What goes into the perfect PR stunt?

Source: couriermail.com.au

How do you raise awareness and drive trial of something as simple as a new mango and lime flavoured chicken? You nick a giant mango from the tropics of Queensland and days later, once the story has borne its fruit in the media, you bring it to Federation Square for the world to see, of course.

This is exactly what Nando’s Australia did recently, resulting in mass media exposure and the heist dubbed #mangogate spreading like wildfire across social channels.

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Morning shows picked up a story on the theft of Bowen’s famous Big Mango first up on Monday, with news outlets across the globe catching wind of the fruity robbery over the coming days. Needless to say #mangogate was trending on twitter. By Thursday, the mango popped up in Melbourne’s Federation Square, along with Nando’s accepting culpability for the gimmick and promo staff handing out pieces of chicken. Introduce: round two media reports.

While media exposure continues to be calculated in the wake of mango madness at Nando’s HQ, and the video revealing the heist on their official Facebook page continues to soar past 270,000 views, we can be certain of one thing. Stolen fruit really is sweetest. This was a well-executed stunt.

So what goes into a PR stunt these days? In few words: good idea, #talkability and content.

1. Good stunts start with a good, memorable idea. Mangogate was built upon a very clear, simple and brilliant connection between highlighting the mango flavour of the new product and stealing Australia’s most famous mango.

2. Everyone could #engage with the drama. The hashtag #mangogate was quirky and gave people the ability to easily talk about the top story of the day. Memes were uploaded by people to Bowen’s Big Mango Facebook page, and one guy even posted an image of the Big Mango on Gumtree for sale.

3. The stunt included content that never expired. With Nando’s filming the entire heist for the ‘big reveal’ and posting photos of the product trials in Federation Square, the creation of the #mangogate hashtag and countless user-generated posts, and hundreds of news stories now seeded across the inter-webs, this stunt won’t be quickly forgotten.

Here are some other good stunts in recent years from Australian franchises:

McDonald’s Australia “Macca’s” – for Australia Day 2013, McDonald’s name-changed thirteen stores to “Macca’s”, all with new signage. The gimmick was part of an integrated campaign supported by ABT and BTL activities.

KFC goes green and gold – what better way to engage Australia in the fight for the Ashes Urn, and leverage your sponsorship of Cricket Australia, then to give five flagship stores a green and gold face-lift and put Aussie and English burgers on the menu.

Jim’s Mowing “MoAthon” – in November 2013, 150 Jim’s Mowing franchisees took part in “MoAthon” from Hobart to Brisbane as part of the franchise’s national Push for Change campaign. The year before they mowed the world’s biggest grass moustache. We love a world record attempt!

Ignite PR works with Australia’s leading franchise brands to both increased brand awareness and improved franchise development. Contact us today. 

FCA Regional Award submissions open soon

With regional categories for the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) Excellence in Franchising Awards set to open in the coming days, it’s time to start thinking about how your franchise measures up.

We’ve discussed in the past what it takes to write a strong award submission and how to leverage an award win. For brands in the franchising sector, there is no better opportunity to highlight individual success stories within your system than by submitting a regional entry for the FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards.

The variety of categories allow you to showcase the role women play in your franchise network, highlight top-performing franchisees across multiple levels (multi-unit, two or more staff or up to one staff member), prove the strength field managers add to your system or shed light on community service franchisees perform.

Success in these awards can boost visibility in the media, increase morale and engagement within your franchise, and increase recognition as a leading franchise within the industry as well as in front of prospective franchisees.

Having developed a number of successful submissions on behalf of our clients over the years, there are a few things we’d like to share about FCA Awards…

1.    It’s not all about turnover – while financial performance is a great indication of success, it’s not the only indication. Improvement in performance and the systems in place that promote growth, business tracking, marketing efficacy and community contribution are equally as important as turnover and profit growth.

 2.    Strong submissions take time – the criteria for each award category is comprehensive and responses take time to develop. A typical submission will take 2-3 weeks to develop including gathering supporting materials, financial figures, proofing, editing and final submission. The process always takes longer than expected, so don’t leave it until it’s too late!

