Spring Fling Brings Budding Relationship

OK, so the fling is with my work, but what can I say? It's really hard to keep interested in something you've been doing for most of 25 years. PR is my bread and butter, but to me the whole "integrated marketing" concept has been done by folks like B. & Company and myriad others for years. If you're working with someone who isn't looking at your brand/challenge/image in a holistic way, you're missing out. I'm the first to say to a client, "hey you don't need me right now but you could sure use a great designer" or " I'd love to create a PR campaign for you but let's look at social media first and media relations second."

It's been a long time coming, but clients are finally coming around. You want ink in The New York Times? Great, but you better have a story. Have no story? Make some news - via social media, a great ad, a contest, a survey, some crazy stunt. I love being able to help clients come up with different ways to reach a market (yes cosmetic client, you can buy ads in regional newspapers but in this particular market where social consciousness trumps all how about if we do a little cause marketing with local non-profits first?). It's good to be back.

You Need to Know This About the Bay Area

It's been raining for what seems like weeks, and that got me thinking about what you "must have" to implement an effective PR progam in the Bay Area (besides an umbrella). Now to be honest, most of my work is national in scope and it's fairly rare for someone to hire me for a regional campaign but just being here means I'm on the receiving end of a lot of outreach. Here are some things you must know about the Bay Area to reach our citizens:

1. We don't consume traditional media like other markets - reach us via social media, blogs, the online versions of traditional media
2. The demographics change from town to town in the blink of an eye. You literally drive two minutes from one town to the next and everything changes the moment you cross the border. Start in Lafayette with it's tree lined streets and gentile vibe and drive a few minutes to the industrial corridor of Hayward. Or start off in the ranches of La Honda where you see more horses than people and drive 15 minutes to the crowded bustle of Palo Alto.
3. We care more about social causes and the next hot technology than shoes. Style here is very different than style in LA, Chicago or NYC. Very, very, very few people know who Christian Louboutin is.
4. We eat. Food is a major social driver. Almost every major food trend either starts here or is quickly adopted here. Locavore, home vintners, slow food, au terroir, kitchen gardens...we did it years before it showed up in the pages of the NY Times food section. If you dined at Frances before the review came out, it's a feather in your cap.

I love this place.

Is it 2Q Yet?

What a crazy start to the New Year - happily we signed two new clients! Elizabeth Arden Costmetics and The Stone Clinic. Both will be a combination of fun and new launch, which is the speciality here at B. & Company. An added bonus is the opportunity to work with my smart and able colleague Victoria Steiner (who is a healthcare PR pro bar none).
If you're interested in checking out the clients here are some links:
Elizabeth Arden
The Stone Clinic

Happy Holidays

I'm off for a little fun over the holidays. Wishing you the best of the season...peace, love, happiness health and prosperity in 2010.

Guest Blogging

Blogging is fun, but guest blogging is...more fun. The other person hosts it, corrects the font, gives some editorial perspective. So I was pleased to be asked to guest blog for my client Landis Communications. It's about the "lack of seasons" in the work year these days. If you want to take a peek go to: http://www.landispr.com/blog/

Aargh - The Net is Never Done

I could edit copy until the cows come home. And those cows are far, far away people. So frustrating that I edit/re-edit/edit again the copy on my site - and for some reason I'm never satisified. So I guess I have to be satisfied that I'll never be satisfied and just leave it at that.
For any of you following along, the blog's gotta move (blogger doesn't like me - or offer needed features - if they don't host). Sigh. I'm sorta longing for the days of print...at least when it was done and printed it was done and printed.

Getting the Hang of It

First off, thanks to those who took the time to send me comments about the site...I appreciate the suggestions and I'm working to change some stuff around on the blog too. Especially comments (yup, they weren't working). I think they are now (but hell what do I know, I'm a just sitting at my kitchen table messing with settings). 

In the meantime, here's a little food for thought. I've been thinking a lot about habits - what it takes to break a bad one and how to start a good one. You see I'm one of those people who really relishes routine. I find great comfort in waking at the same time everyday, mapping out my week on Mondays and pretty much sticking to it, etc. I also find that my best creative thinking is done when I'm busy with something physically but not mentally (showering, exercising, filing). So how do I combine those traits to create a new (creative) habit? If you've got ideas, let me know. For now, I'm going to go do my banking because that's what I always do on the 27th of the month...