Whenever a downturn hits, whether due to a recession or otherwise, marketing budgets always come up as an easy place to start cutting costs. But the Kellogg’s story and numerous subsequent studies have shown that despite the widespread approach of scaling back on marketing efforts, companies fare better by not backing down. In fact, those who stay the course might just emerge even stronger.

That’s not to say that companies should just throw money at the marketing department and hope it will get them through. As budgets tighten, marketing and PR efforts must become even more creative and optimized to deliver greater results than before. That’s no easy task, but bringing on an agency partner can be just what’s needed to succeed.

An experienced agency that has weathered previous periods of economic turbulence can lend a valuable outside perspective and a nimbleness that will allow your company to stay healthy and position you to come out of a recession ahead of the competition. Here are four ways a savvy agency can help propel your marketing and PR so that you not only survive but thrive during a downturn.

1. Build Awareness and Nurture Trust

Brand trust has never been more vital for success. Consumers want products and services that they can confidently spend their hard-earned money on, and that’s been especially true through the pandemic, recent inflation, and now as we face a possible recession. One key to establishing and maintaining that trust is with a continued public presence that reinforces your brand’s core values and contribution to the world and the lives of your customers. As other companies trim their marketing budgets, those who execute on strong, genuine marketing efforts have the opportunity to gain share of voice and, ultimately, market share.

An integrated PR and marketing agency partner can craft a cohesive owned, earned, and paid marketing strategy designed to amplify your voice and keep you front of mind as a trusted brand. By placing quality stories and thought leadership pieces in top-tier publications, an agency positions your company’s executives as reliable industry leaders. These high-traffic outlets extend your brand’s reach and authority. This also creates shareable content that will spread your message on social media and provides domain authority-building backlinks to your website, which can further grow your organic search traffic. Targeted native and search ads surround your most profitable leads with your message and can be particularly effective in multiplying the impact of live event appearances. Social media engagement builds your brand’s emotional connection to your customers and is a cost-effective way to boost loyalty. No one has demonstrated that more than Wendy’s. You wouldn’t assume a fast food restaurant’s Twitter account would help set a record for most retweets of all time, but Wendy’s did just that due to its track record of firing off witty roasts of competitors (and even its own customers).

Each aspect of an integrated strategy feeds into the other to ensure your brand is one consumers turn to during uncertain times.

2. Be Nimble

As budgets tighten, it’s essential that you do more with less. An effective, integrated PR and digital marketing strategy is highly targeted and delivers far greater ROI than traditional media campaigns. Leveraging influencers and mounting a successful series of webinars pays dividends in awareness and engagement. While these campaigns can be executed in-house, there are definite advantages to partnering with an agency with the full range of tools and existing relationships at their fingertips. At its best, an agency acts as an extension of your team, allowing you to punch above your weight, no matter the size of your company. Your brand can stay visible while your team stays lean.

3. Get Curious and Creative

Part of doing more with less is rethinking assumptions and the typical ways of doing things. A recession is just the kind of challenge that encourages buy-in from senior leadership to shake things up and look for out-of-the-box ideas. Take Target, for instance. During the 2008 Great Recession, the retailer was falling behind Wal-Mart and its “everyday low prices.” Target pivoted, doubling the amount of store floor space devoted to its food products and increasing its media spend to emphasize these products. Today, food and beverage sales account for 20% of Target’s business.

Bringing in fresh, creative minds can be just what’s needed to inspire your team to see their approach in a new light. A different perspective on your brand and an alternative set of tools and strategies can jump-start innovation that revitalizes a tried-and-true brand or launches a startup to the front of the pack.

4. Focus on Your Business

When you’re examining every corner of your business for ways to recalibrate for a recession, a trusted PR and marketing agency partner can take a big load off your shoulders. As customers’ buying habits change, lead generation and the entire sales funnel will take longer and require greater effort to execute. An experienced ally supplying that effort frees up your internal teams to focus on optimizing processes, honing product portfolios, and paying special attention to meeting customers’ needs by increasing value.

