Author: Montrie Rucker Adams

Terrie Williams – The Public Relations History Maker
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Terrie Williams (Wikipedia)

The day I was downsized was one of the most depressing events of my career.  

Months prior to that life-changing day, I had a desire to change careers. I enjoyed my responsibilities as a Sales Engineer, but I was not doing much of what I loved. I wanted to write.

I locked my eyes on a career in public relations. As I researched the industry, I came upon Terrie Williams’ story.

What immediately struck me in the early ‘90s about her story, was her drive and determination to run a successful business in a predominately white industry.

A 2018 Harvard Business Review article stated that the public relations industry is 87.9 percent white, 8.3 percent African American, 2.6 percent Asian American, and 5.7 percent Hispanic or Latinx. I can only imagine the statistics in 1988 when Terrie opened her company.

I later realized there were several parallels to Terrie’s story. She began her career as a social worker with a dream of becoming an entrepreneur (I was in sales with the same dream). She met jazz giant Miles Davis who encouraged her to start a business (I met DeBorah Thigpen of D. Thigpen & Adsociates who gave me my first opportunity). Williams credits many people who helped her along her journey (Visibility Marketing Inc. would not have celebrated its 20 year anniversary if it weren’t for the people who helped us).

In 2018, Terrie closed The Terrie Williams Agency after 30 successful years in the public relations industry. In celebration of National Women’s History Month, I salute Terrie Williams, formerly of The Terrie Williams Agency, for making history for all entrepreneurial women striving for excellence and for being the impetus for Visibility Marketing Inc. to do the same.  

Incentives – Focus Groups Love Them
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Photo by Edgar Soto on Unsplash

I like focus groups. I like to conduct them and participate in them.

The first focus group in which I participated was for a newly designed vehicle. I sat in it, maneuvered the seats, played with the controls, and envisioned driving it. I was also asked my opinion on all the car’s features and benefits. The experience was enlightening. “So, this is how companies test out their new products,” I thought. I felt useful and needed. The best part, however, was the $100 I received as I walked out the door.

It can be difficult finding people to participate in your focus groups. First, they must qualify. If you have a set of criteria, then these must be met first. Then you have to entice them to forgo whatever they had planned and spend time with you.

Offering an incentive increases your chances of getting the quantity and quality you need. Focus groups take time out of people’s schedules. It can be a big commitment. It’s only fair that there is an exchange. They answer questions from you, you give them something as a thank you or reward in return.

What are the best incentives? That depends on many things. The participants. Is your focus group filled with adults? Men? Women? Children? People who have traveled overseas? Children who like playing with certain video games and toys?

Once that’s established, you can think of what may entice someone to spend time with you. Following are a few ideas:

“Take my survey and you will get a chance to win this…or that.” This gives everyone the opportunity to win a prize. If you’re a vacation company it can be a free night in a hotel, or a vacation package.

Feed them and they will do anything for you. Well, not really, but if you offer lunch or dinner during the focus group, the participants see that as a plus, especially if it takes place during normal work lunch and dinner hours.

Cash is usually always king. It’s immediate (you should pay as soon as the focus group ends) and can be used anywhere. It also shows that you value their time and responses.

Gift cards, like cash, are “very much appreciated.” If your client, for whom you’re conducting the focus group, is a retail or restaurant establishment, a gift card to their business is an added plus. They business can rely on new customers and the participants are able to get free merchandise.

Donating to their favorite charity is the best to thank people who already have everything. You notice this a lot on celebrity game shows. They are always playing for their favorite charity. Plus, it makes them look good and scratches their philanthropic itch.

Everyone appreciates a gift. Something they can use that they didn’t buy. Think about all the times you have received a gift or present. Know that writing incentives into your focus group plan will increase its chances of success.

Focus Groups – Got Questions?
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FocusGroup-1.jpg
Focus Group for Visibility Marketing Inc. ad campaign.

