In the competitive real estate market, what makes your brand different from your competitors?

Sometimes it takes market research to identify what makes you unique and what’s really important to your target customers. Fill out the form to download Bluetext’s Market Research Primer so you can understand how to:

• Leverage research to craft a market message
• Develop a positioning strategy
• Stand out from the crowd

To download the Market Research Primer, click here!

PR is not a sinking ship. It’s still an essential element in your marketing mix, especially in the crowded professional services market. But is your PR program delivering the results you need to meet your revenue goals?

Let Bluetext do a free PR assessment to see if:

• Your outreach is delivering the results you need
• You are gaining ground in the market
• You’re getting the coverage that will drive your growth

Our Share of Voice assessment can let you know if you are hitting on all cylinders, or if your program needs a shot of high-test to get it in gear.

Sign up for our FREE PR Assessment here!

With roughly one month until Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits the theaters, I’ve decided to channel my inner Obi Wan Kenobi for the latest edition of “these are not the softball questions your CEO was looking for.”

The CEO in question here is Jerry Strizke, head of outdoor gear and clothing store REI, who became just the latest executive to fall victim to Reddit’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) series. The Reddit AMAs are pretty much as the name implies – actors, politicians, executives, athletes and everyday individuals – can try to set up a Q&A with Reddit members, with the only requirement being that members can ask any question they want (within guidelines of course). The topics range from an actor’s movie career to a guy driving furniture down to Fort Worth, Texas, and as you might guess, the topic and guest strongly correlate with the number of Redditors who join.

REI CEO Jerry Strizke was probably feeling pretty confident ahead of his November 10^th AMA. After all, he had received mostly widespread plaudits for the decision to close REI on Black Friday and still pay employees despite what would be a negative hit on revenues. Riding that wave of good publicity, the decision was made to pull the trigger on the Reddit AMA, despite the long list of others who exited the series bloodied, battered and beaten (see: Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Ann Coulter who, like Admiral Ackbar, realized too late that, “it’s a trap!”)

Sure enough, the bio posted for Strizke to kickoff the Reddit AMA oozed with confidence:

Hi Reddit. I’m Jerry Strizke, CEO of REI. You might have heard about us recently when we announced that we would be closing all of our stores on Black Friday this year. We’re paying our 12,000 employees to take the day off and we’re encouraging them to opt out of the Black Friday madness and spend the day outdoors with loved ones. I have my team here helping me answer questions, so go easy on me. I’m new to Reddit and have already learned the hard way that /r/Trees isn’t about the great outdoors. Ask me anything!

Ask they did, and while some certainly addressed the store closing, the most upvoted comment was for an employee who painted a negative picture of working for REI and that if you don’t sell enough memberships, it’s bad news as that is the overwhelming metric that matters. That commenter was far from the only one to rail about working conditions.

Reddit AMAs, Twitter chats and other free-flowing forums that allow executives to interact directly with a large number of people hold appeal for numerous reasons, ranging from a desire to make the CEO seem more accessible to a genuine desire to shift from one-way communications to a two-way dialogue. For any business considering a CEO Twitter Chat, Reddit AMA or similar forum, there are a handful of strategies to consider:

• Reaching an unreachable audience – The controversial guests who appeared on The Jon Stewart Show who succeeded are the ones who fully understood what they were getting into. The ones who knew they were going to take their hits, could be good-natured about it, and still effectively get their messages across. There may be times when the audience you are trying to reach is difficult to access via traditional public relations, marketing, advertising and social media. If the target audience is critical to your business as a CEO or career success as an actor, then a case can be made to evaluate these higher risk opportunities.
• Weigh risks vs. rewards – What is the goal of a Reddit AMA, or Twitter chat? They must be clearly defined, and the marketing/social team must put significant efforts into preparation and execution – without making it look like an overly rehearsed, staged event. Think carefully about what the best-case scenario payoff is, relative to the viral risks of hosting a Twitter chat or AMA gone wrong.
• Be wary of CEO hubris – Even if you lay out the challenges of a series such as AMA, many CEOs will feel that it won’t happen to them. That they can be funny and witty and disarm even the most hostile questions. If you view these types of opportunities as something to “win” or “lose”, you will lose. The goal should be to communicate desired messages and understand that not everyone will respond favorably.
• You can’t cherry pick questions – Some of the most universally panned AMAs and Twitter chats have as much about what the interviewee didn’t say as it was about what they said. Ignoring tough questions or failing to answer many questions at all can draw even more scorn then giving bad answers, because it will be apparent the CEO and handlers are trying to tightly control the session and use it purely as a marketing vehicle.

Back in 2006, I had a conversation with Washington Post Magazine columnist Gene Weingarten, one of my favorite humorists. If you’ve ever happened upon his column, you know that he’s not exactly an admirer of public relations professionals or publicists. So I made him an offer: let’s switch jobs for a day. I’ll write your column for one week while you handle all my PR clients. Gene thought about it for a bit, and then said yes…with a catch. He’d only do it if I would admit, on the record in his column, how pathetic and meaningless my existence as a PR professional was. Intriguing offer, but ultimately I passed. Then I went home, grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels, shut the closet door, and cried.

