Only Organization to Win Agency of the Year from PRWeek and Holmes Report in the Same Year

New York, NY, May 9, 2012 – One agency of the year award is a significant achievement.  Two agency of the year awards – in the same year – is an extraordinary accomplishment.

Catalyst Public Relations has been recognized with yet another agency of the year honor with the 2012 SABRE Award for Boutique Agency of the Year.  The SABRE Awards are given out by The Holmes Report, the prestigious industry group that has been providing knowledge, analysis and insight to public relations professionals since 2000.  The awards ceremony was held on May 8, in New York City.

This marks the fourth agency of the year award that Catalyst has earned in the past four years, including Small Agency of the Year by PRWeek in 2012, Boutique Agency of the Year by PRWeek in 2010 and New Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report in 2009.

Catalyst becomes the only agency to win both a PRWeek and SABRE award for agency of the year in 2012.

Catalyst also took home the Gold SABRE Award for Cause Related marketing program for PACE (Protecting Athletes though Concussion Education), the largest baseline concussion testing initiative ever, which funded free concussion baseline testing for up to one million young athletes.

“Winning one agency of the year award is a rare occurrence that speaks volumes for our client partners and the people who work for Catalyst,” said Bret Werner, Managing Partner, Catalyst.  “Winning two agency of the year awards in the same year further validates our approach of being committed to aligning with leading brands that want to engage consumers who are passionate about sports, entertainment and leading an active lifestyle.”

In selecting Catalyst, The Holmes Report noted the firm’s impressive growth in 2011, a client roster that includes some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, as well as multiple signature digital programs implemented throughout the year.

To learn more about Catalyst and the work that earned the agency of the year awards, visit www.catalystpublicrelations.com.

About Catalyst

Catalyst, founded in October of 2005, is at the forefront of strategic media relations through its extensive knowledge of digital and traditional media. The agency partners with leading brands, including SUBWAY Restaurants, Under Armour, Dick’s Sporting Goods and NASCAR, to reach the hearts and minds of consumers who are passionate about sports, entertainment and leading an active lifestyle. Catalyst is headquartered in New York with offices in Charlotte and Washington D.C.

While the fashion industry has its skinny jeans and gladiator sandals, marketing too has trends that drift in and out of vogue. The Pepsi Challenge-esque brand “taste” comparisons of the 70s. Pop-up stores of the 2000s. Eco-friendly everything. My current personal favorite is the flash mob.

This time last year, you couldn’t walk through Grand Central Terminal without being in “danger” of winding up in a Glee-style musical number complete with spontaneous dancing and ever-so-subtle brand mentions in the background (*cough* T-Mobile *cough*). They were everywhere – and while some have failed miserably , others lit up our hearts with song and cheer.  But here in 2012, has the flash mob gone the way of bell-bottoms and Hammer pants?  And were they ever really effective at moving the marketing needle?

My answer is yes and no. Flash mobs have not faded into the night, but rather evolved into something more meaningful and impactful for brands. The notable flash mobs of recent date may not have the mass and grand scale as their forebears, but they send a clear message that was sometimes overlooked in earlier incarnations in favor of making a “splash.” This new breed of flash mobs shows you can do both.

It seems international marketers are the first ones wading out into these new waters. TNT Belgium recently gained over 30 million views for its “Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square” flash mob. Rather than a flashy dance number, the stunt was all about bringing drama into unsuspecting passerbyers’ everyday lives – (not so hidden message: just as the TNT programming will do for you if you tune in.) Tic Tac and Ogilvy Paris also recently breathed new life into the seemingly stale flash mob gimmick with its “Worst Breath in the World” ad spot. In a nutshell, the whole city “falls down” because of the unsuspecting victim’s bad-breath and can only be revived once a Tic Tac has been taken. The stunt was unmistakably relevant to Tic Tac, as TNT’s was to the cable network – this will be the defining characteristic of the Flash Mob of the Future.

While these latest iterations are only scratching the surface, it does beg the question, where is the next great frontier for flash mobs? Is it mobile check-ins with secret instructions given to only the chosen few in the style of flash mob aficionado groups like Improv Everywhere or something new altogether? Do you see this trend being in style for years to come or has it reached the point of super saturation?

