Month: November 2022

Every year, our team analyzes the current state of the media, where our goal is for OWC clients to shine. Here are five lessons to take into 2023.

Stay on Social – Despite the commotion, social media platforms continue to play a key role in every communications strategy. Reporters need sources more than ever, and businesses derive recognition every time they “earn” a post. Facebook is the platform professional journalists use most often “for sourcing information, interacting with their audience and publishing or promoting content,” according to Cision’s State of the Media. 70 percent of reporters in North America turn to Twitter for their day-to-day browsing…at least for now. To establish and maintain reputation, these outlets remain invaluable.

Take a Stance – Customers turn to business leaders over politicians to influence policy decisions around climate change, healthcare and social issues. Why? Misinformation may float election campaigns in the short term, but it’s guaranteed to sink companies in the long haul. Therefore, key messages and strong talking points that don’t evade the big picture are effective business communication tools. The 2023 USC Relevance Report found that “60 percent of consumers surveyed believe corporations should help advocate for the causes they care about and donate money to the nonprofits who work on them.” More than half of those under 30 who contributed to the report said they would take a pay cut “to work for an organization that actively supports the causes that are important to them.”

Provide Visual Content – Journalists say that PR professionals do them a favor by including multimedia content in outreach. Cision’s report says 54 percent of reporters agree “they would be more likely to cover a story if provided with multimedia.” That means images, videos, fact sheets, infographics and executive bios. Every company needs an up-to-date media kit ready to share, with visually appealing materials and in-depth content on the organization’s history, capabilities and workforce. Send as a link, not an attachment.

Support the Press – The Pew Research Center predicts newsrooms will continue to shrink with further layoffs. That trend, however, has increased the importance of public relations, as PR staff are increasingly relied on for research, guidance, context and introductions to knowledgeable executives worthy of being quoted. Business communication has a growing media role, and opportunities to be heard are everywhere for businesses with something to say.

Update Your Crisis Plan – Got one? It’s not just Twitter, Meta, Disney and Amazon whose words and actions set the internet ablaze. Every company can face a cliff tomorrow. Critical missteps are most often caused by failure of preparation and alertness to what makes news. KPMG’s 2022 CEO Outlook reveals that reputational risk became more of a concern among CEOs as the year progressed (3 percent were concerned in February and 10 percent by August). A fool-proof crisis plan with holding statements and actionable steps is more than a good idea—for key execs, it can also mean a good night’s sleep.

Be smart and get prepared to make the news.

IN THE NEWS

OWC’s Wes Robinson attends IPREX Conference

Executive Vice President Wes Robinson represented OWC at the IPREX Americas Regional Conference in Scottsdale, AZ. IPREX is the leading global public relations and communications network with over 100 agency members. OWC shared insights on successful partnerships with other members, including the Mower Agency in Boston and PRHub in India.

Abiomed’s Impella featured on interview with American Ninja Warrior competitor on Tampa’s WFLA

OWC secured coverage for Abiomed’s Impella, the world’s smallest heart pump, on WFLA, Tampa’s NBC affiliate and a top 10 U.S. media market. Army veteran and American Ninja Warrior competitor Morgan Wright talked about his heart attack and how the Impella saved his life. Click here for the full coverage.

Alen partnership with Lowe’s featured on Multichannel Merchant

OWC secured coverage for Alen, a 16-year leader in High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) air purification solutions, on Multichannel Merchant. The company just announced that its air purifiers are now available at more than 300 Lowe’s stores nationwide. Check out the full coverage here.

Sustaining passion and purpose in a company’s workforce has lately been a challenge of balancing remote and hybrid personal schedules in the face of a possible recession. Employees have been whipsawed by persistently high inflation, student loan debt and news of pending job losses. After the pandemic, the current economic and social climate feels like a double punch. No wonder quiet-quitting has become a thing.

Companies know to adjust fast to the needs and demands of customers, partners, suppliers and investors. But what about the employees, who we need most? As every B-School in America says, employee satisfaction is critical to the bottom line.

Here are four tips to engage and inspire our teams:

Let the CEO talk. Employees like to hear from the top. They want to feel they’re part of something bigger than themselves. They expect to be valued, and they don’t get that feeling in a memo from HR. All-hands meetings and one-on-one sit-downs with top brass inspire urgency, substance and purpose for everybody. If you haven’t gotten the word yet, the CEO role has permanently changed: it’s OK now to share, listen, reveal and sympathize. A quarterly employee newsletter helps further humanize the workplace with announcements of weddings, babies, birthdays, anniversaries, awards and community volunteerism, the events that matter the most to people and bind them together.

Address Hot-Button Issues. Many employees and brands jump into political debates that don’t necessarily align with the brand’s mission and goals. The line between public and private comments has blurred and can reflect a company’s core values. But staying silent can be viewed as oblivious or even cowardly by employees. Businesses profit by saying what they stand for when push comes to shove. Advocacy isn’t required, policy is. Draw a line in the sand that the company will not cross.

Connect on Core Values. Embrace the connection of teams with company culture–and clearly define what that culture is. At OWC, that happens in one-on-one meetings that are frequent and short. We use the RPI method (Results, Progress and Issues) to focus on our goals of Entrepreneurial Thinking, One Team, and Embracing Failure. “Embracing Failure” takes some explaining: for us, it means the boldness to innovate and also the readiness to course-correct fast. No email memo can communicate that. It requires face-to-face coaching and goal definition. So get the team off Zoom. Connect with a pickleball match, bowling or an ice skating party—bond, learn and laugh. “Always connect.”

Listen! Employees want to be heard and when management listens, it’s often an eye-opening experience that means progress and innovation. Employee surveys reveal what staff value beyond higher pay. A deaf ear means lost talent, and recruitment and retraining are a tangible cost of ignoring what’s important to our most important asset.

Top-down builds the bottom line!

IN THE NEWS

OWC featured in PRWeek and Los Angeles Business Journal

OWC was covered in PRWeek and in the Los Angeles Business Journal on our partnership with cyber experts Digijaks. With this partnership, OWC clients will have access to a suite of crisis communications tools to protect and defend their online reputations. Click here for the PRWeek coverage and here for the Los Angeles Business Journal feature.

OWC nabs Award of Excellence from PRSA-LA

OWC attended the 58th PRism Awards from the Public Relations Society of America’s Los Angeles chapter on October 13. The agency was awarded an Award of Excellence for its integrated communications campaign with Arculus, a cold storage solution for cryptocurrency and other digital assets.

OWC attends Money20/20

OWC’s Wes Robinson was onsite at Money20/20, the largest global fintech event enabling payments and financial services. He was at the Arculus booth to assist media and demo secure authentication and cold storage solutions with the team.