Do I have the job for you! We’re looking for a public relations intern who is willing to create results for some pretty amazing clients and work along side our fun and creative team- all with enthusiasm, ambition and previous PR skills.

We’re looking for:

• A college graduate OR senior working on a public relations, communications, journalism or English major
• Ability to work at least 20 hours/week
• Outstanding communications skills (verbal and written)
• Thrive in a fast-paced, energetic, highly creative setting
• Previous PR/media experience is highly preferred
• An enthusiasm for and knowledge about the strategy behind social media.

Here’s what you’ll get hands-on experience doing:

• Direct media pitching
• Writing media releases and alerts
• Upkeeping digital clipbooks
• Blog and social media correspondence
• Brainstorming
• Research
• Creating and updating media lists
• General account support

And working for us isn’t so bad either. You’ll be working with clients like Tiffany & Co., Sycuan Casino, Seaport Village and many others. We’ll provide college credit. The experience is invaluable and we take the time to teach, support and provide you with responsibility all while having a blast.

If you fit the bill, please send your resume, cover letter and references to erika@baileygardiner.com or call (619) 295-8232. And, don’t forget to read my post on how to land an internship at Bailey Gardiner for some insider tips.

• E=MC2
• Pi=3.14159 26535…
• V=RSVP+N

The first two formulas should be familiar to you (at least I hope so). Anyone want to guess what the third formula represents? Continue reading my post for the answer…

Last week, the team at Bailey Gardiner had the pleasure of hearing insights from Paul Leinberger, Ph.D. and senior vice president and director of The Futures Company (formerly known as Yankelovich MONITOR, the longest running study of American consumer behavior).

It was two hours of pure geek heaven, chock full of statistics and an inside look into the consumer psyche to show us how and why consumers are spending money. From it we gained a ton of useful information that actually relates to our clients, colleagues and you. For this particular post I decided to focus on what he called the most important takeaway.

Dr. Paul began by explaining that a human’s value system is innate and it takes a pretty significant act to change even one of those values. In fact, the United States only experiences a value shift every few decades and wouldn’t you know it; we’re living through one right now.

“We’re at a watershed moment. The era of consumers living beyond their means is at an end.” Jay P. Feldman, Economist, Credit Suisse (April 30, 2008)

An interesting thing happens when our values change. Our attitudes about the world around us change. We’ve seen this first hand. The beginning of the recession marked a value shift in that people vowed to never again live a life of extravagance the way they did prior to 2007.

With economic uncertainty came a re-prioritization and a change in consumer behavior. Consumers began moving away from the fancy cars, big homes and expensive vacations to spending time with family, focusing on saving money and caring about the world they were leaving behind for their children and grandchildren.

Today, consumers are more mindful about what they purchase and limit their exposure to risk by being responsible about the brands they align themselves with.

Consumers are making smarter decisions about how they spend their hard earned dollar and remaining vigilant with each purchase they make in order to avoid buyer’s remorse.

Nearly three quarters of respondents in the 2009/2010 Yankelovich MONITOR survey said the economic downturn has helped them prioritize what’s important in life. The challenge brands face is that consumers are not only trading off within categories (e.g., MAC vs. Bobbi Brown vs. Maybelline) but across categories (e.g., lipstick vs. a glass of wine vs. a new dress). Meaning, it’s not just about which restaurant I’m going to bring my family to on Friday night, but how I’m going to shift my spending that week in order to feel good about my decision.

All of these factors combined with a person’s influential network (another topic for a different post) defines how they perceive value. Did you catch that? I just gave the answer to V= RSVP+N.

Value = Responsibility, Smart, Vigilant, Prioritization + Network

This new definition of value has had such an effect on consumerism that it’s changed the way brands market to consumers, how consumers interact with brands and has even shifted how people feel about (close your ears P&G) generic brands.

Now it’s your turn to sound off. How have your attitudes about the world changed your purchase behaviors? Are you spending more or less now than you did this time last year? Are your purchases based on impulse or are they carefully considered?

For those of you who’d like to hear about this new definition of value straight from the horses mouth, check out this short video interview that Indra did with Paul:

*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s What New PR Pros Need to Know series, which offers advice, insights and guidance to students and new professionals who want to learn more about the PR industry. Topics and suggestions are welcomed.

My most recent posts have been about what new PR pros need to know before starting their career. As I speak to students who are about to graduate, I find myself reading more articles about this topic so that I can help guide them in their preparation. One particular post intrigued me because it was specific to how PR students can ready themselves for agency life. Iris Dias was able to narrow the list down to five key insights- and I agree with many of them.

