Networking is the foundation of PR. From connecting with potential clients, to maintaining strong relationships with current ones, networking is essential. Building connections with fellow PR professionals is just as important.
Whether you are a seasoned PR rep or a recent college graduate, here are a four basic networking tips you should know!
1. Attend Events
Attending industry events is a great way to get your name out there and talk to people on the same career path. When attending these events, talk to as many people as you can*. Ask questions, swap business cards, and have a spiel about yourself and your career goals ready.
*You never know who might have a connection with a company you want to work for. Find out who works for who, and ask the people you meet to set up an email introduction with those companies.
2. Connect With Professionals On LinkedIn
Along with following businesses and firms you’re interested in on LinkedIn, connect with their employees. After attending a networking event or doing an interview (informational or official), connecting with the person you met is really important. It shows your commitment to keeping in contact with the rep and your overall interest in the position. Keep your LinkedIn profile up to date, your resume down to one page*, and provide samples of your work.
*Simplify your resume so that it isn’t longer than one page. Long, overly-detailed resumes are off-putting to employers and may make it seem like you are including irrelevant info to fill up the page.
3. Build a Personal Brand On Social Media
Give fellow PR peeps and potential employers an idea of who you are. By building your personal brand on social media (website, Instagram, Twitter etc.), users get an idea of what’s important to you, your goals, and showcase what makes you unique.
Even if there are no open positions at a company you are hoping to work for, it doesn’t hurt to ask for an informational interview. By doing this, you can get a feel for the company (if the interview is at their firm), meet a rep, and get your name on their radar. Make sure to leave a physical copy of your resume with them, and follow up afterwards with a thank you email or handwritten note!
Today’s blog post highlights AM:PM PR Co-Founder Pat McCormick and his three favorite brands!
Apple
“Hi, my name is Pat and I’m an Applephile. I need to make that admission to explain why I have Apple’s marketing at the top of my list of faves. Apple infuses its brand in every element of its products and marketing – from ads to packaging, to the look, feel and function of its products. My latest Apple acquisition is my Apple Card. Like other Apple products, it’s clean, simple, minimal. It lives in the Apple universe with my Apple MacBook Pro, Apple iPad Pro, iPhone XS Max, Apple Watch, Apple HomePod, Apple TV and Apple Music. (Full disclosure: I’m an Apple stockholder.)
Disney
My second fave is Disney. Family and friends are familiar with my tradition of taking my grandchildren to Disneyland between their 9th and 10th birthdays. So far, I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy 9 great Disney stays with 9 amazing grandchildren. It’ll be awhile before I can take Haxton, who just turned 3 last week.
The Disney marketing that’s caught my eye recently is its upcoming launch of Disney+, the new streaming service. Disney’s D23 Expo, the annual gathering of the Official Disney Fan Club, was this past weekend and a number of new program announcements were released. The company made great use of its social media, digital tools and traditional media relations. Disney+ will to tap into the existing and future Disney media libraries as well as Pixar, the Marvel Universe, the Star Wars franchise and National Geographic. Cost will be $7.50/month, about half of a Netflix subscription. I’m also a Disney stockholder.
~
Portland Gear
Third fave is Portland Gear. The company and its founder, Marcus Harvey, have a great origin story. He leveraged Instagram to perfectly position his company and his personal commitment to our community, its sports teams, and great design. Portland Gear is my nominee for the best example of developing a brand from a great idea which resulted in significant success using Instagram.”
https://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pp-1.jpg9901735Sophie Cettinahttp://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AMPMPR-Logo-Black-2018-250px.pngSophie Cettina2019-08-27 12:32:122019-08-27 12:32:12Pat's Picks: Top 3 Fave Brands
I’m not afraid to admit it: I have a folder on Instagram where all of my favorite ads, marketing campaigns, and PR-related posts are saved. As I’ve come across them on my feed, I often ask myself: “why did this catch my eye? What’s effective about it?” These are good questions to ask when working in the advertising and PR world.
Although I’m sure this list will change as new campaigns develop over the next few months, here are four marketing/PR campaigns that have definitely caught my eye!
As a part of Amazon’s Emmy campaign for its hit show, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” (set in the 1950s) 30 businesses in L.A. traveled back in time. Salons, restaurants, candy stores, movie theaters, and, you guessed it…GAS STATIONS sold their products at ’50s prices for an entire day on August 15th, 2019.
