Ever wonder what it takes to run a PR agency? Balancing the daily challenges of developing creative communication strategies while running an effective business and a successful practice?
Join Catalyst’s Bret Werner and Sharon Linhart, APR, managing partner of Linhart Public Relations in Denver, for this interactive discussion hosted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Counselors Academy. Sharon and Bret will share key lessons they have learned through their years in the industry and as longtime Counselors Academy members.
For more information, and to register for this brown bag discussion, please click here.
Hello friends. Today the Masters begins at the Augusta National Golf Club, deep in the heart of Georgia. For an exclusive segment of the golf community, the event marks an annual celebration of the game’s core values and the unofficial start of spring. For us marketers, it represents something of a paradox – and the platform for a good old-fashioned debate:
Does the tournament’s application of exclusivity and control ultimately benefit its brand?
Social photo-sharing application Instagram, which hit 27 million registered users in 2012, received some extra buzz recently. Since its launch in 2010, Instagram has only been available to iOS users, namely iPhone and iPad owners. On stage at SXSW, founder Kevin Systrom highlighted their new android application on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. The app is currently in private beta and the team hopes “to have it out to people really soon,” Systrom said.
Brand Impact: Almost half — 46% — of all American adults now own a smartphone, an 11% increase from last year with nearly every major demographic group experiencing a notable uptick in smartphone penetration. According to a recent Pew study, 19% of these users own an iPhone (up 10% from last year) and 20% own an Android device (up 15% from last year). Surging smartphone usage is said to be fueling the rise of the so-called “app economy.” As brands look to harness this trend and engage in mobile, tapping into hot applications like Instagram is an efficient route to consider.
Brand Opportunity: Instagram has an open API (application program interface), which means that it provides an interface for developers to build on-top of and communicate with. This API offers a number of opportunities for brands. For example, Starbucks, General Electric and Levi’s have successfully tapped in to the Instagram API to activate photo contests, allowing consumers to express themselves in unique and interesting ways for an opportunity to win a prize or experience. There are few barriers for consumers to participate in a contest using Instagram – users simply tag their photos with a campaign hashtag to be eligible.
Catalyst Public Relations has added more hardware to the trophy case by earning “Small Agency of the Year” honors at the annual 2012 PRWeek awards banquet in New York City. This esteemed award recognizes financial and client growth, client retention and overall creativity and innovation.
This marks the third agency of the year award that Catalyst has earned in the past four years, including Boutique Agency of the Year by PRWeek in 2010 andNew Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report in 2009.
“Being recognized for small agency of the year is a testament to the great people we have working here and the passion they bring to our clients’ business each and every day,” said Bret Werner, Managing Partner, Catalyst. “From day one, we have remained true to our vision of focusing the core platforms of sports, lifestyle and entertainment. This award validates that steadfast approach.”
After weeks of speculation, Facebook officially announced Timeline for brands this morning. The new layout allows brands to express their identity, reach and engage the audience on the web and on mobile, and respond to people in a quick, more personal way. You can read more about it here: http://www.learnfacebookpages.com/
While Timeline is currently only available to select brands through the beta program, it will be fully rolled out to all pages on March 30. Brand page admins can currently “preview” how their page will look on Timeline, and can also proactively activate Timeline at any time before it becomes mandatory on March 30th. Key elements of Timeline for brands to understand include:
Fifty-four years after Daytona International Speedway hosted the first Daytona 500 – a 200-lap race ending in a dead-heat finish that required taped footage to determine the winner (Lee Petty) – the race has become NASCAR’s biggest, richest and most prestigious race of the entire 36-week season.
It’s referred to by many as “The Great American Race,” or “The Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing,” or by three-time Daytona 500 winner, Jeff Gordon, as “The Ultimate Race.”
Viral Campaigns Explained Through Medical Terms at Social Media Week
This week is Social Media Week where the digital gurus come out to share the latest and greatest in social media insight – even the free snacks came with QR codes! I had the opportunity yesterday to attend a presentation on Consumer Engagement in the Reuters building in Times Square.
In the early years of the Internet consumers kept an anonymous identity–I was personally known as ColaBear85. We used the Internet for research, keeping up with the news and checking email. Nowadays it’s all about real identity and exposing your world to anyone who is willing to listen.
The presentation focused on this opportunity of social promotion to convert consumers into brand advocates. By developing the right campaign we can use consumers as broadcasters and have the ability to create and sustain an online community.
While in Indianapolis for Super Bowl, I got the chance to stop by the Social Media Command Center that set up shop in downtown Indy. This was the first Super Bowl where the host committee designated a single area to manage all things social.
Did you know that Americans spend more than 33 hours per week watching video? But according to the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report for Q3 2011, the way that the American household is consuming video is seeing a big shift, thanks to availability and tech advancements such as mobile video.
Key findings from the Cross-Platform Report–which highlights the viewing behavior of U.S. consumers and identifies emerging trends in media consumption across traditional TVs, mobile and computers–include:
Nando DiFino is a senior editor for Mediaite.com, a site founded by Dan Abrams whose mission is to be “the site for news, information and smart opinions about print, online and broadcast media, offering original and immediate assessments of the latest news as it breaks.”
DiFino, who has previously written for The Wall Street Journal, ESPN and AOL, joined the Mediaite team in 2011. He joins The Catalog to discuss his new experiences in covering politics and what to expect from the media landscape in the year ahead.
Social photo-sharing application 
Nando DiFino is a senior editor for 