Ok, so I’m kidding the last part. I don’t actually own a closet. I’m not sure why the exchange with Gene recently popped into my head, but perhaps it results from what seems to be a Groundhog Day cycle of working with traditional DC tech press, which goes something like this: Establish relationship with DC tech reporter, work with reporter on multiple client stories, watch reporter leave publication after relatively short period of time (typically right at the moment when I have 2-3 stories on precipice of publication), bang head into wall, dream about being a farmer, realize I wouldn’t survive six hours on a real farm with live animals, start process all over again with replacement, and hope springs eternal.

Washington Business Journal tech reporter Kasra Kangarloo is the most recent area tech reporter to leave the position, a beat he held for less than 8 months. Actually, I spoke to soon; Washington Post reporter Amrita Jayakumar (who covered tech as part of a broader beat) departed a few weeks after Kasra. Preceding these tech scribes were Bill Flook at WBJ and Steven Overly at the Post. All four were good writers and good individuals who invested time to get to know the tech community – which is all you can ask for.

Editorial churn is not unique to this market, and there is no need to run through the upheaval occurring with traditional publishing. But one has to assume that the revolving door partially derives from the fact that these writers did not feel the position was stimulating or rewarding (financially or professionally). Traditional publishers in this market have been de-prioritizing local tech coverage due to a range of factors. This begs the question of whether it matters – not just for individual tech companies seeking to generate awareness for their brand, products and services – but for the DC tech community as a whole.

While most of these reporters transitioned quietly to their next professional stop, Kangarloo hopped out with somewhat of a bang. It wasn’t an exit on par with George Costanza scraping up New York Yankees championship trophies as he spun his car around the parking lot, but it did capture the attention of the DC tech community. Kangarloo led off his exit post stating, “Fare thee well, D.C. tech. It’s been real.” In fact, Kangarloo didn’t think it had been real at all:

“Obviously, it’s in every startup’s interest to drum up positive press, and there is a genuine financial incentive for any one of them to, shall we say, bend the truth a bit. And since I’m leaving the beat for good, I’ll just go ahead and say what I really mean by that — the startup realm seems to rival even political coverage for the sheer amount of spin that’s employed each day. But why so many reporters give in so easily is a mystery. And that’s not to exclude myself, by the way. I’ve fallen into that trap plenty of times, and had I stayed longer I’m certain I would again.”

If a startup announces a major new customer and no one is around to write about it, did it happen? If the next set of tech reporters at WBJ and the Post cast an equally cynical eye towards the DC tech community, does that impact the ability for startups and others to get important stories out? I can understand, as a reporter, that it is far more fulfilling to dig into more controversial, investigative pieces than it is to regurgitate funding announcements or hearing a founder wax on about some grandiose vision to change the world…or supply chain efficiency as the case may be. And investigative stories should be told. But so should stories of startup and tech success.

The good news for DC is that the next generational of editorial players, including DC Inno, Tech Cocktail (yes, have been around for a while), Technical.ly DC, Tech Bisnow and even the DC Tech Facebook page, have stepped in to fill the gap. They’ve also served notice, for the most part, that they aren’t satisfied to just repost press releases.

For DC starts and other tech firms, all of this change means a couple of things – none of it revolutionary. First, proximity matters, and startups and tech innovators may have to leave their comfort zone, metaphorically and geographically speaking, to find the outlets that matter most to them. It may be TechCrunch, it may be The Wall Street Journal, but it could just as likely be Builder Magazine or Hotel Business. Because as many layoffs or job switches that might be occurring across the industry, you will find greater stability at influential outlets outside of the market (TechCrunch, Re/Code, The Next Web, QZ, etc.), where some writers have been there for years, not months. This stability is important, because reporters get to know a company and don’t need to be re-educated on a continuous basis.

Second, think about how traditional and emerging DC tech writers want to cover the space. Don’t just email a press release about what a new product does, connect them with a customer who can provide tangible ROI evidence your product makes a difference. If your funding announcement is not a big number – relatively speaking – connect the funding to a broader local or national trend that expands the story beyond your own. The press release isn’t a news generator; it’s simply an SEO information capsule representing one small part of your announcement strategy.

PR is not a sinking ship. It’s still an essential element in your marketing mix, especially in the crowded technology market. But is your PR program delivering the results you need to meet your revenue goals?

Let Bluetext do a free PR assessment to see if:

• Your outreach is delivering the results you need
• You are gaining ground in the market
• You’re getting the coverage that will drive your growth

Our Share of Voice assessment can let you know if you are hitting on all cylinders, or if your program needs a shot of high-test to get it in gear.

Sign up for the Technology PR Assessment here!

PR is not a sinking ship. It’s still an essential element in your marketing mix, especially in the crowded non-profit world. But is your PR program delivering the results you need to meet your membership and revenue goals?

