When a company approaches our team for PR services, they have one goal in mind – to generate higher revenue. How they look to achieve this universal business goal varies case by case. Some private companies are dreaming of going public, while some are looking to be acquired by the industry bigwigs. Others are simply striving to create a name for themselves in the industry and, though they may not have the objective in the beginning, sometimes continue on to accomplish the aforementioned.

With the recent news of Google’s acquisition of blast! PR client Teracent, it seems only fitting that we highlight the significance of public relations as it relates to achieving business objectives.

At blast! PR, we strive to build out external corporate profiles for our clients that will exhibit executive thought leadership and showcase innovation in the industry. Sometimes starting with a company possessing zero exposure amongst key media and analysts, our team develops a strategic PR plan, key messages and associated tactics to get our client on the radar of these industry influencers. We then work to increase brand awareness and lead generation through a strategic public relations program consisting of press releases, speaking engagements, industry awards and contributed articles in key publications.

For example, SKYLIST turned to blast! PR in 2004 to increase company awareness in the increasingly crowded email marketing space. Through our PR efforts, SKYLIST grew from a once unknown ESP into a wildly sought after quality provider, whose technology paved the way for its peers/competitors to achieve common cross-industry goals. By the time the company was acquired by Datran Media in 2006, SKYLIST was a major player in the ESP space and CEO Joshua Baer had become the de facto email industry expert on issues including deliverability, authentication and anti-spam, among many others.

BlueLithium began as the vision of Gurbaksh Chahal, a young entrepreneur aimed to create an ad network for the new generation of online advertisers. When the company approached blast! PR in 2006, BlueLithium was a privately held company looking to step into the spotlight and gain marketshare from the legacy players. In 2007, when the explosion of behavioral and other advanced targeting technologies placed a spotlight on ad networks, we revved up the PR strategy to position BlueLithium as a frontrunner of ad network innovators. By September 2007, Yahoo! announced plans to acquire BlueLithium, which were carried out by the year’s closing.

In March 2009, Teracent approached blast! PR with the primary goal of gaining exposure for the company, its executives and offerings in the online advertising industry. We ensured that Teracent was consistently featured in top online advertising trade publications as a leader and industry innovator, and secured for strategic speaking engagements and column placements to be part of and spearheading industry discussions on the importance of data-driven online display advertising. Just this week, Teracent signed an agreement to be acquired by Google.

“blast! PR implemented a strategy that quickly and efficiently got us in front of top tier media and industry influencers and helped us establish a credible, trusted, expert reputation in the space,” said Chip Hall, SVP of Sales and Marketing at Teracent. “blast! PR worked hand in hand with our sales and marketing teams to make sure our PR goals were aligned with overall business goals and that we were working toward metrics-driven results. Getting acquired by Google was the ultimate success metric.”

Exciting times as another happy client gets acquired! Congratulation to the Teracent team and to our staff at blast! PR for helping make this possible!

Official Google Blog

Travelocity Offers Hope in Evolution of Display Advertising

Targeted Audience and Real-Time Campaign Updates Put Brand’s Efficiency Ahead of the Industry Curve

blast! PR is proud to announce that we’ve won Best Place to Work for companies under 50 employees for the second straight year! Thanks to the entire team for making this possible.

I don’t know about you, but I love Dave Grohl and LOVE Josh Homme. I could not be any more stoked about their new band trio Them Crooked Vultures with John Paul Jones. Josh Homme is probably the only person I would ever cry all over if I were lucky enough to meet him. Dave Grohl is arguably one of the most talented people in the music industry today – I was floored when I learned he recorded nearly the entire Foo Fighters’ debut album on his own. And John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin… enough said.

Little girl excitement aside, I am intrigued lately by the methods of promotion Them Crooked Vultures are employing to build buzz around their startup and super secret tour.

Once the rumors were confirmed and the band was public, they fired up their social media/viral WOM campaign and the fan frustration ensued. The guys created accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and now YouTube to help keep fans informed of any updates. It was evident that the band would be performing only a select few venues in the beginning. The confusing part is how long it takes fans to figure out where they would be playing next, even with all the “updates” the band has been posting for the fans.

So far, this has been the process in no particular order:

1. Post a link to a specific set of coordinates and distance on Google Earth. – Gets people guessing.
2. Post another link to set of coordinates, but closer in distance to the target location. –Builds anticipation.
3. Post a link to a YouTube clip of 30 seconds of previously unheard music. – People want MORE!
4. More Google Earth links, but still not a specific location. – Madness ensues.
5. Post a link to a single picture from the concert. – People go crazy for more music clips.
6. Post a tweet linking to their Facebook profile, update their Facebook status with a link to their Twitter page. – People are basically sheep at this point and the band can do whatever they want.

But even with all its ambiguity, the campaign seems to be paying off for the band. They have over 21,000 Facebook fans, nearly 9,500 followers on Twitter and over 297,000 MySpace profile hits. The band’s debut performance was a recent surprise show in Chicago, which of course sold out online after only 3 minutes. They later did a show in Melkweg with box office only tickets, which were sold in groups and required a photo ID to prevent scalping. And the reason for the secret shows and poor quality live fan-made videos? Cameras are prohibited from the shows, meaning the majority of online videos are those posted by the guys themselves. MORE MORE MORE!!! The band is completely in control over what is posted online and what bones are thrown to the fans.