 3.    Gather input from everyone – input may be required by everyone from the franchisee and field support through to marketing team, operations and franchisor. The greater the contribution the better chance you have of unearthing information that adds strength to the submission.

Good luck with your regional submissions this year.

Ignite PR has written successful FCA award submissions for categories including National Franchisee of the Year (Multi-unit), National Field Manager of the Year,  and National Established Franchisor of the Year. For more information about entering the FCA Awards and developing a strong submission, please contact us here.

Engaging future franchisees through Thought Leadership

Image source – makemorerainblog.org

While some franchises have long realised the benefits of thought leadership as a communications tactic, many still fail to embrace it.

Thought leadership can shape thinking around the nature of a franchise, reveal its corporate culture, and introduce new ideas to the industry that might be important to a franchise’s future. Ultimately, it can demonstrate that a franchise’s expertise is driven by a deep understanding of its own work and the sector.

It can also be used to support one of the most fundamental challenges for franchisors – attracting quality franchise recruits suitable for the next wave of growth. One of the key drivers in a person’s decision to purchase a franchise is their respect for the franchisor’s drive and passion for the business. Thought leadership provides an excellent way to help a brand engage and resonate with potential new franchisees by sharing its vision.

So how can thought leadership be deployed effectively to engage next gen franchising?

Fortunately Australia’s $128 billion franchising industry is extremely dynamic. With long-term trends forcing franchisors to plan for the future, they have the opportunity to demonstrate their appreciation of future economic challenges, rising above company-specific issues to provide industry or national leadership on broader topics and trends.

A growth strategy encouraging independent operators to join a franchise system might mean good thinking around the increasing costs and complexities associated with operating an independent business or how to embrace e-commerce in the current retail environment. If you’re targeting corporate career changers, thinking might involve insights into the reasons underpinning why a significant number of highly experienced corporate executives are turning to the franchising sector.

However, like most communication strategies thought leadership has its rules. Original, good thinking is critical. Using research will ensure it is not only original, but comprehensive and relevant to the target audience. Effective thought leadership also requires a commitment of time from the executive management team, and collaboration with a good PR team to ensure thinking not only resonates with your target audience but also has cut through in the current media landscape.

Ignite PR works with Australia’s leading franchise brands providing strategic communications advice leading to both increased brand awareness and improved franchise development. Contact us today. 

PR’s role in modern day franchising

CEO Champions: boosting visibility of senior leaders

Franchising and small business is a pretty dynamic sector of Australia’s economy, and that’s why we’re pretty excited to hear our clients speak of increases in consumer confidence. It means franchisors can start investing more in communications, to explore new ways to cut through the diverse and ever-changing media landscape.

While we’ve been exploring the following elements with our clients over the past few years, here are our thoughts on some trends we believe are shaping PR’s new role in modern day franchising in Australia.

• Storytelling – Beyond boasting average sales growth or profit margins across the network, the prospective pool of candidates wants to know who your successful franchisees are, how long they’ve been with you, why they are successful and what skills they came with. These stories are far stronger than your product, and PR people will unearth those that are strongest separating your proposition from that of your competitors.

• CEO Visibility – The very best franchise leaders will be those who dedicate time to helping PR succeed. This might mean making themselves available to offer industry business insights, or validating why their organisation supports its chosen causes. The leadership communicated to stakeholders through high CEO visibility, as we like to call it, also proves invaluable in attracting new franchise recruits, because passion attracts passion.

• Visual Communication – While the press release is far from ‘dead’ in Australia, the point is brands using interesting and engaging multimedia such as videos and infographics are ahead of the rest. There’s more to media than printed news stories, and modern day PRs are multi-skilled with the ability to put together a video, from scripting to filming, editing and distribution with the same strategic thinking.

• Thought Leadership – Leading franchisors have the unique opportunity to establish thought leadership in their respective industry. The right communications professionals have a strong understanding of what makes media tick, allowing them to create the thought leadership on your behalf.

• Social Media – You may have a social presence, but it’s not merely enough. If your social activity doesn’t include strategies for energising and engaging your fans and followers across the key platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you’re stuck in the past.

