June Agency News

Watching the ups and downs of the stock market every day, along with all the media talk about the economy, is enough to put any of us over the edge. Are we at the bottom, when will the recovery start, will the official collapse of GM prolong the recession and when will consumers start spending again? These and other economy-related questions seem to be all that anyone can talk about – myself included. That is, until recently. Now I have a new obsession and that is, how everything in communications – during the recession and after – is going to be different. Vastly different, forever changed. PR and communications will never look the same.

Social media, which we’ve been talking about in this blog for 18-months or so, is surely a part of the change. But the overreaching change is much broader than Facebook, MySpace or Twitter (which we covered in our last blog), or whether cable will win out over broadcast TV or if newspapers will survive. It’s about how we get and share information, and for communicators, how do we manage this new world. This is the focus of our “Talking PR” and “Chit Chatter” columns – both written by the newest member of RL&A’s Chatter department, Christian Brucculeri, who has been busy developing and executing a number of social media programs for many RL&A clients.

We also have some great PR results to highlight in this issue, including placements on CBS’s The Doctors, as well as many popular blogs and magazines, in our “Clients in the News” section. So please read on and enjoy – and if you’re interested in learning more about how RL&A can help your company or brand communicate and “engage” with target audiences, just shoot me or Alyson an email at rrusso@robinleedyassociates.com or aomahoney@robinleedyassociates.com. We’ll be happy to do a communications audit for your brand that may just change the way you see your consumer outreach – and whether your current efforts are working. Also, if you or a marketing colleague plan to be at NACDS later this month and would like to meet with Alyson and I in between retailer meetings (or when you are on booth patrol), let us know.

Directing the Chatter: RL&A Hires Director of Social Media

The New York Times (February 23, 2009) reported in an article, “The Facebook Era is for Adults, Too,” that more than 60 percent of baby boomers are avid consumers of social media, such as blogs, forums, podcasts and online video, up from roughly 40 percent a year ago. This is music to our ears, as RL&A grows its Chatter RL&A social media department with the hiring of Christian Brucculeri as director of social media. Christian starts this month bringing a broad skill set and unique perspective to his position with his experience in the digital and entertainment arenas.

As a Senior Account Director for YouCast Corporation where he spent several years, Christian played a central role in transforming the YouCast product from a marketing vehicle for bands and Web products into a platform for major consumer brands to enter and participate in the online conversation. In 2008, Christian developed and activated successful social media campaigns for Snapple, Pepsi, Energizer, Schick, Macy’s, Pandora Radio, KFC, Triaminic, Sony, Warner Bros. Entertainment and others.

Christian began his marketing career as an intern for Bullygoat Records (Warner Bros.) where he helped launch Active Rock & Metal bands in digital media. Promoted to Director of Artist Management for Zen Media Group in 2004, Christian was responsible for managing online strategies for Anthrax, Mudvayne (Epic Records), Otep (Capitol), Bloodsimple (Warner Bros) and Krista (J/RCA Records). He holds a BBA in Management from The George Washington University and is currently an MBA student at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

John Whitcomb, social media coordinator at RL&A for the past year and a half will report to Christian and together with him, help enhance Chatter RL&A’s cutting edge digital and social media campaigns. If you would like to learn more about what Chatter RL&A can do for your company, contact Christian at Cbrucculeri@robinleedyassociates.com.

RL&A Signs New Clients

Just a little more than halfway through the first quarter of 2009, we’re pleased to announce several new RL&A client programs, including one for Taro Pharmaceutical’s Ovide for Head Lice, an Rx, first-line product that eradicates both head lice and nits and is safe for children and adults. For Diopsys, RL&A will conduct a public relations and social media program targeted to both pediatricians and moms for its Enfant Vision Screening test. Expanding on the work we already do for The Mentholatum Company of Buffalo, NY, including Softlips Lip Conditioners and ROHTO eye drops, RL&A will be conducting a campaign for Cherry Chest Rub for Kids, a topical rub that acts as a cough suppressant.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH…

I have to admit that I was struggling to write this section of the RL&A blog – intended to go out before the holidays – but got caught up in all the end of the year things that make running a small business about as much fun as having your teeth drilled – and never actually got around to finishing. And then there was this small issue of the state of the economy – and the world, for that matter – that put a damper on the holiday season, altogether.

