Molly Thompson

What does growing up with red hair and freckles get you in life? “Best Personality” Senior Superlative, that’s what. Ragsdale High School. Class of 1991. Thank you very much. Red hair and class clown go together like vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce…and that’s what Molly strived to be back in the day. Next time you see her, ask about how she ended up on the 11:00 news by “disrespecting” the school’s special guest with a whip cream pie. So how does one go from class clown to public relations? Her 12th grade newspaper advisor always encouraged her to keep writing, to keep talking, and find a creative outlet for her big ideas - so that’s what she did. With over 16 years experience in the industry, Molly built an extensive background initially in technical writing. She then moved into PR where she could put her creative talents and people skills to work. Today, Molly leads the agency’s Biotech and Healthcare Practice, managing the PR efforts of global pharma technology and services companies. Strategizing, planning, counseling, executing, and measuring success are all part of a day’s work for Molly. She recently spearheaded the development of a unique methodology to define and measure the success of an organization’s PR program. When she’s not working with each client team to ensure PR objectives are directly aligned to the organization’s goals, you’ll find her knee deep on any given social media platform, monitoring, developing content, and generally chatting up anyone and everyone interested in her clients’ messaging. Molly's areas of expertise also include emerging media platforms and internet marketing, having worked with a number of online advertising, email marketing, and digital media technology companies. Prior to joining Crossroads PR, she worked with industry leaders such as Veritas, Siebel Systems (formerly OpenSite Technologies), and General Dynamics (formerly GTE Government Systems.) Molly previously served as an Executive Board Member of the Triangle Interactive Marketing Association (TIMA) and as an Advisory Board member for DivineCaroline. Molly has a Bachelor of Science in Applied Sociology from North Carolina State University. Molly fancies herself the Martha Stewart of the agency, frequently bringing in homemade goodies and treats for the group. When she’s not whipping up something in the kitchen, you can find her in the garden, at an NC State football game, or at the baseball field with her husband watching their two boys play ball.

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Generating Great Content: Step 3 in Helping You Achieve Your Company Goals

Thanks for tuning in to Part 3 of my blog series on how strategic communications can help you achieve your company goals.  Part 1 was all about developing a strategic communications plan, while Part 2 of the series looked at identifying internal and external expertise.

Today we're going to talk about generating great content.

Great PR starts with great content.  Great content should help you achieve your corporate goals – generate sales or business leads, build brand awareness, and educate your audience about your products and services.  And if it’s not, why bother?

Generating content doesn’t have to be a daunting task.  It can be as simple as revisiting and repurposing existing content your company has produced, including corporate presentations, speaking abstracts, papers, blog posts, or bylines, optimizing that content for PR success. 

If developing fresh content, it's really simplified down to starting with a concept, or a campaign theme, then deciding into what format to produce, or shape, the content.  Does it make sense as a press release and/or blog post?  Whitepaper, eBook, and/or byline?  Case study?  Editorial pitch?  Digital media (video, infographic, Q&A, email?)  Or some combination of any or all of these things?  Content can take any form and depends on your specific target audiences, your corporate goals, as well as budget.

We can help manage the content development process to lift that burden from your team, minimizing the amount of time and effort your stakeholders have to dedicate to the task.  When appropriate, we leverage freelance specialized writers and fully manage that process from start to finish.

How we can help you generate great content?  Are you ready to have that burden lifted and passed on to an expert team adept at strategizing and generating quality content guaranteed to drive results?  Let us help.  Call us today at 919.821.2822 or email us at [email protected] for more information.

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Identifying Expertise: Step 2 in Helping You Achieve Your Company Goals

Calling all business owners, techpreneurs, CEOs, and heads of marketing…you need to read this series if you’re interested in helping your company increase sales and lead gen, build brand awareness, and educate your audience on the value props of your products and services.  And who doesn’t?!?

Last week I blogged about the importance of developing a strategic communications plan as the first step in helping you accomplish these goals.  Why is this an important first step?  It’s imperative your PR team understands your business goals so we can closely map those goals into our communications and outreach strategy. 

