PRWeek reported last week that GA moved up 16 spots in its Agency Business Report to No. 85 across the U.S. and to No. 23 in the regional rankings (South). As the saying goes, success begets success.

To continue to provide our growing roster of clients with exceptional communications strategy and support, we are pleased to announce two new additions to our team of experienced communications professionals. Brian Wagner joins our Washington, D.C., team as a senior manager focusing on our defense, health care and technology clients. Rose Garbarino joins our Los Angeles team as a manager supporting our health care clients.

This growth comes on the heels of our announcement last month that PR veteran Hope Boonshaft has joined our team out in Los Angeles as executive vice president and general manager. Hope, Brian and Rose all share GA’s commitment to client service and bring unique talents and experience to the team that will support our clients’ success.

And we’re not done yet. After all, you don’t post double-digit revenue growth each year without a solid team in place. Stay tuned for future updates about GA’s growing team!

After this great match was made, I reflected on how and why this bit of serendipity unfolded. Hope is very much an entrepreneur and shares the same business and public relations principles that we practice here at GA. She isn’t afraid to think outside the box or to take a risk, and she realizes that best practices are about providing game-changing ideas, implementing them for clients and providing a strong, tangible return on their investment. 

I soon realized my own background paralleled many aspects of Hope’s – I began my career in the White House and transitioned to the corporate world to become head of public affairs at Dole Food Company. Hope had a similar experience beginning in the White House and going on to work for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Like me, she was hired to perform a government and public affairs function, and was later awarded the communications piece of the business. We both also practiced investor relations in our corporate roles and valued being able to integrate all of these disciplines to consistently achieve success for our companies.

All of us at GA are excited about Hope coming aboard and the opportunity it provides to build on past successes while also growing our practice areas within the LA office. Adding Hope’s world-class counsel to our current client offerings and expanding GA’s presence in other business areas based on her background – e.g., entertainment, technology, litigation communications, etc. – will no doubt prove to be an exciting chapter in GA history.

All of this just proves that getting out there and checking in with past and present colleagues can present untold opportunities for building businesses.

There are currently more U.S. Facebook users than people who voted in the 2008 election – and 50 percent of these users visit Facebook daily. What tactics should your business use to connect with them? For that answer I defer to Katie Harbath, associate manager for policy at Facebook. I saw her speak twice recently, first in January at WhatsNextDC and again in February at a Small Business Government Communicators Network event. During her presentations, Harbath, who is an authority on Facebook best practices, focused on four key elements of the social media platform: social, integration, engagement and measurement.

Some of my favorite tips and facts from her presentations include:

• Call to action – If you want to keep in contact with a user, send him/her to your Facebook page rather than a website. People are much more likely to “like” a page than to sign up for an email list.

• Encourage sharing – Every share on Facebook drives between two and five people back to your website. This can mean dozens, if not hundreds of extra eyes on your content.

• Make it social – There are many Facebook plugins and tools you can add to your website that allow for increased integration and engagement. For example, you can allow users to like news items within your site, or add a comment plugin and use Facebook as your registration tool.

• Strike a pose – Studies have shown photos are the best received content in news feeds, and photos of faces are especially effective. According to Harbath, infographics are also very popular in news feeds and result in increased engagement.

• It’s all about integration – As Harbath put it, “the best campaigns are integrated.” People are 60 percent more likely to recall an ad if they see it on both Facebook and television.

• Test creative – Before launching a new logo, brand, ad or video, use your Facebook fans as a focus group. Maybe if former Rep. Pete Hoekstra had tested his Super Bowl ad on Facebook he could have avoided this mess.

In addition to unveiling timeline, Facebook recently announced new advertising avenues that are sure to benefit brands. Facebook advertisers will now be able to distribute ads in three ways: the right-hand column (where they currently reside), in news feeds and in a log-out message. You can see the beta examples of log-out message advertising from Bing here.

Whether you’ve jumped on board with timeline or not, Facebook continues to be one of the most important online platforms for brands. Is your business making use of all it has to offer?

The proposals by well-intentioned advocates are numerous: a sugar tax on “junk food,” bans on marketing food to children, new labeling guidelines and reformed school lunch programs, just to name a few. Prominent writer and activist Raj Patel in a recently penned Atlantic Magazine piece even explores the idea of abolishing the food industry.