Once you have your focus group gathered and ready. Now, it’s time for the fun part. The questions.

Sometimes thinking of the questions may seem difficult. You’re not sure if the questions are the “right” ones to ask. You want to make sure you get the answers you need. Following are 7 tips when designing focus group questions:

Where Do You Want to End Up? What are your goals? Is it to see which ad is best? Is it to determine whether your new product will resonate with the public? Or do you want to find out where thoughts land on a particular subject? Create your questions from where you want to end up. As Steven Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.”

Continue reading Focus Groups – Got Questions?

How to Attract The Best Talent for Your Company -Part II
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Continued from Part I published April 28, 2020

Employees must develop their skills and evolve professionally as much as their talent and potential allows them to. This is a maxim that companies and organizations must understand and strengthen. The organization must take into account that all people aspire to have the best working conditions. Those that allow them to develop their talents and combine it with their personal life, so that if any of the organization’s competitors offers them better conditions, they don’t suddenly switch jobs. To avoid these situations, the company must work on plans that strengthen the relationship between workers and the company.

Here is when the most obvious aspect comes: Offering the best conditions to workers is a fair deal and obtaining satisfied and committed work teams must be one of the main objectives of human talent management in organizations. We must keep in mind that employees spend most of their time in their work. And therefore, they expect their efforts to be rewarded. Either through a retribution that meets their needs and expectations, or by any form of recognition. These conditions are simple. They refer to details such as comfortable facilities, work teams in good shape, talent management policies as well as health and safety at work guarantees. These are some fundamental conditions that attract people to any company and that help to retain them, as well as to encourage them to develop labor effectively.

Likewise, salaries clearly play an essential role, as all people like their effort to be valued. Therefore, establishing a fair economic compensation policy is very important. A good way to do this is based on the achievements of the employees. This technique encourages employees to develop their work in the most effective way possible, as well as to cultivate their attitudes in order to achieve the objectives that have been proposed. Rewarding good performance financially creates a greater degree of commitment between the company or organization and the person and no longer only at a job level.

However, not only the monetary aspect is the factor that is taken into account in the labor motivation process. The emotional salary is one that makes employees feel comfortable, happy, valued and satisfied with their work. The measurement is complicated since it is an added value that renews the connection between the company and the employee, improving the commitment that exists between the two. This includes actions such as recognition of achievements, respect, work flexibility and reconciliation between personal and work life.

Finally, there is no doubt that talent attracts talent. Having talented minds in organizations promotes the growth of any company and also attracts more talent that seeks to learn from the best professionals and share experience with them to achieve great things.

As can be seen, it is a matter of working on the different strategies to incorporate each of the aspects mentioned in the management of your company, and, eventually, count on the best human team that your company could ask for.

How to Attract The Best Talent for Your Company -Part I
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Talent management is the current way for companies and organizations to strategically position themselves before their competitors. That is, knowing how to attract human talent to the company.

Today, it is clear that there is a strong competition for having the best teams and leaders in organizations as, over the years, those responsible for companies have detected their main value and assets: people.

In an increasingly competitive talent market, business managers as well as human resources managers ask themselves: how to attract talent? and how to retain it?

In the struggle to attract, develop and retain human talent in organizations, strategy planning is increasingly important. Retaining talent is even more difficult than attracting it, it is not enough with high salaries, job stability and being a great company, it isn’t a simple task.

Talent has evolved and also its demands, the worker seeks to be happy and feel in tune with the values ​​of the company, among many other things. We are facing the most demanding moment when it comes to people management so far. New generations, trained and connected to real-time information have transformed human talent in companies.

While some seem obvious, not all companies carry out the strategies and recommendations that we present below and that will serve to enhance the attraction, development and retention of human talent.

First and foremost, it is necessary for companies to be very clear about the exact professional profile they need for each position and moment, using specialized consultants or talent hunters if necessary.