It can be tempting to shift your focus away from your core customers as they reassess how they spend money. While this might deliver short-term profits, it won’t set you up for long-term success post-recession. Instead, look to strengthen bonds with your core customers by nurturing an emotional connection. An agency partner is essential in this process and is able to provide the measurable results that will allow you to resist the temptation to take the short-term strategy. An agency can also guide you on how to maintain flexibility so that you can adjust to your customers’ changing needs while staying true to your established base.

5. Survive and Thrive: Investing in Long-Term Success

It’s often said that limitations breed creativity, and that’s true of business as well. When budgets tighten, ingenuity becomes necessary. That means gaining a new perspective, which can be difficult to achieve for an internal team so close to the brand or committed to a particular strategy. An agency partner can be that catalyst for innovation, bringing a new set of tools and strategies and leveraging valuable influencer and media relationships, while freeing up your internal teams to focus on developing the business strategies that will meet the evolving needs of your customers.

Ultimately, a downturn is a time of opportunity, which an agency partner can help you seize, providing the necessary backup to reinforce awareness and trust in your brand so that you emerge stronger than ever.

“If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” – Bill Gates

The post Why a PR & Marketing Agency Partner Is Essential When Entering a Downturn appeared first on Sparkpr.

Here are a few outstanding clients that deserve our accolades for their work toward a cleaner planet:

Mosaic

With the world becoming more and more environmentally conscious, there are many businesses that are focused on the green economy. Solar panels are one such product that offers a number of financial advantages as well as the opportunity to do your part in protecting the environment. Mosaic can not only help you save money on your energy costs, but they are financing pros that make it easy for you to turn your home into a clean-energy machine.

Solar panels are especially beneficial for powering your home during peak times, sparing you from paying higher rates at those times and going a long way to reducing your carbon footprint by using less electricity during high-demand times. By investing in solar panels, you will be able to save money on your electricity bills.

Mosaic is making it easy for those looking to make a difference within their homes, within the environment and within our planet, Earth.

EV Passport

EVPassport is the first and only open electrification platform that provides organizations with everything they need to launch a branded EV charging network. Consisting of brandable hardware and API-driven software, EVPassport delivers a consistent, familiar mobile software experience for users – regardless of their location or the car they own.

Brands committed to sustainability rely on EVPassport to provide their customers with the most seamless payment experience to charge any electric vehicle without requiring a separate app, account or a top-up balance.

BlocPower

With buildings accounting for over 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the world needs a new way to power cities. BlocPower is rapidly deploying scalable urban clean-energy projects to increase adoption of renewable energy while lowering costs to customers. The company uses its proprietary software platform to analyze potential sites, identify and quickly lease underutilized buildings, make customers smarter about their building data, and design and set up clean energy systems. BlocPower’s solutions deliver cost savings ranging from 20-40% annually while accelerating the world towards renewable energy.

BlocPowers’ business model is simple: it replaces fossil-fuel-powered heating and cooling systems with greener, more efficient alternatives like electric heat pumps and solar panels. This minimizes pollution that contributes to climate change while also improving indoor air quality. The retrofits create jobs and raise property prices in previously underserved areas, making immediate local as well as global impact.

The post 3 Eco-Focused Brands We’re Proud to Work With appeared first on Sparkpr.

International Women’s Month had its beginnings in the early 1900s. 15,000 women marched on the streets of New York to demand shorter working hours, better pay, and the right to vote during a time when the U.S. was industrializing. That march served as a launching pad for so many more marches and fights to come. Women knew even then that they had to find their voices and do whatever it took to be heard in a society that was powered by men.

Here at SparkPR, we pride ourselves on having been founded and still led by women, with 50% of senior leadership is made up of females. When Donna Burke, SparkPR’s Co-Founder built her career at Netscape, she says, “there were many amazing women in tech, but not many were leaders.” This points to the bravery of being a woman in any industry at the time and putting yourself out there to be in a position of power. That is something Burke did, even when she recalls landlords not being keen on renting to women at the time. As a result, more hurdles ensued: “We had to buy our own building when we started the company, and many VCs [venture capitalists] weren’t lending to women.” The point illustrates an experience that is not worthy or begging for a pity party, but one that acknowledges the strength it took to be a woman and Burke’s resilience and willingness to be fearless in her pursuits.

