The Insider Q3 2010

1. As former Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) under the George W. Bush administration, what types of campaigns did you assemble to encourage people in the United States to hire people with disabilities?

The Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment, in conjunction with Maroon PR, developed an educational campaign using Jim Abbott, a former Major League Baseball player who won almost 100 games in spite of the fact that he was born with only one hand. The message we asked Jim to deliver to Americans was that businesses should look at a person's ability, not their disability, when considering them for employment. Jim explained that millions of Americans with disabilities were not being considered for employment purely because of their disabilities and that was both a shame and a tremendous waste of talent in our country. Jim amazed people for years with his ability to win in professional sports with only one hand. It was an inspiring campaign with a truly heroic spokesperson...and best of all it made a measurable difference.

2. Your extensive background includes a tenure as Director of Communications for the White House Office of Drug Abuse Policy, where you were a part of the highly successful campaign “Just Say No.” How would a campaign like this be run today? With the media landscape the way it is today, would there be any different challenges, would you promote it any differently, etc.?

Twenty to 25 years ago we didn’t have all the tools at our disposal we have today. Basically we had print, broadcast TV and radio and grassroots campaigns that were literally door-to-door. There were a very limited amount of opportunities available to get your message out. Now with the advent of the internet and all it has brought with it; online magazines, social networking and more, I would’ve used that kind of media to the max (and presently do now). The Internet gives you the opportunity to micro-target messages tailored to very specific populations, and that makes communicating with people more cost effective, efficient and impactful. The Internet is almost like sitting in someone's home and having a personal conversation with them. It is possibly the greatest advance in communications since...movable type!

3. You’ve been a PR advisor for PBATS Play Campaign for years. What made you want to get involved?

I’ve been working with the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS) for almost 20 years, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a group of people that are more sincere, honest and admirable. PBATS members truly believe that they have a responsibility to communicate to the rest of the world about important health-related issues. I find PBATS desire to help others compelling and I wanted to play a small part in their efforts.

Eight years ago, PBATS decided that they wanted to do something about the devastation being caused in America due to youth inactivity and obesity and we developed the PLAY campaign (Promoting a Lifetime of Activity for Youth) for PBATS. In communication, the trick to a successful PR/educational campaign is both an authoritative message and a great messenger. The PLAY campaign has both; an important message and a committed messenger with the allure of professional baseball. Add to that solid line-up the help of Maroon PR and you get a campaign that has consistently delivered a return on investment of 20 to 30 times the dollars invested.

4. What differences and challenges are there with advising politicians, as opposed to other high-profile individuals and organizations?

All clients - whether they are a business, government, politician or nonprofit group - have their strengths and weaknesses. But every client I’ve ever worked with has needed the same kind of direction… honing their message and determining their ultimate target.

I can't tell you how many times I have spoken with a new client and asked them, "So... who do you want to target your message toward?" and heard "Everyone!" Well...everyone...is never the right answer, because it is expensive and not everyone wants to hear about you, your product, or your program for various reasons. Senior citizens simply do not need football gear, no matter how good and no matter what the price, so try to target your message to those who do need your equipment.

Politician's and high-profile individuals tend to have more "developed egos" and they are harder to direct, but when you gain their confidence they become the easiest to work with.

5. In your storied career, give us an example of an interesting and effective PR campaign and the tactics you used that you’re particularly proud of.

For 10 years, I produced a program entitled the “National Spit Tobacco Education Program,” known as NSTEP for a nonprofit group called Oral Health America out of Chicago. NSTEP was designed to educate the American people about the potentially deadly effects associated with the use of chewing tobacco. I decided that because baseball was historically connected with chewing tobacco, I would use baseball to help deliver a message that said to the audience, "Hey, you may think chewing tobacco is cool and part of the game of baseball, but really it is an addictive and deadly product!"

