Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Communiqué PR’s Co-founders Colleen Moffitt and Jennifer Gehrt will be co-presenting at the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber’s Good Morning! Power Breakfast on September 22 and the Business EXPO on Tuesday, October 20.
At the Power Breakfast, Colleen and Jennifer will discuss the 10 principles to harness the power of PR as outlined in their book, Strategic Public Relations. They will be speaking about the importance of public relations and how to strategically leverage PR to meet your business objectives
The Business EXPO will take place on October 20. Colleen and Jennifer will be conducting a business workshop at 1:30 p.m. at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center to help local business professionals consider how public relations can help with their entrepreneurial and business endeavors.
To learn more or to register for the event, call (253) 627-2175 or visit www.tacomachamber.org.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Communiqué PR is excited to announce one of its newest clients, Mobile On. Mobile On’s flagship product, BuildAnApp, is the first cross-platform, do-it-yourself solution that offers an affordable, intuitive way for small businesses, community groups and professional service organizations to create customized smartphone applications, optimizing information for on-the-go audiences.
This is an exciting time in the smartphone application space with several emerging companies creating a new category within the mobile industry. We are excited to partner with such an innovative company and look forward to garnering some great results on their behalf.
To learn more about the company and its solutions, visit www.buildanapp.com.
We recently ran across a PRWeek article about social media and digital communications. The article provides some interesting statistics about digital communications from the 2009 Digital Readiness Report from iPressroom, Korn/Ferry International and PRSA including:
PR leads digital communications at 51 percent of organizations, while marketing leads 40.5 percent of the time
PR generally leads several aspects of digital communications, including blogging (49 percent), microblogging (52 percent) and social networking (28 percent).
Many experts believe PR will continue to lead digital efforts. Jonathan Kopp, the global director of Ketchum Digital, notes, “The speed of engagement is changing in the digital space and PR moves faster than advertising and marketing, so it gives them an opportunity.”
To learn more about this report, read the article entitled, “Report: Social Media Falls Mostly to PR.” If you have questions about your own digital communications efforts, we’d love to help. Send us an e-mail at info@communiquepr.com
Communiqué PR has a number of mobile industry clients so we thought it would be interesting to provide insight on a blog about smartphone app stores.
Gizmodo, Gawker Media’s largest blog focusing on gadgets and technology, recently published a post comparing mobile application stores from companies including Apple, Palm, Blackberry, Nokia and Microsoft.
While many of the features are similar, blogger John Herrman, notes there are two distinct kinds of app stores: the primary store, which is the first and only source of an operating system’s apps (e.g. Apple), and the secondary store, which is built around an existing stock of third-party apps (e.g. Blackberry, Microsoft and Nokia).
There has been a lot of attention focused on mobile application stores recently as traditional players such as Palm, BlackBerry, Nokia and Microsoft have begun offering similar versions of Apple’s popular app store. While all of these stores have similar features for both consumers and app developers, the comparison of each of these stores is interesting to note. We anticipate many consumers will base their future mobile phone purchasing decisions on the features and functionalities of the device’s app store.
Read the blog post entitled, “Giz Explains: All the Smartphone Mobile App Stores,” to learn more.
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, recently found himself in hot water when he published an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, candidly expressing his personal opinions about healthcare reform. In the article, Mackey argued we should move, “toward less government control and more individual empowerment” and outlined eight reforms that would improve healthcare for everyone.
The op-ed piece spurred a PR nightmare for Whole Foods, with many consumers boycotting the store and accusing Mackey of only caring for those who are “most fortunate and don’t want their piece of the pie to be smaller.”
The company responded to the consumer outcry by releasing a statement via a spokeswoman. In addition, Mackey addressed concerns by posting a blog on the company’s site about his op-ed, clarifying that Whole Foods Market as a company “has no official position on the issue.”
While both the company and Mackey have made efforts to repair the damage, it’s uncertain whether the company’s image will be able to fully recover from this incident. This situation highlights the importance of not only responding to consumer concerns in a timely manner, but also evaluating the possible impact an executive’s actions can have on the company image.
What do you think? Has this incident changed the way you feel about Whole Foods as a company? Do you think Mackey’s response to the situation was appropriate?
We would love to hear your thoughts. Leave us a comment or send an e-mail to info@communiquepr.com.
On September 11, Colleen Moffitt, co-founder of Communiqué PR, will be presenting at an event entitled, “The Rise of the Social Internet and Social Media Law” sponsored by Perkins Coie and Law Seminar International.
The event will feature speakers from companies including: Avvo, Inc., Children’s Advertising Review Board (CARU), Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Perkins Coie LLP and more.
Clearly, as more organizations look to leverage social mediums, this event will provide useful insight on the legal implications and regulatory issues surrounding the corporate use of social media.
Colleen’s presentation will focus on how companies can maximize the benefits and minimize risks surrounding social media marketing.
To learn more about the event or to attend the workshops, register online at www.lawseminars.com.