Public Relations, Advertising & Social Media

Best PR practices for energy and utility projects

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Brian Lee

Proposed power plants, wind farms and transmission lines are monumental public relations projects. That’s because they require working with many stakeholders (residents, businesses, elected officials, regulators), conducting public outreach (open houses, town hall meetings), changing public opinion (editorials, testimonials) and fighting misinformation (media relations, social media).

Here are five best practices to help you get your energy or utility project approved:

1. Say the right things from the start. Conduct a survey to understand what’s important to the public, and base some of your messages from the results. The general theme of your messaging strategy should explain need and reinforce benefits to residents and businesses. Media train all personnel–even engineers–so that a consistent set of talking points is propagated.

2. Brand your campaign. Have a theme that unifies all your collateral and ads, from your website to newsletter to radio spots to brochures to social media accounts. And of course, use your aforementioned messaging strategy in your collateral.

3. Demonstrate how public outreach matters. Make it clear that everything is up for discussion and that no firm decisions have been made. Have an abundance of ways for residents to leave their input, and show them how that input is shaping the proposal. In addition, it’s important to educate the public and inoculate them from the inevitable misinformation from your opposition. Think tradeshow displays, maps, videos and models as required items at your events.

4. Be a part of the community. Sometimes a little goes a long way. Get to know the people whose lives you’re affecting. Be a sponsor of their 4th of July festival. Help them build a new playground in their park. Attend their city council meetings.

5. Measure how you’re doing throughout the campaign. Check that you’re reaching your key performance indicators (KPIs)–for example, number of positive editorials, letters-to-editor and op-eds; number and type of supporters; and position of elected officials. However, it’s more important to keep polling the public to see if your efforts are moving the needle, so to speak. If not, change your strategy and/or tactics.

Good and bad #hashtag practices

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Taylor Kennedy

Last year, according to the Interbrand 100 list that reveals the world’s top 100 brands and their activity on Twitter, 97 percent of the brands posted at least one tweet that included a hashtag. It seems that nowadays, we can’t think of social media without the usage of them. Whether it’s highlighting a significant event (#WrigleyField100) or a type of conversation (#tbt), the hashtag is a great social media marketing tool.

However, have you ever read a post with too many hashtags? Or ones that just don’t have any relevance? Here are some examples of good and bad hashtag strategies in branding your social media messaging.

Bad practice: #Hashtag #Every #Single #Word #In #Post. Hashtag over-usage is a common error in social messaging, sending some readers to skip over the post entirely. Studies show that brands that post two or more hashtags in one post miss the mark on connecting with their audience.

Good practice: Use targeted hashtags. When posting, think about your brand and use a handful of targeted hashtags that align with your brand’s identity. You should receive more interaction as a result.

Bad practice: #DontMakeOneThatIsTooLongAndConfusing. This just looks bad. Keep your hashtags short and sweet, easy to spell and easy for consumers to remember and retype.

Good practice: Do your research. Think big picture. What will your consumers see in their feeds if they click on your hashtag? Do your posts work in conjunction with the message you’re trying to convey?

The logo creation process

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Brian Lee

Creating a logo for a product or brand is not easy, but there’s no reason for it to be more difficult than it should.

The meticulous process of logo creation is time consuming with the end goal of creating something that sparks brand recognition. Following the steps provided below should mitigate some potential challenges, resulting in an easier process of creating a unique logo that meets the client’s needs.

Research the Company. Prior to meeting with your client, make sure to research everything about the company, including how it currently brands itself (if at all) and past logos. Understanding the changes it made in past logos will help you know what elements to stay away from when creating the new logo.
Meet with the Client. It’s important to understand their mission statement and what the company stands for. Understanding what they want to get out of their new logo is also important. Sometimes their vision isn’t clear, so make sure to ask a lot of questions to guide them along.
Research Ideas. Before you start designing, see what other companies in the same industry have done. You’d hate to design a logo, only to see that you inadvertently created something similar to a competitor’s logo.
Design Elements. Key design elements to keep in mind when designing your logo are good use of balance, clever use of color, creative recognition and a design style that suits the company. Another key element in design is your typography. Commonly used fonts do not stand out. You also need to make sure you choose a font that matches the company’s style, and one that is legible in different scales.
Get Feedback. Before taking your samples to your client, try to get a couple other sets of eyes on your designs. Ask co-workers, art directors or friends to get opinions. By working on the same logos for a certain period of time, you may miss something that someone else may see.
Present samples to client. Creating 2-3 versions helps your client compare and contrast, but don’t give them more, as too many options can be overwhelming.
Re-work based on feedback. There will most certainly be changes to your design based on what the client wants. Be prepared to rework your designs based on their feedback. In part, sometimes it’s because a group of people analyzing your designs don’t agree with one another and want a whole new design (known as “death by committee”). This is more likely to occur. If you’re lucky, you may only have to switch a few things, like fonts or color. Understanding the client’s feedback when re-working designs will reduce the chances of never-ending revisions.