Global PR, Local Action

National Public Relations Agency 

A good portion of All Points PR's business is outside of Chicagoland and even outside of the Midwest for that matter. But I am no fool when it comes to the importance of focusing a strategic PR campaign for All Points right here in my own home market.

So, yes I'm marketing and activating programs to build awareness for the business to my niche industry and the national audience on several levels, but I'm equally as focused on heightening visibility in the Chicago suburb where I have my office and throughout the greater Chicagoland area.

I am thinking global and acting local (while still acting global too – or in this case across North America).

Local public relations is a cost-effective way for me to spread the word, build interest and generate leads. Utilizing PR, I've secured feature stories in my home market that have resulted in new business opportunities. What happens is: neighbors, acquaintances and others in the community see the news coverage, spread the good word and inquire about our services. Seems like a natural chain of events.

However, all too often companies that do business outside of their own home market primarily forget that there is an audience right in their backyard.

Here in Chicago, we get the sense that United Airlines markets a bit differently to their hometown audience – the same for Motorola and many others. They are passionate about their local customers, conducting PR campaigns focused on media coverage with major Chicago media and news organizations in the suburbs that many of their employees and neighbors read, watch or listen to on a regular basis.

All Points Public Relations has more information to share with you about our comprehensive public relations services, including local market PR. We'd be happy to share our own achievements with this tactic and the successes we've had with it on behalf of our clients.

Generating Publicity: Chicago PR Style

Chicago Public Relations Company

Have you ever found yourself contacting a company about their products or services after having read a story about them in the newspaper or a magazine? What about after hearing a specialist or CEO of a company speak?

National Media Publicity is an extremely important for building awareness and credibility for your small business or company. Example: a legitimate news story in a magazine or newspaper is an endorsement from someone else that can reach a wide audience for a low cost. All it takes is a great writer and a PR Firm with creativity and time. In addition to stories in the newspaper, there are several types of publicity:

• News/Interviews in trade-specific journals, websites dedicated to the industry, magazines, the morning news and more.
• A journalist or blogger writing a story with your 'Expert' opinion or a quote.
• Stories posted on websites or industry magazines that are self-authored. 
• Speaking engagements for your industry

Publicity is a highly cost-effective strategy than can do several things: build awareness about your company's products and services, drive visitors to your website, get people to participate in your events, help your target market to learn more about your industry and products and the problems you can solve, and great an ongoing conversation about your company.

The key to success is generating newsworthy stories that publishers want to share. They need to be interesting, relevant, and offer new information to readers.

Publicity isn't about luck at all - it's about investing in a strategic program with an effective Public Relations Agency and you can continue to reap the rewards with time.

The Important Role of Public Relations

Experienced PR agencies have developed diverse techniques such as press releases, opinion polling, focus groups, social media management, national publicity and many more techniques that come together in order to publicly shape an organization into a well oiled PR machine. Truly effective Public relations agencies have good rapport with key news contacts which greatly increases the chances that stories will get covered more often and in greater detail. While some PR agencies only stick to larger corporate clients, smaller, more specialized companies also need to reap the benefits of using a Public Relations Company.

Public Relations Firms are effective in helping the following:
1. Assist Corporations in conveying information to the public about products and services.
2. Help Businesses and Individuals reach local government and legislators.
3. PR Agents in the political realm can help politicians attract votes, raise money and craft their public image.
4. Help non-profits, schools, religious organizations and other social service programs raise awareness, build support, fund-raise and increase patronage.

The field of Public Relations is so much larger than these four items though. Public Relations Firms should be involving themselves in several different outlets of business including: Franchise PR, Social Media Services, Grassroots Public Relations Campaigns, National Publicity, and even Media Training to assist business owners in effectively talking to media outlets.

For more information regarding Public Relations Services, visit our website: PR Firm Chicago to read up on Public Relations and all that an effective PR Firm can do for businesses.

Top 5 Franchises of 2011

National Public Relations Agency

Entrepreneur.com is a wonderful website to gain insight into business, franchising, marketing and much more. Recently, they released their list of 2011's Top Ten Franchises. What makes each of these franchises great? You be the judge.

#1 Hampton Hotels
Hampton Hotels first got their start in Memphis Tennessee twenty-seven years ago in 1984. They were THE first mid-priced national hotel chain to offer free breakfast and local phone services in 1995. In that same year, they expanded into Hampton Inn & Suites, consisting of two-room hotel rooms and kitchen areas.

In 1999, Hilton Worldwide acquired Hampton Inn. Hilton currently has 84 hotels worldwide, and owns brands including Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, DoubleTree, Embassy and more. They are a giant in the Hotel Franchise industry and deserve their #1 standing.

#2 AM/PM
The first AM/PM gas station opened in 1979 in California and has since grown to over 3,000 gas stations over the United States. From a Franchise PR standpoint, they've done exceptionally well for themselves and their franchisees.

#3 McDonald's
If anyone doubts McDonald's franchising power, they can stop wondering now. With over 30,000 locations in 119 different countries, it's no wonder the Golden Arches is synonymous with burgers and good business.

#4 7-Eleven Inc.The original 7-Eleven dates back to the 20s when an ice-block company started selling sandwiches. When hours changed to 7am to 11pm, the name was changed, and 7-Eleven began opening their doors all over the place. Today they're a staple in our local strip malls and a highly profitable franchise operation to own.

#5 Supercuts
Supercuts developed a low-cost, yet great way to get a quick haircut without having to set an appointment. With over 1,000 locations in the US and Canada, Supercuts has become a giant in quick, affordable hair cutting locations in North America.

These companies, in the past year, have risen to the top 5 Franchises in the world due to effective business practices, great advertising campaigns, effective Public Relations firms, and a unique product that while always copied, can never be replaced. 

Crisis Communications and Your Business: How to plan for the future

Chicago PR Agency & National Public Relations Firm

I agree with most when it comes to living in the now. Balance can be found if you go about life with your principles intact while living day to day and minute to minute.

However, when it comes to your business and crisis communications, you can't live for today. As a business owner, you are always living for the future, be it tomorrow, next year, or two minutes from now. Similar to other business strategies that you have to plan for, but different in so many ways because of the unknown. Crises are one of PR's great variables; you never know what may happen next.

How do you work today to plan for the unknown?
I broached this topic with a client of mine recently and we talked about many of the things we could do together to ensure that catastrophe wouldn't kill her business. She works for a business-to-consumer company with storefronts nationwide. She was concerned about how to effectively communicate with customers, the press and the general public if ever the need would arise in a crisis situation.

We first started talking about who the spokesperson would be, the protocol for internal communication, employee reactions and press statements. Then we turned to the cost-benefit ratio. How much would it take to effectively carryout a communications plan that covers all stakeholders and how would you quantify that with measurable results to come up with a return on the investment? All of these considerations must be taken in to account, along with the tactics to execute the crisis communications strategy.

One part of the discussion that really sticks out is when we got on to the topic of how social media plays a role in reputation management in times like these. You'd be surprised how much forethought needs to take place in order to keep concerned customers and the public at ease by using social media.

So, lots to think about and consider for tomorrow and today. Don't forget though about the role of technology. Press conferences and press releases used to be the only way to communicate with the public and your client base. These days, Youtube and sites like Vimeo has made video sharing so instant that putting a spokesperson on every computer screen in America with just a few minutes preparation time is 100 percent viable.

All Points Public Relations has more information about our crisis communications planning on our website. We've been creating contingency plans for companies for nearly 10 years as part of our collection of comprehensive PR capabilities.

National PR Firm :: Public Relations Agency