However, it’s clear that much difficult work remains to be done in simply generating consensus among all stakeholders about the meaning of the terminology we use when we talk about food, never mind considering the need for more rules to govern its production and consumption.

For example, “processed foods” are a common villain targeted by activists. But what exactly is a processed food? The basic definition designates any food that is deliberately changed before it is made available to eat, which includes even the healthiest of foods such as washed, frozen or canned vegetables. Under that definition, pasteurization, which makes foods such as milk and juice safer for consumption, is also considered “processed.” Even simple foods such as bread and popcorn qualify.

Clearly these are not the types of foods drawing the ire of food activists. And therein lies the rub: how do we define the types of processed foods that fall into the crosshairs of these proposals? Is it the number of ingredients that make a processed food bad? Or is it simply the nutritional value of the food? And how do you measure that nutritional value as part of an individual’s diet and lifestyle?

For food manufacturers on the other side of the table, the answers to these questions are not trivial.

The same sort of confusion colors efforts aimed at limiting sugar consumption, especially those targeting high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) found in sodas. From a biological standpoint, as noted by nutrition and public policy expert Marion Nestle on her Food Politics blog, sugar is sugar – no matter the source. Still, many HFCS critics largely ignore beet and cane (table) sugars, and often leave fruit juice sweeteners out of the discussion entirely. A regulation that would then tax a beverage based on sugar content may not only swallow up sodas, but also juices, whether or not they have added sweeteners.

Failure to take the time and effort necessary to thoroughly approach these types of complex issues has all too often led to misinformed and misguided regulations. An example is zoning restrictions on fast-food outlets. It has long been argued that proximity to fast-food restaurants contributes to obesity, and some urban areas have limited or prohibited such restaurants in their neighborhoods. Recent research indicates, however, that there is no scientific support for the idea that fast food is a significant cause of American obesity.

As you can see from the examples above, this important debate is being waged and important policy and consumer decisions are being considered without even a mutual understanding of the terms, let alone an acknowledgement of the facts. No matter your position on food-related issues, a smart, productive debate about the food products in question (and the science behind them) cannot be had until all stakeholders make a more concerted effort to help better frame the discussion using meaningful and agreeable terminology.

Driving public discourse and elevating important issues are two of public relations’ major roles, and high-decibel efforts to secure the high ground in the food debate are well underway. But to avoid half-baked public policies it is essential the food industry and food activists first engage stakeholders in real conversations that establish common ground on the basics.

This year’s batch of RQ scores is troubling to say the least. Less than 20 percent of those polled viewed corporations positively, and 60 percent felt corporate reputation had declined. The number of companies with “excellent” reputations, as determined by Harris, fell by half from last year. Financial services and banking companies came out of the survey badly bludgeoned; Bank of America, AIG, Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs suffered the worst drops in RQ scores on the entire list.

It should be noted that, historically, companies whose RQ score drops below 50 run a significant risk of being taken over by the government or going out of business. Bank of America, AIG and Goldman Sachs – the trinity that fall in this warning range – should consider the carnage of corporations that Harris found to have similarly abysmal RQ scores in the past, including infamous flameouts like Enron, MCI, WorldComm and Global Crossing, as well as mangled brands like Halliburton, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

What can be done about this and can the government help?

Whatever your politics, the Harris survey suggests Americans believe the government is inept at the bailout gig. Government – polling lower than tobacco, financial services and banking industries – ranks dead last in reputation with a whopping 76 percent negative rating.

Those who wish to restore the waning image of corporate America – and government for that matter– should look to Google and Apple, which top the Harris survey with the highest RQ scores. These companies derive their brand appeal from their undeniable ability to stir emotional appeal in consumers. How can we explain the fervor for Apple versus the vitriol for banks?

Our country’s greatest brands share common traits. Like Apple and Google, they hold emotional appeal for their consumers. Kodak is an example of a company that lost its way; however, it wasn’t when people stopped buying film, but when they forgot Kodak’s mission was always to help people capture memories.  Apple gets this. Does Goldman Sachs?

Great brands also buy into corporate social responsibility (CSR). For them, it is not a line item in the public relations budget – it’s in their DNA. For example, Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz made a bold and brilliant decision last year to sell wristbands in his stores to provide capital to American small businesses. “If banks wouldn’t do it,” he thought, “why can’t we?”

