By: Aileen Katcher, APR, Fellow PRSA

When Deb Miller, co-chair of the Brentwood Cool Springs Chamber’s First Friday group asked me to speak to them about  “How to Define and Communicate Your Value Proposition” I agreed, thinking I could easily adapt another talk to fit the topic.

When I actually sat down to prepare I realized that my favorite existing talks (Shameless Self Promotion, What Would Edward Bernays Post on Twitter, and How to Survive a Spill in Your Business) didn’t really fit the topic.  In fact, I wasn’t even sure exactly what the formal definition of value proposition was.  So, I did some quick online research (thank you Google) to stimulate my thinking.

I found many definitions – mostly filled with jargon and buzzwords (a pet peeve of mine). One even called the term itself jargon.  I decided to read to the group the following two definitions:

• “An offer that describes the quantifiable benefit(s) that the individual(s) or organization(s) making the offer promise(s) to deliver.” Wikipedia (and I must say, a candidate for the Jargonator).
• “The unique set of benefits that you offer to customers to sucker them into buying your product or service. Sometimes shortened to ‘value prop,’ as in ‘What’s your value prop?’ Word.”  MBA Jargon Watch (which now ranks with @FakeAPStylebook as one of my favorite online resources.)

Simply put – your value proposition is “What does your company do?  And why do customers want to do business with you?”  It needs to be short and clear.  A bumper sticker message.

How do you define it?  It starts with research of various stakeholders, an audit of existing messages, and analysis of all.  If is followed by some creative brainstorming, and ends with consensus.

KVBPR’s is “Aligning interests, building relationships, creating success,” with success being the reason clients want to do business with us.  We went through the above process to develop it.

But identifying the value proposition is useless if you don’t take the next steps:

• Make sure you can deliver the value you promise.
• Develop a clear, concise message platform that defines what you want to communicate to internal and external audiences about your value prop.

Is that it?  No.  Now you need to use the messages.  Make sure they become part of the fabric of your business.  Share them and use them internally.  Then, look at your business, marketing and communications plans and make sure you are using them strategically to reach all of your target audiences.

Evaluate those efforts on an ongoing basis and do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

It’s not complicated.  But it does require senior level commitment and perseverance.

What are some of the values you provide?

Need help figuring it out?  Buy me a cup of coffee at Dunn Brothers some morning and I’m glad to help you talk it through.

By: Holley Stein, APR

A recent Poynter Institute post “Why journalists make the best PR pros” highlights the common misconception that public relations means media relations. The post included an interesting poll that is available at Twtpoll.

Before delving too deeply into the subject, I must point out that two of the three partners at KVBPR have successful journalism backgrounds. So clearly, some journalists do make great PR professionals!

This is not about challenging the statement about journalists moving into public relations. Let’s just set the record straight: working with reporters and editors is only part of what many of us work on daily.

Yes, there are people who specialize in media relations. Is it fair to say that a journalist would be better suited for that role than someone with a PR background? Maybe. If they were a good journalist they would undoubtedly have the writing skills, the ability to meet multiple deadlines and a great sense for what makes news.

But I don’t care to generalize. I know a few communications departments that are run more like newsrooms, where being a former journalist is definitely a plus. But that interpretation of a communications department is not necessarily the norm. These departments only handle media relations and they leave other strategies up to the marketing department.

One of the best PR consultants that I have ever had the pleasure of working with was a good (not the best) writer, but she could look at a news release and, at a glance, know whether it would “sell.” Her talent was a knack for understanding people. She listened. She understood what motivated them to move and could work a “room,” and by room I mean publics (which could be defined as reporters, publishers, CEOs or investors, employees and potential marketing partners) better than anyone. She always accomplished what she set out to do…change behavior in the direction she wanted it to be changed. That’s a true measurement of communications success. Outcomes. Not outputs (the number of articles produced).

True public relations strategists will look at a client’s (external or internal…if you work in-house, your clients are your colleagues) business goals and determine how communications can support accomplishing the goal. Depending on the company and its publics (stakeholders), strategies could include media relations, community relations, internal communications, investor relations, advocacy, social media and crisis communications.