We contacted Major League Baseball and explained that we had a campaign that would reduce tobacco use among their players and educate the public not to start. Commissioner Bud Selig committed MLB TV and radio inventory to the campaign. Players Association President Don Fehr committed players to the campaign and PBATS helped us set up meetings with players throughout all of professional baseball. Our first TV public service announcement featured Lenny Dykstra, then a great player for the Phillies…and the most notorious tobacco chewer of his day in baseball. The PSA showed Lenny crashing into walls making breathtaking plays while we hear him saying, "People call me Nails, because I'm tough as nails, but I'm not tough enough to quit spit tobacco." That ad was a national sensation, and over the next 10 years the NSTEP program garnered a return on investment of $1.1 billion from a total investment of only around $2.5 million. The most important part of NSTEP’s success though, was our remarkable spokesman Joe Garagiola, Sr., whose dedication and energy transformed a great program into a lifesaving juggernaut.

This quarter, we'll be speaking with Buster Olney, a senior writer for ESPN the Magazine, and a contributor to a variety of ESPN platforms. Please click on the play button below to listen.

Buster Olney was not paid to do this podcast. We thank him for being gracious enough to speak with us.

In an age of shrinking attention spans and increasing time demands, people still want to hear from you; but keep it brief. Short, frequent communication builds relationships much more effectively than long, infrequent communication. That goes for communication with everyone from clients to vendors to prospects to employees to investors.

In a publicly traded company the US Securities and Exchange Commission has plenty of laws in regards to communication and what you can and can’t say. But no matter what size company you own, manage, or work for, you won’t find any laws regarding how often you should communicate. The people you work with and work for want to hear from you, but they don’t want to receive a 12-page manifesto.

Touch base with e-mail updates. Make the rounds every so often at the office. Send handwritten notes. Leave a phone message. And keep them all brief. When you communicate frequently you stay at the top of the minds of the people you rely on and who rely on you. When you keep your communication brief, you let those people know that you respect the demands on their time. That kind of consideration builds relationships.

You may feel like you don’t have the time to make the effort of more frequent communication. I understand. Keep in mind, however, that the people you want to communicate with probably feel like they don’t have the time to read your semi-annual e-mail, your annual report, or your 50 slide PowerPoint presentation.

Think short and frequent, not long and infrequent. Your clients, employees, vendors, and everyone else you want to connect with, will thank you.

Gerry Sandusky is a communications consultant, TV & Radio sportscaster, and the Voice of the Baltimore Ravens. His company, The Sandusky Group, is on the web at www.SanduskyGroup.com.

Major sporting events are coming to Baltimore.

On July 31, M&T Bank Stadium will host an international soccer game, with Manchester City of England, playing Italy’s Inter Milan, the current European Champion.

Maroon PR was retained by the Baltimore Ravens, the match’s promoter, to oversee all public relations and social media efforts surrounding the game. The firm will also manage all game day media operations.

Maroon PR coordinated all logistics and media outreach efforts for the press conference on May 21 to announce the match. The announcement garnered coverage from every media outlet in Baltimore, including a feature in The Baltimore Sun, as well as key national outlets such as The Associated Press, ESPN.com and The SportsBusiness Daily. Additionally, Maroon PR orchestrated a strategic series of media opportunities throughout the weeks following the press conference and continues to generate attention during the 2010 World Cup.

Baltimore will also host the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix, which is scheduled for August 5-7, 2011. The race will take place on a temporary street track through the streets of downtown Baltimore.

As the Baltimore Grand Prix’s public relations Agency of Record, Maroon PR orchestrated the press conference and corporate luncheon at the Baltimore Convention Center on June 2 to formally announce the event. The press conference included Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, IZOD IndyCar President - Corporate Division, Terry Angstadt, IndyCar driver Graham Rahal and two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser, Jr.

Maroon PR managed the event and facilitated media outreach, including a local media tour with Unser, Jr. Over 200 corporate guests attended the event that was covered by every media outlet in the Baltimore-area. Additionally, The Associated Press wire story reached over 180 online outlets, including USAToday.com, ESPN.com and Yahoo! News (click on the photo above for a video segment).

Maroon PR will feature a regular column by someone from our team, in an effort for our readers to get to know us and hear our opinions. This quarter, we’ll hear from Maroon PR Executive Vice President Tim Richardson about turning negative news into positive news.