So why do we have such a pessimistic view of our nation’s companies? In the business of doing business, it would seem that many American companies have become devoid of a larger purpose and commitment to the public good. True, just about every company nowadays has some kind of flashy marketing campaign or a new CSR initiative. But the public, as evidenced from the survey, knows the difference between the real thing and a façade.

The rising RQ scores of auto companies, once so maligned, is proof that rebuilding a tarnished reputation is possible. In the age of social media, this feat has never been more possible. But the stakes are higher. Today’s consumer has instant access to abundant, raw information, and demands more from a company than simply a product. Emotional appeal, according to the Harris survey, stands alongside financial performance and products and services as key factors in overall RQ scores.

The brands that struggle in the marketplace of perception must do more to leverage social media, embrace CSR and offer a bigger vision of themselves in the world. They need to do more than simply make money. In the end, consumers want to buy more than just a product.

This year will mark our fifth anniversary. We owe our success and growth to our clients, first and foremost. Each year, they continue to reengage us, refer us to their colleagues and networks, and enable us to take on great assignments. Our engagements run the gamut: bringing bloggers to pineapple plantations in Costa Rica; rebranding the world’s top private security company; raising awareness about deadly food allergies; pushing to end overfishing subsidies; and creating a policy environment in which this country can have a broader discussion about HIV/AIDS.

The odds for small businesses surviving their first two years are quite low. Having five solid years under our belts is definitely an achievement, but it is just the beginning.

GA has now enjoyed four consecutive years of double-digit growth. The 22 professionals in D.C. and Los Angeles who embody this client-centric culture deserve a tip of the hat from both co-founder Tom Pernice and me.

We will, of course, be celebrating this news – along with our fifth birthday – in style. Stay tuned for more on that soon.

The witch hunt for FDA blood began long ago and, in recent memory, climaxed with spinach recalls, tales of poor (or no) inspections of overseas drug manufacturing plants or slow-motion approvals of medicines. This past year, the wave of drug shortages that hit the country has been a PR tsunami that has engulfed drug makers and the FDA; both have drawn the ire of a public that has lost faith in corporations and government to handle matters competently.

This crisis of confidence in American businesses and institutions is very real. The venerable Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient survey – the results of which were derived from a survey of 18,000 Americans – reveals that we now trust government less than the tobacco and banking industries. In fact, government ranks dead-last on the industry reputation list with only a 10 percent positive reputation rating.

Is it really that bad? Well, sometimes, yes. And it’s the self-inflicted wounds that seem most egregious. Just this week, an FDA advisory panel voted in favor of approving a new drug (which is actually a combination of two older drugs) that allegedly combats obesity. This epidemic is serious and pervasive, and should rightly command the attention of our government.

The problem, writes the Huffington Post’s Mark Hyman, is that drugs won’t solve what is actually a lifestyle problem. “The problem of chronic disease, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, is not a medication deficiency, but a problem with what we put at the end of our fork,” he writes.

It’s true, in this case, that the FDA is just doing its job: approving drugs. But, so is First Lady Michele Obama with her admirable “Let’s Move” initiative, which is popularizing exercise and healthy eating with our children. One government voice tells us to swallow more kale while the other offers us a pill.

Having faith that the government or corporations are capable of handling matters competently requires us to believe what they are telling us. Tough to do when those messages compete with and contradict one another – as the Harris Interactive survey shows.

I will abstain from sharing my personal views on the substance of the topic. But I will go on the record to praise the approach that TEDxManhattan 2011 Fellow Stefani Bardin took to making her point. Some take to blogs; others, like Michael Pollan, put pen to paper and write the definitive works on the war between whole foods and processed foods. Ms. Bardin swallowed a camera the size of a pill that emitted images from her GI tract using Bluetooth. Voila. We have real, albeit gruesome footage of how processed food is digested in the body.

This little video has boomeranged all over the web. As of today it had more than 29,000 Facebook shares, 700 tweets and was emailed over 6,000 times. The YouTube video has over 1 million views.

Show, don’t tell; that is the old maxim for high school essay writers everywhere. It would seem that this can now be done without the aid of ink and quill. 

It all started out with “S**t Girls Say - Episode 1”: pair a hilariously accurate parody (it’s funny because it’s true, right?) with some star power (Juliette Lewis) and – voila – a meme with a life of its own was born. Lines like, “Could you pass me that blanket?”, “What’s my password?” and “Twinsies!” led this three-episode video series to reach nearly 20 million collective views in just one month.

