PR Firm Rankings - Odwyerpr.com

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PROFILES OF TOP INDEPENDENT PR FIRMS The Zeppos & Associates team. odwyerpr.com is unrivaled for its hardhitting coverage of all areas of marketing, communications, PR and media news. With PR and media in a state of upheaval, it’s more important than ever to keep on top of the buzz in the industry. ZENO GROUP A Daniel J. Edelman Company 200 Park Ave. South New York, NY 10003 212/299-8888 Fax: 212/462-1026 www.zenogroup.com Barby K. Siegel, CEO Zeno Group is the marketing communications agency committed to helping clients make the most of the new realities of audience engagement and the evolving role of PR. We operate as one firm with offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles. We are initiating operations in Toronto, Canada. Our thinking is big, bold and unencumbered by traditional PR boundaries. We specialize in marketing consumer, healthcare and technology brands. We have worked with some of the world’s leading brands, companies, nongovernmental and non-profit organizations, helping to navigate the new ways stakeholders engage with companies and brands. The firm’s most senior team members work on business (not spreadsheets) because that’s what we love to do and that’s what’s right for our clients. Across our four offices, we operate as one, easily enabling the right talent for the job regardless of geography. Insights to ideation. Zeno’s dedicated planning capability ensures our recommendations are anchored by relevant insights and a research-driven strategy. From there, we work to find the ‘right’ big ideas that will drive clients business forward in new and interesting ways. The Real Moms of Zeno. To help our clients engage with this highly influential target audience, we listen to our proprietary group of 50 moms (headed to 100) to understand what REAL-ly matters to them and how brands can best fit into their lives. Branded Entertainment. Zeno’s unique, branded entertainment capability creates original branded content on behalf of brands and integrates brand messages into relevant properties, online and offline. For Clorox Cleaning Products, for example, our work includes the development of a first-of-its-kind original web series in partnership with Disney to energize parents to pursue home activities with kids. ZEPPOS & ASSOCIATES, INC. 400 E. Mason St., Suite 200 Milwaukee, WI 53202-3703 414/276-6237 www.zeppos.com Evan N. Zeppos, President Kris Naidl, Executive VP Zeppos & Associates, Inc. is a full-service public relations and government affairs firm providing strategic counsel and practical results. The 12-person, Milwaukeebased firm serves clients throughout Wisconsin as well as in the Midwest and nationwide. Its professional team includes former journalists and experienced public relations practitioners who specialize in strategic communications, publicity, crisis communications, government affairs, social media, issues management, special event planning and media relations. Clients include MillerCoors, the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association, Quarles & Brady, Cousins Subs, the Bradley Center Sports & Entertainment Corp., Veolia and other local, national and international organizations. 56 MAY 2010 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM
PR planning = social science By Fraser Seitel PR planning is a bona fide social science that distinguishes strategic PR from the seat-of-the-pants practice of which many in the field are often guilty. Too often, alas, “PR planning” consists of a supervisor exhorting his troops to “Get some bodies, cameras, lights to the press conference — now!” Not a particularly thoughtful strategic process. Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, author and teacher for 30 years. He is the author of the Prentice-Hall text, The Practice of Public Relations. More preferable — especially if you consider the practice of PR, as my friend Prof. John Doorley does, a bone fide social science — is to approach every assignment with a predetermined planning grid that considers the following 10 steps. First, Background and Research. What is the PR and business situation we are addressing Where does the company stand in the industry What is the status of the industry What is the problem we are trying to prevent or mitigate … or the advantage we are trying to maximize Finally, what does the research show The research is critical to help us navigate to the goal we wish to reach. Second, Goal / Objectives. This is the generalized statement of what you want to accomplish. Communication goals and objectives are often distinct from the organizational or business objectives but they must always support the organizational or business goals. Third, Strategies. A strategy is a generalized statement of the kinds of actions you will employ to achieve the objective. A strategy comprises all the tactics, and each tactic should fall into place in support of your strategies. Fourth, Tactics. A tactic is a specific action you will take or tool you will use, such as a news release, a blog, a podcast, an interview, a note to employees from the CEO, a speech, a video news release, a tweet and so on. As noted, many public relations managers like to jump straight to tactics. But as Prof. Doorley cautions, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” And you may well end up in the wrong place. Fifth, Audiences / Stakeholder Groups. PR people must break down audiences into demographic or psychographic subgroups. This is particularly true in a day of splintered media and Internet sub-publics. There is no such thing as “the Congress” or “the press,” or “the employees” or the “general public.” The more “granularly” — to quote a popular business term — we define our audiences, the more likely we are to persuade them. Sixth, Messages. What messages will help us reach our audiences and accomplish the objectives The best messages are those distinctly designed for a particular well-delineated public. What employees care most about in a particular PR situation — job security, for instance — might be different from what shareholders care most about — usually earnings. PR messaging is where the “rubber meets the road.” While most general business managers can devise strategies and objectives, few possess the communications capability to create persuasive messages. That’s the province of the professional communicator, i.e. the PR professional. Professional Development So conceiving winning messages is a most critical stage of the planning process. Seventh, Assignments / Responsibilities. Assigning specific tasks to individuals not only specifies accountability for each phase of the project, but also gives everyone a feeling of responsibility for the project’s success. Eighth, Timeline. How long will it take to implement the strategy, carry out the various tactics and accomplish the objectives (Planning language is important: one accomplishes an objective; one does not accomplish but rather, “employs” a strategy.) PR deadlines are necessary in every assignment. So, too, therefore, is setting a timeline. Ninth, Budget. In other words,”What will it cost” Tenth, Evaluation. After all is said and done, “Did we achieve the objectives — both of the communication plan and of the business” Evaluative research is necessary to help measure what we have achieved and, if appropriate, make midcourse corrections. Public relations planning isn’t sexy, nor is it a guarantee that you won’t be yelling for the “bodies and the cameras” when the dreaded day comes for the press conference. But it does help distinguish sound and strategic PR implementation. MAY 2010 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 57
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PR Firm Rankings - Odwyerpr.com

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