Mobile marketing is an effective tool in connecting the audience to what they want. Two things in particular stand out on their own merit; and they are 1) mobile marketing can be marketed as green technology and 2) it’s instantaneous. Green technology is beginning to take new forms with eco-friendly cell phones and PDA’s. Even the simple act of charging the phone day and night, wastes energy. Although this problem may be harder to fix, one solution is not. By this I mean the paperless result of using the cell phone. With mobile marketing the option of paperless tickets, barcode scanning, and coupon vouchers being taken directly off your phone can greatly reduce the waste in paper.

The second aspect of mobile marketing that is extremely important is the instantaneous aspect of it all. With regards to PR the result can be the same as well: it is somewhat simpler because the product is getting delivered directly to the intended audience. There is no waiting and in most cases it is in real time so the technology follows the persons habits and actions. With information and news already old an hour after we hear about it, instantaneous access is a huge benefit of the mobile market.

Along with these two large points there are a few smaller reasons as well. First, it is personal. It is targeted at specific people and/or consumers and thus the strategy plays around those constituents. Secondly, mobile marketing is an ever evolving and exciting technology. The number of tools and products out there leave a lot to the imagination. This also presents a challenge to a high tech PR company because it needs to be aware of the trends and changes in order to successfully achieve its goals. Lastly, mobile marketing makes it easier to communicate, surf the web, make purchases, advertise, and so on.

With so much information out there, it is hard to denote one from the other as better. With the help of a public relations company and the ability for mobile marketing to reach a vast number of people it is becoming easier and will soon be one of the leading devices in advertising and communicating to the public.

Christian

1) By greening your business it creates a favorable impact on the public and their perceptions of the environment.
2) The organization would have decreased expenses on materials, disposal of waste, and energy.
3) There would be increased and improved client relations whose interests reside in green or clean tech PR.
4) It provides staff and clients a purpose to protect/enhance the environment
5) Lastly, small steps save money.

Environmentally responsible businesses are efficient businesses.

Christian

Whether you are a PR firm in Ann Arbor or Michigan, when you are considering your market positioning strategy, one key opportunity today is using “green.”

What PR companies have to realize is that it is not enough to just write a media release saying how good the company is for the environment. It is more about putting words into action that people care about. These clean tech companies are going to have to create products that demonstrate what they advocate (less toxic items in their products, recyclable, etc). And wouldn’t a green-minded public relations strategy enhance the clean tech mindset? The options could include paperless media kits, flash drives, digital releases, media tours that promote both the company and green ideas, getting experts in the field to endorse what you are doing.

In reality, true green thinkers are more adept at picking out the falsehoods from what is fact. With PR, one of the main ideas should revolve around not doing publicity for the sake of publicity. It needs to mean something. Green thinking and clean technology is becoming a cause, like the fight against poverty, or the global food crisis, or even the fight against cancer. It is a hot topic issue among presidential debates or around the local watering hole. And high tech public relations companies need to understand that it is not just talking about the environment but acting upon it as well.

Yes there is a but. The biggest obstacle to promoting environmental organizations actions and services is the lack of creativity on our part. We need to understand that not every story is a “breakthrough” and find that angle that makes it relevant to the public.

Nevertheless, when doing PR for a company that either promotes green living or wants to sell itself as environmentally friendly, it the public relation company’s responsibility to make sure that the business in question carries those values into their own daily operations. Otherwise, it just becomes hypocritical publicity.

Christian

First, blogs are easy to publish on the web. The ability to upload thoughts, ideas, or general information is just a few clicks away, allowing for a mass flow of information across a wide spectrum.

Second, blogs are inexpensive. Especially in today’s economy, Michigan PR companies don’t have to spend vast sums of money getting their names out.

Third, it is quick and efficient. There is not wait time. The information is “published” fast and allows for instant reactions. This works especially well with a public relations organization like Eiler Communications to respond to industry and client needs.

Fourth, similar to my third point, blogging grabs the attention of search engines. The more the company blogs the more hits they might get and the more attention it receives via non-paid publicity, a huge bonus for the organization.

My last two points are tied together in that it both positions the company in a favorable light in the eyes of client, industry, and public to treat them as an expert and as a result, hopefully, increases its profits and notability.

Regardless of the reason a PR organization uses blogging, it can be an extremely important tool in the sphere of high tech communicating. And what better way to prove that the company knows media and the field of communications than actually communicating!

Christian

Christian

I think there is something else however that it can do to enable its market positioning strategy further for success and that is position the company to be an expert in its respective field. Eiler Communications is a case in point. It specializes in high tech PR and has the experience and track record to prove that.

Proving to an audience that the company is an expert in hi tech is a type of brand equity. An organization with strong brand equity will enjoy visibility and a reputation that makes them stand out from their competitors. It also becomes relevant when people believe the organization, or its services, add value to their life. Therefore, by strategically placing the company through a public relations agency that specializes in market positioning (especially in high tech areas), they can relax knowing that clients will become interested based on their expert services with little money spent on paid advertising.

Christian

It is always amazing to me that in times of hardship in a company or small business the first thing to get “cut” is public relations and marketing. When business is slow, isn’t the objective to attract more business? The pieces don’t seem to fit in the logic of cutting what drives consumers to your business.