As the second weekend of the Coachella Music Festival drew to a close, crowds waited with baited breath to see if Tupac Shakur would grace the avid festival-goers with his presence yet again. They were not disappointed. For the second time in a week, 100,000 attendees had their minds blown as they saw Tupac perform live on stage. Wait…LIVE?!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Of course, with Tupac passing over 15 years ago, this was a rather notable event. There is now speculation of other long-deceased artists coming back to perform; John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson could all potentially go back on tour – can you “imagine.”

The technology used to generate this shockingly life-like image of Tupac is now positioned to have quite the impact on the digital world. Stock in Digital Domain Media Group Inc., the creator of the visual effect using Musion Eyeliner technology, saw a 50% spike following Tupac’s Coachella debut. The Musion Eyeliner System, the leading system for hologram technology, is a high definition video projection system allowing spectacular free-form three-dimensional moving images to appear within a live stage setting. The marketing opportunities for brands seem limitless.

In recent years, brands have begun to use holograms to promote new products and wow crowds at events. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, Madonna performed live with 3D animation of the Gorillaz. Target promoted its new line in 2007 with a virtual fashion show. Reebok surprised McLaren Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton, with a holographic twin at a promotional event in Amsterdam. The main event at the Fiat 500 Launch in Turin, Italy was a virtual, 3D customizable model of the car. Bacardi had holographic dancers performing alongside Groove Armada at a performance in Athens. And David Beckham appeared live on stage at the Adidas Press Launch for the 2012 London Olympics in the form of a hologram when Adidas announced its massive sponsorship deal with London 2012.

The future of this technology seems bright (no pun intended). Hologram technology gives brands the option of utilizing celebrities to promote their products, even when they’re not necessarily “available”. Beckham can be in London promoting Adidas, while playing for the LA Galaxy simultaneously. Conventions and trade shows have the opportunity to be much more exciting and digitally engaging with a digital surprise appearance from a former icon. I think it is safe to say that this technology is going to become more and more relevant to our industry, and the opportunities it creates for the brands we represent.

The buzz created at Coachella with the Tupac hologram was staggering. As a consumer, who would you most like to see? Kurt Cobain shredding with Nirvana? Digital John Lennon and George Harrison FINALLY reunited onstage with Sir Paul and Ringo? Lucille Ball promoting laminate floors? James Dean selling Gap jeans? Tell us your ideas in the comments section.

We are proud to announce that Catalyst Public Relations has been honored with yet another Agency of the Year Award. Catalyst has been awarded with the SABRE for Boutique Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report, the prestigious industry group that has been providing knowledge, analysis and insight to public relations professionals since 2000.

Catalyst is the only agency to win both a 2012 PRWeek and SABRE award for agency of the year. This also marks the fourth agency of the year award that Catalyst has earned in the past four years, including Boutique Agency of the Year by PRWeek in 2010 and New Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report in 2009.

In selecting Catalyst, The Holmes Report noted our firm’s impressive growth in 2011, and client roster that includes some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.

For more information on The Holmes Report and Catalyst’s selection as Boutique Agency of the Year, click here:

Catalyst Named Boutique Agency of the Year

The way in which sports fans consume media is witnessing a massive shift. No longer are fans simply spending their time on national broadcast outlets and channels, digital media and blog sites. But with the proliferation of social media providing a voice to influential consumers, many fans now turn to other highly connected and engaged fans to get their news.

This was the focus of a presentation provided by Catalyst Managing Partner, Bret Werner at yesterday’s PRWeek 2012 Sports Roundtable at Chelsea Piers in New York City. With an effective influencer engagement strategy that incorporates the four types of influencer (media, athletes/celebs, bloggers, and consumers), brands have an opportunity to create deep, authentic and lasting relationships to help drive awareness for their brand. And with an influx of vendors from Klout to Kred to PeerIndex providing influencer identification tools and services, brands have an opportunity to target their most vocal brand advocates and arm them with the tools needed to help spread positive word-of-mouth.

For more information, check out the link to the presentation, below.

The premise of this blog post is that no sporting event – all sports, across the whole world – is more perfectly suited for the social media age than the NFL Draft.

Think about that. World Series, World Cup, Super Bowl, Olympics? No, the NFL Draft.

(Others garner more social media attention; just look at the Super Bowl. No disputing that. I’m talking about how the event’s intrinsic strengths matches the strengths of social media).

Again, just for effect: the NFL Draft is perfectly suited to social media better than any other singular event in all of sports, ever.

