It is amazing how fast time flies when you're busy! August just flew by and it is already time for our second Shout Out blog post where we shout through the Megaphone our top hits from the last month and give you a glimpse into just how great our clients truly are. Enjoy!
Road and Track covers Eaton's Electrified Highway event
For Eaton Corporation's Power Quality division, a client working on the forefront of electric vehicles and electric vehicle chargers, Road and Track magazine is a top trade publication. Targeting automotive enthusiasts, Road and Track featured Eaton in an article about Eaton's Electrified Highway event. For this event, Eaton set up a demonstration of their iMiEV car and Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. The electric vehicle charged on an Eaton charger for 30 minutes to enable its electrified travel from San Francisco to Sacramento.
News & Observer "Pantry Tries to Tempt Tummies"
Largemouth reached out to Sue Stock, the business reporter for the Raleigh daily newspaper, News & Observer, for a story on The Pantry's new fresh coffee and food program. The resulting article "Pantry Tries to Tempt Tummies" featured an interview with CEO Terry Marks and two high resolution pictures that captured the new clean layout of the store, the newly added fresh food and coffee and a friendly hospitality associate. The story was picked up by tier-one trade publications Convenience Store & Petroleum and the National Association of Convenience Stores.
Cary Citizen "Hidden Giant: Lonesource"
When Bradley King, CEO of Lonesource, started his own company, he did it right in his hometown of Cary, N.C. Largemouth searched for a way to tell the story of King's loyalty to his hometown and found the perfect opportunity in the Cary Citizen's Hidden Giant series that highlights large businesses that chose to place their headquarters in Cary. The story, "Hidden Giant: Lonesource," features an interview with King that highlights the Lonesource motto, "Customer first, company second and people always."
ComputerWorld, "Hurricane Earl may test IT teleworkers"
While many are altering their Labor Day plans in preparation for Hurricane Earl, Largemouth took the approaching hurricane as an opportunity to pitch Eaton's 2009 Blackout Tracker Report, a report of last year's reported outages and the affects they had on productivity and monetary loss. The report is a great resource for reporters covering power outage stories. ComputerWorld used the report in their article, "Hurricane Earl may test IT teleworkers," to discuss last year's slow hurricane season. The article featured an interview with Mike DeCamp, marketing communications manager for Eaton, who discussed how the 2010 Blackout Tracker is showing an increase in monthly power outages since 2009.
Eaton's 9395 UPS achieves SMaRT Gold certification
When Eaton's 9395 UPS received SMaRT Gold certification, the first product of its class to do so, Largemouth shouted out with a release and pitched industry reporters on the accomplishment. The story was covered in the July issue of Processor and the August issue of tED magazine as well as on online publications including DatacenterDynamics, Distributed Energy, Data Center Journal, Power Systems Design, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Thomasnet, Green TMCnet, Electric Light & Power, ZDNet and more.
Tags: Largemouth PR | PRWeek | Around the Office | Greatest Hits
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It may sound cliché, but here at Largemouth our clients are part of our family and we take pride in the work we do for them. That is why, starting today, we are dedicating the first Thursday of every month to our clients and the coverage we help garner for them. We will shout through the Megaphone our top hits from the past month and give you a glimpse into just how great our clients truly are.
But wait! What about the coverage already obtained? We've decided to spend this month's post highlighting a select few of the greatest hits obtained for our current and most recent clients.
Distributed Energy "Risk and Interruption"
For Eaton Corporation's Power Quality Division, a client in the data center space, Distributed Energy magazine is a top-target trade publication. After working with the author over several months, an article highlighting a customer success story titled "Risk and Interruption" ran in the July/August print issue of Distributed Energy. The story includes the client's targeted messaging, descriptions of its products and on-site photos of the customer facility.
Draft Magazine "Consider the Oyster (with beer): 5 questions for Ryan Tyson"
42nd St. Oyster Bar not only has fresh, high-quality food but also extensive beer and wine menus. In fact, when Prohibition ended in 1933, the restaurant was the first establishment in Raleigh to serve beer in a frosty mug again. Largemouth set up an interview with 42nd St.'s wine and beverage director and the managing editor of DRAFT Magazine, a national consumer publication that focuses on beer and beer culture. An article titled "Consider the oyster (with beer): 5 questions for Ryan Tyson" highlighted 42nd St.'s history and key messages and appeared as a web exclusive in May on DRAFTMag.com. DRAFT also posted the article link to its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Orlando Business Journal "How would raising commercial trucks' maximum weight impact the distribution industry?"
Largemouth reached out to the Orlando Business Journal on behalf of our client, transportation services provider Southeastern Freight Lines, which has a service center located there. They responded with a request to interview the local service center manager for its "Trends" column. The resulting article, "How would raising commercial trucks' maximum weight impact the distribution industry?" positioned Southeastern as a thought leader among its competitors.
