Public Relations Internship Opportunity: Boston, Providence - Fall 2008

Tiziani Whitmyre, Inc. (http://www.tizinc.com/) announces the availability of a paid or for-school-credit Public Relations Internship for the Fall of 2008.

Tiziani Whitmyre is a marketing communications and public relations firm focused on the needs of growing companies. Agency clients include leading names in the life sciences, high technology, biotechnology, manufacturing, and professional services.

Tiziani Whitmyre is located midway between Boston, Mass. and Providence, RI, at 2 Commercial Street, Sharon, Mass.. We are just off Route 1 and I-95.

At Tiziani Whitmyre, PR interns are introduced to the various "real world" facets of agency work to learn the strategies and skills they'll be expected to master to succeed at an agency or in a corporate PR department.

Public relations interns will hone their tactical public relations skills and learn the requirements and nuances of agency account service. In addition, Interns will have the opportunity to take an "inside look" within a variety of markets and industries.

At Tiziani Whitmyre, interns:

• Join account teams in servicing clients
• Delve into and across the application of several client programs of various size, scope, and industry, and
• Experience the in's and out's of agency culture and operations, client service, the creative process, and media relations.

In essence, Tiziani Whitmyre intern responsibilities mirror the requirements of a Public Relations Account Coordinator - the entry-level professional position for most public relations agencies.

PR Internship opportunities are available year-round for career-oriented, college and university students. Requirements and hours are flexible.

To respond, send a cover letter and resume to Tiziani Whitmyre at admin@tizinc.com, and include "Internship" in the subject line. No phone calls, please.

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Posted by: Tiziani Whitmyre Inc.

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B2B Marketing Deadly Sin #5 - Misunderstanding Public Relations

by Rick Whitmyre,
president and a principal,
Tiziani Whitmyre, Inc.

In our continuing series, the "Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing," let's look at Deadly Sin #5, which is: "Misunderstanding Public Relations."

Public Relations (PR) is about generating coverage in the media that reaches your target audience. And yet most B2B PR programs spend their budgets papering the walls of editors’ office with news releases. And that paper is intense. Most publications receive thousands of news releases each day – and publish just a few. Sure, the basic element in the PR food chain is the news release. But it only represents an opener that starts the editorial dialogue.

Successful PR placement requires continuous contact and relationship building with editors – over the phone and in-person. Most are overworked and underpaid. Like the rest of us, they appreciate people that make their jobs easier. Editors naturally gravitate toward companies that answer questions fully, provide executives and technical experts quickly, and furnish photos and illustrations that breathe life into complicated stories. Frequent editorial contact and relationship building forges the trust and awareness that pries open story opportunities and secures expanded news coverage in your target publications.

And another thing. Some mistakenly call public relations “free advertising.” First, it’s not free.

You’ll need a PR budget to hire the experienced PR professionals who can generate great editorial coverage. And it’s not advertising. It’s better. Editorial coverage comes with third-party credibility that carries significant weight with readers. Effective public relations can be a great brand building vehicle that takes the pressure off your advertising program (and cuts the cost).

Put most of your PR dollars into media contact, placement, and fulfillment. An appropriate budget ratio would be 30% for news releases and 70% for placement, case studies, and white papers. This approach will produce dramatically more effective news coverage. And can mean the difference between a mention in the “New Products” section, and a cover story.

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There are more Deadly Sins, of course. Want to see the entire series? We've developed a free white paper to help marketing executives avoid these money-wasting, product-killing, and even career-ending mistakes.

Download a free copy of it, “The Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing,” from http://www.tizinc.com/DeadlySins. Or, call us at 781-793-9380.

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B2B Marketing Deadly Sin #4 - Underestimating the Power of Your Web Site

by Rick Whitmyre,
president and a principal,
Tiziani Whitmyre, Inc.

In our continuing series, the "Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing," let's look at Deadly Sin #4, which is: "Underestimating the Power of Your Web Site."

OK, you have a web site. You’ve kept it updated. So what? Is it driving leads and business to your company? Is it reducing the cost of your marketing transactions? Does it project a global image? Almost every B2B web site we see is an underachiever; not fulfilling its huge potential to deliver leads, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Don’t think of your Web site as an on-line catalog. Think of it as a strategic competitive weapon.

Today, the web site is the primary image maker for your business. It’s the first place a person goes to check out your company. In those precious seconds spent viewing your home page, prospects form the vital first impressions that will forever color their attitudes about your company. What does the site say about your firm? Does it convey the image and depth of a global industry leader? Or look more like the personal web blog of your teenage daughter’s boyfriend. A client once took a particularly candid view of his company’s site. “We look like the guy selling a $5,000 Rolex from the trunk of a ’62 Dodge.”

Your Web site also is a back door into your enterprise. People come in by the thousands, wander around, and search through your offerings in total anonymity. With no pushy salespeople, it’s a shoppers dream. A recent survey shows that 90% of all engineers and technical buyers use the Internet on the job; 42% for as much as 7 hours per week. Over half query search engines to find and specify products. Google and Yahoo now play a critical role in directing cyber-prospects to your web site. When buyers launch Internet searches for your products and services –and they don’t find your site – those are lost business opportunities. This is especially troubling when you consider the resources invested to build and maintain your Web presence. Optimizing your site to appear on the first pages of Google and Yahoo is critical in today’s electron driven economy. And buying paid keyword sponsorships on these search engines attracts even more leads to your company.