But rather than start the New Year with the prevailing doom-and-gloom attitude, I prefer to see the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 as a positive thing that will lead to more positive things…and so on as the year progresses. Public relations – unlike advertising and many other marketing options – is one of the more cost-effective ways to spend marketing dollars, so I am cautiously hopeful that RL&A will continue to grow and work with many new and existing clients in 2009 and beyond. Now more than ever, companies need to continue to market themselves to their various constituents – not stop and fall off the radar altogether. And while not meaning to sound self-serving – many people will back me up on this — public relations is a smart way to get more mileage out of reduced marketing dollars, since PR – when done right — typically delivers a better CPM and ROI. PR, now with the added tool of social media, is one of the best spends you will make in the coming year – especially with a firm like Robin Leedy & Associates (just had to slip that in!).

So, with that said, all of us at RL&A wish all of our friends and colleagues, here in the U.S. and abroad, a heartfelt, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. And don’t worry so much – I predict good times ahead for us all!

THINK PINK WITH ROBIN LEEDY & ASSOCIATES

As a public relations firm that specializes in healthcare and particularly women’s health and personal care issues, RL&A decided to give back to our community and participate in the American Cancer Society’s 15th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K Walk, which took place Sunday, October 19th, at Manhattanville College here in Westchester County.

Breast cancer affects all of us in some way, even touching the lives of family members of some of us here at RL&A in the past few years. This was a chance for us to recognize and support breast cancer survivors and help the American Cancer Society make strides toward eliminating the disease and achieve the goal of never having to hear that you or a loved one has breast cancer.

Together with everyone else that came out for the day, more than $1.6 million was raised to fight this deadly disease and the RL&A team was more than happy to play our part.

The Making Strides walk covered a five mile course that ended with what seemed like the hill to end all hills. The walk started at Manhanttanville and wound through SUNY Purchase before it came full circle and ended back at Manhattanville College. Men, women and children of all ages participated.

The day was gorgeous, not too hot, not too cold, but just right, and everyone enjoyed spending the time together and getting some exercise all while helping out this great cause.

The best part of the day was that everyone on the RL&A team — from our most junior member up — all finished the entire 5K race!

Hard to believe it’s already October! Summer flew by as we geared up for several fall seasonal campaigns for various clients, as well as ramping up for 2009 programs. An extremely busy few months (the reason there were no blog postings – sorry!) and difficult news period as the election nears and news about Wall Street dominates just about all forms of media.

But in spite of the doom and gloom news environment, we have some very exciting RL&A news: we’ve had three babies born to RL&A staff in just two months!

Laurie Lindenbaum, Anne Carlantone and Chatter RL&A’s own John Whitcomb have all welcomed new additions to their families.

Can you guess which baby belongs to which PR staffer? We’re just thrilled, but the rest of us have decided not to drink the water here anymore.

Alexa	Jacob Tyler	JR

As the RL&A family grows and it reiterates the importance of things outside of our daily work, we have decided to participate as a company in the October 19th Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5 Mile Walk sponsored by the American Cancer Society. We’ll let you in on who finishes the walk (and who we have to carry) in next month’s blog, so stay tuned.

Other Agency news: We’ve completed the expansion of our offices at our Mt. Kisco location – wiring will be completed next week and move-in day will be done following that. So stop by for a tour and a chat – we’d love to have you visit! By the way, the fall foliage is absolutely gorgeous this time of year in Westchester County, so don’t wait too long – before we know it, winter will be here! Also, check out our new “Clients in the News” section on our Web site – we think you’ll love how it works and highlights the great placements we get for our clients. This month’s RL&A blog features some amazing placements, including two of the largest-circulation consumer publications in the United States – AARP and Parade, and the #1 morning TV news program, TODAY (yes, we are patting ourselves on the back for these three scores!) Have fun browsing!

Click images to enlarge.

Well, as we said in an earlier newsletter, it’s the old story about the shoemaker’s kids having no shoes – same goes for us when it comes to doing PR for RL&A. But exceptions do arise, as with the case of the recent issue of InTown magazine, a “New York” type publication for residents of Westchester and Fairfield Counties, that features RL&A’s founder and president, Robin Russo, in an article about “turning points” that changed the course of the careers of six “career women.” Russo is featured along with former president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America Dawn Hudson, as well as Carolyn Kepcher of the Original “Apprentice” show and three other area women from all types of fields. Even better than the company she’s in is that the article calls RL&A “the go-to PR firm for OTC health and beauty product brands.”