Pipeline and Gas Technology "AMI Technology Enhances Customer Service"
In July, Sensus, a utility infrastructure technology provider, was featured in Pipeline and Gas Technology. The article showcased Sensus customer Energy Services of Pensacola (Florida) and focused on the gas utility's implementation of advanced metering infrastructure and smart metering solutions from Sensus. These technologies are driving the adoption of the "smart grid" for electric utilities and that Sensus is now also bringing to gas and water utilities.
Partnership with Steve Kemble
The trade show and events division of CORT, a Berkshire Hathaway company and the only national furniture rental provider, continued its partnership with "America's sassiest lifestyle guru," Steve Kemble. Kemble blogged about the upcoming annual conference for the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) and what to expect from CORT - including the Denim, Diamonds and Disco fundraising event!
Infection Control Today, "Hospitals Leverage Patient Flow Software to Automate Infection Control"
TeleTracking announced their work helping Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio, Texas and the University of Virginia Medical Center leverage patient flow and bed management software for infection control processes, receiving coverage in Infection Control Today and Healthcare Purchasing News.
Tags: Around the Office | Largemouth PR
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Largemouth has been featured in PRWeek twice in the past two months for our new client achievements. As you may have seen on our website, we have been named agency of record for The Pantry, the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, most commonly known for its Kangaroo Express operating banner.
I take great pride in everything our team has accomplished and look forward to continuing to work with such distinguished clients. Here's a look at some of our most recent accomplishments for our clients:
Eaton: Largemouth has been focused on highlighting Eaton customer success stories, recently receiving coverage in the May/June print issue of top-target trade publication, Mission Critical with the story "UPS provides service to troops."
Sensus: Largemouth demonstrated the newly launched iPERL water management system at the American Water Work Association's (AWWA) Ace10 conference in Chicago where we also surveyed attendees on industry concerns.
The Pantry: Largemouth helped with the grand opening of a Dairy Queen in Statesville, N.C. attached to a Kangaroo Express. The event was attended by Statesville mayor, Costi Kutteh, and received coverage in the Charlotte Observer.
Southeastern Freight Lines: Largemouth recently promoted Southeastern Freight Lines' 60th Anniversary through a media outreach campaign.
Lonesource: We are soon approaching our 25th newsletter written for Lonesource. Largemouth handles both their external newsletter, published quarterly, and internal newsletter, published once every two months.
Tags: Largemouth PR | PRWeek | Around the Office | Greatest Hits
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We're cheering into the megaphone at the Largemouth office
as we celebrate five years as a premier public relations agency in the
mid-Atlantic region. The cliché holds true that time flies when you're having
fun working for fantastic clients and with truly talented people.
The five years since Largemouth's inception in 2005 have been packed with securing results for a myriad of admired institutions such as Eaton Corporation, CORT, Dollar Tree and Southeastern Freight Lines. We've also had exciting growth from our home in Research Triangle Park to Charlotte and Pittsburgh. While our primary focus is in the B2B sector, we've made a big splash in the B2C sector recently. I'm excited for the growth and challenges we'll see in the next five years.
But for now, I'd like to take a moment to show my personal appreciation for the people that have made the past five years a success - The Largemouth team and our awesome clients.
To celebrate, we had the whole team at our headquarters. We enjoyed a limo ride to dinner at 42nd Street Oyster Bar in Raleigh. Tonight, we are headed to a private box at a Durham Bulls game.
Tags: Around the Office | Largemouth PR
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1) Are you media prepared?
Take USA Today as an example; you have one minute to deliver your message and create impact. What three things do you want the editor to remember about your business?
2) Who's got your back?
In other words, what influential people and/or business partners do you have groomed to endorse your organization's story? These resources are critical to validate your claims in the market.
3) What's the market chatter?
What positioning strategies have you deployed against your competitors? What story are they telling about you?
Whether building awareness in new channels, strengthening marketing programs or simply reinforcing your brand among select stakeholders - you must be able to answer these questions AT ALL TIMES.
If you don't have answers...we can help.
Have a great Thursday!
Tags: Media Relations
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During tough economic times, it's easy to lose sight of your brand. Faced with the challenge of staying afloat, the C-suite will naturally turn its attention to cutting operating costs, fixing balance sheets and other areas perceived as critical to the company's survival. But the way in which the outside world expects a company to behave and perform (also known as your brand) can be its most important asset.
Experts now say the economic stranglehold is loosening, but most still predict a long, slow recovery. Paying some overdue attention to your brand now may help mitigate any erosion that has occurred to the brand equity you spent years to build. Perhaps more importantly, taking a close look at your brand can help build employee and customer confidence in your products and services, positioning you to ride the wave of economic recovery for all its worth.