And, I  wanted to add one that I feel is a very important lesson to learn before you even begin your career. It’s an “if I knew then what I know now” anecdote.

It’s a small world. You really don’t understand this until you experience it for yourself, but believe me when I say it’s completely true. I would have never thought in a million years that the people I interned for 10 years ago would be some of my colleagues today. And, people remember. People remember your face, your personality and if you rolled into the office looking a little less sharp due to some overzealous social activity the night before.

For example, I interned at what used to be called The Townsend Agency in 2000, just a few months before graduating from San Diego State University. It was a large agency and I worked with many people on several different projects. When I left for another job, I never thought I would see any of them again. After all, I was a college graduate and the world revolved around me. Why would I ever come into contact with them again? Well, wouldn’t you know it. Two of the people I worked with are now my colleagues — one of them I work with every day. Talk about full circle.

Although people create their own paths, everyone seems to run in the same circles, attend the same events and network with the same people. You never know when you’ll be in touch with someone you met two years ago at a happy hour, to coordinate a television segment, or even find yourself reaching out to them when you’re looking for a new job.

The moral of the story. Always put your best foot forward. People you meet along the way may end up becoming your future coworker, boss or even business partner. Remain professional and remember relationships come in many forms so maintain them online AND in real life.

Do you have any stories to share about how you discovered your own small world?

*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s What New PR Pros Need to Know series, which offers advice, insights and guidance to students and new professionals who want to learn more about the PR industry. Topics and suggestions are welcomed.

A new semester has started at the local universities and public relations students are in the process of applying for their internships. I’ve received a number of impressive resumes, and although I won’t be hiring another group of PR interns until April or May, I still like to review all of the resumes I receive. I find it interesting that most of the cover letters start with, “I’m seeking a position with a local public relations agency.” And, the first question I ask myself is, “how does she know she wants to intern at an agency?” Having experienced both agency and in-house in my career, I thought it would be helpful to outline a few things new pros need to know about the differences between the two.

PR Agency

(Disclaimer: You’ll see that I’m a little bias toward agency life, specifically life at Bailey Gardiner.)

• From a resort to real estate: Every minute is different at an agency. I may spend my morning talking to mommy bloggers about hosting an event at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa and the afternoon discussing the current state of San Diego’s real estate market with a reporter. The options are endless and you’re almost guaranteed exciting days at the office. This is what makes agency life so rewarding and is a great way to identify which industries you have a passion for.
• You’re always on your toes: Agency life is fast-paced, deadline oriented and results driven. Reporters are on deadlines and so are your clients so it’s up to you to be the ring leader from coordinating interviews to prioritizing initiatives. You may wake up at 5 a.m. to meet your client for a television interview and end your day at an industry event at a downtown San Diego hot spot. You never know where you’ll end up and who you’ll meet. Great for the Rolodex.

• We run in packs: No matter what size agency you work for, you’ll always be surrounded by like-minded people. You will learn from these people and they will learn from you. The “there’s no ‘i’ in team” motto rings true every day. PR pros are some of the most passionate people I know and you’ll never find one that isn’t willing to share their knowledge and expertise with you.

• And there’s the perks: Happy hours, parties, high heel Olympics and lounging on an orange couch while chatting with your co-workers about last night’s episode of Housewives are just a few of the perks  that I enjoy on a regular basis.

In-House

• Do one thing really well: If you’re a PR pro at Inuit, you’ll quickly become a tax expert. If you’re a PR pro at Legoland, you’ll quickly become a theme park expert. An in-house career means focusing on one industry and learning everything there is to know about that industry.
• A well-rounded experience: In-house PR pros are often involved in decisions that effect branding, advertising, creative and even sometimes human resources and risk management. While your expertise is in public relations, learning about these different aspects of a business is a wonderful opportunity to add to your resume.
• Time with the big-guys (and girls): PR pros usually act as the CEO’s right hand. It’s a relationship built on trust and experience and PR pros will be asked to form an opinion to share with the decision makers. And, in-house PR pros often become those decision makers.

Seasoned PR pros- what other differences would you add to the list?

New pros- what questions do you have about choosing a path?

*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s What New PR Pros Need to Know series, which offers advice, insights and guidance to students and new professionals who want to learn more about the PR industry. Topics and suggestions are welcomed.

One of my favorite things about my job is coordinating the BG PR internship program. As I search for our newest intern, it got me thinking about what new pros, college graduates and students vying for an internship need to know. I even asked some of my Twitter friends and mentors (in 140 characters) for advice to share with you.