Once you have developed a strategy, the next step in our methodology is to identify internal expertise and/or spokespeople that can best tell and convey your story.  Perhaps there are multiple people that can speak to different aspects of your company’s products and service, company history, or general industry trends and hot topics. 

It doesn’t always have to be a member of the executive team.  We always recommend digging deep into your employee roster to see who is willing and able to articulately convey your key messaging and communicate effectively with media.  Some media contacts only want to speak to C-level executives about company news and industry trends; however, some industry or technology-specific media would rather speak to a more “in the trenches” employee with relevant experience. 

We identify any gaps in internal resources and determine how to manage with external resources as appropriate.  We approach all opportunities on a case-by-case basis, but we should be prepared for all scenarios from an expertise perspective.  This is necessary to help elevate individuals and the company as thought leaders in your market – go-to resources for all things related.

So are you ready to identify and fine-tune the expertise you have in-house?  Need help identifying external resources that can help fill any internal gaps from a communication perspective?  We can help.  Call us today at 919.821.2822 or email [email protected] for more information on how we can help deliver strategic results for your company.

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Are you ready for a strategic communications plan?

Are you a business owner, techpreneur, CEO, or head of marketing and ready to take your business to the next level?  Do you want to increase sales or lead generation?  Build your company’s (product or service) brand awareness?  Educate your audience on the value propositions of your products/services?  Then you better have a STRATEGIC communications plan in place.

Not even sure what a strategic communications plan is?  That’s where we come in… 

Long gone are the days when you only called your PR agency when you needed a press release to go out.  We’re not just arms and legs.  Increasing sales, building brand awareness, and educating your audience all starts with strategy.  To deliver strategic results, we need a strategic seat at the table, working collaboratively with your executive, sales, and marketing teams.

Why is that important?  It’s imperative we understand your business goals so we can closely map those goals into our communications and outreach strategy. 

Developing strategy is just the first step in our PR Funnel methodology.  Look for future installments on identifying expertise, generating great content, promoting your content, and monitoring, reporting, analyzing, and tweaking your campaigns based on findings.  Also, we had a fun day at the office yesterday filming an interactive case study where we walk through each step of the PR Funnel and how we help our clients generate results in each phase.  Look for that video to post in the next week or two – stay tuned!

So are you ready for a strategic communications plans?  We can help.  Call us today at 919.821.2822 or email [email protected] for more information on how we can help deliver strategic results for your company.

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You're B2B and think social media's not for you? Think again!

A new report just published by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs indicates that 87% of B2B marketers use social media to distribute content, a 13% jump over 2011.  

The social media channel with the highest adoption rate? LinkedIn ranks as the biggest winner this year with 83% of B2B users posting content on the platform.  Twitter remains a strong contender with 80% of users posting content on the platform this year.

Several other newcomers also made this year's list, including Pinterest (very impressive showing with 26% of B2B users posting content on the site), Instagram (7%), and Quora, a content development and sharing platform, with a 6% B2B adoption rate.

Why do you need to get your content on social media platforms?  Thought leadership.  Credibility.  Boost SEO.  Go to where your audience is.  Influence your influencers.  Educate the marketplace.  Brand awareness.  Sales and lead gen.  These are (sometimes the intangible) things we tell you about over and over again - you know this by now!  But what about the bottom line?  Actual measurable results, something you can relate to...

The B2B Social Media Guide tells us that 45% of B2B companies have gained a customer through LinkedIn.

Monthly analysis shows us that LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook consistently rank in the top 10 social media referring traffic sources to our clients' websites (for clients leveraging those platforms)

For one client, LinkedIn alone referred 46% of new visitors during a 3-month period - that's a lot of new eyeballs on your products and services!

Monthly analysis shows that, on average, visitors (new and previous) coming from social media platforms spend more time on our clients' websites than from any other referring traffic source.  

It's hard to argue these kind of numbers.  There's no denying the fact that as a B2B entrepreneur you have to have a social media presence.  But how do you know which platforms are best for you?  What types of content on those platforms will resonate best with your audience(s)?  How to optimize your resources across multiple platforms?  Well, that's where we come in, of course!