Crystal Archbell, Program Manager

On my way home from Seattle last week, I picked up a copy of the latest Real
Simple, my favorite way to pass the 6-hour plane ride back to the East coast. Two things in the issue caught my eye and made me laugh. Next to the header, “Newly Coined” they have the term Social Notworking: the act of playing around on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites when you should be working. Also, on another page, a reader wrote in to say that her guilty pleasure is checking and updating her Facebook status several times a day.

Although I suppose this viewpoint holds true for many people out there, it reminded me how differently blast! PR, and the majority of the online marketing/technology industry, views social networking. Not as a guilty pleasure or an escape from work, but in fact, an integral part of our work day and client strategy. If I don’t update my Twitter status, even my personal account, I get a note from my boss (via Twitter) reminding me to do so!

We have always strived to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to social media and PR 2.0, and we know that for many of our clients, establishing a Twitter presence, building and updating fan pages on Facebook and generally joining the real time conversations with their peers, prospects, clients and industry influencers social media provides is an essential piece of the brand (and credibility) building puzzle. In order to provide the best recommendations and stay on top of trends, all of us at blast! PR have been assigned the responsibility to test, know, use, love and experience first-hand the latest and greatest social outlets and applications.

So for everyone out there worried about Social Notworking, know that there are those of us who are working hard to be social every day. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

Carla Vicens, Senior PR Specialist

July 31, 2009
iMedia Connection
8 Social Media Sins to Avoid
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July 30, 2009
NY Times
Ads Follow Web Users, and Get More Personal
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June 28, 2009
Adweek
Connect the Thoughts
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June 25, 2009
TechCrunch
Vyoom: A Social Network Built From The Ground Up Around Real-Time
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June 23, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
A world of gadgets for your pet
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July 23, 2009
Forbes
Click Fraud’s New Asian Connection
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May 21, 2009
ClickZ
Yahoo Opens Smart Ads to Third Party Vendors
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May 12, 2009
NY Times
Pay-Per-Click Web Advertisers Combat Costly Fraud
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In President Obama’s visit to Raleigh last week, he made several references to cupcakes after the owner of The Cupcake Shoppe, Sara Coleman, introduced him to the audience. These references were used to explain how the stimulus packages allow Americans to buy things they want, like cupcakes, as well as to prod Sara for not bringing some of the treats. Oh, he also made a quip that cupcakes are healthy when healthcare came up. From this teasing, it’s not a far stretch to assume that Obama believes cupcakes are not a necessity of American life, like, say, apple pie.

Well, I strongly disagree! As we struggle through this turbulent economy, we learn to appreciate the value of little treats in our daily lives. And our clients are getting these treats, too. While many companies are dropping entire programs from their budgets, the clients that we work with have begun to enjoy the little treats we bring to them. Be it an interview with a great publication or a speaking engagement they’re excited to participate in, their decision to indulge in a treat, which, admittedly, PR is often considered, brings a new level of joy to their daily business routines, not to mention bragging rights among friends and foes alike.

Erika Golden, Sr. PR Specialist

When attending an industry event, you expect to meet industry leaders and learn from their experiences and expert opinions, but lately I’m seeing fewer and fewer speaking slots given to those who participate in unpaid, outside submissions. As Program Manager at blast! PR, it’s becoming very clear that the majority of relevant industry events are handing over speaking gigs to anyone whose got the money, instead of those speakers who provide the most qualified content. Event directors are losing the battle against their company sales teams, leaving them with little to no programming freedom and an agenda full of sponsored speaking sessions.

I understand the fact that the economy is putting all of us in a tough position and companies have to do whatever keeps them afloat, but you have to wonder — if everything is heading toward pay-for-play, who’s going to even care what the speakers have to say anymore? One of our clients programs a huge industry event and has given us tons of valuable insight over the years we’ve had the pleasure of working with him. He has told us numerous times that the few paid speaking slots they have on the agendas are labeled as such, and are often the windows attendees use as their personal intermissions. Knowing they are paid gigs, attendees are just expecting the CEO to get up on stage and boast about his/her company’s product or service. For this reason, they will often use the opportunity as a restroom break or go into the halls to converse with other attendees. Can you really blame them?

When did the main objective of industry events change from putting butts in the seats by gathering the brightest minds in the business together to share tips and personal experiences with newcomers and trade hopefuls? Value isn’t always monetary.

Crystal Archbell, Program Manager

SpotLight Device Tracks Runaway Dogs

Is your dog a hairy Houdini? This new product which tracks runaway mutts might be your best counter defense.

The SpotLight GPS pet locator, which attaches to your dog’s collar, tracks your pup’s whereabouts, alerting you if your escape artist travels beyond a pre-programmed safe zone. The device is made by Positioning Animals Worldwide, Inc. (PAW) in partnership with the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery program (AKC CAR).

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