At Crosby/Wright Tuttle will manage public relations campaigns for multiple client accounts.

For the past 18 months, Gretchen had been a publicist with the Phoenix PR firm, Orca Communications. Prior to moving to the PR side of media , she spent 10 years producing newscasts for various networks. Gretchen worked in a few media markets including Las Vegas, NV, Portland, OR and Phoenix. Gretchen is an Emmy-nominated producer, and Women’s in Communications award winner for her coverage of the one-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

Blufish Design Studio

“We are seeing an influx of small and medium-sized businesses starting to increase their marketing dollars, and they are focusing on putting their money toward an online strategy with companies focusing on going social,’ said Matt Hasher, principal of Blufish Design Studio. “By expanding our offering to managing Social Media campaigns we are looking to capitalize, particularly among small businesses, who are in need of a partner to fully manage and execute year-long campaigns.”

Bluefish’s new team members are:

• Daniel Moran, Jr., social media and communication manager—joining the Blufish team as a seasoned PR, marketing and social media professional, Daniel will be spearheading Blufish’s marketing and manage select client’s development and execution of their social media campaigns.
• Renee Griffith, junior designer—the Valley’s latest Phoenician, Renee joins the agency as its newest designer. Renee will be leveraging her background to develop eye catching designs to help brand and promote Blufish’s clients within their respected market.
• Stephanie Childers, office manager—the heart of the Blufish operations, Stephanie is the Operations Manager and manages day-to-day activities to keep the group organized and operating efficiently.

For more information about Blufish Design Studio visit www.blufishdesign.com.

Daniel Moran, Jr.

Renee Griffith

Stephanie Childers

“With the support of our loyal team and long-time clients, we can confidently say that we’ve built one of the best creative agencies in the Southwest,” said Eichler.
Some of David and Sam PR’s highlights include:

• Re-launching Dunkin’ Donuts in Phoenix in late-2008, creating buzz for more than 40 store openings with marketing, social media and public relations campaigns.
• Being recognized as a 2011 OBIE Awards finalist by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) for My Sister’s Attic’s “One Night Stand” billboards, a continuation of the brands iconic “Sell Your Sole” campaign for My Sister’s Closet.
• Development and launch of a Facebook application, Digeez’s Vacation, for Cox Communications Arizona aimed at building more personal engagement from customers. The local Cox division is leading the way in social media for the national brand.
• The creation and build-out of its signature “Treehouse” office space in Phoenix, which has become recognized as one of the city’s most dynamic work environments.

Nice work guys!

That’s not what this post is about. It’s about Human Nature.

As you may know, leaving the Biltmore after a big event is a nightmare. You can count on sitting in your car in gridlock for easily 20 mins+. Am I the only one who can’t figure out why in these situations, you sit motionless and then suddenly drive with little interruption?

Anyway, we reach the bottom of the sixth floor where we could exit to the left or right. Two cars were backed up around the curve, to the right. To the left there were no cars and one of the attendants was aggressively waiving for us to follow his lead. Want to guess what two of the next people did?  The safe and familiar thing, turning right, because that’s where you’re “supposed” to turn. Sure enough, the next car and I dashed to the left and we scooped past four floors of traffic.

Seth Godin has been writing a lot lately about the fact that with “the new normal” comes some painful realities. The model we were taught in school and early in our career was to keep our heads down and do what the others do.  That model has been smashed beyond repair by the technology age.  Great lives and careers are now based on having the courage to think independently, make your own decisions and not be a sheep.

If you don’t want to start your own company then go work for one that just started. Isn’t that more risk?  Not really.  There’s infinitely more opportunity and reward . Deluding yourself into thinking you have security at one of the bigger agencies is just that, delusional. The way those bigger companies got to be big was by putting money before people, and not batting an eyelash at triggering layoffs when an account walks out the door. This doesn’t only apply to our industry. The concept of the 25 year employee getting the gold watch is like a scene out of Happy Days. Be cool, don’t always follow and you won’t jump the shark.

• Shoulder pads were ‘in’

• Press releases were sent via fax

• A gallon of gas was pocket change

• The first convertible PS (also known as the laptop) hit the market

• And the real estate industry ruled the day

Congrats to the agency and may they enjoy another 25+ years of serving their clients and the community.

HMA Public Relations, the Phoenix member of Public Relations Global Network (PRGN), an international network of leading independent public relations agencies, announced the addition of three new PRGN members in France, Switzerland and Brazil.
Joining the ranks are YESwecan PR in Paris, CPC Commuications in Geneva and LBVA Communications in Sao Paulo, expanding the network’s global reach and capabilities in three of the world’s fastest growing economies.  The worldwide network now numbers 43 independently-owned public relations agencies on six continents.

