- Top 100 Social Ideas: Looking for more social media content ideas? Check out this list from Forbes that covers just about everything you could possibly post on social media.
- There’s A New Sheriff in Town: PR Newswire has imposed stricter guidelines to root out "low quality content" and crack down on releases more focused on gaming search engines than providing useful information.
- Healthy Summer Travels: Here are some tips to make sure your summer vacation goes off without a health-related hitch, courtesy of UnitedHealthcare.
- 7 News Trends Affecting PR: With a 24/7 news cycle and social media's emergence as a primary source of information, the public relations world just gets wilder and wackier with these news media trends.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Favorite Finds
Friday, June 20, 2014
Favorite Finds
It’s been a stormy week in Chicagoland, but the climate has
been more temperate on Twitter the past several days. Here are some of my
favorite finds:
- Founder and Brand Identity – This insight from Inc.com on leveraging a company’s founder for brand identity is particularly interesting given the American Apparel news this week.
- The 10 Percent Rule – Millennials are checking their smartphones 43 times per day on average, and 10 percent of marketers’ content is doing 90 percent of the legwork communicating to those aged 18-36, according to a study reported on by Bulldog Reporter.
- Dog Crazy – As several members of the LCWA team and I gear up for a huge pet trade show next month, dogs have been on my mind. The Huffington Post compiled this video of lovable labs to inspire the dog lover in all of us.
- Networking 101 – Refresh – Feel the need to brush up on your networking skills? Some people are naturals while others make benefit from some refreshers. Check on these quick tips from PR News.
- Summer Fun – If the weather is good and you’re heading on a summer road trip this weekend, check out the “Best Road Trip Songs” courtesy of 3 Boys and a Dog.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
.The Healthy Sleep Project: Raising Awareness with the CDC
Chronic sleep
loss and sleep illness are big problems in America – demonstrated by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifying insufficient sleep
as a “public health epidemic.”

The AASM and
CDC both recognize that untreated sleep illness and chronic sleep loss are
vital to a wide variety of public health and chronic disease concerns,
including obesity, hypertension and cancer. For more information on sleep
illness or the AASM, visit sleepeducation.org.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Favorite Finds
Lots of excitement this week from the kick-off of the World Cup to Eric Cantor’s historic defeat in the Republican primary. Here are some other stories that caught our attention last week:
- The Secret is Out: CIA director John Brennan announced that the super-secret agency planned to launch official CIA social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook. Based on the first tweet released on June 6th, the powers that be have a sense of humor!
- Hail to the Leap: To celebrate his 90th birthday, former president George W. Bush jumped from a helicopternear his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, fulfilling a goal he made five years ago after a similar jump even though he can no longer use his legs. Impressive!
- Fit for a Queen: Miss Indiana Mekayla Diehl became the social media phenomenon of the Miss USA 2014 pageant when she revealed a bikini body that actually dared to look perfectly normal.
- Apple after Steve Jobs: Tech leader Apple is experiencing what is being reported as the most exciting period of activity since it launched the iPhone seven years ago. Business Insider compiled this rundown of highlights from the post-Jobs era.
- PR Popularity: If you’re looking for a job in PR, you’re not alone. According to the 2014 State of the Internship Report, PR internships are the most popular across all industries. No surprise here!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
More Awards for the LCWA Team
Last night
our team attended the PRSA Chicago Skyline
Awards, where we were again honored for our 2013 public relations work. At the
event, held right across the street at the Chicago Cultural Center, we received
a Skyline award for client First Alert in the brochures category, and Awards of
Excellence for clients Life Fitness (global communications), Eureka (integrated
marketing) and Trex (social media). These were the same programs I described in
this
post last week. After a whirlwind couple of weeks celebrating, it’s back to
the grind – so we can generate more award-winning results for next year!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Hail to the Chief
On the dais to honor the PCC’s 2014 lifetime achievement
winners and former Carter White House staffers – long-time Chicago-based
political PR pros Rick Jasculca and Jim
Terman – Mr. Carter briefly reflected on his presidency, but then
focused on the work of his current pride
and joy, The Carter Center.
He cited three key areas the Center addresses today:
- Helping stamp out tropical diseases often neglected by other organizations, mentioning recent efforts to eradicate Guinea worm
- Assisting countries in the throes of “troubled elections” to bring more democracy to the world
- Protecting human rights and what he called the leading problem in this area – the disparity in equal rights for and protection of women and girls around the world and in America (the frequency of sexual assaults on U.S. college campuses, the majority unreported, is a great concern to Mr. Carter)
It was indeed memorable for our team to be present to hear
Mr. Carter’s remarks, an evening beautifully capped off when LCWA went home
with four Trumpet awards.