Fast forward to today, and there are many more opportunities for women within tech and the entrepreneurial space. Burke feels optimistic about the future for women in tech, saying, “when men were predominantly entrepreneurs and things were largely funded by men, a lot of women’s needs and opportunities went ignored, but now we are seeing advances in those areas that are important to women.”

These biases are by no means unique to tech. But what exactly it means to be empowered and heard as a woman is in the eye of the beholder. For our Senior Vice President of Marketing, Amy Packard Berry, it means not just being a part of the conversation, but ultimately part of the decision. However, she also acknowledges that being an empowered woman means “knowing when to take a break, recharge, and get their stamina back,” With that, taking care of yourself also reflects on how you take care of others. As women, it is easy for us to understand the importance of looking out for each other in the workplace, within our communities, and anywhere else it’s needed. For this, Packard Berry uses an acronym called “CARE,” which she breaks down as, “celebrating one another’s accomplishments, amplifying each other’s voices, reviving one another, and empowering one another.”

Too often today, men stand in the way of the progress women have worked so hard to achieve. We must move past this. While women can advocate for themselves all they want and demand more representation in boardrooms across America, men are historically where the pushback comes from. But there is a way for men to become allies. By listening to and supporting women, men can be agents of change and lead by example. Both Burke and Packard Berry stress the importance of being heard and why that is so crucial for women. Men have a big part in this, as Packard Berry says, “they can listen more and help amplify our voices.”

The next time someone asks why it is still necessary to honor International Women’s Month, tell them that it is because it takes all of us. This is not just a women’s fight, and this is not just a fight for women. This is about greater equality and the belief that we are all stronger together than working against each other.

Written By: Marissa Gonzales

The post Why The History of International Women’s Month Matters appeared first on Sparkpr.

Others see it as merely a fad. So what’s the reality?

The last few years have seen popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether (the currency of Ethereum) make huge jumps in the market, only to have their values dip months later. Yet crypto has proven more resilient than some initially expected, despite ongoing market volatility. Having weathered its initial growing pains, cryptocurrency is now graduating from a niche opportunity to a mainstream event that has seen significant institutional investment – even as some would-be investors struggle to pin down exactly what it is and how it works.

Whether you’re looking to invest in crypto or just want to gain a better understanding, this article explains the basics of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency transactions.

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency is in simplest terms a digital asset – that is, digital money that is stored electronically. Unlike traditional currency, cryptocurrencies are decentralized, meaning they do not rely on a single institution, like a government or bank, to create, distribute or manage them.

The most widely known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was also the first. It began as a white paper written in 2008 under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, and proposed a digital payment system that would be made possible by a new technology called “blockchain,” which is essentially a public ledger with cryptographic protections that ensure it is “immutable,” and resistant to tampering.

Blockchain

A blockchain is a database that stores information about digital resources, and also the peer-to-peer network that then helps to keep a continuous record of said information. While blockchain is best known as the technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether, its possible applications and use cases are wide open, including digital voting, secure transfer of medical records, copyright protection, supply chain management and more.

A public blockchain is a decentralized, distributed ledger, meaning anyone can view the transaction history. This ledger is shared across a peer-to-peer network of computers (called “nodes”) that maintain and verify changes to the history. No single entity owns or controls the ledger.

Each “block” in the chain contains batches of time-stamped transactions. When one block is confirmed, another is created; hence the name “blockchain.” The new block links to the preceding block, and no two blocks are alike. This makes it impossible for anyone to alter any single record retroactively without changing every subsequent block in the chain as well – doing so would require at least 51 percent of the network’s computing power. This structure is completely different from the standard practice of storing information on centralized, company-owned servers that are prone to hacks and attacks.

The process of adding these new blocks is called “mining,” and it takes the form of a race among the computers in the network to solve a cryptographic puzzle. Once the puzzle is solved, the peers in the network verify the result. Winning this race results in the “miner” reaping a “block reward” (currently 6.25 BTC on the Bitcoin network), with this process ensuring the integrity of every transaction in the blockchain.

In addition to the “proof of work” consensus algorithm described above that’s in use on the Bitcoin network and many other blockchains, there are alternate methods (including the more energy efficient “proof of stake”) to ensure the integrity of each network that are in use by such blockchains as Solana, Cardano and Polkadot.

