filter by author: Stephanie Doherty

It’s that time of year again…awards season. And no, I’m not talking about the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards. It’s time to roll out the red carpet and start campaigning for your campaigns – PR campaigns, that is. While we all have good intentions when it comes to nominating our programs for awards, the demands of our day-to-day client work always take precedence and many times awards submissions move to the bottom of our to-do list. However, the marketing opportunities that come with winning an award can help shine the light on your agency, resulting in incremental new business, as well as employee recruitment and merchandising opportunities.

Here are just a few of the ways you can leverage a big win:

New business presentations and pitches: Differentiating your agency in new business pitches is a constant challenge for PR professionals. Highlighting an award winning campaign, particularly if there are elements similar to what your prospect is looking for, can turn your pitch into a BIG win for the agency.

Client outreach: Merchandising an award honor, such as Agency of the Year, to all of your existing clients is a great touch point, as well as an opportunity to create dialogue with past prospects, friends of the agency and industry trades.

Employee morale: Let’s face it, we PR professionals are always looking for a reason to celebrate, and nothing brings a company together in a better way than celebrating a big award! It's a strong morale booster, a great way to show the agency that hard work does really pay off and sets the bar high to inspire the rest of the agency to deliver quality campaigns.

Recruitment: As you look to recruit the best and brightest crop of young professionals, being able to share your latest award honors is another differentiator and a way to not only recruit employees but interns as well.

Industry media relations: Agencies are so busy promoting their clients’ programs that many times they forget to promote their own work. Award recognition gives you the chance to conduct trade media outreach, provide a case study that can be featured in an industry publication or even use your winning campaign to position your agency as a subject matter expert through an editorial or POV piece.

Agency website: There is no better way to attract the attention of a prospective client than with a big award win featured on your agency website. Agency of the Year, Campaign of the Year or just winning top honors in a prestigious category will set you apart from your competitors and is something you can call out on your website’s homepage.

Whatever the award, remember that winning doesn’t stop at the awards ceremony. Merchandise your victory to win new business, media coverage, happier employees and bragging rights.

--Stephanie Doherty, Vice President

The producers of TLC’s “Extreme Couponing” might just be on to something. A recent study from lucid marketing found incentives go a long way in motivating moms to refer a brand or website to their friends and families. That's good news for companies looking to engage with moms and leverage their many relationships with like-minded friends.

Of the various incentives available, moms found coupons to be the most appealing; however, just throwing a coupon into the mix won't help brands build a meaningful relationship with this target. There are several ways to do it effectively:

• Online Contests: Drive product trial during online contests through couponing. It can be as simple as providing a downloadable coupon for every consumer who enters your contest. For those consumers who didn't enter, providing a coupon during the voting phase to reward them for getting involved and supporting their favorites can also be effective.
• Customized Blogger Content: Try developing creative contests, giveaways or promotions that will resonate with your target blogger's readers. You can then offer product samples and/or coupons as part of the prize package, making it a win-win for your brand and the blogger.
• Cause Promotions: Reward consumers who participate in click-to-donate cause promotions with a downloadable coupon. It’s a simple way to remind consumers that your product is tied to this meaningful call to action.

Today's mom plays a powerful role when it comes to creating strong word of mouth for a product or company, and when used effectively, couponing can be an effective engagement tool for marketers.

--Stephanie Doherty, Vice President