“In honor of the show’s 1959 setting, Cafe ’50s is doubling down on its bygone ambience — and doubling its staff — in order to serve authentic 30-cent malts (usually around $6) to Maisel Day customers. The retro diner on Santa Monica Boulevard already features era-defining decor, including a working payphone, a 1957 jukebox and a 1959 Chevy Bel Air.” -L.A. Times
The participating businesses dressed the part, too. 1950s dresses, vintage waiter outfits, plus retro music playing in most stores added to the 50s vibe. Although the campaign was largely successful in promoting the show and its Emmy nomination, the biggest setback was when L.A. police were forced to shut down the Maisel gas promo (gas for 30 cents a gallon, up to 20 gallons) when it led to an overload of traffic.
If you’ve seen Stranger Things, you know that the beloved character Eleven has a thing for Eggos. After the first season of ST premiered on Netflix, fans began associating Eggos with the show, even buying their own Eggo waffles for costumes or Stranger Things-themed parties.
As the release of season 2 approached in October 2017, Eggo launched a series of experimental marketing campaigns across social media. According to A.List, “One such campaign is a menu of Eggo waffle recipes to pair with each episode of Season Two. An Eggo food truck arrived at the Season Two premiere in LA, where attendees and fans could sample the promoted recipes.”
Eggo didn’t stop there. With the release of the much-anticipated season three of Stranger Things this July, they rolled out ’80s-style ads. Back in June, Eggo’s social media channels overflowed with mysterious Eggo billboard ads, “which appear to be straight out of the 1980s, making strange appearances in towns named Hawkins across Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and more,” said The Drum. In addition, Eggo’s Instagram led users on a wild “Easter Eggo Hunt,” navigating them through a variety of Stranger Things-themed clues.
Every 27 years, the evil clown known as IT awakens. 2017 marked 27 years since the release of the first IT movie in 1990. The 2017 remake, starring Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the clown, was marketed in an incredibly creepy, genius way. The guerrilla marketing campaign* was the appearance of mysterious red balloons tied to sewer grates in the streets of Sydney, Australia. Below each balloon in eerie white chalk are the words: “It is closer than you think. #ITMovie in cinemas September 7.”
Guerilla marketing: “innovative, unconventional, and low-cost marketing techniques aimed at obtaining maximum exposure for a product.”
Sparkloft Media, a social media/advertising agency in Portland, produced one of my absolute favorite campaigns last year. Blossom Brothers, an artisan wine spritzers company, partnered with Sparkloft to promote and celebrate their packaging relaunch. Through a series of product photos, each stylized pic tells a unique story.
“Pairing a life-size can with miniature props gives viewers context into when and where they should crack open a can of Blossom Brothers. We paired each flavor of wine spritzer with a mini usage occasion to tell a narrative of when you might enjoy each flavor. A tiny backyard barbecue, mini camping trip, or pocket-sized pool party are all perfect places for this summer sipper. This creative was produced as a direct social translation of the point of sale campaign to celebrate the grab-ability of the can, and the moments where the excitement begins.” –Sparkloft
Not only are the photos visually appealing, but the message behind each photo is clever while speaking to the brand and its niche.
Stay tuned for more of the AM:PM PR Team’s ad/marketing campaign picks.
What are some of your favorite advertising and marketing campaigns? Tweet me!
https://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/7-Interesting-Features-of-World-War-2-2.jpg273720ampmprhttp://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AMPMPR-Logo-Black-2018-250px.pngampmpr2017-09-06 13:08:202017-09-13 10:16:32Bill Lascher on His Journey to Eve of a Hundred Midnights
Today, we reveal the Secret #2: Sound quality. While video quality can go a long way toward telling a clear and compelling video story, I think sound quality is even more important.
Bad Video Happens
Most (honest) professional videographers have a war story or two. Memories of a time they really blew it behind the camera, especially at the beginning of their career.
Hey, stuff happens – out-of-focus interviews, a bright-blue shot of what is supposed to be a white wall, an accidental jerk of the camera away from the action.
But even in the face of those kinds of video mistakes, there are usually ways of correcting or covering those flaws and recovering what could still turn out to be a decent video.
But sound?You really can’t screw that up.
Mess up on the sound, and your video is most likely dead in the water.
Here’s a good example:
Watch (and listen) to the two short interview clips below.
Clip #1: Bad Sound Quality
The sound you’re hearing in this first clip above came from the onboard mic that was attached to the camera.
It sounds like the subject is talking into a microphone that was located across the room, because that’s exactly what was happening.
The too-lengthy distance between the person on camera and the microphone is the biggest reason why many videos recorded on smart phones often appear less than professional.
