The Spark

March 2019 Edition      

The Matchbox Blog Latest Posts

 

Curious about our latest PR/marketing insights, news commentary and other thoughts? Visit our blog here, or view these recent posts.

 

Extending the Value of PR to Marketing and Beyond

February 15, 2019

 

Hard Hitting Thought Leadership

January 17, 2019

 

Winning PR Strategies for New Year Planning

December 14, 2018

 

PR Pulse

 

Industry events are an excellent in-person forum for meeting and building rapport with journalists who cover your markets. Contacting journalists in advance is critical to fitting into their busy conference schedules, but well worth the time. Also, including a client spokesperson in on-site interviews can make the conversation and potential stories really come to life.

 

Young & Associates recently coordinated media interviews for microlearning platform client Axonify at NRF 2019 Retail’s Big Show & Expo in New York, including an interview with Total Retail in the podcast studio. Collaborating with Axonify and their client Southeastern Grocers, the agency secured joint interviews that resulted in articles in target publications Progressive Grocer and Grocery Dive:

 

How Microlearning Transformed Training, Communication, Corporate Culture for 45K Southeastern Grocer Associates

 

Southeastern Grocers Bets on New Training Program

 

My Two Cents

 

Maintaining Brand Dignity

by Eve Sheridan, Vice President

 

It’s a scene all too common now – specialty retailers with a heavy brick-and-mortar presence shuttering stores amidst stronger consumer preferences for online retail. Payless ShoeSource is the latest casualty, announcing plans for a second bankruptcy and liquidation of all of its 2,100 stores and online presence in the U.S. 

 

While presumably difficult for the iconic discount shoe retailer, the company’s executive responses in the media have been straightforward, realistic about the state of retail and its own missteps (e.g., oversupply of inventory, supply chain disruptions), and perhaps most important, careful not to play the blame game.

 

Payless’ Chief Restructuring Officer Stephen Marotta said, “The challenges facing retailers today are well documented, and unfortunately Payless emerged from its prior reorganization ill-equipped to survive in today’s retail environment. The prior proceedings left the company with too much remaining debt, too large a store footprint and a yet-to-be realized systems and corporate overhead structure consolidation...”

 

This fact-based, grounded approach is allowing the company to maintain its brand dignity. It presents the company in a humanized manner, which is more likely to foster a sense of relatability and understanding among its key audiences: the retail business community, investors and consumers. Despite the negative circumstances, Payless has set an admirable example for large organizations faced with communicating difficult news.

Young & Associates Focus

Young & Associates is honored to collaborate with an outstanding roster of tech-focused clients spanning multiple industries – Advertising/Marketing, Data Transformation, Education, HR/Learning – just to name a few.

 

 

We’re excited to announce that our commitment to dedicated client service has resulted in a 100 percent year-over-year renewal rate. Client longevity is a key tenant of the agency and four of our current clients have worked with the agency for 5+ years!

Marketing Minute

 

Strategies for

Successful Awards Programs

 

Awards programs offer growing and established companies additional credibility among employees, clients, prospects and thought leaders. No matter your size or industry, there is likely an award your company is eligible to submit for. But not all awards programs are the same. Some require a fee, employee surveys, lengthy essays or case study references, while others ask only for basic company information. Here are a few factors to consider in setting an awards program strategy.

 

Set a Budget 

Paying a fee to participate in an award program has become fairly standard. Don’t let it deter you. Evaluate the field of relevant awards over the upcoming budget year and consider the relevance and impact, submission criteria, prestige and price.

 

To Survey Employees or Not 

“Best workplace” awards typically require a bit of leg work, which can pay off with thoughtful effort. Often managed by the HR department due to recruiting implications, these awards often require a certain percentage of employees to complete a survey. When looking at the potential roster of awards, consider how many will require your employees’ time as well as how likely your employees are to comply and give the company good marks.

 

Competing for General Business Awards 

There are select organizations whose business model revolves strictly around award programs and events. Don’t discount these opportunities as they can help jumpstart an awards program and often don’t require lengthy submissions.

 

Confidentiality Concerns 

One thing awards programs will force a company to examine is how comfortable they are with certain confidential info, e.g., employee numbers, revenue growth. Clarify what information will remain confidential. Often it is percentages that are published versus raw numbers.

 

Stand Out With Us

About Y&A

Expertly guiding our technology clients through integrated public relations stratgies that produce results is Young & Associates' mission. With a 30+ year track record of delivering stellar PR and media programs to technology companies globally, our creative and tenacious team enables clients to engage audiences.

 

For more information, visit www.yapr.com or find us on Twitter at @youngassociates.

 

 

Young & Associates // Phone: (301) 371-6995 // Email: megganm@yapr.com // Web Site: www.yapr.com