I’ll explain my case in four quarters, err, four points…

1. LIVE: Social media is at its best when everyone’s talking about something at once. Live events — the Oscars, Grammys, Super Bowl, and Presidential Debates – will be among the most discussed happenings on social media this year. The NFL Draft is broadcasted live on ESPN, ESPN Radio and The NFL Network this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

2. EYEBALLS: For football fans, the NFL Draft is a big, meaty option on the football menu. Last year, 42 million fans watched.  More fans than ever followed the Draft on NFL.com’s mobile web site, increasing 23 percent over last year.

Halftime Recap: So the event is live and draws huge interest – both keys to social media compatibility. But the fit gets more perfect.

3. PACE: The pacing of the NFL Draft is perfect for fan discussion. Actual games, like the Super Bowl are buzzworthy, but constant social media attention could slow your viewing experience. The speed and flow of the game is tough to analyze repeatedly over Twitter. Stop to discuss a play on Twitter you could miss the start of the next one.

The NFL Draft is a different animal. The event flows at a leisurely pace with plenty of time to digest each selection, watch highlights of the player selected, see some follow-up analysis from Mel Kiper and the crew, and then peruse Twitter, web sites and Facebook to see fan reactions before the next selection. Go ahead, bury your head in a tablet or mobile phone as you read instant analysis from your favorite team blog with varying visual focus on the TV –it’s just guys in suits talking, really. Not much to see.

4. HIGH STAKES: Armchair Quarterback is fun to play during the season, but playing fantasy GM during the draft is actually more inspiring.

During games, there’s ample room to second-guess coaches, criticize players or threaten referees on social media (watch the third one, actually). It’s all good and fun.

But the selection by your favorite team on Thursday night could decide the fate of your favorite franchise for years to come. Just ask Colts fans. That importance makes for huge debates among fans and analysts alike. As fans, we’ll quickly forgive a coach for making the wrong call on Week 3 during the season, because Week 4 is next. But we’ll never forget how our franchise screwed up draft picks that affected our favorite team for years. Wins and losses come and go, but failed draft picks can loom over a franchise like a dreaded curse.

I’ll add a bonus reason: uncertainty. We can all speculate on the career paths of top picks like Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. Having never stepped on an NFL field yet, our opinions can be right or wrong. Let your opinions fly, because you won’t sound like a fool – at least for another year or so.

There it is: proof that the NFL Draft is the most compatible sporting event for social media. Am I wrong? I welcome you to discuss (visit the comments section or tweet me @ShaunClair45).

Shaun Clair is an Account Director at Catalyst Public Relations and is embarrassed to reveal how much hours of continuous draft coverage he’ll actually watch Thursday through Saturday.

Lets’ Do This! (YES that is Jim Rome’s signature phrase as he begins his new run on the CBS Sports Network).  Dubbed: Sports…News…Smack…ROME is at it again with his authentic, raw take on the world of sports at 6p ET every weekday evening.  CBSSN is the latest platform to broaden Rome’s traditional broadcast reach and hits the coveted male demo–18-34 years.  Rome, has conducted over a thousand interviews w/ major personalities across all sports, but is known most infamously for this You Tube clip where he criticizes Saints’ QB Jim Everett for being soft by continuously calling him “Chris Everett” (a comparison to the former female tennis star).  It ended with Jim/Chris flipping a table on Rome during the segment…classic!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Right away, this on-air turmoil will most likely not happen or sponsors Marines.com and AT&T will most likely drop in an instant.  From a pure enjoyment standpoint, this show has small legs.  The 30-minute broadcast is broken down into several segments including: Bullets, The Newsmakers, Goin’ In and it ends with ROME Wants.  The show does have a unique flavor because throughout the producers throw up newspaper headlines from top dailies highlighting the subject that is being discussed. The Bullets, as Rome says, “Time to fire off the bullets!,” is just that, quick hits on the top news stories of the day that Rome comments on in his flashy, quick-talking style (think NFL schedule 2012) while the Goin’ In segment is designed for two analysts, mainly Amy Nelson from SB Nation and Mark Kriegel from FOX Sports.com to debate topics ranging from the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant to Tim Teebow’s playing time in NY, to Jim Calipari’s One-and-Done system at Kentucky.  Rarely sponsors or brands are mentioned in these upfront capacities.

