A number of services offer businesses an easy and affordable way to design and distribute their own e-blasts. But as we’ve said before, there are pitfalls in DIY marketing, and e-blasts are no exception.
If you want to make your blast as effective as it is convenient, you’ll need to put on your marketing consultant hat. Start by asking yourself these questions: Read the rest of this entry »
Jeremy Hogan is a senior marketing specialist with DickinsonGroup. He meets clients’ communications needs with a full complement of media relations, print and digital marketing tools.DickinsonGroup is launching a new blog series titled “Five Minutes with…” where we will share brief interviews with some of Chicago’s leading business minds.
For the first entry in the series, we sat down with James O’Shea, former managing editor of the Chicago Tribune and editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. O’Shea is co-founder of the Chicago News Cooperative, a public service reporting venture. Read the rest of this entry »
Jeremy Hogan is a senior marketing specialist with DickinsonGroup. He meets clients’ communications needs with a full complement of media relations, print and digital marketing tools.Lavish entertaining is definitely out of place — and out of favor — in the current economic climate. But low-cost events can dramatically enhance a company’s visibility, as we recently found. Read the rest of this entry »
Connie Dickinson is the founding principal of DickinsonGroup. She has guided clients toward smart, creative marketing and public relations strategies for nearly 30 years.Trendwatching.com has come out with its list of 10 trends for 2010. While the trends are geared toward consumer goods and services, several have interesting implications for real estate. Read the rest of this entry »
Pat Vaccaro is DickinsonGroup’s communications director. A seasoned writer and editor, she helps businesses tell what they are, what they do and what sets them apart.You know the 30-minute reductions of Shakespearean plays? Well, this is ULI’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010, recapped in 300 words. Hold on tight. Read the rest of this entry »
Pat Vaccaro is DickinsonGroup’s communications director. A seasoned writer and editor, she helps businesses tell what they are, what they do and what sets them apart.The buzz about journalism’s “broken business model” just gets louder. Now a team of veteran Chicago journalists is doing something about it.
The new Chicago News Cooperative CNC made its New York Times debut today with the first of its twice-weekly, Chicago-edition reports on local politics, arts and culture. Collaborating with its co-founder, WTTW public television and WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, CNC will extend its public-service journalism online and on the air. A full Web site launching next year will connect the community with the news room in a two-way information exchange. Read the rest of this entry »
Jeremy Hogan is a senior marketing specialist with DickinsonGroup. He meets clients’ communications needs with a full complement of media relations, print and digital marketing tools.With the recession, we’re hearing a lot of stories about bungled DIY repair projects costing homeowners a bundle. The intent is so good: Do it yourself and save some money. And the results can be so bad: sagging ceilings, soggy carpets and worse.
The same thing is happening in marketing. Faced with tight budgets, more companies are trying a DIY approach. The results run the gamut. A capable staff with the right resources can make DIY deliver. Otherwise, DIY can turn into DIO — do it over — with lost time, missed opportunities and added costs. Read the rest of this entry »
Pat Vaccaro is DickinsonGroup’s communications director. A seasoned writer and editor, she helps businesses tell what they are, what they do and what sets them apart.If you could design a classroom for the future, what would it look like? The Open Architecture Network invited thousands of design and construction professionals around the world to tackle that challenge earlier this year.
In response, Built Form, a Chicago-based architecture firm, submitted “Extending the Classroom,” designed for the House in the Wood Camp operated by Northwestern University Settlement House. Overlooking Lake Delavan in southern Wisconsin, the camp offers a rural counterpart to NUSH’s urban Chicago school serving low-income students. Read the rest of this entry »
Maureen Mullady is DickinsonGroup’s creative group director. She advises businesses on public relations and manages crisis communications for the firm’s clients.I feel a little guilty when I say my favorite area of public relations is crisis communications. I certainly don’t want anyone to experience a crisis. But when a crisis does occur, it’s a really good feeling to help that person or company through a potentially damaging situation.
As much as I enjoy scoring a feature placement in my client’s dream publication, there’s nothing more rewarding to me than supporting an organization through the worst of times.
That’s why I’m a big advocate for first, understanding what a crisis communications plan involves and second, developing one. Read the rest of this entry »
Maureen Mullady is DickinsonGroup’s creative group director. She advises businesses on public relations and manages crisis communications for the firm’s clients.