Then came…everyone else. “Stuff [insert gender, sexual orientation, race, occupation, etc., here] People Say” videos were popping up everywhere. After a barrage of posts, bloggers started to promise they would stop posting them – but then, oh one more! The videos were often clever, often funny and, most importantly, often shared. Nearly every relatively well-done “Stuff” video was able to capitalize on the already occurring YouTube searches and was shared across Facebook, Twitter, blogs and the like.

For example, a particularly GA-suited video, “Stuff PR People Say,” created by Hunter Public Relations (“Soooo I just made a few tweaks” – does that sound familiar?), had thousands of views within a couple hours. Hunter succeeded with this video (currently at more than 47,000 views) because they knew their audience, created the video before the meme died, and it was actually funny!

Other groups used the hilarious meme to gain awareness for more serious issues, however – and, quite successfully. Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest legal organization working for the civil rights of the LGBT community, produced “Sh**t Homophobic People Say.” The video spliced together public statements that showcase the talking points of their opposition, raising interest in their issue. In five days the video had received more than 1.1 million views.

So – if you’re going to capitalize on a meme, be early and be smart. Your goal is to become a member of the “How clever!” camp, rather than the “Aww, they tried” one.

By Britt Beringer

I hopped on the Twitter bus about three years ago, mostly because a close friend was tweeting updates about his adventures as a professional cyclist. I just couldn’t get behind it at first. I don’t lead a rockstar lifestyle, so who was going to care about my college class woes or rants about Colonial Williamsburg tourists? I think I tweeted once in the year after I opened my account.

Then, I began to notice some interesting faces interacting online. All of a sudden I could “follow” the White House on Twitter or “friend” President Obama on Facebook. These were not the usual reality TV stars or one-hit wonders that generally plagued my social media experience. These were outlets from whom I actually wanted to hear and were forced to operate within a framework that is accessible. Twitter restricts users to 140 characters, thereby curtailing politicians’ innate need to ramble. Excessive text on a Facebook page looks cluttered and bookish, often warding off readers entirely.

In an age where people crave information instantaneously, politicians especially needed to find a medium to express themselves in a compact and accessible way. What’s more, voters can express themselves right back. By @tweeting someone, you can call their attention to comments or questions, which has been particularly successful in town-hall-style settings. Reporters or spokespeople can tweet updates, and then respond to questions they receive in return. In the meantime, bystanders can monitor the entire transaction, and in the process learn more about their favorite candidates or most-dreaded policy changes.

All in all, social media creates the modern day sound bite; a moment in time that can rally activists and move agendas forward.

By Chris Bowma n 

With the advent of social media, PR agencies have adjusted their strategies, tactics and outlooks to include and adapt to this new form of communication. Another technological shift deserving PR agencies’ attention is the rise of citizen journalism.

Citizen journalism is a recent phenomenon that enables Internet users to report and write their own stories on subjects they deem newsworthy. These stories can be posted or submitted to a variety of sites, including blogs, CNN’s iReport, Wikinews or Allvoices, and were instrumental in catapulting Al Jazeera to the forefront of coverage surrounding the Middle Eastern revolutions. Just as there is a range of websites accepting and promoting citizen journalism, there are varying policies from sites regarding filtering or censoring, posting and using others’ material.

Social media and citizen journalism often work in concert. Social media can amplify stories from citizen journalists through posting and tweeting stories that users find significant; or, people can post dramatic pictures from events and provide live coverage via instant updates through social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. Those chronicling events online take on the role of citizen journalists, providing snapshot updates. Many articles covering the democratic revolutions in the Middle East have highlighted the widespread use of social media to not only organize protestors but then to provide live, in-person coverage of events in real-time.

This raw, first-hand account of the news is certainly one benefit of citizen journalism. Many believe that first-hand reporting provides a more realistic account of what’s really happening, rather than an edited and processed retelling via a removed third-party newscaster or professional journalist.

Others stress its ability to stimulate and foster communities with common interests. Citizen journalism, many propose, also forces its contributors to think objectively and to place their event in greater context to interest readers. This expands their own vision of the topic they’re covering. It can also be used to highlight issues that may not be covered in the typical press.

Citizen journalism is not without critics, however. Though it often provides reliable accounts from those experiencing an event first-hand, it can also feature trivial or unreliable content. Because there is little (or no)editorial oversight, citizen journalists may mislead readers in their own work or may validate inaccurate or misreported information and news.

