BroadBased Communications: Marketing, Public Relations, Graphic Design

As marketers and public relations pros, we are often asked to develop strategies designed to improve a person’s or a company’s online reputation. Online reputations are important because consumers’ purchasing decisions are very much influenced by online perceptions. And while there are many ways to monitor an online reputation, there are very few ethical ways to increase or impact it.

The communications and marketing teams at BroadBased can create a transparent, ethical program to increase online presence and boost awareness. Here’s a recent example of how we helped First Watch Restaurants increase name awareness, online reviews and traffic to both of its newly opened First Coast locations.

First Watch, a Florida-based breakfast, brunch and lunch café, recently opened two restaurants in Jacksonville. The PR team at Fry Hammond and Barr in Tampa partnered with BroadBased to introduce the concept to our community. One of the many strategic efforts BroadBased recommended and implemented was an invitation-only, after-hours dinner for food bloggers, restaurant reporters and influential social media users.

We selected 50 attendees who had an online presence, were active Tweeters or bloggers, and had a love of food. We also looked for online influencers with a minimum Klout score of 50. The invitations encouraged the participants to use any of their social media profiles during and after the event to share candid impressions of the restaurant, from service to food quality to cleanliness and beyond.

The Results

The evening event welcomed 55 participants who checked in, took photos, shared reviews and later blogged in detail about the evening breakfast event. The results included 230 Tweets (under Hashtag: #firstwatchjax), six blog posts, three Facebook photo albums, 22 check-ins on Foursquare, and two reviews on online rating sites (Yelp! and UrbanSpoon). The Mandarin location benefited from an immediate increase in online buzz that equated to an increase in traffic to the restaurant.

Behind the raw numbers are two powerful benefits of an event like this. First, all of the reviews and feedback were honest and organic; they weren’t “paid for” directly or created by unethical means such as having restaurant employees review locations. Second, they came in a buzz-generating burst, rather than trickling in over time.

The same concept can be applied to VIP “sneak peek” events that engage consumers at a variety of businesses and locations. Sneak peeks are perfect for increasing traffic to retailer locations, special events, event venues, special attractions, and events and weekend or annual festivals. Call Maria at BroadBased to brainstorm ways to increase your company’s online reputation.

Posted in Brand Development, Public/Media Relations

Make sure to obtain sign-off of the document from everyone in the chain of approval before starting your project.

At a recent meeting of marketing professionals, we were surprised to hear about the number of corporate marketing department staffers who don’t, can’t or aren’t allowed to execute creative briefs with their internal customers. We found that very surprising and thought we would offer up some of the benefits of using a creative brief.

A creative brief is a document used by marketing firms and advertising agencies to detail project goals and other essential details prior to starting a project. At BroadBased, we consider it an essential document that defines guiding principles for each project. The document is shared with all strategists, writers and designers working on a project so everyone has the same understanding and goals in mind. We believe a client-approved creative brief facilitates the smooth execution of a marketing project and greatly helps to limit change in direction mid-way through a project.

Some of the questions on the BroadBased creative brief include:

• What is your marketing/advertising objective?
• Who are your audiences?
• What are the benefits/features to the customers?
• What is your key selling point?
• What action do you want your prospect to take?
• How will we evaluate success?
• Who is the competition?

Creative brief templates are available on the Internet, or you can create your own. Whatever format you choose, be sure to obtain sign-off of the document from everyone in the chain of approval before starting your project.

Posted in Brand Development, Capabilities

BroadBased recently completed the sixth issue of Coastal Law Magazine, the alumni, faculty and student publication for the Florida Coastal School of Law. The magazine, in its third year, has been honored several times since inception with design awards from The Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

A key feature of the magazine is the custom photography and illustration that is heavily featured each issue. Brooks Terry, director of marketing and communications at Coastal Law, takes the lead in selecting artists, using both local and out-of-town talent. “In addition to photography, we’ve featured photo-collage, watercolor, pen and ink and, in this latest issue, we worked with a local screen printer to create a one-of-a-kind piece for the cover story. He incorporated found art from antique text books,” said Terry. “I prefer using illustration because of its creative range and ability to draw the reader’s attention to something innovative and original. Not to mention that you won’t see it anywhere else.”