Stay tuned, we're going to be posting more content over the next few weeks about content development and how to maximize its effectiveness across social media platforms and other distribution channels.  In the meantime, feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email if you have any questions or want to talk about how we can help your company develop and distribute content most effectively.

Related Stories:

Why B2B companies need to be on LinkedIn

Time After Time

In PR and life, simplicity is success

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Welcome new team member, Christie Montague!

Crossroads PR is proud to welcome new team member, account coordinator, Christie Montague, to our growing team!  Christie first came to the agency as an intern over a year ago while a student at N.C. State University.  She has been a valuable asset to the agency and we're thrilled to make her a permanent member of the team!

As an Account Coordinator, Christie will support day-to-day activities for our expanding roster of clients as well as contribute towards communications and social media efforts for the agency itself.

Christie brings expertise in multiple social media platforms as well as research skills that will be beneficial not only to the agency, but in helping clients achieve their public relations objectives. Prior to joining Crossroads PR, she participated in two consecutive summer marketing internships at the global B2B software company, SAS. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Marketing from North Carolina State University.  Go Pack!

Crossroads was founded on the principle of supporting the unique needs of fellow entrepreneurial B2B technology companies.  We're passionate about helping other entrepreneurs succeed.  The fact that we're able to continually grow our agency in support of our mission by hiring Christie is another step in this direction.  It's a great time for business in the region, which means it's a great time for business at Crossroads PR!  We're glad to have Christie as part of the team! Welcome!

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Oh No He Didn't!

Oh yes he did!  Author, entrepreneur, consultant, HARO founder Peter Shankman told Inc. contributor Marla Tabaka, “Twitter number count is just the new penis envy; it really doesn't matter.”  Can I repeat that here?  Guess I just did…

Marla's key takeaway in her article, "Toss Our Your Social Media Metrics", after interviewing Shankman was that judging your success solely by your social media numbers is bad business - your bottom line may suffer if that's your only focus.  A point Peter drove home oh so eloquently.  And if you've ever seen Shankman speak in person, or read his blog with regularity, you would not be surprised that he put it that way!  :)

But you see, when Shankman talks, people listen.  And that's exactly his point.  Who cares if you have thousands of Twitter followers and Facebook fans?  Those are just numbers.  As Shankman points out, "Numbers don't matter...What's important is that you understand your audience, know what they want, and give it to them."

I would argue that Marla's article title is a bit misleading.  Agreed, it's not about quantity of followers or fans, in most cases, but quality.  However, as an agency, we advocate tracking social media metrics that are applicable to each individual client and their specific (PR) goals and corporate objectives.

Most importantly, you can track and measure all the metrics and numbers you want...but then what?  You should routinely revisit PR goals to ensure they remain aligned with your corporate objectives.  By pulling relevant success metrics and tracking progress against those metrics on a regular basis, you can identify patterns and trends that show the most effective type of outreach and assess the overall performance of each strategy.  As a result, adjustments to strategies, tactics, and SEO approach can be made for future campaigns to ensure you're continuously moving closer to your end goal(s).

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Connecting STEM and careers for women

Back in my elementary school days, we were all about the 3 R's - reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic.  Hmmmm..maybe that was part of our problem?!?  These days, if you have school-aged kids, you're probably very familiar with the national movement towards STEM-based learning - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  Many schools, including elementary programs, have begun implementing STEM curriculum as part of their everyday learning.  And while it's about time, women still have a LOT of catching up to do particularly in these fields of study and career paths.

I read a great article in BIOtechNOW by George Goodno on his perspective as to why women are underrepresented in scientific fields.  It was a follow-up article to his recent post on the systemic failure of public schools to prepare kids for science and math focused jobs.

Goodno points out that men still outnumber women three-to-one in science and technology jobs. But research shows that a lack of interest in science isn’t at the root of this particular gender gap: 74% of teen girls are interested in the fields of STEM and in STEM subjects.  So, do girls perform as well as boys in math and science?  You bet!  The American Association of University Women has shown that high school girls and boys perform equally well in math and science.