A recent event that revealed some of the holes in citizen journalism was the tweeting of a fake though official-looking sign that was seen in front of a McDonald’s. The sign explained to patrons that, due to a string of recent area robberies, an additional tax would be charged to this McDonald’s African American customers. The sign was exposed as a fraudulent hoax, and McDonald’s employed a variety of social media tools to prevent the fake sign from becoming a PR disaster. The sign received serious mainstream media coverage, but, fortunately for McDonald’s, it was acknowledged as the work of an independent actor, not as an official policy of the fast-food company.

The burgeoning area of citizen journalism and its interplay with social media has the potential to be a powerful tool for PR agencies and their clients. But, in the wrong hands, it has the ability to severely damage brands and reputations.

It is a fact of life, and it is as true for the perception of your business as it is for anything. No matter how immune from criticism we may hope our business may be, a crisis or even a simple allegation can emerge at any time. And, in the era of social media and 24-hour news networks, the damage can spread like wildfire if you're not ready to douse the flames.

Even better than dousing, though, is being able to implement a strategy that prevents these flames from erupting in the first place; after all, the best crisis management plans are those that prevent the crisis from happening to begin with. Historically, many crises of corporate reputation could have been avoided, or at least greatly mitigated, by a strong crisis management plan. But putting together a strategy only after the crisis strikes is always too late to prevent damage and often fatal to a company’s brand. Only if the plan is in place beforehand will a company be positioned to issue a fast and effective response.

In an article I wrote with attorney Bill Ide of McKenna Long and Aldridge, “Crisis Management: A Critical Tool for Public Trust,” we argue that every company can and must take a holistic approach to their crisis planning. It is important to include not only your senior management and legal teams, but your communications professionals. Individuals from these disparate schools of thought will bring a wide range of perspectives to the table, and your plan should include input from all of these parties.

Your response to these unexpected circumstances is in your hands, and will dictate how your business weathers the storm. I would encourage you to take a few minutes and read the full article to learn more. Until then, hope for sunshine and prepare for lightning.

I am pleased to share that the PR industry has also recognized GA’s success in realizing our vision in this year’s firm rankings. GA was just ranked 76th on O'Dwyer's 2011 list of independent PR firms. We were also ranked 32nd in the healthcare space, 34th in the professional services space and was listed as one of the top 50 firms in the technology space.

These numbers give the GA team a new benchmark to exceed over the coming year as we continue to add to our team and client roster and deliver quantifiable results for our clients.

Kelley is going to be a great fit for us in many ways. First and foremost, she puts her clients first. Kelley also has a creative and passionate approach to PR. She is also a lovely person and someone who fits in well among the great group of people we have assembled here at GA.

Kelley has won many awards for her work, has handled big clients and worked at big agencies. For me, as when Jim Lake joined us over two years ago, her hire represents a true milestone for GA; we have been able to expand our business and our reputation accordingly. I believe having stars like Jim and Kelley in the business as partners will help us to attract other, fantastic individuals. This is a people business. Good people always means happy clients.

I believe this validates many of the points we’ve made previously on this blog about the power of social media and why we, as PR practitioners, should be embracing this change and integrating it into our communications plans for our clients on a consistent basis. The marriage of social and traditional media is a winning match in today’s public relations arena.

Let’s take a look at the chart below from the white paper.

80% of respondents see social media as being more important in 2011 than in 2010. But, seeing it as being more important and then acting on that importance is where we sometimes see the disconnect. It’s not enough to simply say that a company needs a strong social media presence, or haphazardly set up a Twitter or Facebook account. Instead, it's important to actually follow through on the commitment to support it. Supplying the necessary content that is informative, engaging, relevant and sometimes edgy to any of these new channels is what really makes for a successful social media effort.

So, with 2011 right around the corner, we are all peering into the PR crystal ball. We must look to develop strategic integrated communications offerings that support our companies and our clients. It's no longer enough to look at social media as a "nice" tool to have, but rather as a "must-have" in order to achieve a winning strategy.

If it doesn't pass that test, then chances are slim. Yet, creating that pass-along-worthy video is easier said than done. Some plans that seem too far-fetched turn out to be a hit. Ideas that are sure to be a success can flop on film. But ultimately, the YouTube audience will determine a video's viral fate.