How blockchain is disrupting industries

Currently, blockchain technology is making its biggest impact in the finance industry. Though its uses are still evolving and many of its proponents view it as a way to “cut out the middleman” of traditional financial institutions, blockchain, it’s quickly becoming clear, also presents major opportunities for banks and other entities in the financial sector.

These institutions are exploring the ways this technology can help them cut costs, speed up and automate business processes, boost security, and increase transparency. There is no doubt that blockchain technology is in the process of evolving the way financial services work, though there is still a lot of uncertainty about which projects will succeed.

What cryptocurrencies should I know about?

Crypto trading can be exhilarating, but it can also test your mettle. If you’re buying cryptocurrency for the first time, there are a few considerations to take into account in order to choose the best cryptocurrency for you and get the best value for your money. There are over 10,000 cryptocurrencies in existence, and major crypto exchanges such as Coinbase offer a curated selection. Some of the more commonly known cryptocurrencies include:

• Bitcoin: The first and still the most valuable cryptocurrency.
• Ether: The cryptocurrency of Ethereum, and the transfer of value in most blockchain-based applications, as well as in blockchain sectors including DeFi and NFTs.
• Dogecoin: Began as a joke but thanks to memes and the Twittersphere has grown into one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies.
• Stablecoins: A class of cryptocurrencies whose values are designed to remain stable relative to real-world assets such as the dollar. These include Tether (USDT), Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) and Binance USD (BUSD).

Practical uses for cryptocurrencies

However it’s created, a cryptocurrency is fundamentally money without borders and without any central controlling authority. This truly is a revolutionary concept of currency and one that breeds countless exciting possibilities.

One powerful application is as an equalizer to level the financial playing field, particularly for the underbanked population. In those communities around the world where local currency is unstable, where people don’t have access to bank accounts or don’t receive regular paychecks, having the ability to put money into cryptocurrency could offer a great advantage. These individuals would then be able to accumulate savings and begin to build wealth, as well as instantly share that money with family members around the world. Cryptocurrency would enable them to participate in a financial system that is safe and secure without having to meet the requirements of traditional systems.

Should I invest in cryptocurrencies?

In addition to its practical uses, crypto has become a popular speculative investment. However, investing in cryptocurrencies can be a risky venture as the crypto market can be unpredictable. Still, that hasn’t stopped a large and growing number of retail and institutional investors from taking the plunge.

These cryptocurrency investors typically fall into one of three camps.

• HODLers: The first group, called HODLers, are banking on the long-term prospects of crypto and hold onto their cryptocurrency no matter how much its value might decrease.
• Traders: The second group, traders, naturally do just that: buying and selling cryptocurrency as its price fluctuates in order to maximize profit.
• Trail Blazers: These investors–who can be HODLers and/or Traders, on occasion–view cryptocurrency as a means to bypass, and ultimately reshape, the current economic system. They invest in crypto in order to help blaze a trail into their vision of a better future.

Whichever group you gravitate toward, investing in crypto should not be taken on without first doing proper research. For instance, there are questions as to the scalability of blockchain applications, in addition to other concerns, solutions to which are currently being debated. Cryptocurrency is very much in its early days, and no one can say for sure where it’s headed. But there are a few hints…

Predictions for the future of Cryptocurrency

While cryptocurrency is still evolving, it has clearly moved beyond the point of being merely a passing trend. For example, we’re already seeing cryptocurrency used as a viable option for payments. In addition, many brands are getting involved in various ways, particularly in the exploding area of NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens). Nike, Tesla, Coca-Cola, and Clinique have all made waves in this area, with others sure to follow in the coming months and years. Celebrities like Snoop Dogg are also getting in on the action, sharing their opinions on social media and promoting crypto investments.

One major looming question is whether or not cryptocurrency will become regulated or remain a bit like the “Wild West.” At this point, crypto’s regulatory fate remains unclear, but judging from recent activity in Washington, D.C., some form of regulation seems certain.

In the meantime, the hype around cryptocurrency doesn’t look to be going anywhere any time soon.  And, neither are we, as this is the first of a series of crypto and blockchain articles that will cover a variety of related topics that include DeFi, NFTs, the metaverse and more.

