SparkPR Stays Ahead in a Rapidly Changing Market

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Thu, Oct 18, 2018 @ 01:16 PM

“Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front-page ad.” —Richard Branson

Richard Branson is the prominent British business mogul with over 400 companies under the Virgin Group and a net worth of $5.1 billion. His insights on public relations (PR) and advertising come, quite obviously, from a great amount of success and experience.

sparkprThe sentiment also simply makes sense. The art of storytelling has connected generations, communities, and cultures for as long as humans have existed. Storytelling—or, in a broader sense, communication—is a foundational pillar of any civilization, culture, or people. The story and the emotion it elicits are why songs sell and why people celebrate holidays, attend events, and, ultimately, make purchases. 

PR tells a company’s story, and that story often connects a business with people in a stronger way than an often-overlooked print ad or a radio clip that goes in one ear and out the other. PR doesn’t act in a vacuum, though. PR, marketing, and advertising are all connected, and this trifecta can make or break a brand.

PR and marketing services are changing and evolving in the world’s fast-paced, global, and tech-saturated economy. Business analysts already project marketing services will be greatly affected by advancements in artificial intelligence.

Now, agencies are converging PR and marketing services to compete and to rise above the digital clutter.

This makes sense, given PR and marketing are connected at their cores. Offering digital marketing and PR services in tandem only strengthens the deliverables and elevates the brand. This isn’t a new idea; it’s just being reinvented on a digital platform.

SparkPR, who won the Bronze Stevie® for Public Relations Agency of the Year in the 2018 American Business Awards, has 20 years of experience in digital marketing. Specializing in helping innovation-minded companies transform their brands with powerful storytelling programs, SparkPR uses the latest digital analytics to amplify PR programs. Services include content and social development, programmatic distribution, paid media, and data-driven insights to inform strategic planning and to measure go-to-market plans.

This strategy has proved successful. Some of the world’s most innovative startups and industry leaders, including eBay, Electronic Arts, Flickr, Mozilla.org, Nokia, NVIDIA, Skype, the Economist, Trulia, Verizon, Visa, Yahoo!, and Walmart Labs, have partnered with SparkPR and reaped the ROI.

The methods SparkPR uses are adaptable to quickly growing tech and investment programs, too. For example, SparkPR provided comprehensive strategic communications and marketing services for blockchain and cryptocurrency leaders through what they call “Sparkchain.” This guides successful token sales to growing companies post-ICO, and Spark has emerged globally as the preferred partner for these highly specialized services.

The company’s ability to deliver has strengthened startup opportunities. A startup that might normally prepare for months to secure venture funding is able to create a business, launch it, and raise tens of millions of dollars in less than three months.

“Funding was secured for concepts, not betas, and money was often from wealthy individual investors, not VCs,” says Spark's co-founder Donna Burke.

Zucker develops strategies for written and creative content for their clients. She notes that many of the company’s startup clients successfully exit through acquisitions or go public through IPO, thus demonstrating how a successful partnership with SparkPR delivers ROI.

SparkPR aims to constantly stay updated with developments in cutting-edge technology, as well as to maintain the ability to translate those changes into a wider landscape.

“Collaborating with like-minded innovators is always ideal—especially those who are creating the next era of the Internet,” says CEO, Alan Soucy. “It’s truly an era of transparency, efficiency, and trust.”

SparkPR is one example of a company that has sought to raise the global tide and is fighting to stay ahead of the rapid changes. They also seek to be adaptable by offering various mobilized marketing and PR services, which have traditionally been separated—at least by department in the business world.

True to their storytelling mind-set, SparkPR believes their client successes and awards, such as the recent Stevie Award, will elevate their brand as well as their story, as the world enters a new digital age of marketing and the Internet. And, as Branson aptly stated, that story will do far more for them than any front-page ad.

Topics: PR awards, American business awards, public relations awards, best pr agency

A Hole in One

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Tue, Aug 08, 2017 @ 05:20 PM

Fauth Gundlach & Hübl wins the Gold Stevie Award at the 2017 German Stevie Awards in the category “Communications or PR Campaign / PR Program of the Year – Low Budget (under €10,000).”

Fauth Gundlach & Hübl is an owner-operated communications agency based in Wiesbaden, Germany. The sport of golf is firmly established in the Hessian capital, and that might be one of the reasons why the agency was given the lead in regional media relations work for the Final Four of the German Golf League (DGL).

German-Stevies-Fauth.gifIt is much more likely, however, that Fauth Gundlach & Hübl impressed its customer, Deutsche Golf Sport GmbH, a subsidiary of the German Golf Association (DGV), with its core competency. Managing Director Lars Hübl explains: “We identify the subject matter and create suitable content for it, so that our customers can effectively communicate to their specific target groups. We provide consultation, bring ideas to life and implement them, and offer continuous support for communication-related questions. In doing so, we cover six competency fields: public relations, social media, content marketing, sponsoring communication, CSR communication and brand communication.” Among Fauth Gundlach & Hübl’s customers are international companies from various industries, companies from the Rhein-Main region and sports organizations.