Here were some common themes:

Integration is where it’s at- When I received a tweet from Deirdre Breakenridge (@dbreakenridge ) offering her advice to new pros, I knew I had hit social media gold. The author of “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” and an adjunct professor, Deirdre said, “Grads should know that communications can’t work in a vacuum. It’s very important to be hybrid working with other marketing disciplines. And, in order to educate our brands we must be embracing social media, staying on top of technology and constantly educating ourselves.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Embrace Math – The age old, “I majored in communications because I hate math” no longer applies. Measurement and ROI are words we hear often in conversations with clients and among our peers. We are always asking how we can attribute our PR efforts to an increase in sales, awareness and bottom line. Brands are looking to each other to decide if allocating resources to a public relations and social media strategy is worth it.  Jay Baer, (@jaybaer),author of “Convince and Convert” & “The Now Revolution” thinks “the most important thing for new PR people to know is math and data analysis. Whomever keeps score, controls the budget.” In other words, “show me the money.”

Write Well- This was a common theme throughout my discussion with @PRProSanDiego, @BlockGreg, @RockStarJen and @hattrickscore. Writing is at the core of what we do as PR professionals. We should know how to write well and use appropriate grammar, punctuation and spelling. Gayle Falkenthal APR, president of the Falcon Valley Group (@PRProSanDiego) said, “Good writing is like good form in athletics. It is the foundation for success. No substitute for it. People notice.” And Mike Rose, vice president at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker (@hattrickscore) commented, “I wish newbies in PR would be passionate about writing. It’s the foundation for what we do.”

Manage your personal brand – Remember, what happens in Vegas stays on (insert your social media platform of choice here). Our profession continues to evolve as the world of social networking continues to grow. There’s a strategy behind it and it’s critical that new pros understand the basics of blogging and blogger relations, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook, Flickr, etc. Show us that you’re engaged, interacting and networking- not just posting pictures of what you did on Friday night at the frat house. Melodie Tao, social media consultant & online marketing educator (@mymelodie) says, “Make sure your own ‘PR’ is optimized online to demonstrate your PR skills & experience.”

Start networking – It’s all about who you know now and who you don’t know yet. So much of what we do involves networking and relationship building…not only with media, but with our peers. The PR world is small and you never know who you’ll meet and how they may help you down the road.  Indra Gardiner, our founder & COO (@bgindra) feels, “Not developing and fostering relationships both off and online is a miss. Take the opportunity to meet people and really get to know them. It’s so easy to stay in touch with contacts now with Twitter and Facebook.”

Listen &  learn. And keep listening.- We graduate from college and think we know everything. But in reality, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Jim Brazytis, brand architect at Liggett Stashower (@jimbrazytis) says, “Continue to learn, learn and learn. Plus, no job is beneath you – gain from every experience no matter how minor.” Along the same lines, Rachel Kay, president of RKPR (@rachelakay) commented, “You won’t get a full time job without internship experience. It’s competitive right now.”

New pro Katie Levien, account coordinator at BG (@katielevien) encourages others to “enter with an open mind and eager attitude. Also, read A LOT about what’s going on in the industry, news, etc.”  Meredith Ann Epp, assistant account executive at Daum Weigle Inc. (@Mereepp) reminds those just starting their careers, “We need to remember we don’t know everything. You will probably get put in your place a time or two.”

The final piece of wisdom comes from, Jen Wilbur, principal at Rockstar Communications (@rockstarjen). She tells new pros, “As with everything, go with your gut.”

Thank you to all who contributed to this post. Your tips are invaluable. If you have any additional thoughts, I would love to hear them, whether you be a seasoned professional or someone just entering the workforce.

We have a saying in our family: “Going broke saving money.” The philosophy of a traditional reward program is simple: reward customers for their purchases thus encouraging future purchases (and hopefully an increase in spending).  As a marketer I’m a fan of loyalty programs and as a consumer I love receiving my free drink from Starbucks every couple of weeks (I need to purchase 15 drinks to get a free drink. You do the math.) But as my interactions with brands move away from offline engagement and move toward Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc., I’m starting to evaluate the effectiveness of the traditional loyalty program. Do loyalty programs really work? Apparently Mason Thelen from BrandWeek is asking this same question.

According to Thelen, “a typical retailer might make over half of its revenue from 10-15 percent of its customers.” Sounds pretty good, right? But what about the other 50% of revenue? Those dollars are coming from customers that are probably not very loyal to one particular brand and are harder to capture and retain thus more expensive for a brand to earn.

