Everybody Wins

by Kim Taylor

Last night our team assembled with Orlando’s public relations community for the annual FPRA Image Awards ceremony.  Each year we select a variety of programs and projects to enter on behalf of our clients with the hope of bringing home an award or two.

But, this year was special.  Not only did we go four-for-four in the award category (Go, team!), but my partner and Curley & Pynn’s Vice President, Dan Ward, was the big man on campus for the evening accepting the honor of 2013 Central Florida public relations professional of the year.

In a brilliantly produced video by Strategist Kerry Martin, many of Dan’s peers had a little fun at his expense, but deep down we know how genuinely proud they all are of his many accomplishments.  They’re not alone.  I couldn’t be more proud to call Dan my business partner—he truly is a gifted professional and now he has the bling to back it up.

If you couldn’t be there to celebrate, grab your morning coffee and check out the video below.

Rebranding the Pig

by Kim Taylor

We all know pork as “the other white meat” … the hugely successful ad campaign from the 80s still resonates today.  But, not enough I guess for consumers who apparently still fumble when trying to decipher the pork chop from the butt.  I’ll admit, when I’m selecting pork chops, it comes down to two things:  bone or no bone.

If the National Pork Board (yes; it’s is a real thing) has its way, the pig will take a page out of the cow’s book leaving consumers with a whole new menu of choices using an already familiar nomenclature—Pork Loin Chops become Pork Porterhouse Chops and Pork Top Loin Chops become Pork New York Chops, and so on.

The Pork Board has done its research and is providing retailers with a whole range of tools to encourage success including a labeling system that takes it one step further by telling the consumer the best way to cook their particular cut of meat—another nod to the beef industry—after all, who doesn’t know the best way to cook a filet?

Only time will tell whether this naming campaign is a success, but for now there’s only one thing left to say … that’ll do pig, that’ll do.

Don’t Be a Hero

by Kim Taylor 

Have you ever written a blog post because you hope it’ll remind you to practice what you preach?  Consider this one of those.

Everywhere you look, employers are running leaner and meaner than ever.  If the recession taught us one thing, it was that we could indeed do more with less.  The problem with that concept, and the pressure that comes along with it, is that “more” is this nebulous idea, and we never really know when we’ve reached a point where we’ve done enough and when it’s “okay” to ask for help.

As a self-proclaimed master multi-tasker, I’m quite possibly the worst delegator.  But, as a leader I know I have to do better.   That’s why when I read these tips from Inc. magazine, they really resonated … especially this one:

Stop believing you’re the only one who can do the job properly.

Just because an employee does things differently doesn’t mean he or she won’t do the job right or as well. If you establish expectations of the goal and the standards to follow, then methodology shouldn’t be an issue. An important and often overlooked part of delegation is that it helps develop employees for advancement and creates a better work environment.

Next time you’re trying to be your company’s hero by taking on task after task, which will inevitably lead to missed details and deadlines, try delegating.  Hero status comes from getting the job done—no matter who does it.

Facebook Trumps Faces

by Heather Keroes

Are you good at remembering faces, but perhaps not so good at remembering names?  You may eventually change your tune to “I’m good at remembering Facebook posts, but not so great with faces.”

According to research recently reported in the journal Memory and Cognition, Facebook status updates are two-and-a-half times more memorable than the faces of strangers.  The experiments conducted suggested that memory of Facebook posts is enhanced due to Facebook’s “social elaboration.”  Facebook posts were also found to be more memorable than lines from books.

Read more here.  Hopefully, you’ll remember it.

Crystal Ball Time

by Roger Pynn

This is the time of year when people in our business look through their crystal ball (or the one on their client’s desk) to see what’s ahead for the coming year … not only because our friends in the media love “crystal ball stories” about the year ahead, but because it is time to finalize plans.

Journalists look to public relations people every year for interviews with executives on the economy, local and national issues, hiring projections and the like.  Predictions are simply good fodder for news people.

But far more important are the plans we put in place to help clients communicate.  Strategies are useless without timelines, budgets and tactical requirements.  Our teams are busy reviewing those elements right now for and with our clients.

At the same time, they are scanning the environment to see if there are things our clients can see on the horizon.  And it strikes me that there are things on the horizon that we in public relations and marketing communications must be aware of and that our clients and employers will have to be mindful of:

1. Targeted communications will take on new meaning as even the most senior executive has to adapt to the power of personal digital technology … seniority will no longer be an excuse for failure to participate in the world of social media.  All of us have to pay attention to the conversations that involve us.
2. Being a good place to work will be essential to employee retention … as the economy continues to improve and workers see opportunity, your reputation as an employer who offers unique opportunity will set you apart and make it more likely they will realize the grass is already greener right where they are.
3. Positive messages are always the most powerful … and on the heels of a brutal political season, we’d all be well-advised to find ways to make people feel good about the world we live in if we want them to do business with us.