In the public eye, golf in Germany continues to eke out an existence as a niche sport. The German Golf Association (DGV) represents 847 member clubs and facilities, with over 643,000 registered amateur golfers. With the KRAMSKI German Golf League presented by Audi (DGL), the association has had an attractive team competition system since 2013. Each year teams from the men’s and women’s top national league compete in a five-day Final Four tournament at a neutral golf course for the title “German Team Champion.”

The assignment for Fauth Gundlach & Hübl: use the Final Four 2016, in order to generate broader media coverage of the league. Lars Hübl: “In order to be able to generate broader media coverage, we had to considerably increase the basis of the media channels to be reached. Therefore, in addition to the classical golf media, our approach was to reach out to the sports desks of the regional and local media concerning the locations of the golf clubs that had qualified for the Final Four 2016.” To make the topic more interesting, the agency offered the editorial offices personalized stories about the respective teams. In addition, the editorial offices received written topic suggestions and were subsequently contacted by telephone.

“We have clearly achieved the goal of expanding the media coverage of the DGL’s Final Four with the campaign. Altogether more than 100 clippings – for example print, online and radio – were achieved in regional and local media,” summarizes Hübl. “Despite the low budget, Fauth Gundlach & Hübl has helped to increase the media coverage of the Final Four tournament by working with regional media outlets. The regional references and the storytelling approach have contributed significantly to the media success. At the same time, we have established contacts that can be used for coverage of future golf events. The basic approach can be used over and over again, even for changing participants and venues.”

As a reward for the project “Hole-in-one: regional media relations for the Final Four of the German Golf League,” the company won a Gold Stevie in the category “Communications or PR Campaign / PR Program of the Year – Low Budget (under €10,000).” The Gold Stevie Award arrived just in time for the agency’s 10th anniversary. What began in 2007 has grown within ten years into a motivated and harmonious team of 12 employees.

More on the Internet: 

See Managing Director Lars Hübl in an interview after the German Stevie Awards ceremony in Hamburg:  https://youtu.be/OaONyOFkDxg

Read the gold-winning application from Fauth Gundlach & Hübl here.

Topics: marketing awards, PR awards, German Stevie Awards, communication awards, best pr agency

PR Awards Opportunities in The 2017 American Business Awards

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Fri, Jan 06, 2017 @ 04:58 PM

The 15th annual American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the U.S.A. which attracts more than 3,000 nominations from organizations nationwide each year, is accepting nominations for the 2017 program. 

 ABA ladies 2016.jpg

REVIEW THE ENTRY KIT.

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Full entry details are available at http://www.stevieawards.com/aba.

There are 29 categories to recognize public relations professionals, agencies, departments, and campaigns.

All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The entry deadline is Thursday, February 16 but late entries will be accepted through Wednesday, March 15. 

Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories for the 2017 ABAs will include:

a. An essay of up to 650 words describing the nominee's achievements since January 1 2016.  In the communications campaign categories, this will be a description of the campaign: its genesis, development, execution, and results to date

b. In bullet-list form, a brief summary (up to 150 words) of up to ten (10) of the chief accomplishments of the nominee since January 1 2016.  In the communications campaign categories, this will be a list of the chief features and results of this nominated PR program

c. Optional (but highly recommended), a collection of supporting files, works samples, and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges

The Public Relations Awards categories are

C01. Public Relations Agency of the Year

C02. Communications Department of the Year

C03. Communications Team of the Year

C05. Communications or PR Campaign/Program of the Year
         a. Arts & Entertainment: campaigns/programs undertaken to promote or raise awareness of an artistic or entertainment endeavor, event, or program.
         b. Communications Research: recognizing research conducted for the development of business / communication strategies.  (new category for 2017)
         c. Community Relations: campaigns/programs that aim to improve relations with communities in which the sponsoring organization has an interest, need or opportunity.
         d. Crisis Communications: campaigns/programs undertaken to deal with an unplanned event and requiring immediate response.
         e. Events & Observances: campaigns/programs that generate awareness of or document commemorations, observances, openings, celebrations, and other types of events.
         f. Global Issues: campaigns/programs that demonstrate effective global communications implemented in at least two countries.
         g. Healthcare: campaign/programs in the healthcare sector, including business-to-business and consumer campaigns.  (new category for 2017)
         h. Internal Communications: campaigns/programs undertaken to inform or educate an internal audience, such as employees or members. 
              - At organizations with up to 100 employees
              - At organizations with 100 or more employees
         i. Investor Relations: campaigns/programs undertaken to communicate information to a company's investors and the investment community and/or to manage the company's relationship with investors. 
         j. Issues Management: campaigns/programs undertaken to deal with issues that could extraordinarily affect ongoing business strategy.
         k. Low Budget (under $10,000): campaigns/programs that cost no more than $10,000 to plan and implement.
         l. Marketing – Business to Business: campaigns/programs designed to introduce new products or promote existing products or services to a business audience.
         m. Marketing – Consumer Products: campaigns/programs designed to introduce new products or promote existing products to a consumer audience.
         n. Marketing – Consumer Services: campaigns/programs designed to introduce new services or promote existing services to a consumer audience.
         o. Media Relations: recognizing effective traditional media relations in a PR campaign. (new category for 2017)
         p. Multicultural: campaigns/programs specifically targeted to a cultural group.
         q. New Product Launch: campaigns/programs undertaken to introduce a new product or service to the marketplace.
         r. Reputation/Brand Management: campaigns/programs designed to enhance, promote or improve the reputation of an organization with its publics or key elements of its publics.
         s. Public Affairs: campaigns/programs specifically designed to influence public policy and/or affect legislation, regulations, political activities or candidacies.
         t. Public Service: campaigns/programs that advance public understanding of societal issues, problems or concerns.
         u. Social Media Focused: campaigns/programs designed to be implemented primarily through online social media.       
         v. Sponsorship: campaigns/programs that promote or create awareness of sponsorship of an event or activity. (new category for 2017)
         w Technology: campaign/programs in the technology sector, including business-to-business and consumer campaigns.  (new category for 2017)
         x. Travel & Tourism: campaigns/programs designed to advance the interests of clients in the transport, travel, hotel or tourism industries. (new category for 2017)

