Today, there are more ad dollars going towards perceived environmental impact and awareness than ever before. Ten years ago “green” referred to having a green thumb, being green with envy, or  wanting greener pastures, but that’s definitely no longer the case. Whether it’s telling customers about a 100 percent recyclable water bottle (cool!) or Prius ads that combine humans with the earth; companies are dying to tell us that they too care about the environment. But which companies are actually influencing the public’s perception of their environmental impact?

Lucky for us, Newsweek has already been ranking 500 of the biggest U.S. companies based upon their environmental impact, green policies and performance, and reputation. Yet, there are some major discrepancies between the Environmental Impact and Green Policies and Performances Scores and the Reputation Survey Score. Keep in mind that Newsweek polled CEO’s, corporate social responsibility professionals, and other environmental experts (a.k.a. people who know a lot about this) to form the Reputation Survey Score and all scores are out of 100. The Green Score, again out of 100, is a combination of the previous scores.

So, which company scored a perfect 100, A+ on the Reputation Survey Score? Good Ole Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, that was the only category they scored a perfect 100 in; their environmental Impact Score, based on things like green house gases and water use, was only a 59.2 and their Green Policies and Procedures Score, based on “a comprehensive analytical assessment of a company’s environmental policies,” was only 41.06. Even the professionals think Wal-Mart is a lot greener than it is. Perhaps commercials like this, which is dated from this January and may accurately represent a new effort, are creating and reinforcing this very positive perceived environmental impact. Overall, Wal-Mart ranked 59 and had a Green Score of 80.38.

On the flip side, Hewlett-Packard, which ranked #1 in 2009 with Green Score of 100, and Dell, who came in at a close second with a Green Score of 98.87, both had a reputation score under 90. Dell’s reputation score was only a 70.8 despite having a Green Policies and Performance Score of 100.

Green marketing is powerful stuff. Companies are successfully changing their perceived environmental impact, for better in the case Wal-Mart, and it’s a category that is only gowing to grow. Consumers who care about environmental impact need to look past the advertising to see which companies are truly green and which are just full of fluff.

If you turned on a television, radio, or computer this morning you probably noticed that Tiger Woods was making  his highly anticipated first public statement since, well, all chaos broke out in his personal life and his reputation was tarnished – majorly.  This very public first appearance was calculated, thought out, and had specific goals, but was Tiger successful?

His thorough apology to just about everyone was expected, but the task for him was to do more than just read an apology. He needed to start winning fans back. While, yes, his family is more important and he did talk about them, they weren’t who he was speaking to today and he doesn’t need a live CNN feed to reach them. Given the severity of his actions and the length of time that has elapsed since Thanksgiving, he wasn’t going to convince everyone that he is really, truly sorry and that he’s definitely on the road to recovery in 14 minutes. Very similar to regaining trust, today needed to be the start to a long road of recovery. In order for Tiger to successfully start winning people back he needed to:

- Not say anything anyone could question

- Show emotion that people could sympathize with

- Give enough information about the past so people can start forgetting about it

- Make concrete statements about the future

Was Tiger successful in beginning to regain some respectability? I think so. He touched on and apologized to every group of people that would care: fans, his foundation, children, etc. He spoke emotionally about his family and gave concrete examples of how this has impacted their lives. He took complete

responsibility for his actions and provided insight into why they happened. He also talked about the future and what he thinks will lead to change.

Was Tiger sincere? Is he really going to “regain his balance and be centered?” Only time will tell.

When pitching a natural living product, there are specific green publications that will be instrumental in your public relations efforts. While editors at major lifestyle publications may not ask the tough questions, green publications that pride themselves on providing the most current and accurate information will. Below are four tips every public relations representative must know before venturing into the world of green.

1. Differentiate between Healthy Living and Natural Living: While there is a lot of overlap between healthy living and natural living, there are also a lot of differences. Items that are good for you, may not be good for the environment and items that are natural may not be healthy. Understand which category your product fits in and then research the appropriate green publications, healthy living outlets, or both. It’s easy to categorize them together, you know how everyone in Oregon grows their own vegetables, wears Keens, and drives a Prius? But the reality is caring about your health and caring about the environment are two different things. Just because your product is organic, it doesn’t mean the packaging it comes in is recyclable or the company that produces it is sustainable. Which brings me to my next point.