The brands that will win the loyalty battle are the ones that will do a great job of combining traditional loyalty programs (earning points, rewards, free stuff, etc.) with regular online communication and relationship building. Thelen said it nicely, “It goes without saying that large companies can’t know every customer on a personal level. But by identifying the most loyal ones and communicating with them, a company can—often digitally—create the kind of bonds that many say the digital age has obliterated: A sense of a one-on-one relationship.”

In my post about how Similiac engaged its loyalists during the formula recall, I mentioned a few of the steps the company took to try to earn my trust back. Now that the recall is old news, Similac is evaluating the millions of dollars lost and spending a lot of money trying to regain revenue. One of the marketing tactics being employed is a loyalty program. Will Similac’s loyalty program achieve its goal to get parents to buy its product again? We’ll have to wait and see.

What brands do you think do a good job of integrating offline and online loyalty programs?

We at Bailey Gardiner love a good laugh. Especially when it’s something about the marketing, public relations or advertising industry. In this morning’s staff meeting, Jon shared Time Magazine’s list of the top 10 Best Viral Campaign Ads of 2010- specifically some recent campaign ads.

It got me thinking about how to create “Top 10″ lists and how PR professionals often use them to gain media attention for their clients. In fact, our team creates lists of tips quite often, like “Top 5 Tips for Calling the Media,” “How to Create a Social Media Plan” and “How to Create an Event that Gets Attention.”

I did a quick search and found websites like TopTenz.com, Top10Lists.com and TotallyTop10.com that aggregate lists and even let you create your own. So, I thought I’d have some fun and came up with “Erika’s Top 5 Top 10 Lists” that are on the list for their entertainment factor…and because I liked them.

#5: Top 10 Most Disgusting Shots (Warning: Only read this if you have a strong stomach.)

#4: Top 10 Demeaning Children’s Halloween Costumes (Poor kids, but I couldn’t help but laugh.)

#3: Top 10 Failed Escapes from Gilligan’s Island (I’m sure they were strong story lines at the time?)

#2: Top 10 Facebook Etiquette Rules (Really people.)

#1: Top 10 Chevy Chase Movies (I think they got it wrong and Christmas Vacation should be #1, but I’m biased.)

All joking aside, creating top 10 lists are a great way to pitch a client to the media when there might not be an obvious story to run with. Be sure there’s some validity to the list- do your research and maybe even conduct a formal survey or focus group. And, make sure the list is one that editors (and their readers) can relate to. It’s a great way to position your client as an expert in the field they specialize in. You never know. It may go viral.

I recently returned to Bailey Gardiner from a 12-week hiatus after welcoming our second daughter into the world. I had an amazing time with her (she’s already brilliant, beautiful and equally as fabulous as our oldest daughter…I’m not biased) and pretending to be domesticated, but I’m  happy to be back and working with the talented team at BG.

The time I spent at home was totally focused on our newest addition. This meant stepping away from Twitter, reading blogs and all things social media so that I could be 100% attentive to her (and watch reruns of Keeping Up With the Kardashians). So it took me by surprise when my husband, who is totally out of the social media loop, called to tell me that Similac, the brand of infant formula I had been feeding our daughter, was going through a major voluntary recall.

For those that aren’t familiar, Similac is the “best selling” brand of baby formula. My mom fed it to my brother and me and both of my daughters are Similac babies. It’s definitely a brand I trust… along with hospitals and millions of other mothers across the globe. I’ll spare you the details, but I did want to share my experience and what steps I saw the company take to try to mitigate the loss of millions of loyalists.

• Coinciding with the recall announcement, Similac had information on its website about the recall and a link to the lot numbers that were contaminated. Unfortunately, the website wasn’t accessible for a few hours because of the amount of traffic being directed to it.
• Groups were formed on Facebook so mommies could share lot numbers with each other and discuss concerns they had about the recall. This was in response to the website being down.
• I received emails, phone messages and later letters in the mail from not only from Similac, but from Target, Costco and Babies R Us- stores where I purchased the recalled formula- to inform me of the recall and to let me know how I could return the product (it pays to be a member of a loyalty program).

• Similac lowered prices on its pre-made formula sold in stores and offered free shipping if consumers purchased directly from the website.

• Similac also gave parents information on other brands of formula that could be used in lieu of its product.

A crisis is not fun. It’s not something you want to have happen to your brand or client. But, there are always new things to learn about managing a crisis especially as the marketing and public relations environments continue to change.