C06. PR Innovation of the Year: this category will recognize singular innovations in communications practice, research, technology, or management since the beginning of 2015.

C07. Communications, Investor Relations, or PR Executive of the Year

C08. Communications Professional of the Year: for non-executive communications, PR, and IR professionals.  There is no entry fee for this category.

There are a number of other ABA categories that should be of interest to communications professionals, including many of the corporate publications and annual report awards categories, web site awards categories, app awards categories, video awards categories, and live event awards categories.

Topics: PR awards, public relations awards, PR campaign of the year, best pr agency

Stevie Awards Announce Winners of 2016 Best of the IBA Awards

Posted by Maggie Gallagher on Wed, Aug 24, 2016 @ 10:16 AM

The Stevie® Awards have announced the winners of the Best of the IBA Awards in The 2016 (13th annual) International Business Awards, the world’s premier business awards competition.

Nominees in the 2016 IBAs were not able to apply for the Best of the IBA Awards directly. Winners were determined by a points system based on the total number of awards won in the IBAs with a Gold Stevie win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie for two points and a Bronze Stevie win for one-and-a-half points. 

IBA_logo-1-1.jpgThis year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners in The International Business Awards were announced on 10 August. The winners of the Best of the IBA Awards will be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies at The 13th annual International Business Awards banquet at the Rome Cavalieri, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Rome, Italy on 21 October. 

Winners of the 2016 Grand Stevie Awards are:

Most Honored Organization: With 62 award points earned by Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted by DHL offices in 21 nations, Deutsche Post DHL is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Organization of the year. DP DHL is no stranger to Grand Stevie Award honors. The company won the same honor in last year’s IBAs and the 2015 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. They’ve also won the award for three consecutive years in the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

Most Honored Public Relations Agency: With a total of 65 points earned by Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie-winning entries submitted by their agencies and offices in China, India, Japan and the USA, MSLGROUP is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Public Relations Agency of the year.

Most Honored Marketing Agency: With a total of 87.5 points earned by Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie-winning entries on behalf of clients such as Korean Air Lines, LG and the Seoul Foundation for Arts Culture, South Korean advertising agency HS Ad is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Marketing Agency of the year.

Most Honored Interactive Services Agency: With 26.5 points for Stevies won on behalf of clients including China Mobile Hong Kong, L’OCCITANE and NIVEA, Hong Kong-based PRIZM is the winner of the Grand Stevie Award trophy for Most Honored Interactive Services Agency of the year.

Top 10: These are the top Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners among all other organizations honored in the 2016 IBAs. They’ll be presented with Grand Stevie Award trophies.

  1. LLORENTE & CUENCA—Madrid, Spain (50 points)
    2. CallidusCloud—Dublin, CA, USA (47)
    3. (two-way tie at 44 points)
    ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller—Dubai, United Arab Emirates
    Cisco Systems—worldwide
    5. Telkom Indonesia—Jakarta (42)  
    6. ECE Türkiye—Istanbul, Turkey (39.5)
    7. Weber Shandwick—worldwide (38.5)
    8. Ooredoo—Doha, Qatar (37 points)
    9. Dubai Statistics Center—Dubai, United Arab Emirates (31)
    10. Freelancer.com—Sydney, Australia (29)

“These 14 organizations understand the value of seeking public recognition for the achievements of their executive teams and their employees, by nominating them for Stevie Awards in many different categories,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “The Best of the IBA Awards are intended to honor organizations that demonstrate a high level of achievement globally, in many different initiatives, and we look forward to celebrating these firms with Grand Stevie Award trophies at our gala event in Rome on 21 October.”

The International Business Awards feature a wide variety of categories to recognize achievement in every facet of work life, including management awards, new product awards, marketing awards, PR awards, customer service awards, website awards and more.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements in the 2016 IBAs were determined by the average scores of more than 200 professionals worldwide in the three-month judging process.

For more information about The International Business Awards, including a complete list of all Stevie Award winners in the 2016 competition, visit www.StevieAwards.com/IBA.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Topics: International business awards, International Awards, best pr agency