2. Know Key Terminology and Definitions: What does “green” mean? Since when were there 7 types of recycling? CFL’s or LEDs? Is this product sustainable? Am I sustainable? And now the gas pedal on my Prius might stick? All the labels for healthy and natural living can make your head spin. Doing your part to help the environment is quickly becoming a lot more complicated. Before you write a pitch, fact sheet, or release (let alone call a green publication) know which terminologies apply to your product and which don’t. Know if the bottle is recyclable, if whatever is inside is organic, the difference between vegan and vegetarian, or whatever else could differentiate your product from another. Sometimes this means getting to know the product AND the company. While it’s great if the company subscribes to the same ideals as it’s consumers, that may not always be the case.

3. Understand Your Clients Strengths (and Weaknesses): If you get lucky and your client is organic, completely recyclable, sustainable, donates to CoastKeeper, and practically has a negative carbon footprint,  then skip to number four. Otherwise, you need to know what makes your client special and what doesn’t. If your client donates to a green charity, play that up. If they are going to make the change to solar energy,  note that. But also know that with all the green buzz, green publications are going to want the facts. Any good public relations professional can pinpoint the not so glamorous aspects of there clients and this is going to come in especially useful when dealing with green publications.

4. Prepare for Different Knowledge Levels: All journalists have different knowledge levels about any given subject and, as a public relations person, you need to be able to talk about your product to the most beginner green writer or the most experienced green editor. Knowing how to explain the new process your client just created in layman’s terms will help when calling a green publication. Especially when you only have 15 seconds.

Fueled by a long anticipated product launch, a name guessing game for the new product, and the always fun iPhone to Verizon hopes, the expectations for yesterday’s Apple unveiling were high and the interactions on Twitter certainly reflected that. According to Trendrr.com, there were 177,000 iPad tweets within the first hour alone following the announcement. That’s an average of 3,000 iPad tweets per minute and who knows how many more there would have been had the Bailey Gardiner team been in the office (yesterday was our agency retreat and, don’t worry, there are lots of photos and video to come).

Not only is the sheer volume of iPad tweets notable, but so is the sentiment. According to Mashable, Crimson Hexagon took the time to analyze the sentiment of more than half a million iPad tweets following  the announcement. While about 50 percent of the people had negative feedback and 50 percent had positive, 29 percent of those tweets showed intent to buy the product. That’s about 145,000 people at $500, for the least expensive version, creating at least $72,500,000 in sales if everyone who tweeted about buying the new product actually does go buy one. Personally, even though I’m a Mac lover, I fall within the 21 percent who thought it had a stupid name.

The high level of iPad tweets show that more and more people are turning to Twitter as a resource for breaking news and a venue to share their opinions. When I logged into Twitter this morning #ipad, iTablet, Apple iPad, #itampon, and MaxiPad (reinforcing the stupid name theory) are still trending in the U.S. on Twitter and probably will be for a while to come. I wonder what they will come up with next?

*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s Public Relations Tactics series, which highlights tools and best practices to ensure a successful public relations campaign. The series will run weekly.

Whether your public relations campaign lasts three months or 5 years, it’s important to develop an accurate and timely calendar to keep your campaign on track. From magazines to local events, each outlet and opportunity operates on a different timeline, some of which are easily spelled out and others which are more of a guessing game. Either way, miss their deadline and you’re toast.

Here are 5 tips for developing a PR calendar that works.

• Think Long Leads: Long lead publications operate anywhere between 4-6 months in advance, which makes it easy to lose track of what kinds of stories they’re looking for (when we’re thinking about hitting the beach, they’re thinking about holiday gift guides). Depending on the goals of your campaign, it can be nightmarish to miss these opportunities because you didn’t act in time.  By adding long lead pitch ideas and reminders to your calendar you’ll keep yourself thinking 4-6 months ahead all year long. Now, what are we all doing for the 4th (of July)?

• Editorial Calendars: Want to be included in a “Top 10″ list that runs annually or a “Best of” section. More often than not, long and short lead publication have an editorial calendar that outlines the months these will occur during the following year. Even if you don’t have something specific in mind, Ed Cals will tell you exactly what publications are planning to cover and when. These can often be a gold mine of information and should always be top priority when developing a PR calendar.

• Include Short Leads: While short lead publications don’t require much advance notice, they typically plan special sections and some feature stories further in advance. For topics like back to school, summer travel stories, and holiday gift guides it’s best to allow more time than less; especially now that papers have smaller staffs to cover the same number of stories.

