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Inaugural Awards Dinner Recipients Announced

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         
Feb. 14, 2018

Contact:
Camille Carter
Camillercarter1@yahoo.com

Inaugural Awards Dinner Recipients Announced

(MADISON, Wis.)— Sixteen businesses will be recognized for making an impact on Dane County’s economy at the inaugural Madison Black Chamber of Commerce Awards Dinner, taking place from 5-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Best Western Premier Park Hotel.

The list of award winners can be found below:

  • Longevity Award: Larry Sain State Farm
  • Resilience Award: Buraka’s
  • Investing in Community I: JP Hair Design
  • Investing in Community II: One City Early Learning Centers
  • Investing in Community III: Latino Chamber of Commerce
  • Sustainability: Olson Toon Landscaping
  • Home Based Business Award: Mo’Betta Cookies
  • Persistence Award: QB’s Magnetic Creations
  • Visionary I: Foster Funeral & Cremation Services
  • Visionary II: Genesis Social Services Corporation
  • Creativity Award: Vernee Nycole House of Beauty
  • Model Retail Award: Savanna Beauty Supply
  • Urban Business Award: Urban Construction Administrations
  • Vendor Award: Tappestry Design
  • Media Award: Madison365
  • Photography Award: Hedi LaMarr Photography

“The Awards Dinner exemplifies the Chamber’s goal of supporting and empowering Black business owners,” Camille Carter, president of the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce, said. “I’m so happy for the award winners that are being recognized, as they are making a difference in the greater Madison community.”

Attendees will be able to connect with members of the business community and hear from renowned speakers such as “Shark Tank” contestant and Madison native Andrew Bentley, Men’s Health Center Founder Aaron Perry and Wisconsin State Rep. Jason Fields.

Tickets for the event are $50 and can be purchased at madisonblackchamber.com.

About Madison Black Chamber of Commerce
The Madison Black Chamber of Commerce, is a group of community members working to empower African American/Black people to cultivate and expand entrepreneurship. We believe that Black-owned businesses contribute significantly to the economic well-being of Madison.

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Resulting Media Coverage:

Super Bowl ads 2018: staff opinions

Posted on by Brian Lee

BRIAN:

I really liked the Tide commercials for spoofing other commercials, including other Procter & Gamble products such as Old Spice. In fact, I’ll admit to being tricked. For example, when I saw a Clydesdale at the beginning of a commercial, I thought it was going to be a Budweiser commercial, but it was actually Tide. This goes to show that commercials for various sets of products (e.g. cars, prescription meds) follow a fairly uniform playbook. Because of the negative publicity surrounding Tide Pods, these commercials also did a good job of generating positive feelings toward Tide.

Big thumbs down to T-Mobile (equality) and Dodge Ram (Martin Luther King Jr.) for misappropriating political/social themes into their commercials. Was there no one at these companies (or at their agencies) who thought these commercials would be a bad idea? Continue reading “Super Bowl ads 2018: staff opinions” →

C-Suite Still Undervalues PR

Posted on by Brian Lee

conference roomIf executives in the C-Suite, which often is missing a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief Communications Officer (CC), actually valued PR, companies would:

  • Spend more resources on reputation management. A Deloitte study showed that when your reputation is damaged, there is a corresponding loss of revenue, brand value, customers and/or stock price,
  • Seek the counsel of their communications staff before making any major decision to learn of potential reactions and consequences, and
  • Have a crisis communications plan that’s updated at least yearly.

Instead, you see companies continue to make boneheaded mistakes that make you wonder, what in the world were they thinking?

A recent article titled “Lesson Plan: Business Leaders Still Don’t Understand Strategic Communication” sheds some light. Research conducted by the authors showed that despite the recent introduction of strategic communication coursework to the MBA programs at various universities, the students:

  • Often do not see the strategic dimensions of communication,
  • Often don’t see a clear connection between communication activities and business results, and
  • Have little understanding of the importance of related strategic communication issues, such as corporate social responsibility and internal communications.

For PR practitioners, this means we’re still fighting for a seat at the table, and we may continue to do so for another generation.