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Digital Marketing Strategy, PR and Messaging

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Full-Service Marketing Is Extinct Like A Dinosaur

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Used to be, back in the day, that everyone offered full-service marketing. , and so do you. Anyone hailing from the agency world knows that it’s full service or no service. Whether or not we had the competency to say we offered full-service marketing, we went and got it to compete for the coveted client retainer.

Nothing much has changed since then; except, well, technology. Technology has fully disrupted the marketing blend, or rather it has ‘interrupted’ it as per the op-ed in by Ken Wheaton on July 13, 2015.

Regardless of how you view technology and whether it has your daily grind, one thing is clear. The chaotic complexity is here to stay, and it has made full-service marketing extinct, like a dinosaur. [Read more…]

Direct Marketing As Strategy, Not Tactic

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ALT="Opt-in Marketing book cover by Scott Hornstein on Soulati.com"Direct marketing could be called dead like so many other things since the disruption in technology, but it’s not. In fact, direct marketing as strategy, not tactic is also smart marketing. That keen statement comes from one of the most influential marketers in integrated today, Scott Hornstein. The reason I know this to be true is due to the fact that Mr. Hornstein is our very first featured guest on The Heart Of Marketing podcast with John Gregory Olson and me. You do remember I launched at podcast in February, right? We’ve taped about 34 episodes already, and it’s tons of fun. Thank goodness John does the editing because, well, just because.

What are your views about direct marketing as strategy? [Read more…]

Hospitals Failing Caregivers; How About Caregiver Marketing

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Hospitals failing caregivers; you hear it all the time. That’s the opinion of every caregiver I meet who has had the unfortunate experience to enter the U.S. healthcare system alongside a loved one.

Right now, I grieve for a family member who just died, and she suffered a frightening death in a Midwest hospital. Her mother tells the story that the nurses really didn’t know when her daughter vomited in a chair and became unconscious because no one was monitoring the patient.

I am upset for my dearest friend and his sister who are standing by helplessly as their mother is dying of small cell cancer. Getting an appointment for radiation has taken more than three weeks, and the people working in that satellite clinic are rude, uncaring, cold, and unresponsive. The scheduling staff lied to the patient’s daughter and son who said they had called to schedule the patient’s appointment. Proving that lie was easy. The only phone number in the patient’s chart is the daughter’s, not the mother’s. [Read more…]

Should You Hire A Summer Intern?

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ALT="Claire Freier, Summer Intern"

Claire Freier

A summer intern is a keen idea out of the gate, and your business needs to be completely certain the newest hire is not relegated to fetching coffee and filing papers. College students hired on as an intern can be actively involved in a business and contribute a productivity boost. If you start an internship with that foundation and concept, it’s a win-win.

What’s critical for mutual benefit is a well-designed and structured position. An internship based on real experience and tangible projects helps the intern learn and grow. Over time, the intern should be able to positively affect deliverables and results. Ultimately, a student gets experience in a field, and the company benefits from a low- cost and fresh-minded employee.
So, how specifically does a company benefit from hiring a summer intern?
[Read more…]

IKEA Media Relations And Messaging On A Slow News Day

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ALT="Media Relations And Messaging, IKEA, Soulati Media, Jayme Soulati"This story is about my roots in media relations and messaging. In particular, it’s about IKEA media relations and messaging!

I read the Wall Street Journal paper edition every day. If I can’t get to it in the morning, I’ll scan the headlines. That’s what happened recently — I was on the phone with mom and exclaimed, “You gotta be freaking kidding me.’IKEA Adds Veggie Balls to Menu.'”

It was right there under ‘Business News’ with a full-color image larger than life (about 8 x 10 in inches) with a story right below. I am agog; here’s why.

Media Relations And Messaging

I hail from Chicago’s PR agencies in core media relations as a former purist, publicist, and public relations-only professional. Every day in my Chicago agency days I did media relations and messaging. To those not in the know, that means publicity and story pitching to journalists who hated that word — ‘publicist.’ I sat on the phones for eight hours daily as a captive AE pitching media. I know a slow news day when I see one.

Today, I’m no longer practicing like that on a daily basis; alas, public relations has changed. The messaging and media relations I do is oriented to message mapping and finding the news hook to do media relations the digital way. But, that’s all for another day.

IKEA Got Lucky

Now, I don’t discount the fact that IKEA is a multinational brand and largest furniture maker in the world consumers love. I don’t discount either its likely phenomenal media relations team who also likely consists of young publicists pitching media. Despite the company’s privately held status, the Wall Street Journal would be remiss not to cover the company’s goings on.

BUT…
[Read more…]