Secondly, companies need to empower and develop leaders. Talent is something alive and changing, it must be taken care of and strengthened by the company, otherwise there is a danger of spoiling the potential talent and leadership abilities of magnificent professionals. For this, companies must be constantly raise challenges, create a stimulating environment and put the means for constant professional development, without stagnation or limitations when it comes to promoting and climbing hierarchically. As people, employees must develop their skills and evolve professionally as much as their talent and potential allows them to. This is a maxim that companies and organizations must understand and strengthen. The organization must take into account that all people aspire to have the best working conditions. Those that allow them to develop their talents and combine it with their personal life, so that if any of the organization’s competitors offers them better conditions, they don’t suddenly switch jobs. To avoid these situations, the company must work on plans that strengthen the relationship between workers and the company.

(To be continued…)

Community Communications: The importance of letting the community know what you are doing
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Nowadays, the role played by the media in shaping opinions, consciences, views and actions cannot be ignored. As the world moves towards decentralization, the market economy and greater democracy, conditions improve so that the population begins to set its own course for change. It is necessary to increase their awareness, participation, and capacity. The knowledge and technologies related to communication are essential for this task, but they are usually underutilized. Measures must be taken that promote effective planning and implementation of communication programs.

Communication with and for the community is closely linked to the need that exists in today’s society to rethink an approach from below, where development is conceived as a local process in which the participation of subjects and dialogue is fundamental. It must be closely linked to the creation of values, awareness and education. Communicating and promoting citizen participation through and with the media constitutes a fundamental basis for any project.

Communication, in the context of this post, consists in the process of transmitting ideas and information about an initiative and / or matter of interest to the community, especially when it has to do with changes in the environment in which it lives and when it can affect them. It is here where the importance of communicating between any company or organization  and  the community lies, because things can be done well, but does the community know it? Any program that considers people as mere objects and not as subjects of change and progress is called to failure.

The fact of consulting with the population and promoting their active participation in the adoption of the decisions that will affect them is almost a guarantee of success for the program. And it not only refers to publicizing or promoting a program, but to communicate the true nature of an organization, the issues it addresses, the objective it has and the necessary steps it must take to achieve it, that is showing itself transparent towards the community and open to share any information and resolve any questions or queries. It is to send the message to the target population, but also to go further. It is about building and sharing the voice from the people, giving the floor to the community, neighborhood, social sector, youth, children, cities, organizations, communities, educational units, universities etc. and build a community communication according to the needs, realities and demands of the social sectors.

However, the dialogue must be initiated and guided by field personnel who have a good training in interpersonal communication, and can carry it out not only through conventional means of communication such as radio, television or press, posters, community newsletters, or websites; but also participating in local events, fairs and conferences, calling that community to public presentations both to be noticed in the community and to discuss openly, share information and answer any questions that may arise; all with the objective of making this community feel conscious, participant and most important, in line with the change that is going to take place. If something valuable is created, it will be desirable not only for the community to recognize it, but to take advantage of it.

We’re Serving It Up for Our 20th Anniversary
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Anybody Can Serve

April 17, 2000 we received Visibility Marketing Inc.’s Incorporation papers. For me, it was a dream come true for a ten-year-old girl who often followed her father around his chemical business in Puerto Rico.

Twenty years! I don’t have to tell you how difficult and delightful this journey has been. The statistics state that 20 percent of small businesses fail in the first year while 50 percent fail in its fifth.

We’re still here holding on during the COVID-19 crisis.

Because we’re grateful to have a 20th anniversary, we’re taking applications from businesses that need communications assistance – especially now. Whether it’s help with branding, publicity, publications, outreach, marketing research or coaching…let us know how we can be there for you.

One of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous quotes is about service.

Everyone can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.

During this horrible pandemic, we have witnessed many “hearts full of grace” and “souls generated by love.” It is in this spirit that we celebrate our anniversary year by serving others.

