BroadBased Communications: Marketing, Public Relations, Graphic Design

BroadBased’s PR division has been hard at work this month on a television news promotion with client Paper Retriever recycling. Action News and Girls Gone Green, an environmental action non-profit founded by Action News Meteorologist Julie Watkins, joined forces with Paper Retriever to spread the word about this community-based recycling effort that costs nothing and is available to anyone. BroadBased created the project to raise awareness in the summer when recycling in our community decreases.

The project, which is still in progress, is a “30-day Challenge” to area businesses and individuals who want to raise money for Girls Gone Green (or a charity of their choice) through the simple act of recycling paper. Bins are popping up all over in hopes that paper recycling be available to anyone, any time. Click to view a short video of Julie’s introduction of the program.

The project involves morning show TV stories and interviews, promotions and giveaways. In addition, Julie and Action News have interacted with interested recyclers through Facebook and Action News’ website and Go Green pages.

If you’d like to participate in the challenge by hosting a bin for Girls Gone Green or another non-profit organization, you can contact the Paper Retriever office at 904-598-9545, or visit www.paperretriever.com to quickly locate a bin near you for easy recycling.

Get this bin working for FREE to raise funds for your nonprofit organization.

Posted in Public/Media Relations

BroadBased’s Traffic Manager, Joy Jarrell

Joy Jarrell, BroadBased traffic manager, was recently named to the Board of Directors of The Children’s Christmas Party of Jacksonville. Citing her many years of coordinating CCPOJ projects created by BroadBased and her passion for this annual charitable event, Executive Director Diane Halverson requested that Jarrell join the board, and she accepted the at-large position.

Over the past several years, BroadBased has been an in-kind sponsor for the CCPOJ, and has implemented the organization’s branding with logo design, information packet materials, website, flyers, posters, PSAs, customized premium items and has also donated public and media relations services. The BroadBased staff can also be seen handing out toys at the annual event.

The Children’s Christmas Party of Jacksonville is a non-profit organization founded in 1999. It provides a yearly toy give-away event for Jacksonville’s children, ages 12 years and younger, who otherwise might not receive toys for the Christmas holiday. This year, the party will be held on Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Prime Osborn Convention Center.

View the CCPOJ website at www.ccpoj.org.

Posted in BroadBased, Public/Media Relations

BroadBased CEO Jan Korb was one of two keynote speakers for North Florida Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) on June 17. Her presentation, “How Are Your Smartest Competitors Using Technology?” was delivered to approximately 50 members and guests and provided specific examples as to how venture capitalists, business brokers and wealth advisors are using social media to grow their reputations and businesses.

Matt Laffey, chapter president, remarked that the content was perfectly tailored for this audience. “I think the content was the most valuable we’ve delivered this year,” said Laffey.

The North Florida Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth is in its twelfth year and is the premier association for professionals involved in middle market corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. ACG brings together North Florida’s top business leaders, providing an opportunity to meet and network, exchange information and opportunities, share strategies for building businesses and attend insightful and relevant programs.

Korb is available to speak on a variety of topics, and the ACG presentation can be viewed on her LinkedIn page.

Posted in BroadBased, Corporate Communications, Public/Media Relations, Social Media Planning

• 87% believe the CEO’s reputation is an important part of a company’s reputation.
• 83% of companies will face a crisis that will negatively impact their share price between 20 and 30%, during the next five years.
• 100% of those reading this post have either a personal or corporate reputation to protect.

Source: Marketing Pilgrim

Reputation management is a new term for some, but it’s one that every CEO and marketer should be aware of. With the enormous surge of user-generated content posted online (think blogs, social media and online news comment sections), it’s extremely important to monitor online mentions of your brand, your senior management and even yourself.

BroadBased uses several tactics to build or reinforce strong, positive online reputations for brands and individuals. Through a combination of strategies that employ website, social media and online public relations approaches, we have experienced success creating a positive presence where there was previously none, and reversing a negative one.

“It’s critical for an individual or company to know what is being said about them online,” says Jan Korb, BroadBased’s CEO. “If what you find about yourself or your company in an online search is not to your liking, there is definitely work to be done. Imagine someone performing due diligence on your company, product or service and finding negative mentions or, perhaps worse, NO mentions.”

BroadBased’s strategy revolves around the regular creation of fresh content, a strong link strategy and other optimization tactics. Upon careful and sustained application, this strategy has proven successful in commanding the coveted “page one” positions during online searches, pressing undesirable mentions to later pages.

So keep a close eye on your reputation. You only have one.

Posted in BroadBased, Public/Media Relations

Public speaking is an integral part of any comprehensive marketing strategy. Your well-chosen, well-delivered words build your brand and reputation, communicate vital information, and make friends for your company or nonprofit endeavor.

What you may not know about BroadBased is that we quite often work with speechwriters who craft compelling remarks for leaders at the highest levels of business and government, as well as a host of executives from public and non-profit organizations.