Listening to a person who sounds far away makes the viewer feel far away. It causes their attention to wane. Rather than taking the viewer on a journey, bad sound reinforces that they’re just watching a video – a video that is annoyingly hard to hear and understand.
Now compare that to clip number two below.
Clip #2: Good Sound Quality
In this second clip the audio is recorded from a lavaliere microphone clipped to the subject’s collar.
This simple improvement in sound quality changes everything.
Despite the fact that this is a poorly-lit shot, despite the fact that there is no depth to the shot, it’s still (mostly) usable in a video, particularly if we’re only using a quick clip of the interview.
Professional-Sounding Video
For the interviews we shoot – and even for b-roll footage of people doing things – we use a wireless Sennheiser lavaliere microphone to pick up deep, rich audio.
There are even lav mics available these days that can attach to your smart phone, delivering a richer and more professional sound quality than what most smart phone video cameras can deliver by themselves.
But isn’t just about making your video “sound professional.” It’s deeper than that.
Sound quality can make a viewer pay closer attention to the on-camera speaker. It can make the entire experience sound (and thus, feel) more intimate.
More than fancy lighting, more than stunning panoramic images, more than pretty much anything else, a rich quality sound can pull a viewer into the story being told on a screen.
In the next post, we’ll uncover our third secret for creating powerful videos – a secret tool I personally use on nearly every project I produce to “dial up” the emotional impact of an interview.
Also, if you’re in the Portland, Oregon area, stay tuned forPart 2 of “Pro Secrets for Making Great Videos” in November.
Jay Carter is a former Texas TV news anchor and reporter, with numerous awards from the Associated Press and the Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in broadcast storytelling. He has worked as a radio news anchor and voiceover talent. He works with his wife and business partner, Michele Kim Carter, at Beyond Measure Media creating video stories and testimonials for businesses and nonprofits.
A note from AM:PM PR
According to Google, in 2016, more video content will be uploaded in 30 days than all three major U.S. T.V. networks combined have created in 30 yearsand a Cisco forecast report predicts online video will be responsible for 80% of internet traffic by 2019.
Video is the quickest way to influence an audience and the most effective tool for telling complicated stories. In an age with so much content coming coming at us, video can also be the easiest tool for learning new things.
We see video as a powerful communications tool and regularly recommend it to clients.
A decade ago, businesses struggled to understand social networking and some doubted its value or predicted it a fad and fell behind their competition. Today, video is the tool every organization should include in their marketing plans.
https://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/video-pro-secret-sound-quality.jpg248720ampmprhttp://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AMPMPR-Logo-Black-2018-250px.pngampmpr2016-09-13 21:34:032016-10-04 15:33:32Video Pro Secret #2: Sound quality is even more important than video quality
The computer and video gaming industry explosion on display for 345,000
The last time I got really excited about a video game was in college when I zoned out on HALO, only to emerge from my apartment three weeks later like a frail ghostly prisoner freed from a medieval dungeon. It was then that I realized my personality type was not a good fit for gaming and I haven’t been more than an occasional ‘user’ ever since.
That said, in early August I attended an event in Cologne (Köhn) Germany called gamescom. gamescom is a video game tradeshow and it’s the largest tradeshow I’ve ever attended. It also seemed to have the largest average booth budgets.
To help you picture the size of the event and numbers it attracted – 345,000 is more than the population of St. Louis, Missouri. At times, it felt like that whole population was crammed into one hall.
What was I doing there?
I was invited to assist at a booth run by my stepfather for his organization One Redmond, and their sub-organization called the Washington Interactive Network. The booth was shared with an economic development organization from neighboring Bellevue, and the booth hosted six indie gaming companies from the Bellevue/Redmond, Washington area that opened up their consoles to the hordes of kids (and adults) that passed by each day. One Redmond’s overarching goal was to attract European gaming companies to the city of Redmond by demonstrating its extensive local indie gaming industry, local talent and quality of life. Hosting businesses like Microsoft, Nintendo and SpaceX doesn’t hurt their cause either. I’ll vouch for the area.
Gaming revenue greater than Hollywood
Entertainers create excitement for a farming simulator and free t-shirts
gamescom opened my eyes to the size and extent of the industry – one that had somehow remained on the periphery of my day to day thought despite its commanding presence in the media. One insider casually mentioned to me that the gaming industry raked in more money in the first 8 months of this year than the film industry in all of last year. A quick internet search shows experts predict gaming to be a $100 billion dollar industry within three years.