The post Curious About Cryptocurrencies & Blockchains? Start Here. (Part I) appeared first on Sparkpr.

Over the past 20 years, Spark has become a legendary tech agency. The agency has touched every major technology trend since the browser wars, and worked with a variety of clients from pre-funded startups with a dream to Fortune 500 companies striving to reinvent themselves.

Driven by a deep-rooted entrepreneurial spirit, a love of technology, and an agile approach to developing our clients’ narratives, Spark has deep knowledge of how to position companies as leaders in the market through creative campaigns, relationships with top-tier media, and a proven ability to execute and get results.

Our seasoned team of 50+ professionals strives to build and grow brands through extensive skills in Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Online Social Listening, Social Media Management, Digital Design and Blockchain, Crypto, Finance, Emerging Tech and Enterprise Marketing. Spark focuses on converting technical stories into tangible visions through simplifying messaging catered for diverse audiences, while ultimately focusing on business growth objectives.

Spark has successfully established an agency with a global reach allowing for = successful communications campaigns for blockchain/crypto clients, raising a total of $500M. Spark has assisted a number of Startup “rising star” brands establishing $17 billion in client exits.

Thanks to our team, Spark has a proven record of excellent integrated marketing campaigns across paid, earned, social, and owned media (PESO) channels,  winning awards like Best New Product Launch, Best Media Relations Campaign, Best General Business Campaign, and more.

The Spark team is motivated, adventurous, and a disruptor in the tech communications space. We’re a group of vibrant and daring individuals passionate about telling great stories and spreading the word about technological innovations and advancements. We don’t shy away from challenges and are a hub for talented tech communications professionals.

Lorna Sithole – Social Media Manager, commented on why she loves being part of the Spark Team saying “ If I had to choose my favorite thing about working with Spark, it would have to be the amazing range of clients we get to work with. We get to work with niche clients from a wide range of industries, from Fintech to Blockchain and these are amazing skills to add to your back of tricks.”

If you’re passionate about digital marketing and PR, and love exploring the worlds of fintech, crypto, and emerging tech, check out our career pages to learn how you can become part of the Sparkpr Team;  https://sparkpr.com/careers/

The post Meet Sparkpr appeared first on Sparkpr.

With us, it starts with our leadership and flows all the way through our organization. At the onset of the pandemic, our CEO Alan Soucy began a practice of monthly one-on-one meetings so that he could stay in touch with team members and check on everyone’s well-being and workloads. These one-on-one meetings help integrate our virtual offices including our Johannesburg office in South Africa. With an international team, during these times, how many CEOs take the time to learn the name of their employee’s pets? Spark’s does!

With our global footprint, our commitment to our company culture is vital. A big part of our culture is growth! Our Founder, Donna Burke invests much of her time during the day with our internship program to ensure that the next generation of Spark employees is well established to grow and succeed.

We believe that strong relationships are the key to high-performing teams. We take planned and thoughtful measures to create these relationships. Our Spark mentorship program also plays a massive role in employee performance and in our culture. This allows managers and other members of leadership to take an active role in junior employees’ well-being by creating a safe space to openly share and upskill one another. We all play a role within Spark’s mentorship program – inclusion for all is a must at Spark. We encourage self-care rituals such as journaling before the workday begins. We make lists of items we’re working on and share them with our teams and add any blocker we might feel we are facing. This way a team member who might have more experience in that area can jump in and provide support. This helps close the distance and self-isolation gap and keeps us all connected. Reinforcing these relationships is a vital aspect of Spark culture.

Every day, we express gratitude to team members in our Slack channel #SparkAppreciations. We are reminded how much our contributions matter while celebrating client success stories in our #WeeklyWins channel. Over in #Sparksters_At_Play, you’ll find the latest fur baby who’s joined the family or moms gushing over their littlest ones’ recent birthdays.

You’ll hear calls beginning with “are you drinking enough hot water with sliced lemon?” or “I’m reading this great book, what are you reading?” A big part of our culture’s core is self-care!