Would a journalistic background make a person a natural fit for each of these strategies? It depends on the skills they bring to the table.

If we’re having a serious conversation about what makes a great PR professional, which actually should be referred to as a great counselor — the one who is on a CEO’s speed dial — let’s say it is someone who has a strong understanding of sociology, psychology, methodology, linguistics, business and uses all of that to communicate. Strong writing skills and knowing what makes a good news story is only a part of the necessary skill set.

By Aileen Katcher

Today, there is a lot of buzz about thought leadership. 

Wikipedia defines Thought Leader as business jargon for an entity that is recognized for having innovative ideas.  I’m a big anti buzz word advocate, so I ask – do we really need the term? 

Google Thought Leadership and you will get nearly 12.5 million hits.  One site offers to give you a test to see if you are a thought leader (and if you flunk it, promises to tell you how to get there.)

In a release last year, Gartner coined the phrase Thought Leadership Marketing (TLM) and said while it often accounts “for as much as 20 percent of marketing expenditure — an organized discipline of TLM is only now emerging, allowing marketers to use this as a manageable tool to drive business.”  Just now emerging?  Really? 

My thoughts on thought leadership?  It is indeed jargon.  Finding ways for clients to be recognized for their ideas is at the crux of what effective public relations is and always has been.

One website for a consulting firm that “specializes in TLM” promises clients a TLM program that will capture the attention of customers online and offline using opinion articles and columns in leading business publications, blogs on leading websites, articles for key journals, whitepapers, micro sites and websites. 

Excuse me, but isn’t that what good public relations professionals do for their companies and clients every day (along with other strategies and tactics)?  What about the message?  Without a clear, concise message, we can’t lead any thoughts. 

So my advice to those thought leader wannabes out there – start with a good strong message.  And a good public relations plan to deliver that message and start building the relationships that success is based on.

By Nancy DeKalb

According to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), 3.3 billion brand impressions are delivered word-of-mouth each day in this country. 

Food and dining are the top conversation topics.  And although the numbers might skew differently during March Madness, typically women talk about retail and apparel.  (Mary Katherine, thanks for the tip on Mad Donna’s brunch.  How was your Viking cooking class?) Men talk about sports and recreation.  (Greg, which teams do you have going to the NCAA championship?)

Here are some other interesting numbers from WOMMA:

• 66 percent of WOM brand references are positive
• 76 percent of marketing conversations take place face-to-face
• Average conversation is four minutes
• 49 percent are likely to purchase based on WOM
• 49 percent of people are likely to pass the information along
• 34 percent are likely to seek more information

Word-of-mouth marketing starts with storytelling.  So, what’s your story?  Why should consumers talk about your product?  How can you facilitate the conversation about your company or product?

Here’s the second installment of former KVBPR intern Joel Fortner’s blog that includes interviews with KVBPR partner, Aileen Katcher and other PR notables, Gayle Falkenthal of Falcon Valley Group, Heather Whaling of Geben Communication, and Sarah Evans of Sevans Strategy. 

This one focuses on starting a PR biz and what their favorite holidays are.  Enjoy. 

http://joelfortner.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/pr-pros-dish-on-starting-pr-biz-fave-holidays-part-2/

by Aileen Katcher

About ten years ago, Joel Fortner interned at KVBPR while he was at MTSU.  We called him Joey then (I still do).  Today, Joel is Media and Opinion Research Analyst at Air Force Public Affairs at the Pentagon in DC.   We have stayed in touch off and on since he graduated, most recently connecting via social media (LinkedIn and Twitter.) 

When he reached out to see if he could interview me for his first blog post on Public Relations and The People Behind It, I was flattered. 

He profiles me and three other PR entrepreneurs, Gayle Falkenthal of Falcon Valley Group, Heather Whaling of Geben Communication, and Sarah Evans of Sevans Strategy in the post.   I already followed Sarah on Twitter.  I didn’t know the others but was also impressed by their stories (and looking forward to following them as well.) 