If this is the case, then why aren’t girls prioritizing STEM fields when thinking about their future careers? In Goodno's opinion, 

I suspect this is another example of how public school systems, and universities for that matter, are not adequately preparing students for the requirements of today’s workplace.

Perhaps Goodno is on the right track on a national level, but my experience on a local level has been vastly different.  I have two young sons in elementary school in Wake County, NC whose principal and administration is dedicated to bringing in as much STEM-based curriculum and related learning opportunities as possible.  I've seen this range from a "more learning day" in my son's kindergarten class who Skyped with Sea World's Sea Turtle Rescue Center, to an after-school LEGO FUNdamentals class that teaches kids the basic principles of engineering, architecture, and physics.  Our school is getting ready to host a 2-day STEM Day in April where kids present research projects and professionals are invited in to share their expertise, their career choices, experiments with the kids, and more.  They get to check out bones, brains, rocks, bugs, fire accelerant-sniffing dogs, buildings, and more!

This is good stuff, people.  Who had the opportunity to do anything this cool when you were in elementary school?!?  Don't you think this is the kind of thing that gets kids super excited about STEM?  To me, this is the connection that was missing when I was a young girl coming up in school.  I loved studying science and always made good grades in science class, but I never had the opportunity to meet interesting professionals and see interesting "stuff" that was going on in the field.  I never connected that "science class" could translate to so many different interesting fields of study and career options as I got older.  The same applies to technology, engineering, and math.

So that connection starts in elementary school.  That connection starts at the local level.  It starts by taking initiative in our neighborhood elementary schools and providing opportunities like those mentioned above to get the kids, both boys and girls, excited about opportunities in STEM study and careers.  It starts by parents giving of their time volunteering in schools, sharing their expertise, sharing their skills to make events and opportunities like this happen.  It starts by families supporting their school administration in their efforts to bring STEM-based learning to their kids' classrooms.  Let's start local, and grow this thing nationally.  Who's on board?!?

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Hoping he's still laughing about the pie in the face...

Not a technology post today, more of a personal reflection at a sad time.  In my agency bio, I mentioned a high school prank that landed a mention of me on the 11:00 news after "disrespecting" our school's special guest with a whipped cream pie in the face.  Thought it might be appropriate to explain how that came to pass...

The year was 1991.  Ragsdale High School, Jamestown, North Carolina.  Teachers vs. Students Trivia Quiz Fun Night in the school auditorium.  Packed house.  Little on the boring side, so the seniors decide we need to spice things up a bit.  

One of the guys received a ticket prize for a chance to  toss a whipped cream pie across the stage at the losing team.  Everybody digs in their pockets for bills and change and we scrape up $40 for a sucker person to detour said whipped cream pie into the face of our special guest and Trivia Quiz Fun Night emcee, Rich Brenner, FOX8 sports anchor and parent of two students at our school.  And who was that lucky sucker person?  You guessed it.  Moi.  Shoot, $40 bucks is $40 bucks, and I would have done (just about) anything for a laugh back then.  Fine tailored suit, 100% silk tie, camera-ready make-up, and carefully coiffed hair be damned.

It was my time to shine.  I climb the stage, ticket in hand.  The stage lights are bearing down on me.  Hundreds of eager faces staring eagerly at me.  My friends taking side bets as to whether or not I'll really go through with it.  A teacher hands me a big, fat whipped cream pie.  Mr. Brenner (as he was known to me) all smiles, "Go ahead, Molly, give it a good toss over there!"  He was so trusting of sweet little ole me...You see, I knew "Mr. Brenner" well, I played soccer with his daughter, he was a regular staple on the sidelines.  He always gave great big teddy bear hugs, win or lose, always encouraging.  All the soccer girls hung out together, often in their basement.  

Thus, my knees were knocking.  Palms sweating.  Heart pounding.  Hands shaking.

