MarCom Professional

By Andrew Kenneally

Obama’s recent trip to Europe had me in awe at the powerful imagery and careful positioning executed by his campaign. 

Apart from stealing any and all media coverage from his opponent, he demonstrated in a very short amount of time that: (1) he could do the job by standing toe to toe with foreign heads of state, (2) he understands foreign issues; and (3) he wants to work with our foreign neighbors and re-build the bridges that so many Americans believe were destroyed post-911.

However the question arises, did it work?  Was it worthwhile?  Did Obama’s trip make up for his lack of foreign policy experience?  According to CNN Polling Director Keating Holland, “not really.”  But imagery and careful positioning are powerful, especially for the last minute voter.  Just More...

By Andrew Kenneally

 

When companies and organizations add blog and increase their social and digital media presence, they demonstrate a great deal of transparency.  Through that transparency they bring more people - be it customers or donors - into their discussion, whether that be finding a comprehensive energy plan or launching a new product. More...

By Andrew Kenneally

I attended a social media camp (i.e., PodCamp) in Boston this weekend and the buzz was - everyone loves Twitter!  For those not familiar with Twitter, its a simple social networking tool that allows friends to tell each other what they are doing.

Businesses like Comcast and Southwest Airlines have already jumped on the bandwagon (”Hurry up, the customer has a complaint“) to the delight of their customers because they understand the importance of embracing new technology to communicate with their customers.   Here at Racepoint, we have understood this for quite a while. More...

by Peter Prodromou

This week’s crisis with mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae has reinforced the need for a strong communications strategy and community formation to quell fear and inspire confidence in the public.  As with every financial crisis, this one has the potential to spiral out of control if public confidence isn’t re-inforced.  The government’s swift action to provide credit to the mortgage giants, is commendable and, so far, has worked.  Bit the prospect still remains that with the foundation of financial markets quaking, the public could lose confidence and financial institutions of all kinds - down to community banks - could begin to fail. More...

By Peter Prodromou

We hear with increasing frequency from companies wanting RPG’s corporate practice to take them through the pre-IPO process or support their ongoing IR strategy.  And while the usual check box questions about capability are clearly front and center, the thing that really gets a lot of attention these days is the role of social media in investor relations.

We’re the first to counsel our clients to be judicious with a social media program in the context of IR and broader corporate communications as a public company.  At the same time, it’s clearer than ever, that social media can and does have huge impact on shareholder and corporate stakeholder perceptions.  Any company not integrating a social media component into their IR and corporate programs — even something as simple as understanding and evaluating the digital dialogue — is making a mistake. More...

By Andrew Kenneally

This week, Congressional Quarterly reported that the U.S. Senate’s Ethics Committee added an amendment to housing legislation (HR 3221) that would require senators to disclose the creditor, amount, interest rate and term of any mortgage they have. 

The amendment is the result of news that Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad received sweetheart deals from Countrywide Financial Corporation.  According to the New York Times, both Senators were assigned to the corporation’s “V.I.P. More...

Governor Patrick is in California this week for an international biotechnology conference toting his new $1 billion life-sciences package that he signed into law on Monday. According to the Globe, he is hoping his initiative will help him beat the competition (California, Florida, etc.) in attracting new life sciences companies to Massachusetts.

Also of interest in California is legislation (AB 2967) introduced by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber to increase transparency and disclosure in the health care industry. The bill would require public reporting of cost and quality by doctors, hospitals HMOs and others in the health care industry. More...

By Andrew Kenneally

Yesterday, CNBC online had an article from the CSR Wire that said Boulder, Colorado is considered the “Birthplace of the Green Movement.”  This is due to locally-based companies such as Celestial Seasonings, Pharmaca, and Eco-Cycle, who back in the 1970’s, made a choice to advocate and run businesses that would promote a more sustainable lifestyle.

This week, they and other companies are returning to the birthplace (i.e., Boulder) for the LOHAS (acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) forum, which is a global gathering of premier businesses, thought leaders, market researchers, media executives and opinion makers seeking to participate in the $209 billion LOHAS market. More...

Who isn’t getting on the green train these days? Add a couple more - the Discovery Channel, Indy 500 and Honda!

On June 4th the Discovery Channel is launching Planet Green - the first and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network. It’s the center for the new green conversation, speaking to people who want to understand green living and to those who truly want to make a difference in meeting the critical challenge of protecting our environment. Planet Green’s unique content, tools and information will enlighten, empower and most importantly, entertain.

But what’s most interesting about their launch was what they did a couple weeks before it. More...

Have Americans finally had enough of escalating gas prices?  Will they stay home this weekend in droves?  More important, what does it mean that it takes these kinds of economic pressures on the consumer before the government and market act?  The companies that stand up and leverage their know-how with responsible behavior can solve this problem, create energy independence and make good money.  It’s time they step forward…

And speaking of aligning green with business, get a look at the cover story on General Motors in this week’s BusinessWeek.   The company’s got its future staked on finding the right balance between the environment and business.  Now they just need to take our advice on how to merchandise that in the marketplace of ideas (see our blog posting  from March). More...