Unintended Message

by Dan Ward

By all means, insurance company Zurich should celebrate its 100^th anniversary today. It’s an impressive milestone for a solid company.

But let’s not celebrate the failure to edit banner ad copy in the wake of Friday’s tragic mass shooting in Newtown, CT.

Nearly every news site in America is leading with stories and photos from Newtown, so “Today we celebrate” is not the best message to send at the top of a news home page. In the case of The Wall Street Journal, the banner ad ran above a photo of a hearse. The image is jarring, and certainly does not send the message that Zurich intended.

As communicators and marketers, our job is not just to sell products and services, but also to protect the reputation of the companies and clients we serve. Sometimes that means making last-minute changes to advertising and communications plans based on events that are outside of our control.

Thrice the Typo

by Kim Taylor

We’re sticklers for grammar, style and punctuation at C&P.  Documents are proofread, proofread and sometimes proofread again.   With all of that attention to detail, sometimes mistakes still happen.

I imagine that’s what happened with the copywriters at Z Gallerie—they’re probably wishing their family of typos were under the cover of darkness, or maybe hiding in that layer of the earth between the crust and the core …

Is Our Staff Un-American?

by Kim Taylor

A story on the “Today” show this morning indicated that Americans aren’t taking all of their vacation time.  According to Expedia’s Vacation Deprivation Study, Americans only take 10 to 12 days compared to 30 days taken by our European counterparts.  And, if we’re lagging behind the rest of the civilized world, the real story is in Japan where workers only average about five days a year. (Gasp!)

We’re pretty proud of the fact that we offer our team three weeks paid vacation each year—a benefit that ensures they have time to relax and regroup after many more weeks of hard work.  But what I’m most proud of is that we have nearly 100 percent utilization of time year after year.  Perhaps that makes our staff un-American, but hey, at least they’re well rested.

How Tina Fey Can Improve Your Brainstorming Sessions

by Kim Taylor

Last weekend during a road trip with friends I read Tina Fey’s book, “Bossypants.”  Hidden on the pages between the stories of her childhood and her days at “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” were her Rules of Improvisation.  And, since I have no plans to leave C&P for a career in stand up, I thought it’d be fun to apply these rules to a brainstorming session.

Let’s take a look:

Rules of Improv

“1. Agree. If your improv partner launches a set with “Freeze, I have a gun,”* you don’t break it to him that it’s really just his fingers he’s pointing at you. IF you do that, you’ve just ruined it for everybody. Agree to play by the rules just set forth. He is holding a gun.”

First Rule of Brainstorming:  There are no bad ideas.  In other words, when an idea is presented during your brainstorming session, agree.

“2. And … ? Once you agree to agree, it’s not enough to just say “I acknowledge you hold a gun.” That doesn’t get us anywhere, does it? Agree, and then add something of your own. “Freeze, I have a gun.” “The gun I gave you for Christmas! You bastard!*”

Maybe it’s not the best idea, but what if you employ the “and …” tactic?  Will it help develop the idea further or flesh it out more?

“3. Make statements. If all you do is ask your improv partner questions, you’re not contributing. “Why are you holding a gun?” Doesn’t cut it. Be bold.”

Effective brainstorming is all about participation.  Make a statement.  Believe it.  How else will you convince others it’s an idea worth presenting to a client?

“4. There are no mistakes. Your partner misinterprets your setup? You don’t break the scene by stopping to explain and start over. You roll with it. There is no wrong.”

See No. 1 and the first rule of brainstorming.

So, thanks, Tina, this part of your book was even more enlightening than learning what it was like to grow up as a wide-hipped, sarcastic Greek girl with short hair permed on top.

Give the Customer What they Want, Not Just What they Ask For

by Kerry Martin

As part of our marketing strategy for a client, we mail personalized letters with a magazine to a targeted list of industry groups and organizations.  The not-so-fun part is taking those packages to the post office, where in the past they’ve told us that the only way to get the correct postage was to affix an assortment of stamps in varying increments to add up to the total cost.

So today when I came in asking for postage for 37 packages in whatever increments that would add up to $2.50, the woman behind the counter paused, and said, “That’s going to be a lot of stamps.”

“Well, yeah,” I thought.  “It’s the only way they’ve told us how to do it.”

Then she continued with “Would it be easier for you to just use the machine out front to print stamps with the exact amount of postage?”

Where had this helpful tidbit been for the past three years?  The first post office employee had clearly steered us wrong, but what about the others who as recently as June allowed us to go through the same rigmarole because we said we needed an odd amount of stamps for postage?

Where they failed was in asking the question, “What is it that this person actually wants?”  The answer would probably not be:  to spend three times as long peeling off and sticking on a $1.00 stamp, $0.85 stamp and $0.65 stamp to each of their 37 packages.

If you only give your clients/guests/patrons exactly what they ask for, they may never know that the customer is not always right.