If your organization can benefit from our expertise, please click here to apply for Visibility Marketing Inc.’s 20th Anniversary Anyone Can Serve Campaign.

City Branding Can Grow the Economy
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Blog5PhotoDay by day, cities are competing with each other to attract tourists, students, businesses, investors and new residents. Consequently, they are increasingly adopting marketing approaches resulting in what is commonly known as city marketing.

City marketing is one of the tools used by public and private institutions to improve the city’s competitiveness. It identifies the needs, a range of products and urban services, and the stimuli that encourages different customers to use what the city offers.

City marketing is essential to create the image of a city.

There are cities that leave their mark.  We remember them for its beauty, values and people. For example, think about Paris and its “White Night.” This cultural initiative consisted of making a free, overnight artistic journey where the city was illuminated.  Paris positioned the lights of its museums and galleries to light up the night. It’s great success has spread to other major cities throughout the world.

Other cities like London have used city marketing as an element of integration, making cultural diversity an asset, while other cities, like Dubai, created an economic center inviting luxury tourism.

The strategy behind “City branding” logos is another proof of the constant competition between cities. One of the most famous corresponds to New York with its, “I Love New York” slogan that emerged in 1977 after a campaign to promote tourism. After the attack of 9/11, I Love New York also was adapted to the city’s new reality: “I Love New York More Than Ever.”

These are a few examples of how marketing succeeds in giving cities greater value. Having a defined and developed city image can provide cultural significance, a greater identity for citizens, and a greater knowledge of urban supply that attracts business opportunities – investment, cultural and sporting events, tourism and new residents.

Strategic planning is necessary to develop a city marketing plan. It is crucial to align the different urban actors and citizens in a common direction.

At Visibility Marketing Inc., we understand that it is essential to have institutions with tools capable of correctly defining which city values are essential to promote and encourage citizens’ commitment and participation.

City Marketing and City Branding are especially important today, in a globalized world, where new technologies can bring us from thousands of miles to to any destination we choose, without leaving home.

Green Marketing: An Opportunity but Also a Responsibility
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picBy: Daniel Fumero Lázaro

Year after year, we see our environment increasingly deteriorating. A recent study produced by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) states that humans will need “two Earths” to support our lifestyles by 2030.  We are quickly draining the world’s resources. Therefore, the industrial and consumer goods sectors must therefore find ways to use energy and resources more efficiently, improve production processes, develop new technologies and continue to be innovative.

In recent years, the awareness towards preserving the environment has become part of society’s new values and trends. There are many sensitive consumers interested in the ecological value of products. It influences their purchasing decisions and consumer habits (buying recycled and organic items, recycling, etc).

As for marketing, this trend now represents an opportunity to gain advantages from the competition and get close to this market segment. Green marketing seeks to satisfy customer needs, and when corporate culture is based on environmental concerns, it is accepted by all company employees, regardless of their hierarchical level.

However, “green marketing” can be used irresponsibly by companies interested only in their image.

An example of this is found in cleaning and cosmetic products. Many companies may announce that they are “100 percent natural,” “energy efficient” or “organic” without a certificate or information that verifies what is stated on the label.  Also, major companies in the oil and gas industries rely on the use of symbols and environmental colors as a strategy to minimize what could be bad images of their activities. They may even promote Earth Day (April 22) to disseminate its supposedly ‘green efforts.´ These false examples are commonly known as “greenwash.”

For this reason, companies must act responsibly when taking the decision to adopt green marketing. It is not just propaganda. It must be a compromise that involves all staff. Green marketing must be part of the corporate culture, its values and objectives.

On the other hand, as responsible consumers, we must commit to support companies that are already identified with this social responsibility. In order to make buying decisions based on the characteristics the products actually have, we must demand rigorous and reliable information about the product’s origin and manufacturing, as well as the environmental improvements achieved.

Daniel Fumero Lázaro interns at Visibility Marketing Inc. He resides in the Canary Islands.