Now the good stuff…and where PR and our pitching can find success….the Newsmaker interview, Wladimir Klitschko, boxing heavyweight, was Rome’s first in-studio guest and the ROME Wants finishing segment, is all about what “Makes the Cut.”  These two segments are the best avenue for our brands to be discussed, promotions highlighted and our event video utilized. Throughout the first two weeks, for ex., a Tupac Hologram video was comically mentioned.  In closing, Rome gets to share his take on the worlds of sports (and entertainment) and it’s very authentic, very unscripted and having a show on cable, very nasty (in a good way) at times (some of it very laughable).

We go out with ROME’s best take on Isaac Redman modeling Steelers’ throwback uniforms that were recently unveiled (and this is hard to write for a passionate fan, but it really was very funny)…. “The players don’t even want to wear them…Isaac Redman is rocking his in the bathroom….why did they shoot Isaac Redman in a bathroom… does he look like he is fired up?”

If you’re in the LA market and need an hour to fill, think about ROME – he is offbeat but popular, he is in-your-face but will be open to communicating your message and he is still considered a much respected host. And for those who think Rome is old-school, try tweeting at the show #ROMEonCBS – your comment might get read on-air, now that would be one for the grandchildren!

The big day finally arrived this week.  And now, after months of waiting, we finally have something to talk about while we’re (still) waiting for something to happen.  Surprisingly, I am not referring to the NFL releasing its schedule for the 2012 season – although multiple networks dedicated multiple decibels and multiple hours of programming to breaking down the match-ups.  Nope.  Instead, I’m all lathered up for London (apologies for the highly disturbing visual).

We’ve officially reached the “100 Days Out” milestone for the Olympic Games.   While it’s not entirely clear how much 100 Days Out means to the casual sports and/or Olympics fan, it is the media and marketing executive equivalent of Festivus – or in this case, Phelps-ivus.  It is essentially a newfangled holiday that serves as a clarion call to get consumers in the Olympics mindset.  It also should be noted that 100 Days Out is no relation to 100 Nights Out, which pretty much describes my last four months of college.

As we tip-toe toward tee time – and tea time – in London, there will surely be debates about the best way to present Olympics coverage to the viewer.  The age-old question of live action vs. tape delay will once again be front-and-center, and as any media executive will tell you, there is no easy answer.   But in the roughly 1400 days since the Beijing Games, the 140-character universe has helped us evolve as TV consumers.  In short, real-time is really, really important.   We like content, and we want lots if it, as often as we can get it.

Perhaps our best case study is the current presentation of the NHL Playoffs.  For the first time in league history, every playoff game is – wait for it – available on national TV.  Amazing!  In truth, I’m completely hooked.  As a puck-head, I know my Lidstroms from my Backtroms and my back checks from my Kovalchuks, but I’m certainly not a diehard.  Moreover, as a Boston native, I’m fully invested in the Bruins’ playoff fate, but I’m also finding myself falling asleep to the dulcet tones of Vancouver fans (politely) booing their team’s eminent playoff collapse.  Every night is a puck party, and the content is mesmerizing.  I can’t get enough.

My key takeaway (or key takeaway-eh…sorry, couldn’t resist the cheap Canadian joke) is that we should not underestimate the consumer’s ability to rally around a good story.  We’re willing to make time for compelling content, even if the content is available at odd times.  A lot of people who are a lot smarter than me will ultimately decide what goes live and what goes tape delay from London, but I will always vote for the former.  The good news is we have 100 days to debate the topic.

This past weekend, The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (aka Coachella) rocked out at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California for its sixth consecutive year.

The first Coachella was held the weekend of October 9-10, 1999 and has been delivering to-die for musical lineups ever since. I mean, where else would you ever have the opportunity to see Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Florence and The Machine, David Guetta, Mike Snow, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, or Radiohead – just to name a few – all in the same place?! Not to mention, that over the years, the festival has earned its reputation as one of the largest gatherings in the world for celebrities, fashionistas, hipsters, and artists.  Just take a look at Refinery 29, Polyvore, or Fab Sugar for all things Coachella style.