One of the most recent viral videos that caught my eye is "Android, WinPho7, iPhone4... What Grills Faster?" The video, created by EZ Grill, depicts exactly what it sounds like: torching three smartphones on a disposable grill and flipping the phones with tongs when one hits the "well-done" mark. (It showcases how easy the product is to use while simultaneously crushing the dreams of anyone who has been saving up for a new iPhone 4.)

I came across the video in a Mashable article a few days ago, and at that time it had maybe 200,000 views. I watched and thought it was clever, but at 200,000 – as high as that number seems – its viewership stats didn't particularly jump out at me. It just didn’t scream “viral.” I then checked back this weekend, however, and saw the video had achieved more than 1.2 million views. (That's more like it!)

The EZ Grill video immediately reminded me of the "Will it blend?" YouTube sensation. To demonstrate the power of the Blendtec blender, everything from an iPad to a Rubik's Cube to pickled pig’s feet had been thrown into the Blendtec and "exterminated" on camera. The pervasive I-can't-believe-they-did-that effect of these videos has rocketed Blendtec's YouTube clips to more than 143 million total views and counting.

I'm not entirely sure how I would have reacted if someone came to the EZ Grill marketing brainstorm and said, "We're going to roast $1,879 worth of smartphones and put it on YouTube." But more than 1 million views later we know it was crazy enough to work.

As reported by Mashable, a recent study by social media management company Vitrue investigated when Facebook users are most active. The study was conducted using post data from August 10, 2007, to October 10, 2010, using more than 1,500 company/brand Facebook streams. In total, the content included more than 1.64 million posts and 7.56 million comments. Shares and “likes” were not included in the study, though I’d be really interested to see if the advent of “likes” has influenced commenting.

I think some of the most interesting findings are:

Usage Spikes

• The biggest spike occurs at 3:00 p.m. ET on weekdays, with 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. peaks close behind.

Most Popular Weekdays

• Although all weekdays see heavy usage, Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. ET is consistently the highest peak.
• People are less active on Sunday compared to other days of the week.

Best Time for Engagement

• Most posts and comments appear around 3:00 p.m. ET, yet posts published earlier in the day, before noon, tend to perform better than afternoon posts. In fact, Vitrue’s data indicates that morning brand posts are 39.7% more effective in terms of user engagement than those published in the afternoon.

What’s the Take-Away?

• Brands on Facebook should send out posts in the morning. This will ensure that when the peak audience is visiting Facebook at 3 p.m. there is fodder for comments and discussion. We also know that morning posts see more engagement.
• If you don’t have enough content to post each day, or multiple times per day, push content to the beginning of the week in preparation for the Wednesday peak.
• Activity drops heavily on weekends so don’t feel pressured to push out content seven days a week.

A brand’s goal on Facebook is to encourage interaction and engagement, therefore increasing its reach and publicity across the network. Seeing “Joe Smith commented on Dole’s link” on my News Feed could prompt me to click on Dole’s page and take action – “like” the company, write on the wall, visit its website or even go out to purchase its product. That kind of awareness and attention is exactly what companies and brands are looking for in social networking.

Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare comprise the top three, each offering live, portable tools to share information among connected users and friends. There’s no denying the interest in knowing what your circle of friends is doing – and where they’re doing it.

With trust in traditional media outlets at an all-time low, Americans look to their own networks for recommendations, opinions and perspectives when making decisions. And, with new smart-phones to broadcast and consume those perspectives in real-time, that trend will only continue to grow, thus putting old-school media out of business – or at least out to pasture.

While the findings themselves aren’t too surprising, and have apparently remained consistent over the past several years, one thing does stand out: the fact that a majority of Americans recognizes what they perceive to be bias must mean they are getting their news from a variety of sources, have their own opinion of the issues, and are seemingly well-informed. Isn’t this a good thing?

The reality is that if news sounded like a research report, we probably wouldn’t read it. The news industry is a business whose goal is to be your trusted resource -- while also increasing their bottom line. Traditional newscasts, such as the "Nightly News" and "Evening News" have to compete with cable broadcasts which tend to be viewed as entertainment in a 24-hour news cycle. As fair and balanced as a news reporter is, they still want to get your attention and get you to read their story or listen to their report, and not their competitors'. It’s not the news media’s job to tell you what you want to hear, it is up to Americans to get our news from a variety of sources, learn about issues, and ultimately make our own decisions about issues that are important to us.