The rapid growth of the Internet has many marketers – and PR folks, alike – scratching their heads and wondering how in the world to keep up. Is traditional media on its way out, making way for social media, or, can the two co-exist? As a 22-year old PR firm, we are deeply attached to traditional media, yet we are opening our arms to social media and finding effective ways to merge the two mediums into successful PR campaigns. Presently, we have a number of client PR programs that are utilizing social media to communicate with target audiences through blogs and social networking, as well as SEO – Search Engine Optimization.

In the last issue of “Chit Chatter,” we discussed SEO. This month we delve into the world of social networking – what it is and how businesses can get their toes wet to reach target demographics. Also take a look at some recent PR placements for clients in the “Clients in the News” section and find out about some travel-related health concerns (Weird but True) as you begin planning your summer vacations.

If you are interested in learning more about any of the information mentioned in the RL&A Blog, please contact Robin Russo at rrusso@robinleedyassociates.com

Robin Leedy & Associates Goes “Social” at CHPA Meeting

Social media is the buzz word of the communications world these days. Hardly a day goes by without emails touting seminars that will teach you how to do it, or articles in the mainstream press illustrating how social media has not only contributed to the success of this product or that, but how it is single-handedly changing the way marketers need to look at their communication strategies. USA Today recently wrote about the effects of social media on the music industry – perhaps, not so much of a surprise, considering who buys most of the music.

Robin Russo of Robin Leedy & Associates at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association’s Annual Executive Conference

Social media, however, is impacting just about all industries, including health and beauty products, and recently, RL&A made a presentation to members of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) at the organization’s Annual Executive Conference in Washington, D.C. In the presentation, made by Robin Russo, president, and Alyson O’Mahoney, executive vice president, the two highlighted the most popular blogs for women, men and baby boomers and gave a quick primer on how companies can get started using PR tactics in the social media arena. For a copy of the presentation slides, contact Robin Russo

RL&A Hosts Webcast

RL&A hosted a web cast for HemoSense®, manufacturer of the INRatio® PT/INR Monitoring System, to announce to media the new decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that Medicare coverage for at-home blood testing of prothrombin time (PT)/International Normalized Ratio (INR) will be expanded for patients who take warfarin, an anticoagulant medication, for chronic atrial fibrillation or venous thromboembolism. (Previously, coverage was only for mechanical heart-valve patients.) Webcasts are the latest technology replacing in-person meetings of all sorts. In the PR world, investor relations folks have been using them for some time to host analyst meetings. More recently, the use of webcasts is replacing the traditional “press conference.”

Essentially, a webcast is a media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. As a broadcast, it may either be live or recorded and may either be distributed live or recorded — “broadcasting” over the Internet. Key media, such as the Associated Press, NY Times and Wall Street Journal (among others) signed on for the live web cast, featuring Jack Ansell, M.D., an internationally recognized expert in hemostasis and thrombosis, and Chairman of Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

It used to be that January and February were considered somewhat “slow”months following the craziness of the holiday season and the long wait until spring pokes its head out of the hardened, crusted-over snow and ice. (Think I hate winter?) Well, not so anymore for us PR agency folks, with new campaigns ramping up and media events scheduled to take advantage of what are typically considered slow months for media, as well.

So read our February blog and find out what’s going on here at RL&A – great placements on behalf of our clients in Clients in the News, the winner of the Softlips Picture Perfect Lips Contest in Promotions in Motion and learn about “SEO”, also known as search engine optimization, in Chit Chatter. Have fun and we’ll see you in spring!

Happy New Year, everyone! If you’re like us, you’re usually happy to see the year end – to clear up loose ends, get past any difficulties encountered and move forward with a clean slate (and perhaps a freshly organized desk!). Well, 2007 was no exception and while it was a good year for RL&A, we’re still happy to see it over and are busy ramping up for 2008!

So, what are we looking forward to in 2008? Social media is topping our list for many of our clients as we plan ahead, so read "Chit Chatter" and see what Chatter RL&A, our new social media division, is up to in the blogosphere. Building “communities” of consumers – both online and in traditional media – is looming large as consumers become brand ambassadors and traditional advertising takes on a lesser importance. And of course, breaking through the clutter with traditional media relations – national consumer magazines, in particular, is top of mind as we plan editorial events this year (see promotions in motion for a successful media event we just held on January 16th in NYC).

So read on to learn what’s going on at RL&A and let us know what you think by posting to our blog or emailing our new Chatter RL&A social media coordinator, John Whitcomb Of course, feel free to give Alyson or I a buzz on anything and everything.

And thanks for hanging with us! Cheers!