PR communications is one of the most powerful ways to do something that is so fundamental in the franchising industry – sharing your company’s story and success with the right audience. Understanding it and utilising it to achieve your corporate goals will be a worthy investment in 2014.

Ignite PR works with Australia’s leading franchise brands providing strategic communications advice leading to both increased brand awareness and improved franchise development. Contact us today. 

CSR and reputation in franchising

CSR is fundamental in managing reputation

Over the past decade, more and more companies have turned to corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies to manage their reputation. Ignite PR has helped many Australian franchises leverage CSR initiatives to not only build stronger consumer awareness of their brand but also to attract suitable franchise recruits who share the same values.

However, gone are the days of simply supporting a cause – be it training, employment, or sustainability – and leveraging it for reputation gain. Add-on CSR strategies don’t establish long term credibility and in some cases may even do the opposite. Changing social attitudes also spark new consumer expectations around CSR meaning companies have to address these changes.

So what does this mean for Australian franchising?

The first challenge is how to use CSR as a means to differentiate from competition while still maximising business benefits. Franchises will need to develop their own way of doing CSR that is consistent with both their core values and unique position in the industry. It needs to go beyond a food franchise educating people around healthy eating or coffee franchises supporting ethically and sustainably sourced coffee beans. An effective CSR program will make consumers feel good beyond the product or service they’ve purchased by supporting a company that supports a cause they believe in.

CSR can also be the difference when it comes to franchise recruitment. In a period when finding suitable franchisees is more difficult than ever, the reputation of a franchise is crucial. It’s about giving prospective franchisees another reason to invest in your brand beyond income potential or support offered. The culture that exists within your franchise and your corporate behaviour provide a great indication of the values you hold, helping to attract the people you actually want in your system.

The challenge is how to tackle CSR into the future.

CSR needs to be consistent with your franchise’s core values and supported by the entire network. It also needs to be a long term program – add-on CSR strategies won’t do much for your reputation if elsewhere you’re perceived to be contributing negatively. CSR should start at the boardroom table and be included in your business strategy, setting the tone at the top and incorporating CSR into business objectives and responsibilities of franchisees.

As franchises strive to become closer to their customers – whether through old and new media or digital marketing – CSR will bear greater importance in managing reputation as expectation of your corporate behaviour also increases.

You’re a winner. Congrats. Now what?

If you’ve just been voted the best in your industry, and you really are the best, you should know to leverage your podium position for all it’s worth.

Whether it’s operational excellence, marketing expertise or innovation, or a combination of all of these, highlighting a company’s core strengths will help improve its reputation. However, doing so with cut-through in a dynamic media world can be a challenge.

So how do you leverage an award win for maximum gain?

We’re glad you asked. PR has always been effective in building credibility for brands through – among other things – communicating key messages to target audiences. It’s no different when it comes to maximising an award win. PR people will extract the interesting information from a company’s success story and use it in a compelling way that actually generates awareness and credibility for the brand.

While you can’t straight up say you’re the ‘industry leader’ and expect people to believe you, good PR people will help you determine and develop key messages, identify your audiences, and then marry the two together through developing communication tactics that position your company in the public domain with this objective in mind.

For the past two years we’ve written successful award submissions for our franchise clients in the NAB Excellence in Franchising Awards and then gone on to leverage them to boost their company profiles and support franchise development. In fact, leveraging success at a local level and national level has been significant in helping our franchise clients attract high quality franchise candidates and grow their businesses in a competitive environment.

Here are a few of our tips on leveraging success:

1. Message (the what you’re saying bit)

Why have you been recognised? Cut to the core of why you’ve been recognised. It’s about the hard-hitting strategy underpinning success that media wants to report on, not that you provide unbeatable customer service.

2. Audience (the who you want to/should talk to bit)

You may have a larger audience than you first think. It’s not just about the people buying your products or services. It’s also about the people who work for your organisation, your suppliers, and other stakeholders who have an interest in your company.

3. Tactics (the magical part where the two link)

Media announcement – Taking your success story to mainstream media requires a different approach to industry media. The two have different interests and therefore your story needs to be told differently. PR people will help you do this.