“Our focus next year will be to make it convenient for companies to work with us whether they are looking for representation in one country or one continent,” said PRGN president Francine Robbens of PRP – Public Relations Partners in Brussels.

I think my reluctance to use LinkedIn can be traced all the way back to its earliest days when the interface and user experience were just dreadful. We’re talking heroically bad. I also used to think it was weird to peer into someone’s address book. But of course that was before Facebook existed and “creeping” only applied to undergarments gone wild.

I went about 6 years without using LinkedIn. Long enough that when I decided it was time  to raise the bar on my own social media best practices, I couldn’t even remember the email address that my account was registered under. It actually took someone on the phone to get it straightened out. It’s worth pointing out that the customer service was in fact excellent.

Well, today I received a lovely email from Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s co-founder and Chairman.  Apparently they just signed up their 100 millionth member and he “personally” wanted to thank me for being an “innovator” who “led the way.” Yes, Mom, your son is officially LinedkIn dude # 33,688. To be honest, I feel like I owe Reid an “I’m sorry” as much as a “you’re welcome.” SO, I am making a resolution to wrap my cyber arms around his whole 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon business networking thing.

Even though I know there are at least 33,687 other people out there who received the same email, I still felt valued.  It’s incredible how easy and effective it is to show a customer that you care. It’s just as important as doing good work.

When’s the last time you told your clients that you appreciated them?

Can someone please explain why people feel ok asking for free work? Whether they are multi-millionaires (maybe that’s why they are) or start ups, they expect some of their PR and marketing to be comped. I don’t ask my gardener to trim the palm trees just because he’s a nice guy. Nobody expects free food, which might be the secret to Costco’s success. Who doesn’t smile when the nice old lady in the hair net offers you a taste of whatever it is she just plucked out of the toaster oven?

I’ve never owned a client services company before so I’m eager to hear about another example where often the expected price tag is zero.  Lawyers sometimes write off time to appease a good client, but that is usually because of a negative reaction to an invoice. The client didn’t say, “hey can you draft this contract for me but not charge more?” I can’t imagine asking someone – lawyer – dentist – doctor – architect – who does something I can’t do for myself, to do it for free. Ahh, therein lies the golden nugget of the day. Everyone thinks they can design, write and pitch. Or at least they think their wife or nephew in college can.  I once knew a very smart, successful professional who shlepped in the fabric and paint swatches from his home renovation as examples for his company’s re-branding, therefore negating the need for our fee. Seriously?

Maybe this can be traced back to when banks started offering free checking accounts? Pandora’s Box swung open and now consumers demand such free service.  Maybe banks wouldn’t have chased profits by betting on horse races with our money, if they had just collected $40 a year from each of us. Some free things end up being really expensive.

The thrust of the article was that after the recession hit, many legal Top Gunners dropped their price to $990. Thankfully many of those top shelf lawyers are now charging as much as $1,250 a bottle. Wow, talk about a hangover.

My studio has had the (sincere) pleasure of working with some of the top attorneys in Phoenix. So this post bears no reflection on them. It actually has nothing to do with lawyers at all. Hell, who among us wouldn’t charge $20 a minute if we could get away with it? More on that in a few weeks.

I’m actually poking fun at the clients. Let me get this straight. During the stormiest economic climate anyone on this planet has ever faced, top tier executives at Fortune 500 companies like GE and DuPont were ok with retaining counsel for $990, but heaven forbid, not $1,000? Hmmm, if you move that decimal doesn’t $990 look suspiciously like 99 cents, as in the STORE?

We all know that people allow themselves to be seduced by arbitrary numbers and shiny price tags. Hence the timeless .99 phenomenon that stretches from candy bars and oil changes to big screen TV’s and cars. I don’t know about you, but I have heard many times over the years that “just because you know B-C marketing doesn’t mean you can do B-B.” There is an undeniable hint of condescension attached to that theory as if selling professional services is any harder than clothes, coffee or fitness club memberships. It’s not.

Whoever makes major purchases while wearing a tie or pantyhose has a reputation, salary, bonus, mortgage, family (and ego) to protect. You think only facts drive those career decisions? What salesperson will deny that the personal relationship is central to the sale. That whining and dining still works.  How many deals are cut out on golf courses and in strip clubs? That’s why stadium luxury boxes were invented.

People have always bought with their hearts and brains and they always will. Great marketing is about appealing to both organs. A $990 lawyer proves that.