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.”

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