"How do I hold it, Mr. Brenner?  Like this?"  And I tilt the pie around in my right hand, away from the losing team, directly towards his fine tailored suit, 100% silk tie, camera-ready make-up, and carefully coiffed hair.

"Yup, just like that," he said, smiling a great big teddy bear smile.

I went home with $40 in my pocket that night.  He went to the 11:00 newscast with a (wet) fine tailored suit, (slightly) stained 100% silk tie, not-as-much camera ready make-up, and previously carefully coiffed hair, now crusty-whipped-cream-dried-sticking-up-in-spikes hair.  But boy did I get some big laughs!  From my friends in the audience whose $40 bucks I had just pocketed.  Not so much from the school administration and parent volunteers who had put the event on.  

All I did the whole way home was pray my parents stuck to their usual 9pm bed-time and weren't waiting up for us to get home.  I just knew someone had called to tell them what I had done.  My sister and I rushed home...lights out, parents asleep.  Shew, one hurdle avoided.  Flip the TV on, news comes on...wait through 20 minutes of news until the sportscast.  There's Mr. Brenner...and my oh my...does he look....DIFFERENT can you say!  So much so, his co-anchors have a great laugh at his expense and he has to explain why he looks so disheveled - thanks to his friend, Molly Hodgin!  What?!?  I made the NEWS?!?  Sweet!  I just went legend!  $40 in my pocket AND I made the news!  That's high school history right there, folks.

But that was Friday night.  Come Monday morning, sitting in Physics class minding my own beeswax, taking notes.  In comes a student from the Principal's office, he needs to see Molly Hodgin.  Teacher literally does a double-take - "Who?"  Folks, Molly Hodgin never once got called to the Principal's office in 12 years of schooling.  A hush falls over the classroom.  Someone plays a trumpet death march as I make my way across the room.  

Worst 20 minutes of my life (well, maybe not so much) sitting in the principal's office getting lectured about disrespecting the school's special guest, did I know how much fine tailored suits and 100% silk ties cost and I needed to call and apologize (too late, my dad already made me do that over the weekend) and offer to pay to have everything dry cleaned (dad made me do that, too.)  Mr. Brenner ever-so-politely declined my offer.  Shew.  Would have cost me WAY more than $40 bucks!

Mr. Brenner passed away yesterday at the age of 65.  I'm so sorry to hear about that.  I will always remember what a big teddy bear he was.   And that he was still my friend, even after I stuffed a whipped cream pie in his face for $40 bucks and an epic laugh.  Rest in peace.

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Bringing in the Big Business

We’re glad to see that entrepreneurs are creating big business in the North Carolina, according to a recent report from the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED).  CED reported that 1,823 new high-growth companies founded in North Carolina since 1992 have created 40,560 jobs.  Of those firms, 397 have attracted $7.7 billion in private capital, raised from more than 600 funds, since 1997.  Now that’s big business!

As an agency, we were founded on the principle of wanting to connect with and support the growth of fellow entrepreneurial technology companies in the Southeast.  Our team came together with agency and in-house experience, from large corporations and small companies, but ultimately decided that smaller start-ups and entrepreneurial-backed organizations were going to be our sweet(est) spot.

In fact, just this morning our New Business team met to discuss how we can better serve this market with new Entrepreneurial Toolkit offerings.  We’re going to survey some of our contacts to see what your biggest PR-related business challenges are and how we might be able to help in the near-term, before you’re able to afford a full PR retainer.  Keep an eye out in the first quarter for an Entrepreneurial News Portal on our site, an eBook is in the works, and a webinar series will get underway once we get survey results back and know what you need help with!  Stay tuned for more info coming soon…

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New YouTube Channels – You Like?

Channels on YouTube have been redesigned to provide more of a personalized user and management experience.  I recently logged into a client’s Channel to upload some new videos and up popped the new configuration along with a quick tutorial to walk you through the changes.

According to YouTube, the new Channel feed is the new distribution center for your Channel.  Any content shared (including video uploads, comments, favorites, likes, and playlists) are posted to your feed and seen by your subscribers on their homepage.  You can also Edit your Channel to give it a relevant name and description, which potential subscribers see when previewing your Channel.