I saw mammoth companies I’d never heard of – including wargaming.net, Bethesda Softworks, Ubisoft, crytek, Blizzard. My childhood self would have loved to happen upon a Sierra Entertainment booth. They were the makers of a mainstay of my adolescence – Kings Quest. Alas, I was unable to find them in the ten halls of the show and through the hordes of gamers.
Booths at gamescom were enormous and many featured stages occupied by their own tee shirt tossing MC’s. You may expect a popular and wildly interactive company like Rockstar Games to garner a cheering crowd, but I was surprised when even a farming simulator had throngs of kids cheering and screaming for projectiles tossed by a dirndl-clad German gal.
wargaming.net also had a large stage flanked by screaming throngs of kids (and adults) as serious-looking synchronized dancers dressed in military garb moved their hips or twisted LED lit swords to inspired movements.
Many of the more violent games had completely enclosed booths with marketing-plastered walls stretching towards the ceiling and preventing younger kids from catching a glimpse of the more graphic content inside (or maybe just keeping the crowd moving along in an orderly fashion?).
Kids waited in line for hours to simply watch trailers for upcoming video game releases. Unfortunately, I did not partake in said activity, so I do not have a detailed report for you.
YouTube is the SportsCenter of gaming
Kids flocking to the YouTube gamescom booth
A huge player in the gaming industry, YouTube’s booth at gamescom had taken on the vibe of a SportsCenter broadcasting booth.
I got my first look at YouTube’s influence on gaming last summer when I noticed my 11-year-old cousin was spending much of his vacation time at Yellowstone National Park watching YouTube videos… of other kids… playing video games.
I had a surreal moment while standing at the YouTube booth when I realized I was watching an entire horde of kids (sprinkled with those wearing “free hug” signs – what is up with that trend???) whose eyes were transfixed on giant screens where they watched other kids playing video games.
I’ve since learned there are professional video game players who pull in over a million dollars per year. For a good cry, check out this list of top earners.
Of the many halls at the event (I believe there were 10 total) one of the more interesting halls (due to interesting conversation) had trade delegations representing gaming regions, including: China, Britain, France, Iran, Croatia, Germany, Austria, Canada, South Korea, Italy, etc. I met people from Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Switzerland and Japan. Oregon was not represented…
Interesting marketing campaigns
fallout marketing campaign
The organization representing Belgium were perhaps the most savvy marketers of their region. They combined information about their gaming industry while bribing people to linger using their other most popular export – beer (well, most popular after waffles, of course). It was hard to compete with free beer, and it might be a good idea to file away for future businesses representing the Pacific NW at trade shows, as Northwest IPA’s seem to have captured the imagination of the Euro pals I’d met.
One of my favorite marketing campaigns was for a game I’ve never played, nor ever even heard of – Fallout 4. The game is a violent post-apocalyptic romp around a world after a nuclear holocaust, but their logo is a smiling winking blonde-haired kid flashing a thumbs up hand sign. His little face was displayed on billboards all over the city of Cologne throughout the week I was there. At one Fallout booth fans could get their hair dyed yellow to mimic the cartoon kid. I saw many full-grown adult men have their head, beards and mustaches colored yellow – and they didn’t even seem to be embarrassed to walk around the town as such.
New avenues for revenue
While it was fun to see kids dressed in favorite costumes, it was equally fun exploring booths in the business hall. Supplemental supporting companies exist for every facet of production. For example, I met one man from China whose studio designed artwork for gaming companies.
An interesting challenge I learned of – the transfer of money isn’t as fluid in Europe as it is in the United States (as evidenced in the numerous businesses in Germany including restaurants and grocery stores that did not accept my Visa credit or debit cards).
Several European companies offer services to North American indie gaming companies who need help navigating European rules and regulations for commerce. These companies also find clients new revenue streams in different mediums (apps, websites, ads, etc) in each of the different European countries and on different online platforms.
As the week at gamescom wrapped up, I marveled at how fun it was getting a sneak peek into an industry with so much creative talent working together to create new and unique forms of entertainment – from the games on down to the booths that promote them.
I hope you enjoy the photos and videos!
https://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/dancetetris1.jpg280720Mike Phillipshttp://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AMPMPR-Logo-Black-2018-250px.pngMike Phillips2015-09-24 16:11:522015-11-24 00:22:12gamescom 2015 – Observations on the Business of Gaming & Worldwide Fandom
Networking and education event helps budding entrepreneurs prepare to sustain successful businesses
The first-ever International Cannabis Business Conference rolled into the Oregon Convention Center for a networking and business event featuring leaders in the industry, including acclaimed blogger Andrew Sullivan and Congressman Earl Blumenauer, among many others. Review the full list here.