There are many different forms of marketing to reach your audience, but the first thing that should come to mind is positioning your company. Marketing positioning strategy is when marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization. In other words, try to say something that is so profound or shocking (but true) that you clear enough space in the brain of your consumer to make them forget about all of the other competition.
Sounds pretty simple right?

In most cases, it is not that simple.

That is why it is so important to use a mix of marketing methods, one of them being public relations. PR reaches your audience in a much different way because it is not a paid advertisement. It also helps you to reach an audience that you might not have been able to reach or afford to reach with traditional marketing methods. Public relations also uses diverse techniques such as opinion polling and focus groups to evaluate public opinion, combined with a variety of high-tech techniques for distributing information on behalf of their clients to the target audience.

What if you wanted to reach the audience that reads the Wall Street Journal, but your marketing budget wouldn’t allow you to spend 40k on a small black and white ad? PR will help you to reach an editor at the WSJ with a compelling story and get it published. Wouldn’t you be much more likely to read an article written by a third party rather than a paid advertisement and find more value in that?

Think about the different forms of social media these days! Blogging, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook! If you are not staying with the changes in technology then you will be left behind. All of these groups of social media are forms of PR and a good way to reach your audience or at the very least, hear what they are saying about your product directly.

Here is one more thing to think about. What if you had a major public relations crisis in your company and no one on your staff knew how to talk to the media? Wouldn’t you regret not having a PR firm?

Jenny

For instance, Genetics Squared is in the process of developing a test that can help doctors determine how to treat certain types of cancers. By using personalized medicine we can possibly save the health care economy over 200,000 million dollars by being able to target the right procedures and treatments for different cancers. Imagine that?

VPSI, Inc is another client of ours that is helping all of us reduce our carbon footprint by providing alternate forms of sustainable transportation in the form of Vanpooling. To find out more about Vanpooling and VPSI go to http://www.pooling-resources.com, which is a blog that Eiler writes and maintains on behalf of VPSI, Inc.

NSF International helps protect all of us from the recent food scare(s) we have been trying to overcome the past six months. Recently, NSF provided a $1 million grant to a Virginia Tech professor of weed science to study the pathogen that causes bacterial speck disease of tomatoes. NSF is another example of a Michigan-based international business that is in the center of international issues. NSF International is an independent, not-for-profit organization.

Not only are the companies that we represent making a difference in the health and
well being of our nation, but I feel as if I can help make a difference by using the resources of a PR agency to spread the word. By using the correct forms of a market positioning strategy, we have found that we are able to get great marketing and public relations results for our clients and I am proud of that!

In applying this scenario to business, you are the product, your mother is the business that is advertising you, the boy next door is a customer, and your neighbor is the third party credibility (newspaper journalist, magazine reviewer, health reporter, etc.). The boy next door can’t trust alone in your mother’s advertisement, she would never advertise anything negative about her own creation. With another opinion, the boy next door would be more willing to take you out on a date. It’s an easy concept to understand, that is why companies need public relations firms to help find third party/editorial credibility through releasing news and advances to the right media and objective journalists who then carry out message to the target customers. Public Relations help find that neighbor to give you the credibility that you need.

What customers want from any business is to be able to trust that what they are buying is credible. People are much more likely to believe a media source rather than a paid advertisement. This is why PR is so crucial to any successful business.

Connie Chung

AARP Names Ann Arbor “Healthiest City”
http://www.mlive.com/businessreview/annarbor/index.ssf/2008/07/ann_arbor_named_healthiest_cit.html

The next morning, I opened up the CNN money section to find this article,
“100 Best Places to Live and Launch”, I wondered if Ann Arbor was in there, and sure enough! Ann Arbor was no. 42 on the list.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fsb/0803/gallery.best_places_to_launch.fsb/42.html

So what goes on top of icing, sprinkles? – I’m an Ann Arbor fanatic.

Claimed by MSNBC to be the 3rd smartest city in the United States, repeatedly ranked as one of the top 10 cities to live in the U.S, no. 42 on CNN’s 100 best places to live and launch, and according to the magazine AARP the number one healthiest city in the U.S! Can anyone blame me for wanting to live here my whole life?

The first article points out that health and good economy go hand in hand.
“There is a strong link between the health and vibrancy of a community and the health of its economy,” Michigan Economic Development Corp. President and CEO James C. Epolito.

The second article points out Ann Arbor’s strong suit in the high-tech industry, which receives significant support from a private public partnership called Ann Arbor Spark. Ann Arbor Spark supports a statewide Pre-Seed Capital Fund that targets tech companies and provides access to early-stage capital to accelerate company developments. Their mission is to advance the economic development of innovation-based businesses in the Ann Arbor region by offering programs, resources, and proactive support to businesses at every stage. Ann Arbor Spark has awarded $5.4 million to 25 emerging companies to date.

Ann Arbor is a great city for both your personal and your work life. It is an excellent place to raise a family in a healthy environment. With support from Ann Arbor Spark, it proves time and time again that Ann Arbor is an attractive place of noted worth for innovative businesses and companies to grow.

These articles offer another confirmation to me that Ann Arbors business and economy are strong and serves as a healthy reminder of why I believe this city is so great.

Connie