Let Bluetext do a free PR assessment to see if:

• Your outreach is delivering the results you need
• You are gaining ground in the market
• You’re getting the coverage that will drive your growth

Our Share of Voice assessment can let you know if you are hitting on all cylinders, or if your program needs a shot of high-test to get it in gear.

Click here to sign up for a free PR Assessment!

PR is not a sinking ship. It’s still an essential element in your marketing mix, especially with competitive global markets. But is your PR program delivering the results you need to meet your revenue goals?

Let Bluetext do a Free PR Assessment to see if:

• Your outreach is delivering the results you need
• You are gaining ground in the market
• You’re getting the coverage that will drive your growth

Our Share of Voice Assessment can let you know if you are hitting on all cylinders, or if your program needs a shot of high-test to get it in gear.

Sign up for our Free PR Assessment by clicking here!

Magellan Federal Vice President Mike Braham talks about what he looked for when selecting the best agency to develop the Magellan Federal brand, and why he chose Bluetext.

The majority of Bluetext public relations engagements are ongoing retainers with clients looking for long-term, strategic PR support – whether it is a client transitioning from a former PR agency or engaging with an outside agency for the first time.

But from time to time, our public relations work revolves around a single project. It could be a startup seeking to maximize coverage of a venture capital funding round announcement, a technology company establishing a presence in a new country or geographic region, or other scenarios of that ilk. What’s great is that sometimes those one-time projects become something more, and even if they don’t, the experience is almost always a rewarding one.

The Bluetext team recently completed a PR project different than most: the client, Galois, was set to be featured in an upcoming national TV news segment, and it wanted to maximize and build upon this lightning-in-a-bottle opportunity.

First, a little background on Galois: Founded in 1999, Galois applies cutting edge computer science and mathematics to solve difficult technological problems for military and commercial organizations. Galois produced a software programming language that made drones and UAVs invulnerable to attack. As importantly, the technology was developed to be applicable to prevent hacking of control systems in air and ground vehicles such as the increasingly connected modern automobile.

What made the project rewarding for Bluetext is the passion that oozed from everyone at the organization – from the CEO on down. To be able to work with individuals who are committed to improving security at the citizen, enterprise and national defense level inspires our team to do great work.

The national TV segment ran in February 2015, and though Galois’ part – as is often the case – was narrowed for time purposes, it remained a great opportunity to share Galois work with its target audiences – government, military, contractors, enterprise.

Bluetext pushed ahead with a strategic plan built around converging interest, policy developments and public awareness of security vulnerabilities associated with Drones, UAVs, modern automobiles and commercial aircrafts. Bluetext worked with Galois executives and subject matter experts to develop high impact pitches, a press release, and access to third party, credible researchers that could validate the importance of Galois’ work.

In addition to interviews arranged with CNN, CNBC, USA Today and The Washington Post, coverage was also secured in numerous publications listed below over a compact, six-week period:

Drone magazine — http://www.dronemagazine.net/drones/software/galois-develops-anti-hacking-software-for-commercial-uavs

GCN — http://gcn.com/articles/2015/03/17/secure-drone-software.aspx

The Washington Post – http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-it/can-you-vote-for-the-next-president-on-your-smartphone-not-just-yet/2015/04/04/8028a174-d715-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d_story.html

NextGov — http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2015/03/pentagon-path-launch-hacker-proof-boeing-drone-2018/107250/

DefenseOne — http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/03/pentagon-launch-hacker-proof-helicopter-drone-2018/107355/

EnGadget — http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/16/pentagon-wants-unhackable-helicopters/

ExecutiveBiz — http://blog.executivebiz.com/2015/03/boeing-built-unmanned-aircraft-set-for-flight-in-2017-john-launchbury-lee-pike-comment/

Unmanned Aerial — http://www.unmanned-aerial.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.970#.VQwjlGTF_0o

UAS Magazine — http://www.uasmagazine.com/articles/1029/galois-develops-software-tools-to-make-better-uas-systems

Bend Bulletin – http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150411/business/150419974/

Chicago Daily Herald — http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150411/business/150419974/

Bloomberg BNA is one of top providers of legal information for attorneys, ranging from court decisions and legal filings to law review articles and news coverage that can affect a company or case. Bloomberg saw a huge opportunity to reach in-house counsel at companies and organizations where litigation, intellectual property, transactions and compliance are managed internally. It needed a dynamic campaign to reach those target attorneys with a good reason why they should add Bloomberg BNA tools to their arsenal.

Bluetext designed a campaign micro-site that begins with a live-action video with six individual personas, representing six use cases, so that target visitors could select the example that most closely matches their own responsibilities. Once the individual is selected, the visitor is taken to a page that provides in-depth details about that particular offering including examples and screen shots.

The site serves as its own segmentation filter, placing targets more directly into the best lead nurture channel. Calls-To-Action are prominent across every page to make it simple to download a whitepaper or infographic, sign up for a relevant newsletter, request a free trial or to learn more. The campaign included a direct mail piece with graphics and designs that match the site.