on these efforts as a key business activity
. Set your sights strategically to target the right opportunities
. Have a very specific vision for your proposed presentation and communicate it with the correct person before the deadline while also providing a well-organized summary of your speaking history
What’s the impact of winning a Cannes Lion?
Happy Friday friends! I hope your work week is wrapping up nicely and that you’ll soon be able to enjoy some well-earned downtime, like a lot of people have been doing all week in Cannes (kidding, of course). Before ending this week, I wanted to share this video I’m embedding here from experience design agency FreeState, and a few more comments about the significance of winning a Cannes Lion award.
As you can hear first-hand from FreeState’s creative director Adam Scott in this video directed by Ilan Metev, FreeState won a Gold Design Lion at Cannes in 2013 after designing the world’s largest kinetic sculptures for Blackpool’s promenade. Under the heading of “Why Winning a Lion Matters – An Agency’s View,” Mr. Scott enlightens us while pedaling his bike around the city: “Sometimes it’s hard to find your way, and especially hard given it’s so darn crowded out here…. How do you stand out,” he asks.
And about the results of winning Cannes Lion Gold, he continues: “I would say people are far more interested in our approach, and that has to be a good thing. And well, if it can happen to us then it can certainly happen to you.”
Isn’t that lovely? Also, to me, it’s a perfect summation to what it means to win a Cannes Lion.
Meanwhile, the image I’m providing here offers a newer angle into this discussion. Taken hours ago
Great to know: Allison Dollar
It’s safe to say that the illustrious Allison Dollar has had a huge impact on my professional career, beginning with assignments she gave me in 1993 and 1994 to write the annual Florida Regional Production Guides for the national film and television industry trade magazine “In Motion,” which was published by Phillips Business Information (PBI). Allison and I have kept in-touch over the years, and her unique expertise and first-hand knowledge of cutting-edge innovation across the media landscape is a constant reminder of how lucky I am to know her. Read on for more of Allison’s background, and to learn about a fascinating upcoming panel discussion she is co-hosting on 21 August through the Interactive Television Alliance (ITA), the non-profit she established in 2002 to represent the interests of companies that create, distribute and enable interactive programming.
Spotlight on innovation via yours truly and Fast Company
Reviewing the nine-year history of this blog, innovation is one of the most oft-recurring themes. With the main goal of providing you with more information about myself and my business activities, but also seeking to incorporate developments I find illuminating from the fields of marketing, science, technology and entertainment, anything that might provide insight into new thinking or new ways of achieving success in these areas makes it onto my shortlist for universal positive posts.
To me, the above video produced by Fast Company during its 2013 Innovation By Design conference is a perfect example of the type of inside information that really helps us all understand specific ideas and strategies we can adopt to do things differently, and most likely, better. Here is another great story connected to innovation in product design.
. 10 Lessons My Startup Team Learned from a Massive Product LaunchOn 14-15 October, Fast Company’s Innovation By Design Awards and Conference will return to NYC’s Metropolitan Pavilion, and advance registration is now open.
Read moreSpotlight on innovation via yours truly and Fast Company