No brainer tips for business users:  Don’t forget how important it is to regularly post fresh new content to your YouTube channel.  Make sure you’re tagging each upload with appropriate keywords.  Add links to other websites and accounts you have. These are simple, easy ways to capture your audience’s attention and turn a browser into a subscriber ready to interact and engage with your brand.

My take – very slick and streamlined, and a bonus as this workflow is very familiar to those used to navigating Facebook.  I LIKE!

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We can't be all things to all clients...

...but we should be really good at what we do do.  (and that's not a typo!)

In a recent PR Daily post, author Linda Forrest explains traits of talented PR pros.  She does a good job researching and compiling feedback from various sources on essential attributes of a good PR practitioner. 

She covers some general attributes every PR pro should exhibit: mutual respect with the media and industry thought leaders; transparency; informed and relevant outreach; flexibility; and so on.  There are also “human skills” vital to a PR pro’s success, including patience, congeniality, critical thinking, and ethics.

I agree these are no-brainer basic attributes every PR pro should possess (and really, don't these apply to just about any career?)  However, I do think there are other qualities that are job-specific or specialties based on our particular areas of expertise and interest.

For example, I lead our agency's biotech and healthcare practice.  Sounds fancy doesn't it?  Not especially.  I just love anything and everything biotech, pharma, healthcare, science geeky.  It's my thing, my specialty, I'm good at it.  Ask me about cloud computing or virtualization and you might get a blank stare.

As individuals, PR pros can't be all things to all clients.  But as agencies, we should (and we do!) encourage specialized attributes and develop expertise unique to each team member.  Put us (Crossroads) all together and you get one h-e-double-hockey-sticks (I have young kids) of a team.  Of course, the Crossroads team members all exhibit the basic success traits outlined by Forrest.  And we all have basic understandings of any technology, product or service our agency represents.  However, we use our diverse collection of experience and expertise to the advantage of each of our clients.

How does your agency work for you?  Trying to be all things at once, or really good at what they do do?

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DID YOU KNOW…NC is the place to be when it comes to biotech and pharma!

Did you know…

North Carolina is the third leading state for biotechnology with 528 companies;

We have 110 contract research and testing companies -- one of the world's greatest concentrations;

60 agricultural biotechnology companies are headquartered in North Carolina;

North Carolina boasts 13 publicly traded companies with a market capitalization of $11.8 billion;

At least 75 companies are based on North Carolina university technologies (GO PACK!);

57,000 employees;

18 percent growth from 2001 to 2006, the fastest of the top 10 biotech states;

Estimated $4.5 billion payroll;

About 145 bioscience patents granted each year to companies and universities;

Approximately 12 percent of all patents issued to North Carolina assignees are biotech-related!

For more on these stats and other great information on the health of North Carolina’s biotech industry, check out the NC Biotechnology Center.

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Triangle VC may be down, but not out for some!

David Ranii published a story in this morning’s News and Observer detailing how venture capital raised in the third quarter was down compared to recent quarters.  Quick recap of the N&O article:  Data released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association shows a total of 10 Triangle companies raised $43.9M in venture capital in Q3.  The largest deal in the third quarter was Crossroads PR client, digital CRO, Clinipace Worldwide (which raised $15M).  A second Crossroads PR client, 6fusion, also made the list, having raised $7M in the third quarter.

Having worked with many early- and mid-stage entrepreneurial companies, we see the ebb and flow of VC financing firsthand.  Ranii’s observation is that dozens of Triangle businesses, especially young biotech, medical device, and IT companies, rely on VC funding to add resources, expand product pipelines, and boost marketing and sales efforts.  As Ranii points out, “a single big deal – or lack of one – can make a huge difference.”

Agreed.  Expanding our agency’s biotech and healthcare practice has been a large priority, especially over the past year.  No doubt it’s a tough time to raise capital, but clients like Clinipace, Ajinomoto AminoScience, and others are in a really hot sector right now. 