As much as we love touching base with each other, we set boundaries with calls. Considering that everything is virtual now, we limit video calls where needed. The most obvious benefit of working in an office is the physical delineation between personal and professional life. Unnecessary virtual interactions, especially of the video variety, can be very draining — and keeping them short has helped us combat digital fatigue. Setting these boundaries creates a stronger work-life balance (even while working from home).

Great remote-culture doesn’t happen automatically. But with the right strategies, tactics, and tools, you can be happy, fulfilled, and productive while working from home — and feel connected! At Spark, we pride ourselves on this.

Colin Zink, Director of Marketing

“It’s important to stay in alignment with yourself, listen to tangible and subconscious cues, and sustain balance. Self-care is critical. Find the time and make it a priority. And stay connected with others on a genuine human level. Put yourself out there. Model empathy. Practice gratitude. Authenticity attracts and reflects authenticity.”

Lorna Sithole, Social Media Manager

“Covid has been hard but creating and maintaining balance has been important. I take care of myself by moving my body every day and making time for small things that bring me joy. I maintain strong relationships with my colleagues through daily communication and most importantly finding out how they are doing and coping outside of work.”

Steven Wright-Mark, Vice President

“As we’re all working remotely, it’s easy for work to extend into extra hours each day, from early-morning emails to late-night reading. I’ve found it’s important to carve time out midday to clear my head, usually by getting outside, taking a walk, or even a short bike ride. It helps me return to my desk with greater focus, and it’s great to get moving too after spending so much time sitting in front of a laptop. Although we’re all likely suffering at least some degree of Zoom burnout, I find that team video calls serve to build and sustain strong connections during our continued time of isolation. Checking in and having brief chats on Slack is helpful too.”

Jordan Armistead, Account Coordinator

“Despite it being an age-old practice, the health benefits of meditating still widely go unnoticed. Also, I try to walk on my local hiking trail multiple times a week or exercise a few times a week. As for my connection with my team members, I try to schedule more one-on-one phone calls or video calls to talk, whether for fun or work, to build a stronger connection rather than constantly emailing and texting!”

The post Staying Connected While Remote: How Sparkpr Maintains Company Culture appeared first on Sparkpr.

The short answer is yes.

The longer answer that’s actually valuable to your company is contained in this: a blog post. Blogging should be about providing answers and information that helps people. A company’s content is typically categorized in three areas: owned, earned, and paid. Blogs commonly fall under the owned content category. Owned content is content published on your owned channels, such as websites, social media, and email. This is content that is produced without additional spend behind it.

Blogs are a great way to market your business without being too formal or “salesy.”

The internet is overrun with blogs! We hear you, yawn! In order for your company’s blog to stand a chance in this already crowded space, you’ll need to keep your approach nimble and agile.

Blogging is about building relationships.

It’s about playing the long game. Increase your value to customers by positioning your brand as a partner they trust and rely on. This includes spending time communicating with them about topics that help them and give relevant advice.
Every day consumers make their choices quickly, especially about what they want to read. It’s only by offering your reader something truly valuable, that you’ll get the conversation started.
How consumers find your content will undoubtedly evolve. From links in bios to swiping up to see more, there’s no telling what the future of information sharing looks like. But what won’t change is what they’re looking for. We still need some of the same information we did two years ago, we’re just using different methods to find it.
The term ‘thought-leader’ is tossed about everywhere these days. Create content to share your expertise and knowledge with the information-hungry world without worrying about the label.
“Creating original, high-quality content is an important part of building trust with customers,” says Sparkpr content strategist Amruta Kulkarni. “When done well, blog content can demonstrate a brand’s industry expertise.”

Unique content isn’t a nice to have, it’s a need to have.

3 things to consider when building your own blogging strategy:

By 2022, the number of videos crossing the internet per second will approach 1 million, translating into 82 percent of all online traffic. (Social Media Week)
Google’s increased focus on user intent with their BERT algorithm update means you should focus on user intent too. (Content Marketing Institute)
About 87.5% of marketers use visual pieces in over half of their blogs. (Venngage)

More and more end-users are hoping to get their answers in visual and engaging ways. You could miss valuable traffic if your content isn’t available in both a written format and visual formats like video or graphics.