As a mom, I think Similac did a great job of communicating to its consumers, retailers and the media. Have I taken a break from purchasing Similac? Yes. Will I purchase it again once the new, uncontaminated product is back on the shelves? Yes. While Similac has estimated a $100 million loss due to the recall, I think this is a good example of how a brand can be proactive when managing a crisis and engage its core group.

What do you think? What could Similac have done differently to improve on its crisis communication?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about restaurants and marketing post recession. In fact, the San Diego Union-Tribune just did a story on the uptick in business that local restaurants are finally beginning to see. Having worked in restaurant marketing during two “down times,” I can appreciate the cyclical nature of the industry. (I’ve worked with King’s Fish House, Dave & Busters, Buca di Beppo, Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes). I’ve seen restaurants jump to the knee-jerk reaction, a deep discount, when times are down. And I’ve seen them work to regain their footing once times improve.

Now that we are all headed toward brighter days (I’m trying to stay optimistic) it’s time to start talking about what we can expect to see from post-recession restaurant marketing.

During a recession, it’s common for restaurants to be the first to experience a decrease in sales and guest counts as consumers start to feel the pinch in their wallets. It is also common that restaurants are usually the last to rebound when consumer confidence begins to rise. And while a lot of restaurants have been using heavy discounts to drive people in during the recession, the question every restaurant operator wants to know is, will consumers continue to dine out when the discounts dry up? The answer is most likely “yes.” It may take me a while out of pure stubbornness and principle, but I’ll eat out (or my family will starve) eventually.

According to QSR Web, restaurants will start to slowly back away from discounts and begin to offer special menus and value deals. Some will even begin introducing higher-priced items to offset the cost of discounting. And what does this mean for our favorite online discount source, Groupon? Restaurateurs may stop using the popular site, or some may simply limit the use or close the gap between retail price and the offered discount.

Another popular site, Yelp can help give restaurants an added boost when it integrates its user reviews with Open Table’s reservation functionality. Although most restaurants are already taking advantage of one or the other, the ease of having all the information about a restaurant and being to make reservations in one spot (plus earning points for making reservations) is going to help the industry grow and help restaurants attract new guests. The partnership also means that these platforms can be integrated into restaurateur’s strategic marketing plans. Whether that’s encouraging their VIP’s to write reviews, rewarding people who give them reviews, hosting a Yelp Elite event, or participating in Yelp restaurant week, options are starting to present themselves as the economy begins its rebound.

These are just a few of my predictions.  I would love to hear your thoughts about where the restaurant industry is heading.

I’m an avid reader of Brian Solis’ blog because he makes things (especially social media analytics and metrics) easy to understand, he offers his insightful and well-rounded perspective and his profile picture makes me laugh. His May 10th blog post, “7 Scientific Ways to Promote Sharing on Facebook” included all of these characteristics and provided information that I believe should be taken into consideration when launching and creating content for a Facebook page. I’ve summed up his list of ways to engage your audience on Facebook, but his post is definitely worth taking a look at.

1. The higher the share rates, the lower the reading grade level, with spikes at fifth and ninth grades. Translation: Don’t try to impress your reader with 25-cent words. They don’t want to look up words in a dictionary to figure out what you’re trying to say. Write in layman’s terms.
2. In Facebook, titles with digits (1-9) outperform text only titles. Translation: Everyone likes a good list especially a short list that they can scroll through quickly.
3. Facebook users seem most likely to share on Saturdays and Sundays. Translation: Get with it. Communication on social media channels isn’t just a Monday-Friday gig. Engage on the weekends (while you’re sitting on your couch, in your pj’s, watching “Space Balls” for the millionth time on TBS) and you might see an increase in content sharing.
4. Experiential words such as “why,” “most,” “world,” and “how” trigger shares. The least shareable words include “review,” “poll,” and “social”. Translation: This one is easy. Use the first four words listed and not the last three.
5. Adjectives and adverbs appear to be among the least shared parts-of-speech in Facebook as our attention spans are trained to look beyond promotion or hyperbole. Translation: Avoid sounding promotional. We’re already familiar with this cardinal rule, but there are many brands that still don’t get it.
6. Negative updates are among the least shared while positive updates prove to be among the most shared. A special note: The word “sex” is at the top of the list for sharing. Maybe we should end all of our status updates with “sex” (i.e., I just had the best day with my husband (sex)!). Thoughts?

Do you have any Facebook sharing best practices? I’d love to hear them.