Internal/stakeholder engagement ­– What’s going to resonate well with your stakeholders? Is it a simple story in the next newsletter or is it a short, sharp video production that visually showcases the personality behind the brand. Content is again key here.

New media opportunities – You’re the best, so position yourself as the best. Use your new credibility to seek new media opportunities for your key spokespeople to share your company’s leadership and industry insights.

If you’d like further advice on entering your company into business awards or leveraging your achievements, please get in touch with us here.

Ignite PR has successfully entered its clients into awards including FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards, BRW Fast Franchises List, Telstra Business Awards, BRW Fast Starters, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, BRW ANZ Private Business Awards and ActionCOACH My Business Awards.

Maximise award wins in the media

Many of the key business and franchise awards are being announced and if you have been successful the win provides an excellent platform for PR exposure, especially in your local area. A lot of time and perhaps money was no doubt spent on preparing your submission so make sure you get the most out of your award win.  

Business achievements are well worth talking about and an excellent way to engage with your local customer base.

The success of a local business is generally of interest to the media but if you don’t share your news, you can’t enjoy the benefits of PR, so here are a few tips to prepare and maximise the opportunity for media interest in an award win.

Spokesperson and key messages:

Make sure you have nominated a brand spokesperson who is happy to talk to media and has a sound knowledge of the business. Whatever the criteria was for the award be willing to share detail with the media to prove why you deserved the win. Sales and growth figures aren’t always necessary but a % growth figure is always good to prove the financial success of your business, without giving away too much to competitors. Highlight any key initiatives or community programs that you participated in. Basically let the media know the five top reasons you received the award.

Preparation is the key: 

Preparing a release in anticipation of a win is sensible, as media hate old news so be ready to go with a professional release. If there were a lot of categories it is important to make clear your point of difference and have a strong lead. Once you have pitched your story the follow up is just as important, keep on top of your contact or your story might get lost in the hundreds of emails journalists receive each day. 

Photos:

Low resolution, dated branding, closed eyes or wardrobe malfunctions are all common photo mistakes. Having a great photo is just as important as the story itself. Make sure you have a nice professional shot of the award acceptance or try a great shot in front of your store with clear branding.

Social Media:

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are perfect ways to talk to both consumers and industry peers about your success. Always include a #tags with Twitter or Instagram (e.g. #ignitepr #businessawards etc…) or the best way to get your post noticed on Facebook is an excellent photo.

Give the win life:

Apart from PR you can spread the word about your win by marketing it through a range of other mediums. Many awards come with a special logo that you can use so maximise it as much as possible. For example: put a news item about the win on your website homepage; include details in your email signature and on collateral i.e. brochures, letterhead etc; put a poster or sticker of the win in your shopfront; include details about it in a customer newsletter or letter to clients.

You’ve got to be in it to win in it and talking to a PR agency about the process can alleviate a lot of the stress in preparing a submission and harnessing the right coverage afterwards. Entering awards isn’t just about winning but also about being seen amongst the best in your industry, community or category. It also provides a great opportunity for you to review your business and processes and provide you with ideas to improve it.  If you want further advice on how to maximise a recent win or you are thinking about entering any awards Ignite PR can guide you through the process.

 

 

Driving award success with PR

Late last year we gave you tips on how to prepare a great award submission. Last week we put together a list of some of the business awards coming up across a number of categories this year including the BRW Fast Franchises List, Telstra Business Awards and Franchise Council of Australia Excellence in Franchising Awards. We also talked about how entering awards can benefit your business but what we’ve only touched on is how to maximise award success and leverage the credibility that comes with it. 

We’ll touch on a few common tactics used and you’ll learn that sometimes it doesn’t matter if you’re first or fifth. What does matter is timing, making sure your tactics are prepared and executed on time so you’re not announcing your success when it’s too late.

Before the winners are announced

“Congratulations”, says the email. “Your company has been shortlisted for the 2012 Amazing Company of the Year Awards”. Some awards will let you know you’re in the running which means it’s time to put your PR hat on.