Whether you need a one-minute discourse or an hour-long presentation, please know that our speechwriting partners provide a full range of services to address any topic. Email us for more information or samples.

Posted in BroadBased, Capabilities, Public/Media Relations

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

We promised to tell you about Jacksonville’s newest corporate citizen earlier this fall and we can’t wait for you to get to know them!

Paper Retriever, the recycling arm of AbitibiBowater, North America’s largest manufacturer of newsprint, selected BroadBased Public Relations to lead the PR and community relations efforts when they entered the Jacksonville market in October.

“We were really excited to introduce Paper Retriever to Jacksonville in an especially meaningful way,” said Maria Coppola, Director of Public Relations at BroadBased. “Our team, which includes consultant Mike Tolbert, facilitated introductions that resulted in a city-wide partnership between Paper Retriever, the City of Jacksonville and Keep Jacksonville Beautiful. This partnership will help our community recycle paper conveniently, while helping to raise money for non-profit groups at the same time.”

“Paper Retriever provides fundraising opportunities by supplying distinctive paper collection bins to local non-profits at no cost,” said Reggie Brown, Area Manager for AbitibiBowater. “Bins are placed in highly visible areas at schools, churches and even city parks, and the sponsoring organization receives payment for the recyclable paper it collects. Everybody wins — anyone with an available six-foot by six-foot space that is easily accessible and visible to the public can host a bin. And the proceeds can benefit a non-profit of choice or Keep Jacksonville Beautiful, the city’s litter fighting commission.”

Upcoming events include a large-scale fundraiser for Keep Jacksonville Beautiful at area Winn-Dixie store locations. Even if you can’t host a bin, you can help “keep Jacksonville beautiful” by dropping by any location and recycling your magazines, catalogs, newspapers, junk mail and office paper.

It’s easy to obtain a Paper Retriever bin for your business or nonprofit organization. For more information, email Maria at Maria@bbased.com.

Paper Retriever is offering special cash incentives if you call and reserve your bin by the end of 2009 — call 904-598-9545 today for the extra green just in time for the holidays!

Posted in Marketing Planning, Public/Media Relations

In this period of shifting markets and changing tastes, it may be time to audit your marketing tools and processes.

A strategic communications audit is an assessment of a company’s marketing communications materials and practices. It is an invaluable tool in determining if marketing materials embrace current corporate branding and key messages, or if the materials could benefit from a “refreshing.”

“BroadBased performs audits at the beginning of a client relationship and at points midstream when business shifts become evident,” said CEO Jan Korb. “We do this to ensure that marketing communications materials are correctly targeting prospective customers and internal and external audiences. This is especially important now, as many businesses are finding that their markets have changed direction and they need to adjust accordingly.”

During an audit, visual branding and key message consistency are evaluated across all forms of communication including print, electronic and public outreach. Included in a review is the efficacy of internal communications and whether external communications are truly reflecting the client’s brand and key messages. Most of all, we assess whether the materials are working to support the bottom line.

“An audit, large or small, provides an overview of where an organization stands in terms of marketing and communication performance,“ said Korb. “Audits will identify areas — either internal or external — that would benefit from strengthened messaging and branding consistency.”

Our clients have reported that they find the recommendations from an audit very helpful in their marketing decision-making. Sometimes it means just minor changes. For others, it’s the start of a whole new journey.

Posted in BroadBased, Capabilities, Public/Media Relations

Our Public Relations Director Maria Coppola was recently named to the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA). As an experienced PR professional with more than 17 years in the media industry, she was also named the Media Relations Chair for the group.

Right now, Maria is busy grabbing headlines in seven counties as interest builds in Northeast Florida’s future. The client, Reality Check First Coast, will bring 300 community leaders together May 21st to brainstorm a blueprint for area growth through 2060. For more information on Reality Check, visit realitycheckfirstcoast.com.

She is also busy managing the media relations for Waste Management as it works with the city to resolve the issue over the future of the Trail Ridge landfill. For more information on the facts, visit keeptrailridge.com.

Some of her other clients include Fifth Third Bank, Children’s Lighthouse Learning Center of Jacksonville and Erica Courtney.

As for FPRA, the local chapter web site can be found at fpra-jax.org and the next big event is the 2009 FPRA Image Awards being held Friday, April 3 at MOCA Jax from 11:30 to 1 p.m. The Image Awards highlight and recognize the best public relations campaigns in the area.

Posted in BroadBased, Capabilities, Public/Media Relations

A graduate of the University of North Florida with a BS in Communications, specifying in public relations, Lynsey Mullis is the most recent addition to team BroadBased.

During her college years, Lynsey gained a great deal of marketing and public relations experience from internships at local advertising agencies and corporations. Her hands-on experience working directly with clients has prepared her well for her new role supporting both the PR and Marketing departments at BroadBased.

Welcome Lynsey!

Posted in BroadBased, Capabilities, Public/Media Relations