Communications

The Art of Pitching Media and Bloggers

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 02nd, 2011

At AHA, we have spent a great deal of time focusing on what makes a great pitch – to media, to bloggers and, depending on the objective of what we’re working on, to other external and internal stakeholder groups. A good pitch tells a story. It should be a short story, but it is a story – one that piques curiosity and provides relevant information through stats, facts, details and writing that paints a picture. More and more often these days, you can also use video or audio in a pitch. We often create video news releases or pitches for…

Communications Audit

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on July 15th, 2011

AHA Fast Take Friday for July 15, 2011 from AHA Creative on Vimeo.

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday, Ruth talks about finding budget where you least expect it.

Who Should ‘Own’ Social Media?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 11th, 2011

Social media has changed the game for everyone in the marketing, PR and advertising world. There is a different approach to how we communicate and what consumers expect from a brand or organization.

Social media is a big part of what we do at AHA. Whether a client organization should participate in different areas of social media or not depends on the organization, their stakeholder groups and their communication objectives. However, every communications plan that we develop has a social media component to it – at the very least for monitoring the conversations online.

We often partner with ad agencies…

Don’t Get Burned

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on July 08th, 2011

AHA Fast Take Friday from AHA Creative on Vimeo.

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday, Ruth is in New Zealand talking about making sure you are not stepping into hot water with your campaigns. (You don’t want any stakeholders steaming…)

What Does Google+ Mean For You?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 06th, 2011

There is always something new in the world of social media. Google+ is a new opportunity (or challenge, depending on your perspective) in this arena. At AHA, we are in the middle of checking out Google+ and what it will mean for our clients and for us, as a PR agency.

I was thrilled to come across this piece by Shel Holtz on the implications of Google+ for public relations and marketing. It’s definitely worth a read.

Can You Respond in Time?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 04th, 2011

At AHA, we are working with a new client that is dealing with a serious issue within its organization. This particular issue had a great deal of misinformation, miscommunication and speculation around it. One of the challenges that this organization faces is that for quite some time, it has had an internal culture of little or no authentic communication. Not because the senior executive team is uncaring or doesn’t want to communicate, but it is a busy, successful business that has seen rapid growth in the past decade. For many people, there just didn’t seem to be the time to…

Are You All Talk, No Listen?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on June 29th, 2011

We recently did a communications audit for a client. The results were surprising to them. When we undertake a communications audit, depending on the objective, we usually review everything being done that focuses on communication – e-newsletters, staff memos, meetings, town halls, intranet, external website, news releases, media pitches and, of course, social media interaction.

This particular client wanted to know what they were doing well and what they could do better. Social media was something that had just kind of happened at their company – with great intentions. Staff had taken it upon themselves and started a Facebook page…

Get in Touch

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on June 22nd, 2011

I have to admit, I had to laugh when I read this post on Ragan.com about all the ways that we now have to be contacted. Back in the day, there were just a few ways to connect. This communicator counted 10 platforms that he now uses – and funnily enough, in person is the last on his list.

What about you? How many platforms do you use for communication?

Don’t Let a Hoax Ruin Your Brand

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on June 20th, 2011

We recently watched the challenge that McDonald’s faced with a hoax that falsely suggested that the global company discriminates against African-American customers. Is your organization prepared?

At AHA, we often develop crisis communication strategies, plans and manuals for clients. We recently worked on a crisis plan for a client that included a section on how to respond if a hoax hits their brand. The online world has changed communication and facing a crisis or issue, which may include a hoax. Many communicators know this, but are experiencing a challenge in getting the senior executives, CEO, Board of Directors…

Is Your Website Doing Its Job?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on June 13th, 2011

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media networking sites can be of value to your organization depending on your organization and your communication objectives. But your website is of value no matter how big or small your organization is or what your objectives are. And I can’t tell you how often a website is overlooked in an organization with focus often going to the hotter tools like Twitter or Facebook.

We, at AHA, provide communication audits for clients on a regular basis. The review of the organization’s website is a part of this…