Clinipace, in particular, has (luckily) not seen much of an effect from the economic downturn.  In fact, the state of the economy has created a bigger need from emerging and mid-market biopharma and medical device firms frustrated by traditional approaches to clinical development programs and looking to outsource studies.

We’ve been very busy developing and supporting integrated marketing, public relations, and social media campaigns for our biotech and pharma clients.  Business has been great for them – which is good for us!

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Practicing What I Preach

Hopefully you read my last post on how to begin building a strategic PR program by developing key messages and complementary talking points.  Last week I had the unique experience of "practicing what I preach" to clients everyday regarding the importance of clear, concise messaging.  

Backstory...I've been doing this crazy TRX suspension training class with my awesome trainer Larissa Lotz, LOVE her, for about 2 years now.  One of our local ABC affiliate anchors, Tisha Powell, LOVE her, heard about TRX and wanted to check it out for one of her regular health and fitness reports.  

Which brings us to...Tisha and a cameraman came by Studio Revolution during a recent Monday class to film us in action.  Scary stuff!  Hello, TRX involves alot of sweating, spandex, and bad exercise hair...which was now going to be transmitted across the viewing area in full HD glory!  Luckily, Larisa had given us a heads-up they were going to be there, so we could either bail or apply a touch of make-up and get our TRX on for the camera.  She also wanted to know who would volunteer to do an on-camera interview after class.

If you don't know me that well, then you should know I've never turned down a good camera opportunity!  "I'll do it!", I eagerly volunteered.  After all, I'm in PR, I'm always telling my clients what to do in front of the camera or on the phone with media or analyst contacts.  Shouldn't I be good at this kind of thing?

So I did my due diligence the night before.  I worked through a few different interview scenarios in my head, thought of different possible lines of questioning and how I could respond.  Reviewed basic TRX principles (key messaging!) Developed a few fun but relevant talking points.  Brushed over some of the standard media interview do's and don'ts...don't hum and um, do bridge back to key messaging, don't look like a deer in headlights in full HD glory.

So there I was...all suited up in spandex.  Sweating.  Bad exercise hair.  In full HD glory.  Lovely.  But hey, I knew my talking points!  I'm bridging back to key messaging!  I know my stuff, zing, zang, zowie!  I went in prepared, felt confident, and I think I pretty much pulled it off!  

Practicing what I preach.  Do you think?  Check out the video here.  In full HD glory.

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PR. Where the h-e-doublehockeysticks do we begin?

(Re-)Building a Strategic PR Program Step 1: Messaging 

New clients and new business leads often want to know, “What’s the first step, how do we get started?”  Our first objective is to understand your business, the solutions you offer, your market, and your unique value proposition. 

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  Easier said than done.  You wouldn’t believe how many organizations, some that have even been doing PR for a long time, haven’t taken the time to step back and look at the mixed messages they’re putting out there.  The executive team says one thing, sales sells another, marketing markets this, and PR pitches that.  No one is on the same basic page to begin with.

We can’t help you build a strategic and successful PR program unless we fully understand your organization’s unique missions and goals…not only according to the executive team’s point of view, but also from sales, marketing, business development, and other groups, as applicable.  What is most important to each group in your organization and how can PR help each reach their goals? 

So what’s our first step?  Taking the time to get the message right from the very beginning.

PR is never a one-size-fits-all application. We might take a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a lot of the other to develop and/or fine tune your corporate messaging to ensure all company stakeholders are telling the same story about your company, products, services, and value props.  How do we do that?  In brief, by:

Analyzing competitive communications.  Who are your top two or three competitors? How are they impacting your industry through PR efforts?  What kind of visibility do they have with media, analyst, bloggers, and other thought leaders and influencers? What kind of messages are they using to reach those audiences?  How do you compare and what potential opportunities and challenges will you face?

Understanding your audience and influencers.  Who and what are the targets that influence your customers’ behaviors and purchasing decisions?  Once we’ve identified those influencers, we develop key messaging and unique outreach programs to effectively communicate with each of them.