But an effective interactive marketing strategy involves more than driving visitors to your Web site. If they come and go incognito, like ghosts in the machine, you’re leaving money and leads on the table. Sending visitors through landing and registration pages for high-value content can generate scores of qualified leads. An automated on-line database can collect and distribute those leads to your sales force, supporting fulfillment and remarketing.

A successful B2B site might log 50,000 to 100,000 visitor sessions a month. That’s quality time a customer spends browsing through your offerings. Compare that to the effectiveness of your other marketing communications. Where else can you engage so many prospects at such low cost?

Have you visited your own Web site lately? Have you searched for your own products or services on Google or Yahoo? Your web site can become a low-cost, global, 24/7, self-service front-end for your company. And your smallest competitor can do it better than you.

- - -

There are more Deadly Sins, of course. Stay tuned...

Or, if you can't wait, we've developed a free white paper to help marketing executives avoid these money-wasting, product-killing, and even career-ending mistakes.

Download a free copy of it, “The Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing,” from http://www.tizinc.com/DeadlySins. Or, call us at 781-793-9380.

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B2B Marketing Deadly Sin #3 - Overestimating the Power of Creative

by Rick Whitmyre,
president and a principal,
Tiziani Whitmyre, Inc.

In our continuing series, the "Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing," let's look at Deadly Sin #3, which is: "Overestimating the Power of Creative."

Don’t assume great creative will produce great B2B results; that reaching your sales and marketing goals are tied directly to the effectiveness of the creative. Sometimes creativity and success are mutually exclusive. Focusing purely on creative is like buying a great looking car without checking the engine. You turn the key, but it doesn’t go anywhere. The engine represents the goals, positioning, and value proposition that power the communication.
The creative is the body that delivers it.

According to our creative director, “The creative is so much better and effective if I understand the goal and the positioning. When I’m told to craft an ad and simply ‘do something creative,’ then I’m only superficially addressing the issue. The result is a highly subjective discussion on the ‘creativity’ of the concept.”

We’ve seen what some might consider creative-free advertising deliver almost unbelievable results. Our firm developed a fractional space ad for a client that simply offered an Insider’s Guide. No big creative hook employed here. In fact, these executions would have been laughed out of the Addy Awards. But the ad produced thousands and thousands of leads. So why does that happen? There must be other reasons that don’t revolve around the creative. In this case, the guide stimulated latent need in the marketplace that had not been addressed. And it was placed in media focused tightly on the target audience.

Here’s another example. In probably the most successful ad campaign we’ve conceived, the marketing strategy was highly creative, not the ads themselves. And the client spent less than $100,000 on the media. Yet the campaign repositioned the competition as yesterday’s technology, turned the marketplace upside down, and put a hundred million dollars on the client’s top line.

An agency colleague once said, “The role of the client is to define the problem, and creativity is problem solving 101. The myth is thinking that the creative is the design and copy, when in reality it’s the entire solution.”

In B2B, it’s the message, not the medium. Sure the creative is important to grab attention. But you’re not selling toothpaste or hotel rooms. I know what a hamburger does. But I’m a little hazy about process optimization software that will lower my catalytic cracking costs by 3 cents a barrel. Spend more time on the positioning and messaging. The creative will take care of itself.

- - -

There are more Deadly Sins, of course. Stay tuned...

Or, if you can't wait, we've developed a free white paper to help marketing executives avoid these money-wasting, product-killing, and even career-ending mistakes.

Download a free copy of it, “The Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing,” from http://www.tizinc.com/DeadlySins. Or, call us at 781-793-9380.

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B2B Marketing Deadly Sin #2 - Thinking Tactics First, Not Strategy

by Rick Whitmyre,
president and a principal,
Tiziani Whitmyre, Inc.

In our continuing series, the "Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing," let's look at Deadly Sin #2, which is: "Thinking Tactics First, Not Strategy."

In today’s, slash-the-budget, reorganize-daily marketing world, most ads, brochures, web sites, and PR campaigns bear little connection to the company’s business plan. Why? Poor management communication, revolving leadership, dynamic markets, mid-year adjustments, you name it.

A colleague once lamented, “I've found that 90% of the time, the vice president of marketing and the vice president of sales aren't talking to each other, and some times it’s the same person.” Next time, pull out the strategic or annual business plan before developing a campaign. Make your tactical decisions within the strategic framework. Engage the management team early in the process to gain alignment on the approach and to facilitate approvals. Achieve consensus on the target audiences and key buying decision drivers.

A clearly articulated positioning platform with a unique value statement and key customer benefits builds a strong strategic foundation to implement your messages. Creating information architecture for your company helps you choose the most effective marketing tools. And understanding the channel strategy and selling cycle helps deliver the communications with maximum impact. Develop a consistent tone and image for your campaigns that optimize your positioning. Enjoin customers in an ongoing conversation and move them to your value proposition.

As our creative director Fred Martins says, “a strategic plan is a great document that helps risk-averse people make decisions to move forward” – a key enabler in today’s corporate organization.

- - -

There are more Deadly Sins, of course. Stay tuned...

Or, if you can't wait, we've developed a free white paper to help marketing executives avoid these money-wasting, product-killing, and even career-ending mistakes.

Download a free copy of it, “The Five Deadly Sins of B2B Marketing,” from http://www.tizinc.com/DeadlySins. Or, call us at 781-793-9380.

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