“Custom illustration is a very effective way to present stories that may be a less ‘tangible’ topic,” said Robert Hedges, BroadBased’s senior art director. “Illustration can capture a concept and be tailored to work perfectly with a headline. Photography is not always as flexible,” he said.

Regardless what your image needs are, remember there is an alternative to the ubiquitous stock image websites, and BroadBased can help you.

Posted in Brand Development, Capabilities

Hot off the press, Florida Coastal School of Law’s (Coastal Law) Winter 2011 issue of Coastal Law Magazine highlights the school’s Center for Law and Sports with a cover story titled New Age Athletes as Social Entrepreneurs. The cover and article feature custom illustrations by Karen Kurycki, BroadBased’s Senior Art Director.

Designed by BroadBased since 2009, Coastal Law Magazine has received several Awards of Excellence from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, reports Brooks Terry, Marketing Director for the school. “Each issue is greatly anticipated by students, alumni and staff,” Terry says. “The publication is an integral part of our overall communications strategy, which includes components of Web, print and our custom iPhone app.” You can read the entire magazine online or download a copy.

Posted in Brand Development

Rebranding an iconic former church building as a public event venue isn’t an everyday challenge, but the logo produced by BroadBased Senior Art Director Karen Kurycki is truly, well, praiseworthy. The Live at Snyder! brand captures the familiar lines of the now-desanctified Snyder Memorial Church at the corner of Monroe and Laura Streets while conveying the excitement surrounding the building’s new role.

Karen worked with the City of Jacksonville’s Office of Special Events to develop the memorable logo for the Snyder building, which has become a popular spot for Art Walk activities and a venue for lectures, movies and concerts, with capacity for up to 300 guests.

“My biggest challenge was to make use of the building’s instantly recognizable façade while at the same time giving the image a ‘facelift’ for its new purpose,” Karen says. “With some playful angles and energetic typography, we were able to accomplish our goals.”

Posted in Brand Development

The 2010 Annual Report for the Early Learning Coalition of Duval (ELC) continued this year to build upon the organization’s theme of children and our shorelines – with a new twist. BroadBased Senior Art Director Karen Kurycki applied an extra special touch by incorporating her custom watercolors throughout. Chad Burns, Community Outreach & Child Care Resource & Referral Manager, called the design a “smashing success.”

Ranked as the #1 Charity in the Jacksonville Business Journal’s 2010 Giving Guide, ELC’s mission is to create a coordinated and integrated system for school readiness services to better prepare children for entry into kindergarten. The organization places an emphasis on literacy skills for children who may be at risk for future school failure. ELC recognizes parents as their children’s first teachers. It seeks to assist parents by providing opportunities to enhance their children’s educational success through participation in quality school readiness programs.

For more information about the Early Learning Coalition of Duval, please visit www.elcofduval.org.

Posted in Brand Development

Continuing a long tradition of BroadBased volunteerism, our marketing Broad, Tonisha Landry-Gaines, spent the last several months participating in planning efforts for Bank on Jacksonville, a new initiative launched to help usher people into the financial mainstream. Landry-Gaines donated her time by serving on the marketing committee and spearheading the development of the website.

The Bank on Jacksonville initiative is a concentrated effort to engage ‘unbanked’ and ‘underbanked’ individuals and promote the availability of low- and no-cost financial accounts. (Unbanked refers to those who have never had an account at a bank or credit union, and underbanked are those who may need to reestablish a banking relationship.)

The collaborative effort, with a partnership of 15 local banks and credit unions, the City of Jacksonville, the U.S. Department of Treasury, FDIC, National League of Cities and a number of local community organizations, was launched with a press conference at City Hall on Monday Oct. 18.

Learn more about the Bank on Jacksonville initiative and what it means for the First Coast at www.bankonjacksonville.org.