• Events: If your client is interested in having a booth at, attending, or sponsoring an event, there’s a deadline for that. When kicking off a PR campaign see if your client is interested in national events, local events, sporting events, charitable events, etc. and then bring them opportunities that will help them grow their brand and image. Just make sure you bring them that opportunity in time. Even if the deadline hasn’t passed, booths and space fill up.

• Awards: There are awards for everything. Trust me. Submitting your client for appropriate industry and media awards can be an important part of a PR campaign. (Plus, everyone likes winning). When developing a PR calendar, look at major industry awards and awards in appropriate publications and make sure you note the deadlines and submission information.

*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s Public Relations Tactics series, which highlights tools and best practices to ensure a successful public relations campaign. The series will run weekly.

There’s been some, okay a lot of, debate about whether or not the press release is going out of style; some say they’re archaic and everyone knows they definitely don’t mesh well with the world of social media. Yet, public relations agencies and marketing people all over the world are still writing them, whether or not they fit into a 160 character mold. When written well, they are an effective way of distributing information and can aid journalists in writing their story.

Here are four tips for writing an effective press release:

• Organize by importance: A press release is meant to distribute information; so, the most important information needs to be easily accessible. Over flowery language or convoluted sentences negate the true value of a press release. Make sure the primary information is easy to understand and easy to find.

• Incorporate SEO: Today press releases are popping up in more places online than ever before and attention to keywords should reflect this. If you’ve already established key words for your brand, a blog, or website, maintain those in press releases as well. Plus, if a release lands on sites that are already high-ranking, it could be extremely easy to find.

• Format Appropriately: Format the release to appropriately reflect its subject matter. If the release is about an event, have a bolded “who, what, when, where” section. This makes it easy for journalists to find and use the information.

• Add a pitch (outside of the wires): While releases provide all the necessary information, a pitch is the place to provide a potential story angle, reference something else the reporter covered, or add anything additional to the provided information. Just sending a release, without a pitch, can seem cold and lacks personalization.

*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s Public Relations Tactics series, which highlights tools and best practices to ensure a successful public relations campaign. The series will run weekly.

Working on the public relations team at Bailey Gardiner requires being a Jack (or more likely Jane) of all trades. However, there’s one aspect of traditional pr that will always be a staple at this public relations firm: building solid relationships with media members.  It’s not easy (our clients wouldn’t pay us if it were) and it can be easily overstepped; especially with the multitude of closings, reorganizations, and layoffs recently. Yet, it can be one of the most important weapons in an agency’s arsenal of public relations tactics.

Here are four basics for effectively building media relationships.

• Research: Whether it’s your first day as an Account Coordinator or your first day with a new client, you have to figure out who the big players are. I don’t mean pulling their name from a database with facts about how they cover “regional travel.” Do some of the legwork. Read their articles, follow them on Twitter, think about their areas of interest. Learn the basics, especially if they cover a topic you anticipate pitching frequently. This will come in especially handy when you get them on the phone.
• Think before you pitch: Part of an effective public relations plan isn’t just hard hitting phone calls and magically crafted subject lines, it’s being able to look for the newsworthy and interesting angles that your client has to offer and helping them continue to produce them over time. It might not be the most interesting client, but YOU are the one pitching them. If your pitch is boring, awful, or too long, you could start burning a bridge you need. If your pitch is interesting, you approach the appropriate person, and you cater to their needs, the media will begin to trust and respect you. An assignment editor for a major news desk here in San Diego once told me he could identify a local public relations person by the sound of her voice. Media members do pay attention, for better or for worse.

• Be genuine: Ever since that time in 8th grade when your BFF passed the boy you liked a note in math class you’ve known that people can be, well, fake. And no one likes that. If you’re genuinely interested in what a reporter writes about, who their audience is, and what their needs are, it will show. It doesn’t mean they won’t yell at you for calling them on their deadline, but it will help you form good relationships and skills throughout your public relations career.
• Remember life pre-Facebook: We LOVE social media here at Bailey Gardiner, and we talk about it a ton, but meeting someone face-to-face can have a big impact. Attend local tweet ups, awards events, or whatever is happening in your area. Have a drink and relax. Talk about something besides what makes your event visually appealing to a news camera. Just make sure you remember their name and their kids’ names and where they went to college. Oh and after you meet them, keep in touch.