Step One: Tell the Right Story
The first and most important step toward brand rejuvenation is to take control of the message. Needless to say, PR in the form of savvy media relations plays a key role in that process. But before you can start putting out press releases or strategically fielding media requests, you have to be prepared to tell the "right story." Mind you, this is not to an exercise in spin. The "right story" is one that's harnessed by facts. It sheds light on current developments with an eye to the future. It puts decisions in context and ultimately contributes to help key stakeholders understand where you stand today and where you plan to go next.
Step Two: Clean up Collateral
In order to build the most appropriate messaging around your brand during an economic recovery, you must also take a good look at your marketing collateral. From product spec sheets to your Web site, it is critical that all your communications pieces contain consistent, clear and current information. Uncertain economic times are the worst possible times for creating confusion in the marketplace. Cleaning up your collateral tree requires time and resources, but keep in mind that protecting your brand is one of the most sound - and conservative - investments your company can make to protect and promote your brand.
Step Three: "Family" First
Finally, be vigilant to ensure that internal audiences don't slip through the cracks. If change is afoot in your business, your employees need to hear it from you first. Remember: once the rumor mill starts turning, it can be hard to contain. Disgruntled, misinformed employees have a way of inserting themselves into news stories about struggling businesses. Whether justified or not, the perceptions they help create can be difficult to dispel - especially in the Web 2.0 echo chamber. Being forthcoming is the number one way to control the message that is delivered by those who will be perceived as being "experts" or "insiders" whether they are well-informed or not.
Tags: public relations
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As the NFL season approaches, I wanted to provide a quick playbook (or two-minute drill) that ensures your success in scoring with your next media interview. Let's look beyond the blocking and tackling and assume that an insightful pitch was made that has given you a chance to tell your story. Two minutes to go...the clock is running...what do you do before the interview?
First Down: Be Prepared and Practice
The best way to make this a scoring drive is do your homework before speaking with the editor. You should have a firm grasp of the audience and preparation should center on key messages- not possible questions. Also, make certain that you are well versed in your corporate points-of-view.
Once you have completed your preparation, it is time to practice. Put your thoughts into the words you will be expressing to the interviewer. Have another person be the interviewer and do a few trial runs of the interview. Memorization will not result in a successful interview; however, practicing out loud will.
Prior to the Interview:
- Learn about the interviewer and their publication.
- Defer the time if you are not prepared.
- Know the basic rules.
Tags: Media Relations
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Everyone has those dreadful “learning experiences” at one time or another. With 15 years of public relations experience promoting everything from technology widgets and chocolates, to pet products and even drugs for travelers’ diarrhea, I feel my “learning experiences” may be of value to those currently directing marketing and/or communications strategies.
To that end, I wanted to share a few thoughts regarding agency evaluations. My so-called bumps and bruises, sometimes still visible, were earned while working on both the client and agency sides of business. Through this lens, I would argue that my instincts are darn good at determining when things (basically the performance of public relations agencies) are going well and when they are not. I know when public relations agencies are working diligently and providing great service, and conversely, when you have no choice but to wrest control of the reins and chart your course forward – despite having paid for those services.
Let me know if you find these best practices and lessons learned helpful…and ask yourself these simple questions to benchmark the performance of your public relations agency.
1) Has your PR team demonstrated sufficient industry expertise and account management skills required to serve the objectives of the program? Can they identify trends in the marketplace and apply strategies to incorporate you into relevant industry discussion?
2) After a few short months, the contributors to your program should have a strong grasp of the business and have success promoting your differentiation in the marketplace. If you are not completely confident in the team's ability – you need to change course quickly!
3) Has your PR team developed a synergy and rapport with your internal marketing team? Integration is essential to maximizing the total value of public relations-based deliverables. If program success are not being leveraged across ALL marketing disciplines and sales platforms – this too should be addressed ASAP!
Are you confident that the PR firm represents a professional extension of the business? Furthermore, has the PR team established one-to-one media relationships on your behalf resulting in successful media placements, coverage, endorsement. Writing press releases and posting them on free wires DOES NOT COUNT.
4) Lastly, does your team demonstrate a passion for your business, a passion for PR and an understanding of the best PR strategies to meet program objectives? If you hesitated for one femtosecond (a femtosecond is one millionth of a nanosecond), go through this list again carefully.
At Largemouth we challenge ourselves to ask these questions regularly…and we constantly strive for YES. Contact me if you’d like to share your ideas or if you’d like to see how Largemouth’s clients answer these questions 
. Have a great work week!
Tags: Largemouth PR
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We have now officially started our blog. From this point forward, we promise to capture and offer our loyal visitors useful strategies, tips and techniques for improving communications.
Enjoy your morning coffee and read this helpful article on protecting your brand in a recession.
Thanks, BB
Tags: social media | Media Relations | B2B | Local NC | Largemouth PR | public relations | Around the Office
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