So how is Coachella engaging and communicating with this vast eclectic audience? Well, for starters, the famous festival is utilizing popular social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Google + and Instagram. You can follow Coachella on Twitter at @Coachella or through the hashtags #Coachella and #Coachella2012. Twitter is serving as the main social media platform by driving people to one of three livestreams (yes, three!) and by allowing industry leaders – like The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire – to report and communicate about all the weekend’s hottest happenings.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On the main Coachella website, there have been streams of message boards posted, as well as information on a very handy tool called Group Me. Group Me is a free tool that can be used on any phone with text messaging capabilities. And when I say any, I do mean any, including the old-school SMS flip phones. To set up your “group”, simply go the Coachella Group Me site, enter your name and phone number, and click “start group”. Once your group is created, you can name it and add any friends that were lucky enough to score Coachella tickets with you. By establishing a “group,” you have then allowed yourself to group message, locate, and photo share with other group members all in real time. Group Me allows you to plan, stay in touch, never get lost, and share the entire Coachella experience with those you are closest to.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind getting lost at a place like Coachella, especially if I had Group Me capabilities on my iPhone. Maybe I would get lucky and run into Florence! A girl can dream, right?  But in all seriousness, with Group Me on my side, I could easily conquer my fear of separation anxiety in large, crowded settings. Everyone just better keep their phones charged.

What can brands learn from this?

This post will explore some of the leading consumer insights that led to the Instagram/Facebook deal. As we all know, understanding consumer insights leads to great brand execution (see step 2 in Catalyst’s strategic process).

First, we’ll explore a leading phenomenon that most (good) marketers have at the front of their brains right now, our increasingly mobile/social world, then we’ll discuss the role of photography and what ultimate led to this deal.

Introduction to the Mobile/Social World

Mobile penetration is exploding. In 2011, smartphone penetration is now up to 50% in America. No doubt, the mobile platform provides an enormous opportunity for any company to reach and engage consumers in a personal way, and in one way or another, any good mobile idea should incorporate Facebook.

Think about it – the mobile phone is the most personal form of technology we own – it connects us to the people who are most important. Facebook has solidified itself as the most important social network – it reflects the “timeline” of our lives, our footprint in the world. Combine the two together and you have a very powerful medium.

Facebook reports that as many as 425 million people log on to their platform via a mobile device every day. Thus, Facebook’s execs are looking for ways to ramp up the mobile/social experience, especially in the news feed, where everyone hangs out. That’s right, people don’t hang out on your brand’s Facebook Page wall – they hang out in the news feed.

Now, in order to understand Facebook’s news feed you need to understand Edgerank. Edgerank is the private algorithm that Facebook created to determine which content is served to users. Edgerank exists because, in today’s information-overloaded society, if Facebook served up all content that we’re connected to, we would never know what is most important or relevant and the platform would become utterly useless. That’s not the way our brains work. We like to prioritize things.

So to stay relevant, Facebook prioritizes the information for us. Edgerank knows who and what is most important in our lives based upon a combination of our past behavior and a creepy level of insight into our social circles.

In collecting all of this information, Facebook knows a heck of a lot about what makes people tick. One of these things is photos. Facebook knows that people love to take pictures and share them with their friends, and photo sharing has become critical to their product.

The Role of Photography

The human behavior of photo-taking and photo-sharing can be traced back to the late 1800’s when George Eastman patented the affordable Kodak cameras penetrated mass society in the early 1900’s. Ever since that time, humans have been taking photos and sharing them with their friends. Over time, the basic behavior has stayed the same but the technology evolved – we now do this through smartphones.

In 2009, amidst the height of this photo-sharing-through-smartphone phase, the Instagram app came around and allowed trendy, hipster iPhone users apply photo filters that made our amateur photography skills look really cool. And who doesn’t want to look cool to their friends?

Instagram therefore grew like wildfire, available to iPhone and Android users, now topping 30 million users and counting. Facebook sat back and watched all of this occur last year while their user base simultaneously uploaded 2.5 billion photos each month.

The Facebook/Instagram Deal

Flash forward to today as the world analyzes why Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion with Facebook’s IPO looming in coming months.

Mark Zuckerberg actually gave us this answer yesterday, saying, “providing the best photo sharing experience is the one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”

Om Malik at Gigaom “translated” this, saying, “Facebook was scared shitless and knew that for first time in its life it arguably had a competitor that could eat its lunch…” adding… “Facebook is essentially about photos, and Instagram had found and attacked Facebook’s Achilles heel – mobile photo sharing.”

So as a brand, if your goal is to engage users in an emotional, meaningful way, you should consider letting consumers express their passions through photos taken on their mobile phone. This is a core human behavior that Facebook and Instagram built their platforms around, and one you can tap into as well.

Always keep in mind – the technology will continue to evolve, but certain core human behaviors that make us tick will stay the same. People will always love taking and sharing photos, and in today’s mobile-photo sharing world, creative photo activations are limitless.