Posted in Brand Development, Marketing Planning, Web/Interactive Development

So you’ve convinced the CEO that social media is here to stay and you’ve been given the green light to test a program. Now what? How do you use your internal and external resources most efficiently? Maybe you’re ready to jump in but prefer some guidance before the training wheels come off.

“BroadBased has a protocol to guide you to the right social media channels for your company,” says BroadBased’s Digital Media Strategist Tonisha Landry-Gaines. “Our steps include situation analysis, implementation, content development, customer acquisition, promotion and tracking. And just as with a traditional marketing strategy, there is no cookie-cutter answer that fits every company. Our recommendations are custom.”

Locally, The Blood Alliance is an example of a non-profit organization using social media to stay in touch with its audience. “Twitter and Facebook are just one part of a very comprehensive marketing plan,” says Valerie Collins, COO. “Tonisha has been very helpful in sharing best practices and providing structure and guidance to our team as we grow our efforts.”

Posted in Brand Development, BroadBased, Capabilities, Social Media Planning, Web/Interactive Development

Over the years, we’ve seen many of our clients turn away from the elaborate, full-color, magazine-style annual report toward simpler, shorter print treatments. And many companies across the U.S. (as many as 75 to 85 percent by some estimates) have gone on-line with their annual reports, regardless of the size or breadth of their print version.

“What used to be a standard-bearer in the industry — the full-sized, glossy annual report — is no more for many companies,” said BroadBased CEO Jan Korb. “Our clients tell us that cost considerations and the movement toward more environmentally friendly communications have been influences. Many clients, even before this recent recession, had cut back to color ‘wraps’ around their 10-Ks. Although there will always be a need for a print version to some degree, the emphasis is on-line.”

The growing trend is toward more interactive components and “moving parts” in the on-line version of the annual report, Korb explains. “Video, either including the entire report or used to highlight management, products or special initiatives, is a trend that is catching on fast.”

Another feature to consider for your investor relations communications is a searchable, page-flippable, printable and web-linkable product to post to your Web site or corporate blog. These types of documents can easily be referenced from your print, email or on-line communications and greatly enhance your user experience. And they save you printing and mailing costs as well.

Whatever direction you take for your annual report this year, consider incorporating some of the new trends. Email jkorb@bbased.com to talk about non-traditional options.

Posted in Brand Development, BroadBased, Capabilities, Corporate Communications, Web/Interactive Development

So your company has experimented with social media over the last year and you “get it.” Now you’re ready to commit to a program and you want to do it right. How do you use your internal and external resources most efficiently? Are you ready to jump in but prefer some guidance before the training wheels come off?

BroadBased has created a research-based protocol to help you determine what social media channels are right for your organization. We’ll guide you through the planning, content development, launch and measurement of a social media marketing program.

“New tools are being created at an incredible speed and quantity,” says Sean Collins, Web Designer for BroadBased Communications. “Do you want to integrate your blog into an information highway that feeds your other channels? No problem. Have you been hoping for a tool that allows multiple internal departments to contribute to your social media feed? No problem,” says Collins.

Social media is just one component to an overall marketing and public relations plan. BroadBased follows a comprehensive process to identify each company’s external needs and internal resources. “Just as with a traditional marketing strategy, there is no cookie-cutter answer that fits every company,” says BroadBased CEO Jan Korb. “So we developed our own process, similar to the one we use for creating traditional marketing and PR strategies. This process is a logical guide to social media strategy development.”

How Does it Work?

Similar to traditional marketing and PR strategies, we begin with an audit of your resources and needs. This guides us in determining which social media channels will be the best complement to your existing marketing and PR programs. Then we review your goals, expectations, internal resources and budget before making our final recommendation.

Ready to Start?

Email jkorb@bbased.com to receive a Social Media Marketing Questionnaire, the first step to implementing your custom social media solution.

Posted in Brand Development, BroadBased, Capabilities, Marketing Planning, Public/Media Relations, Social Media Planning, Web/Interactive Development