Developing key messaging. We love a good brain dump.  We’ll work closely with internal stakeholders to better understand your corporate strategy, objectives, and goals, your sales and marketing strategies and pipeline, as well as your company’s history, challenges, successes, and other relevant background.  Based upon this session and other research, we develop a clear, concise and credible corporate positioning statement and supportive messaging that best reflect your organization and serves as the framework for communicating with your key audiences. 

So that’s where we start.  Has your organization taken the time to take a step back and analyze these seemingly simple questions before diving in to a PR program?  What else do you feel is critical to analyze at this point in the process before moving forward?  Would love to hear your feedback!

[mhthompson-blog]

getting my geek on...

Don’t let my dislike for all things video games and affinity for trashy reality TV fool you…I love to get my geek on.  I know, I know, I just got a blackberry last year and the thought of moving to a MacBook seemed like the worst kind of workplace punishment I could think of.  Yet here I am…wondering how in the hell I survived for 36 years without a Blackberry and totally LOVING my pretty little Mac. For those that know me, it’s no secret…I’ve been getting my geek on for years, people.  I think it probably started in high school when I found I had a certain knack with a t-square and X-Acto knife (can you say hot wax layouts, anyone?  Yes, that’s how we used to do our school newspaper “way back” then.)

That grew into a love for autopsies and criminal investigations (no kidding, I started college wanting to be a forensic pathologist…until I saw how much paperwork and how little slicing and dicing was actually involved.)

My mouth sometimes got me in trouble at school, but now I can talk tech with the best of ‘em.  I’ve written hundreds of pages of volumes of technical content.  I’ve designed user interfaces for a 200+ screen technology solution.  I’ve pitched the best and the brightest industry media on behalf of my clients.  Heck, I’ve even flung ink all over the fatigue uniform of a Lt. Col. In the Army down at Ft. Hood, Texas during a furious work session in the back of a Humvee.  (Sorry friends, this one’s top secret – wouldn’t you like to know how this happened?!?)

What does all of this have to do with anything?  Well, I see all of these antics as the trials and tribulations of how I got here…to Crossroads.  And why I love to talk tech.  And why I still love to get my geek on.  How do I get my geek on these days?  It’s more about singing the praises of digital media (for clients like Inlet Technologies and aiMatch) and pharma/biotech (for clients like Clinipace Worldwide, SciQuest, and Centice, among others.)

A new addition to our biotech/pharma family of clients this year has been Ajinomoto Aminoscience. We consider our experience and success in the field to be one of our strongest assets of the agency.  That’s why it was such a thrill and honor to begin working with an industry powerhouse like Ajinomoto.  We first started working with the company in February of this year with the initial goal of helping to promote its CorynexTM Recombinant Protein Expression System and to launch AjiPhase, the company’s peptide synthesis and manufacturing methodology.

To give you a bit of background, Ajinomoto is the leading supplier of pharmaceutical and research-grade amino acids in the US and throughout the world.  They were one of the first manufacturers to develop pharmaceutical-grade amino acids and continue to be the only manufacturer of pharmaceutical-grade amino acids in the United States.  Ajinomoto AminoScience, LLC is a part of Ajinomoto USA Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (headquarted in Japan.)

I have LOVED getting back to my scientific roots working with these types of clients.  It’s proven to be incredibly challenging from a content perspective, but one of the most rewarding parts of my job at Crossroads.  As an agency, we pride ourselves in creating great working relationships with our clients, acting as an extension of their team, and that has especially been the case with Ajinomoto, or Aji as we affectionately refer to them.  Starting virtually from scratch to help the company promote Corynex and launch AjiPhase has required a lot of brainstorming, many messaging sessions, several fits and starts, a couple of re-dos, and one I-told-you-so. We have been working very closely with our digital marketing partner, Media Two Interactive, to build a successful fully-integrated campaign that implemented PR, marketing, digital media, and social media strategies.  We are really proud of the work we’ve done to date and I would love to share more details of that success.  Tune in next time for Part Two of my “Geek On” series – “How to Help a PhD in Bio-Organic Chemistry Get His Geek on Even More Than He Already Does.