Read Joey’s post for some interesting insights into how each of us became PR firm owners and what keeps us awake at night.

By Aileen Katcher, APR, Fellow PRSA

The goal: raise awareness of the Nashville International Trade Mission to South America for the Nashville Health Care Council and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The challenges: jet lag, a three-hour time difference, a packed agenda, language barriers … oh, and I was in week three of my personal push to stay off caffeine.

The opportunities: 30 delegates with different perspectives meeting health care and government leaders in Chile and Argentina and exploring the potential to work together and learn from each other.

The KVBPR solution: a plan that became the road map for best practices in intercontinental event communication, significantly raising awareness of the trip in the Nashville business community and highlighting perspectives.

An exclusive relationship with SouthComm provided advance stories, daily blog posts and post-mission trip stories. Each day of the week-long mission, the NashvillePost ran a blog or video post from their Latin American correspondents (myself and Council President Caroline Young) and included it in their daily email summary of stories.

With a three-hour time difference and a packed agenda for the mission, developing content and making deadlines was sometimes a challenge. It meant occasionally skipping lunch, leaving evening events early, or rising at the crack of dawn to write about the prior day. Sound hectic? It was, but it was also the most enjoyable writing I have done in a long time.

Although we had developed a list of potential subjects to cover, we had to be flexible and seize opportunities. For example, the “We are Chile” post practically wrote itself after we learned how the country had come together following their tragic earthquake and mining accident. Another blog developed after three delegates discovered they attended the same law school at different times yet ended up in very different health care related jobs.

While I was busily writing and recording in South America, the KVBPR team and Council and Chamber staffs in Nashville were proofing, editing video footage, formatting photos, updating social media sites and delivering completed materials to the NashvillePost each day. The Chamber posted links to the stories on its site and the Council encouraged its members to post links on their sites.

In addition, KVBPR produced The Daily Five – a daily email news digest of the top five local and national health care stories, plus any trip coverage, in a PDA-friendly format that helped delegates stay informed of news at home.

I learned a lot (including developing a love for Mate, a tea product that provides caffeine-like results without the negative side effects), met some fabulous people (including a neighbor who runs by my house everyday on his jog), saw and fell in love with two countries I had never visited, and overall had a fabulous time. And, the Nashville Health Care Council and Chamber achieved the visibility and awareness of the trip that they were seeking.

So, where are we going next?

By Greg Bailey, APR

Granted, the statistics I’m about to toss out are from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), but it looks like the questionable future of America’s newspapers may be clearing up. And finally, American readers have now found their newspapers online.

After years of declining circulation and awful advertising revenue, there appears to be some good news about the daily newspaper in America. According to the NAA, an average of 105.3 million people per month visited a newspaper website in the fourth quarter of 2010. Even better news is the demographics behind the readers: sites reached 58 percent of 25- to-35-year-old adults and 73 percent of individuals living in households earning over $100,000 per year.

The site visitors spent about 3.4 billion minutes per month on the newspaper sites, accounting for an average 4.1 billion page views per month. Being no mathematician, I have to trust the NAA’s data slicing-and-dicing of the minutes and views per month, equaling about 32.3 minutes and 38.9 page views per individual per month.

While those numbers don’t equal the average reader’s time spent with the Sunday edition of The New York Times or Chicago Tribune, it does prove that the newspaper sites are no longer Internet-marketing vehicles for their hard-copy products. There is life for newspapers beyond paper and ink.

While reader habits may be changing, the gloomy news about the business side of newspapers remains – and it may be awhile before advertisers join readers online. Through the third-quarter 2010, the NAA reports that total online revenues increased by 9.5 percent to $2.16 billion. During the same period, total print ad revenues dropped by $1.55 billion or 8.7 percent, a total of $16.35 billion.

For public relations professionals and clients, these visitor statistics show that placement on news media websites isn’t the abyss we thought it was five years ago. People see and read what is posted. Shifting demographics, mobile technology, bandwidth and content are all playing a role in either moving readers to the sites on a full-time basis or supplementing what others are reading in the paper that lands in front of the house or the front desk of the office.