In our industry, we develop messages and launch programs from the perspective of our clients.  We want to entice media to cover our stories, we want them to be interested in what we have to say, and we want to stand out and bring our clients’ issues to the forefront. 

To the media: As long as you are honest and genuine when reporting the news, I don’t mind a little bias or personal perspective.  To the general public: Continue to challenge the media. Speak your mind. And do your research.

In the current digital climate, a clear answer is through the blogosphere. There are currently 11.5 million moms writing, reading or commenting on blogs. Therefore, securing client placement, sponsorships and giveaways in popular mom blogs can reach a large, targeted audience through channels they’ve come to know and respect.

But then comes the next step – how do you get a mommy blogger to write about your client?

Last week I had the pleasure of listening in on Bulldog Reporter’s Pitching Mommy Bloggers audio conference. I haven’t had much experience with this genre of bloggers and was excited to gain insight on how to reach this growing group – straight from the moms themselves. The participants were:

• Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications; Blogger, "MomMarketTrends.com"
• Renee Ross, Publisher, "Cutie Booty Cakes"
• Liz Gumbinner, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, "Cool Mom Picks" and "Cool Mom Tech"
• Christine Young, Blogger, "From Dates to Diapers;" Ambassador, Backyard Discovery; Contributer, WalMart Moms

Here are some of my favorite highlights and tips:

Pitch Personalization

• Make your pitch specific to the blog at hand! Take the time to read the blog and determine if it is really the right place for your pitch. Bloggers are not paid for their time, so don’t waste it on a useless pitch that doesn’t resonate with their audience.
• Don’t say “your readers will find this new air freshener very interesting” when the blog only focuses on children’s toys. If you think your pitch is similar to something the blogger has written about before, show them – reference an old blog entry to show that you’ve read up and actually think that they would be interested in your pitch.

Pitching

• Bloggers would rather ask for multimedia than be given it right away.
• Make it easy to access materials. Don’t create barriers access, such as using FTP, password protected site, unusual format, etc.
• Don’t pitch on Twitter, but do use it as a place to establish relationships.
• Maintain relationships, reach out with an email not only when you have a pitch.

Lists

• Blasting through a bought or Cision-culled list doesn’t work. Do your research in building lists and take time to weed through the bloggers and determine who is suited for your pitch.
• Be wary when using “top Mommy bloggers” lists, such as Babble or Nielsen. Everyone has access to that same list and is pitching them daily, so getting the current top-dogs to write about your client is a highly competitive process. Instead, look for up-and-coming mom bloggers through blog rolls, social media and personal recommendations.

As we’ve reflected countless times, an integrated communications strategy that leverages both traditional and new-media tactics is a winning combination.  And, with the slow spiral into extinction of the traditional newspaper and traditional print advertising, the online environment continues to grow in importance for any strategic communications plan.  I was particularly amazed at the growth in “search” advertising revenue numbers, which grew 47 percent over 2009 (see chart below from IAB.net ).  When “driving eyes to your site” is your ultimate goal, search engine optimization through paid online advertising is clearly one of the tools you need to have in your arsenal.

Advertising Formats: Search and Display-related ads continue to be leading formats.

($ millions if not indicated)

Having served on “both sides” of the equation -- as a corporate communications officer for two Fortune 500 companies and as a board member hiring PR firms -- and now as a founder of a leading PR firm, I feel uniquely qualified to answer. 

In short, it is recognizing the nexus of communications and the bottom-line profits of a company and being able to capitalize upon it.  More often than not, the two are not viewed by the C-Suite as commonly aligned goals. The complete integration of a company’s strategies for public affairs, marketing, IR, CSR, philanthropy , CEO reputation, etc., is core to realizing the full value of a public relations department.  At this balance point, the full levers of influence at the disposal of a CEO can be manipulated in unison to have an impact on the bottom-line revenues and profits of a company. Like an orchestra, each of these departments is a member, each with its own sheet of music, but all playing the same song. 

So often a client’s company is fragmented in its communications functions; each department independently creating and playing its own song unaware of the full score of music, if you will.

Our vision at Gibraltar was to bring that orchestra together with one masterful conductor so that all departments are adding their own talent, but all while providing superior, integrated communications. This, at the end of the day, will strengthen the company brand, its reputation in the marketplace and ultimately the company's bottom line.

While it can be an uphill slog getting a company and its CEO to understand this vision and hear the music, when they do, it is always a hit!