 

Prepare your message. Be clear on what to say if you win. Firstly, the General Manager or CEO should be the nominated spokesperson for interviews. Some key information you should have prepared are company initiatives (ie the projects that won you the “green” award, for example), sales and profit growth (it might not always be appropriate to boast your exact figures but % growth still shows your company had a strong year) and the other elements contributing to your company’s success.

 

Prepare a media release. In the weeks or days leading up to the announcement prepare a media release detailing all the above juicy information about your company. What is it that really differentiated your company in the market that year. This is what you’ll use to send information to journalists and key media contacts and it should be ready to go out as soon as the announcement is made.

Look for relevant features. BRW sends all shortlisted franchises an editorial survey to complete prior to the announcement of its Fast Franchises List. If you get an email like this make sure you reply as your responses are used for feature stories. In fact, get in touch with any publication – print or online – that generally covers the award you’ve entered to ask about what feature stories it may be developing and if your company has experienced the trends or themes they’re writing about let them know.

After the winners are announced

Pitching. Get your media release out to all contacts relevant to your award. Everyone will be doing this so make sure your point of difference is clear. Continue to follow up with your contacts keeping in mind what it is about your company’s success that is most interesting to what they’re writing about.

Credibility of an award. Winning an award highlights you as an industry leader or innovator and has the potential to attract new clients and customers. Let stakeholders know – customers, suppliers etc. All suitable touch points of communication (company website, email signatures & business cards, company letterheads, newsletters, collateral and brochures) should mention your win also. Use the award’s logo and a brief line similar to as follows. ie. 2012 Small Business Awards Winner (logo).

Social Media. Social networking sites are another great way to reach out to your audience (ie. use hash tags likes #telstrabizawards on Twitter or announce your win on your business’s Facebook page) and share any exposure you may receive as a result of your award success.

Not the best but among the best

We encourage our clients to enter awards that are relevant to their respective industries. Often, companies won’t enter awards if they don’t think they’ll win. Our experience has proved it sometimes doesn’t matter if you win, so long as you’re seen among the best.

Two of our clients made the 2011 BRW Fast Franchises List last year. Pool and spa care franchise PoolWerx made the list for the eighth consecutive year while home appliance rental franchise Mr Rental made it for the first time and we achieved positive coverage for both of them for very different reasons. For PoolWerx, it was about what the company was doing to remain at the top for a number of years. For Mr Rental, it was about what strategies over that previous year had lead to its business success and resulting recognition among the top franchises in Australia.

Over the past five years, Ignite PR & Marketing has had success entering its clients  in awards including BRW Fast Franchises List, Telstra Business Awards, BRW Fast Starters, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, BRW ANZ Private Business Awards, ActionCOACH My Business Awards, Franchise Council of Australia Excellence in Franchising Awards. If you’d like further advice on entering your company in business awards get in touch with Ignite here.

Writing a great award submission

Last year, our client Mr Rental won the title of ‘Franchisor of the Year’ at the 2010 FCA (Franchise Council of Australia) Excellence in Franchising Awards. The PR potential from winning an award is huge and in light of the FCA awards that happened this week, we thought we’d share some advice on why you should be thinking about entering your company in business awards, and provide tips on how to prepare a good award submission.

Why would my company want to win a business award? What are the benefits?

We always encourage clients to enter business awards because of the opportunity they have to receive great recognition. It gives you fantastic PR and media opportunities both within your respective industry and through broader media channels, which allows you to reach a wider audience. Business awards highlight industry leaders, reveal innovative processes and products and ultimately attract new clients and customers to your business. An award win also boosts company morale and attracts top talent.

Where do I find awards opportunities?

The nature of your business will determine the categories and types of awards you should be entering. Your industry’s governing body is usually a good place to start for industry specific awards. Some major national business awards we encourage our clients to enter each year are BRW Fast Franchises, BRW ANZ Private Business Awards, Premier’s Sustainability Awards (VIC), Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards and the FCA Excellence in Franchising Awards. Businesses can also find awards at a local level through council websites and the local chamber of commerce.

How to prepare an award-winning award submission

1. Read and understand award criteria. Criteria are a guideline to help you structure your award submission and a standard by which judges compare different entries. It is therefore crucial to understand them. Different sections are usually weighted differently and it is important to understand the areas requiring greater attention. Information seminars are often held to explain the marking criteria and offer tips and advice on completing the award. Understanding the criteria and submission requirements as soon as possible will ensure you have ample time to manage its completion.