If you have a blog plan in place and aren’t seeing benefits, chat with an agency. A reputable agency can help bridge the gap between what you need in order to drive successful clicks and readers to your page. If your current content strategy doesn’t include the promotion of consistent, optimized, relevant blogs, along with an analysis of the results of those blogs, it’s likely you’re not seeing the full return and need a holistic marketing strategy.

Maybe brands aren’t blogging because they don’t have the time or simply don’t have the written skill sets. Even more, they aren’t blogging because they think it’s a failed or old-school marketing strategy.

If you didn’t list blogging as a business opportunity in your marketing strategy, it’s not too late! Contact Spark to learn how we can help you design and execute your content marketing strategy.

Natalie Colby

Natalie Colby leads Spark’s South Africa office, spearheading our organic social media efforts, new business social strategies, social media audits, data-management and reporting. A social media specialist, she has a decade of experience championing social audits, social strategy, social media tools, reporting and data analytics.

The post Is Blogging Still a Thing? appeared first on Sparkpr.

I joined Spark just over two months ago and as a new Sparkster, I’d like to share my experience and perspective on Spark’s company culture. Culture is a vital and unique part of every organization. It’s what makes people join a team and is the biggest reason employees choose to stay or leave. It’s the key to gaining and maintaining a powerful workforce.

​​What comes to mind when you think of the ideal company culture? For me, it is a workplace environment where you feel comfortable and appreciated, and a place where you can thrive and grow. Your workplace should be stimulating, growth-orientated, and employee-centric in operations.

Many companies have struggled to overcome the challenges faced with the new work from home (WFH) structures that have come into fruition over the last 2 years. Spark, however, has managed to navigate these waters not only in San Francisco and New York but across continents with their remote South African staff.

Spark senior leadership and management embody all that employees wish to have in leadership and support systems. There is a true focus on mental health and well-being, individual goals and growth achievements, and establishing a balance between work-life and personal life.

Pandemic work-life has pushed employees to become more self-reliant and productive, and for companies to provide more flexibility with their staff. Spark has always been a company that allows staff to express their creativity and perspective on operations. Spark staff can manage their hours and workload in a way that suits them best, providing that deliverables and productivity levels are not compromised through remote work. Spark promotes independence alongside collaboration and understands that one of the greatest drivers of productivity is the pride of ownership in one’s work. Every employee is empowered to innovate and work autonomously, without micro-managing.

“A boss who micromanages is like a coach who wants to get in the game. Leaders guide and support then sit back to cheer from the sidelines.” – Simon Sinek

Interested in joining our team? Peruse our careers page for open opportunities and consider joining our inclusive company culture. #SparkTeam

“The perfect company culture fit for your post-pandemic GenZ and Millennials”

Shené Oliver

The post A Moment With Spark: Our Company Culture appeared first on Sparkpr.

When U.S. News and World Report put together a list of the five best cryptocurrency trading sites, they reached out to experts for advice. One of those experts was Edmund McCormack, founder and CEO of DChained.

DChained is a leading crypto analyst firm and their founder had this to say about the security of trading platform Robinhood: “Robinhood utilizes cold wallets to store your cryptos, meaning that the majority of users’ funds are held safely offline. However, in the event that a hack were to take place, they are underwritten by Lloyd’s to cover any cybersecurity breaches.”

In addition to Robinhood, U.S. News and World Report goes on to recommend Coinbase, Binance, Gemini and Kraken for both security and speed. If you’re interested in crypto investing the piece is worth a read, as is 10 ways to keep your cryptocurrency safe.

The post DChained CEO and Founder on Robinhood and the Best Crypto Trading Platforms appeared first on Sparkpr.

As noted by TechCrunch, the watch will run on OnePlus’s own operating system, known as the OnePlus Watch OS. OnePlus chose to do so in order to maximize the charge of the watch’s hefty 402 mAh battery. Doing so will give the watch one to two weeks of life on a single charge, making it an industry leader in battery life.

Just like consumers, we can’t wait until the reviews of this device start hitting tech sites. We’re expecting great scores for this durable, functional smartwatch with incredible battery life.

The post OnePlus Enters Smartwatch Market with First Major Wearable and Accompanying OS appeared first on Sparkpr.