Monday, June 9, 2014
In the Mix…Building a Client’s Bottom Line
All public
relations efforts should serve to improve a client’s business – whether that
means earning a client more customers, an enhanced reputation or a larger share
of voice. LCWA recently secured a media placement for client the Accreditation
Association for Hospitals/Health Systems (AAHHS)
that helped to launch a relationship with a potential customer, demonstrating
the value of media relations.
Facility
Care interviewed the
physical environment specialist for AAHHS about its new
comprehensive accreditation program customized for rural hospitals,
critical access hospitals (CAH) and small hospitals with less than 200 beds.
The ensuing story included the advantages of the accreditation program and, as
a result, gained the attention of a quality director for a CAH seeking
accreditation.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Favorite Finds
This week saw a lot of buzz surrounding social media
platform updates and some great PR campaign award wins as PR awards season
continues.
- Instagram added 10 new editing tools to its platform, giving users free access to high-level photo editing software commonly found in paid programs.
- With the addition of live chatting added to the Snapchat platform, the amount of brands using the platform to communicate with their fans and users is growing. Some examples include: GrubHub used Snapchat to find a summer intern, and Nars cosmetics previewed a new collection and drummed up interest by cross promoting on other social sites like Instagram and Twitter.
- LinkedIn announced a new design exclusively for premium users. The update includes a larger profile image photo and customizable header image, similar to the designs that Facebook and Twitter have rolled out. Additional enhancements to the platform are expected to happen in the coming months.
- The merger between Vocus and Cision is causing much speculation in the industry. Vocus’ new CEO is confident that the merger will benefit customers, allowing for more innovation and access to research and social tools that have not been readily available.
- A big congratulations goes out to our Trex, Eureka, Life Fitness and First Alert teams who won prestigious industry awards last night at both the Publicity Club of Chicago gala and the International Association of Business Communications (IABC) awards dinner. Nicely done!
Thursday, June 5, 2014
LCWA Takes Industry Awards
We were honored for our work on four
different 2013 client projects:
- Life Fitness “Flexing Muscle with Personal Trainer Relationships” – PCC Golden Trumpet Award for International Public Relations and IABC Bronze Quill Award of Excellence for Communications Management, International Communication
- In an effort to reach influential personal trainers and turn them into brand ambassadors for fitness equipment client Life Fitness, LCWA morphed an online awards program into an international personal trainer competition complete with an influential panel of expert judges from fitness organizations around the globe and a live top 10 event in London held to determine the winner. The result? Nearly 1,500 entries from personal trainers in 43 countries, resulting in nearly 100 percent growth over entries in 2012, with 58 percent of entries originated from non-US countries, and 2.8 million global media impressions.
- Eureka “AirSpeed ULTRA’s Most Powerful Social Campaign” – PCC Golden Trumpet for Social Media Campaigns and IABC Bronze Quill Award of Excellence for Communications Management, Integrated Marketing
- LCWA worked closely with the company and Doner, its advertising agency, to create a buzz-worthy social media campaign for the new Eureka AirSpeed Ultra vacuum that would instantly convey its incredible suction power. Working with a “powerful” video showcasing the vacuum holding up a Mazda Miata and a series of unique crowdsourced videos, LCWA wove together an impactful, integrated social campaign that included outreach to Mazda dealers, a dynamic Facebook contest and a powerful disruption viral video push. The result? PR efforts alone increased traffic to the eureka.com/AirSpeed web page by 125%. The Facebook contest efforts resulted in a 71% increase in fans, a 45% opt-in rate for Eureka email communications and a very engaged visitor who came back 3.5 times and stayed 2:35 minutes.
- Trex “Trex Decks Out Social Media” – PCC Silver Trumpet Award for Social Media Campaign and IABC Bronze Quill Award of Excellence for Communication Management/Social Media
- In 2013 Trex sought to expand its social footprint on Facebook and Pinterest. Together, LCWA and Trex effectively established the brand as the industry’s social leader through a year-long program of quality content, community engagement and enticing promotions. By the end of the year, Trex had effectively secured the industry leader position with a 10,000+ Facebook fan lead and nearly triple the number of Pinterest followers over its most active competitor.
- First Alert “Safety with a Sense of Style Booklet” – PCC Golden Trumpet Award for Communications Materials – Brochures, Booklets or Books
- LCWA conceived a communications piece that showcased the unique features of First Alert’s sleek new smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and presented them in a way that resonated with design-oriented audiences. The booklet has been vital in helping to generate nearly 1 billion impressions in 2013-2014.
Congratulations to our teams and clients for
these award-winning programs!
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Eureka Contest Engages Fans in a Powerful Way

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