2. Prepare brief responses to award questions. Once you are familiar with the criteria, go through the questions and requirements and jot down brief answers ensuring you address key points of the question reflecting your company’s key strengths and points of difference. After this, you should have a good understanding of the layout of your submission and what supporting information will be required.

3. Prepare supporting information. Anything you mention in your submission about company performance should be supported with evidence where possible. Things like sales performance, customer growth, brand awareness etc should all be supported with graphs and figures. This section usually calls upon specialties of other team members (ie operations, marketing) so it is important the award writer gives them enough time to gather such information.

4. Begin writing draft submission. Now that you have good outline of what you will write and supporting information on its way it’s time to start fleshing out the first draft of your award submission. Address each point of the question in limited detail without waffling on or exceeding word limit. Always remember the weight each question or section bears in relation to the overall criteria. Leave all references to supporting information as “Appendix blank” as this is something likely to change before the final version. Make sure the key information is included in the answer and the award reader doesn’t have to refer to an appendix for this.

5. Editing. Make sure the wording used in your submission is consistent, flows nicely and is easy for the reader to understand. Check for word economy and where sentences can be shortened. Ensure word limit isn’t exceeded for each section responses address questions properly. You can now reference any responses requiring supporting information ensuring all graphs, statistics etc are labelled and clear. Again, ensure your company’s strengths and points of difference are still highlighted as sometimes they can be lost in editing. Ensure anyone who has contributed information to the submission is satisfied it has been used accurately. Hand the submission over to a colleague to proof read before sending it to your General Manager or CEO to ensure it is aligned with the company’s overall mission and objectives.

6. Design, formatting and submission. When your submission is ready to be designed to your company’s branding standards, ensure it reflects the award’s formatting requirements. Make sure all graphs and appendices are displayed correctly as sometimes this changes when reformatted. Ensure all required documents like criteria sheet or front page are included. Give the award one final proof before printing, binding and submitting via the correct methods.

Key features of a great submission

1. Eye-catching and easy to read

2. Clear profile of your company and its core offering

3. Clear responses meeting key requirements of questions

4. Clear and appealing graphs and illustrations

5. Great supporting evidence to explain responses

The more time you put into an award submission, the better it will be. Leaving an award until the last minute will mean you’re not giving it its full potential to reflect your organisation. Using each team member to provide information on their function allows the true strengths of your business to be known.

Keep an eye out for upcoming award opportunities as it might just be your time to shine.

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6 Questions: Emma Malone, Editor at CGB Publishing

Next up in our 6 Questions series finding out how journalists like to work, any issues they have with PRs, how they like stories to be pitched to them etc, we chat with Emma Malone Editor at CGB Publishing.

1)      What is your deadline day/ time?  CGB Publishing has three different magazines, Business Franchise Australia (published six times a year) Business Franchise New Zealand (published four times a year) and the Franchisor (published two times a year).  Add to this the Franchise Guide – a full length book (published annually) and the Franchise Directory (published annually) and there is no day or time when we do not have a deadline!

2)      How do you prefer to be contacted (i.e. email, phone, fax, post)?  I prefer an email followed up by a phone call.  It gives me a chance to review the information and see if it would be of any value to our publications.

3)      Is there a particular time of day you prefer to be contacted?  Preferably late morning. This gives me a chance to catch up on the mountain of emails and action items first.

4)      Do you like to meet companies and bosses for coffee/ lunch? If yes, do you have any favorite venues?  I would love to meet for coffee, but our deadlines don’t really allow for this.  Emails and phone calls are much more effective for my schedule.

5)      What are your three pet peeves about PRs?  I am not sure I have pet peeves.  PR firms have a job to do, just like the rest of us.

6)      What would the perfect story pitch be for you? And what’s the best PR pitch you have ever had?  There is no perfect pitch – at least not that I have seen (yet) – I appreciate PR people who tell me about the company, what they are trying to achieve and what they would like from our publication – no sales dances.

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