Bring PR into the mix early

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on September 07th, 2011

We’re working on a campaign for a client right now that got off to a bit of a slow start. We were brought in after the approach had been chosen. In a perfect world, we prefer to be a part of the concept and initial campaign strategy planning because the PR perspective adds value to that component, but sometimes that isn’t what happens and we live with it.

This campaign has some challenges. It’s a crowded market place and there isn’t much news value in what the client wants to announce. Not that it is isn’t interesting to the…

Crisis communications and social media

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

There is a great article on Ragan.com that focuses on the results of a study that says most companies are not prepared for a social media crisis. It’s worth a read.

How and when an organization responds and reaches out using traditional communications vehicles and through social media is crucial. One of the challenges is that social media has turned the world into a 24/7 news cycle. Many organizations aren’t prepared for that. How do you strategically and authentically respond if you aren’t prepared?

There are many steps an organization can take to put processes in place…

What’s your story?

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on August 26th, 2011

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday, Ruth talks about content creation.

Video as a communications tool

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

We’ve been talking a great deal about the power of video lately. At AHA, we believe that video can be a valuable tool to help tell an organization’s story – but it is just one component. In Wednesday’s blog post, I am going to talk about other tools that are important when it comes to telling your organization’s story.

For today, I want to focus a little bit on how we, at AHA, approach public relations using video. Prior to opening our PR agency, I worked for both a larger PR agency and in-house as a director of communications and…

How to Identify and Tell a Great Story

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 17th, 2011

Whether it’s a speech, a news release, a white paper, an article for your website or to send to media, a video news release, a video series or any other communications vehicle – it is all about the story. It is one of the opportunities and one of the challenges of public relations. An organization needs to really dig deep and build a credible story to interest stakeholders.

To help determine your story’s news value, ask yourself the questions below.

Is the story timely and relevant? It’s surprising how many things are put forward as great ideas and when we…

Wikipedia and You

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 15th, 2011

Is your organization listed in Wikipedia? If it is, is it accurate?

When a potential client comes to AHA to talk about what we can provide to them in terms of public relations or communications, we always check out Wikipedia (among other places) to learn more about the organization. The information isn’t always complete or accurate. More and more, when we ask about Wikipedia, the response that we get is that not everyone understands what to do or how they can update or revise their Wikipedia listing.

I came across a great post on Ragan.com…

Discovering the Value of Public Relations and Brand Journalism

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 10th, 2011

The online world has opened up great possibilities for organizations. While it is true that newsrooms are declining and it is more and more challenging to grab the attention of traditional media (more challenging, not impossible), it is also true that the opportunity for clients to tell their stories, to spotlight successes, to showcase the benefit and value they offer to customers, clients or stakeholders is greater than ever before.

We have always had a strong focus on creating compelling and engaging stories for clients – great stories are at the heart of public relations. Advertising and marketing campaigns provide…

Brand Journalism, the Art (and Integrity) of a Media Pitch

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 08th, 2011

We just did the “soft” launch of the AHA Brand Journalism services last week. It was an exciting, lively time at our PR agency and I had some great calls, emails and messages from friends, colleagues (communicators and journalists), clients and potential clients about the services.

One of the questions that I was asked was: “What if you start with a client and discover that the story they want to tell – or the product or service they are offering – isn’t any good? How does the brand journalism approach work in this situation?

Integrity, authenticity and credibility…

AHA Fast Take Friday…Sort Of

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on August 05th, 2011

In place of our regular AHA Fast Take Friday, we bring you: AHA Launches Brand Journalism Services… An edge of your seat thriller if there ever was one!

AHA Announces Launch of Brand Journalism Services

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

There is a great deal of energy at AHA today – right across the country – from our offices in Gibsons and Vancouver to our long-term contractors in Calgary, Toronto and Halifax. Today, we officially launch our Brand Journalism services. You can check out some information on these new services here.

The fact is – Brand Journalism has been around for several years; McDonald’s CMO Larry Light coined the phrase in the early 2000s. There are many definitions out there. Some we agree with; some have a different approach than we do. Our definition can be found Read more