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In today’s society, there exists a 24-hour news cycle that feeds the public’s insatiable appetite for instant information. The emergence of social media has added to that development and camera phones, flip cams, etc. have provided the opportunity for anyone to be a “reporter.”

Technically, news happens at any time. Considering the aforementioned factors, the public now has access to that news in a viral, more immediate timeframe than ever before. Consequently, it is inescapable that, at some point during a relationship with a client, negative news will occur. Whether the client is directly involved or simply mentioned because of a circuitous reason, the association is made by the public. Therefore, PR practitioners need to be cognisant of the potential for these situations and be prepared to provide guidance and, more importantly, offer solutions to their clients.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” In public relations, when a negative occurs, consider how to bring about something positive from the situation. Now this does NOT mean creating a disingenuous PR spin. To the contrary, it requires a sincere, often “outside the box” approach that turns unconstructive news into a positive for your client, the community and others who may have been affected by the initial situation or can benefit from a good deed.

The Maroon PR team prides itself on being a resource to our clients and bringing creative ideas to their attention…both proactively and in response to unforeseen situations. The "Baltimore's Classic Five Raises more than $5,000 for BARCS" item in the “News & Notes” section of this newsletter will help demonstrate this case.

Tim Richardson is the Executive Vice President at Maroon PR and oversees the Sports & Entertainment team. He can be reached at Tim@MaroonPR.com.

In 2010, Maroon PR has been posting and updating its "Maroon Blog" consistently, in an effort to give our opinions about public relations, communication, marketing, sports, business and more. For our "Spotlight Blog" this quarter we've chosen "USA Today's Great Twitter Campaign for Nonprofits", written by Maroon PR Associate Account Executive Andrea Kunicky on May 4.

You can view all of our blog posts from last quarter at maroonpr.blogspot.com.

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I’ve gotten more involved with Twitter recently, learning new and interesting ways to connect with people and find up-to-date local and national news. While tweeting one morning, I came across information from @USATODAY on a campaign for nonprofits. Since we work with a good amount of them, I decided to look into it. Their Kindness Community Blog started a campaign called “#America Wants”, where the top tweet-getting charity would receive one full-page, full-color ad in USA Today!

From April 13 until April 16, we worked with our client, The Moyer Foundation - the nonprofit organization of MLB Pitcher Jamie Moyer and his wife Karen - and Nology Media, a Social Media Management company in Seattle who works on the social media efforts for The Moyer Foundation. They worked heavily all week long on posting tweets and retweets to reach out to the Foundation’s supporters on Twitter. We tweeted and retweeted from our personal accounts and key media members that we have relationships with also retweeted the information. When it was over, we were all very excited to find out the results and where we ended up on the list. Out of 500 charities that were involved in this campaign, The Moyer Foundation landed at No. 16 on the list! To Write Love on Her Arms (TWOLHA), a wonderful nonprofit dedicated to helping people with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide, ended up winning the contest.

In just a few days, 67 million people on Twitter helped their favorite charity by sending out over 60,000 tweets. From working on the campaign, it clearly shows how much nonprofits and social media together are growing by the minute. Hopefully, more campaigns like this will be developed, so we can create increased awareness for the organizations that we care most about.

Andrea Kunicky is an Associate Account Executive. Contact her at andrea@maroonpr.com.

After nearly two decades in communications and branding for a number of sports organizations and professional teams, public relations specialist John Maroon launched Maroon PR in April 2006.

Maroon PR has experienced growth each year since it opened its doors. Originally an agency focused on sports and entertainment clients, the firm experienced tremendous success, leading to the creation of two distinct divisions in May of 2009 - Sports & Entertainment and Corporate public relations. Under this new structure, Executive Vice President Tim Richardson oversees the Sports & Entertainment division, while Vice President Mitchell Schmale manages the firm’s increasing corporate clientele. Each division is guided by President John Maroon. Click here to view Maroon PR's Corporate Brochure.

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