The educational conference offers a series of panels featuring lawyers, investors, activists, politicians and successful business people offering expert advice for those looking to enter this blossoming industry. With Oregon legalizing marijuana this fall, the Pacific Northwest will become by default the center of a new industry that has the potential to make many budding entrepreneurs into glorified business folk. In the first two months of legal sales, Washington has reported sales exceeding $12 million (Colorado by comparison had $10 million in its first 4 months).
Whether you’re for legalization or against, it’s hard to dispute that the new industry would create more economic opportunity for those working up and down the supply chain – from hardware stores, to bakers, to artisans to urban farmers – to marketing and public relations firms too.
https://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/international-cannabis-business-conference-portland.jpg280720Mike Phillipshttp://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AMPMPR-Logo-Black-2018-250px.pngMike Phillips2014-09-10 14:32:172015-04-17 18:07:24First Ever International Cannabis Business Conference in Portland
One of my favorite things about working at AM:PM PR is that we’re constantly meeting fresh, exciting and creative entrepreneurs who are willing to try off-the-wall tactics to get some well-deserved attention for their cool ideas. Unfortunately we can’t help every brilliant bootstrapped business-baron that marches through our chambers, but we can share some pointers about typical challenges we see facing these cash-conscious capitalists.
Below are four tips for entrepreneurs looking to get some guidance related to common public relations challenges. These are based on four common challenges we observe when businesspeople are trying to bootstrap their public relations efforts.
CHALLENGE: Lack of formal public relations training or experience
Some factors that negatively impact promotional efforts include: improper messaging, poor timing, and targeting the wrong audiences. It’s common to see businesspeople muddling their efforts with inconsistent language, improperly identified promotional goals, products pitched during the wrong time of the year, ignoring relevant lead times for the media, or targeting the wrong media to begin with. These are all obvious challenges for brains marinated in marketing-oriented mindsets, but for the un-anointed, these challenges are breeding grounds for time consuming trial-and-error.
Solution: Spend a little more time researching and thinking about who is most interested in your product and where you might reach them. Pick up a couple of books from the library that explain the basics of marketing and public relations and read them six-months before launching your product or campaign.
CHALLENGE: Lack of time
Running a business is time consuming, and the nuts and bolts of daily operations often get in the way of the nuts and bolts of your marketing and public relations efforts. It’s important to take time to regularly check in to see if your efforts are in keeping with your 5-year plan, your one-year plan and your goals for the month.
Solution: Find some time throughout the month to visit less-stressful pastures that allow you the freedom to ruminate on your approach. Research upcoming media opportunities related to holidays, anniversaries, celebrations or other relevant dates on the calendar; keeping in mind that media lead times differ between print publications, radio and digital media.
CHALLENGE: Overconfidence
There’s nothing wrong with being confident, but sometimes overconfidence stands between identifying and achieving relevant goals, and obtaining the success you deserve. Think of marketing as you would accounting. Marketing should be planned for as a cost of doing business, just as accounting, production and payroll would be. Too often we see businesses with great ideas, but they can’t afford to tell people about them because they were overconfident in word of mouth. Remember the Harlem Shake? This article points out that you didn’t make the Harlem Shake go viral, corporations with marketing teams did.
Solution: Include marketing costs in any business plan or product idea.Whether you hire an in-house public relations professional or hire an outside team of professionals to guide your marketing and public relations efforts, a long term approach will ensure you have properly identified future opportunities. Developing a marketing plan also ensures consistency, budget efficiency and offers a roadmap for meeting objectives.
CHALLENGE: Keeping pace with communications trends
If you’re not constantly consuming media and keeping up with the latest trends, you’re missing out on opportunities. Imagine if Don Draper were parachuted into the 2013 media landscape – his ideas would be sexist and archaic (not to mention his daytime drinking habits would be a bit off-putting). During the past five years the media has experienced another sea-change and if you haven’t been paying attention it’s time to get with it, or reach out to someone who has.
Solution: Read the newspaper, magazines and industry-related blogs. If possible, find the equivalent of Don Draper’s grandson. Join us for Speakeasy and present your challenges to the group.
Conclusion: We hope these challenges/solutions are helpful. Feel free to post a comment if you have a specific question.
https://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/shutterstock_270043802.jpg281720Mike Phillipshttp://www.ampmpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AMPMPR-Logo-Black-2018-250px.pngMike Phillips2013-09-30 12:58:152015-05-05 23:34:11Simple Solutions to Four Public Relations Challenges Facing Entrepreneurs
Jay Carter is a 