I’m an old newspaper guy, so I like spreading a newspaper out on my desk and going through it – reading stories and headlines, admiring photos and mocking bad layout. Still, I visit six or eight newspaper websites each day, throughout the day, to see what’s going on the world.

What about you? Are you a traditional hard-copy reader? Or are you an online-only reader Maybe you do both? I would be interested in learning how you obtain your news each day.

By Holley Stein, APR

I recently had the opportunity to hear political historian and author Michael Beschloss speak at the Scarlett Leadership Institute at Belmont fall leadership breakfast. If you haven’t had the opportunity to look into the Institute’s offerings, please do. It’s a great resource for Nashville’s professional community. The topic was leadership and Beschloss provided entertaining examples of our nation’s greatest and not-so-great leaders.

One topic that I felt was particularly relevant to my work with clients was the idea of thought leadership. He referenced presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington in particular. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation is a specific example of thought leadership, as well as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. I felt that Beschloss’ explanation of the benefits of thought leadership — of leaving a legacy — interesting.

To apply this to the business world, thought leadership is an opportunity for leaders to take their expertise and steer their company in a particular direction. Or perhaps even make an impact in the community. We often encourage business leaders to choose an industry or social topic that is important to them, their personal values and the values of their company. We then ask them to pull out their crystal balls, rely on their business ‘gut’ and predict the topic’s near future.

An entire communications program can be built around a leadership view. Depending on the industry and how comfortable an executive is with new technology, thought leadership can be rolled out in a blog. It can also be echoed in op-eds and articles that are published in print news. An agency could work with leaders to build a presentation around the view and launch speaker’s bureau circuits, targeting key audiences. In addition, corporate social responsibility strategies could be created out of thought leadership.

We talk a lot about sustainability and cautiously leaving a footprint, so if one is left, it should count. Thought leadership takes care and nurturing, and the topic should be genuine and believable.

By Aileen Katcher, APR

The fall 2010 Worldcom Americas Region meeting was in Cleveland in late September.  There, our more than 50 partner firms from across the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, spent three days sharing best practices, learning from national experts, planning, socializing and, of course, rock and rolling.  And, yes, I did have to remind the group a few times that Nashville is the real Music City, not Cleveland.

Why did it rock?  It wasn’t just the music.  Here are some highlights:

I was able to personally thank Elizabeth Sosnow from Bliss PR in New York for referring a crisis client to us last month.  A contact of theirs in London represents a UK firm that owns a manufacturing plant in West Tennessee that had a fire and needed crisis communication assistance – fast.  We jumped in and went to work within an hour of the first call.

Miguel Martinez, from Infomedia, our Buenos Aires partner, bought me a drink to thank me for referring the Nashville Health Care Council to him to assist in planning its November International Health Care Trade Mission to South America.  And, I made plans to visit with him while we’re in Brazil and with our brand new partner, Arturo Arriagada, director of LatinMedia Comunicaciones Limitada in Santiago, Chile, the Council’s first stop on the trade mission.  It’s nice to have friends in far off places.

Jon Bloom, CEO of McGrath Power PR in San Jose, CA and I were able to close a deal with Iridium Development, a Nashville-based phone app company, who wanted local Nashville representation but needed Silicon Valley technology expertise and connections.  Having a Worldcom partner that we know and trust with a proven track record introducing phone apps makes the relationship a win-win.

Jim Reynolds, consultant with meeting sponsor Alterian gave me some great advice about how to resolve a firewall issue that was hampering social media monitoring and posting for one of our clients.

Greg Waldron, principal with OptionA Advisors, another sponsor, shared some insights into strategic planning for PR Firms that resonated with me (and my partners when I related the information to them).

Being a Worldcom partner gives us myriad resources that help our team and our clients nearly every day.  It does indeed “rock.”  Cleveland was great and our partner and host firm there, Liggett Stashower showed us a great time – but Nashville is still the true Music City and always will be.  But, Cleveland is a close second.