Smart communications strategy lifts engagement
The strategy included creative ideas and tactical instructions to leverage owned, earned, paid and shared media opportunities.
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How to: Optimize videos without the use of sound
Video is a compelling visual medium for content marketers to tell their stories, but what happens when you take the sounds away? Many popular social media platforms restrict the use of sound. A 2016 report from Digiday states that over 85 per cent of Facebook videos are viewed without sound. Users scroll through their timelines and often watch videos with no sound, which leads to an interesting problem. Content creators must create compelling videos that capture the viewer’s attention without the use of sound. How do we ensure our message is being heard without sound? In this video, Amanda Speroni, … Read more
Thornley Fallis Wins Two IABC Silver Leaf Awards of Excellence
Thornley Fallis Communications took home two Silver Leaf Awards of Excellence as the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Canada recently announced the 2016 winners for excellence in business communication. Campaigns executed on behalf of Metrolinx and Commissionaires were selected for the awards from more than 140 total entries to the annual competition. Thornley Fallis’ work on Metrolinx Engage, the public engagement platform and campaign created for Metrolinx, received the Award of Excellence for Digital Communication channels. As part of its mandate to improve the coordination and integration of all modes of transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Metrolinx … Read more
Are writing skills still so important in the digital age?
The communications world has changed dramatically since my first agency job at Public Affairs International (eventually to merge with Hill and Knowlton) back in 1988. All those years ago the ability to think clearly, write well, and work and play well with others, could carry you a great distance. That was then. While those assets are still important, there’s a lot more expected of agency professionals in 2016. Today, making your way in the agency world demands firsthand expertise in all things digital, from analytics to video, paid promotion to apps. It’s a very different landscape. We now compete not … Read more
Does a Brand Need a Human Face to Connect With Consumers?
In his branding article published on Forbes.com, Jayson DeMers proposes that the remedy to waning consumer trust in corporate brands is personal branding. It is true that trust is a major factor in establishing strong consumer-brand relationships. However, personal branding is only one of several ways to attach human characteristics to a brand and create a connection on a personal and emotional level. Leadership branding Personal branding must start with senior leadership to foster a true culture of brand ambassadorship. Many successful companies have established a corporate leader, the CEO for example, as an ambassador who embodies the company values and … Read more
April Fools ’ brand pranks; who’s laughing now?
Popular since medieval times, April Fools’ Day is widely recognized across the world and celebrated as a day when people play practical jokes and hoaxes on each other, both the jokes and their victims being known as “April Fools”. However, it’s not only the class-clowns who are pulling these pranks, brands have been on the bandwagon for years and their antics are even an anticipated part of April Fools’ Day for many marketing/advertising nerds, such as myself. For marketers this day has almost turned into a competition; who will pull the best prank? What will go viral? Who will be … Read more
Inescapable videos - the foundation of native advertising campaigns
This week we’ve been talking about native advertising; what it is, why marketers are taking a liking to native ads and where they stand when it comes to Canadian advertising standards. As the audience grows less tolerant of spam by advertising, marketers have had to think outside the box. The web is focusing more and more on surprising, entertaining and sharable video-based experiences. That’s why video has been so successful in native advertising campaigns. So in keeping our weekly theme, here are five videos we think showcase creative examples of native advertising. WestJet Christmas Miracle – real-time giving This campaign … Read more
Battle of the Apps: Hootsuite vs. Buffer in Social Media Management
Efficient, transparent and engaging. Social media and reputation management embodies these three ingredients and so much more. With public relations practitioners juggling Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and even Google+, apps like Hootsuite and Buffer have become life savers in social media management, public engagement as well as tracking and measurement. Both apps provide us the same objectives, yet carry unique qualities. This brings us to a question: Which one is better suited for reputation management? Let’s play a game called “Who can do it better: Hootsuite vs. Buffer” . Social Network Support Both Buffer and Hootsuite provide the ability to post from various social … Read more
Branding Canada, where to begin?
When it comes to asking which brand is the most trustworthy, has the most presence or is most engaging – the answer can be a very personal one. This is due to the fact that we increasingly identify with, relate to, and define ourselves by them – which gives brands something measurable: influence. But when it comes to branding something bigger than a product where do you start? Last week Finance Minister Jim Flaherty pledged to help develop a new branding campaign for Canada as part of his 2014 budget. The idea is to brand products made in Canada with … Read more
Video storytelling: the importance of conflict
Why do so many videos made by companies and organizations fall flat? In many cases, it’s because they lack an essential component of effective storytelling – conflict. Think of any story you love and you’re sure to find conflict at its core. That’s what Mike Edgell, the Video Creative Director at 76BrandFilms, tells Martin Waxman and Joe Thornley in this episode of Inside PR. What are the essentials of storytelling? A hook, context, conflict, build, and resolution. Omit any of these and the viewer is lost, the narrative falls flat. Of these, the essential component, the one that drives the story, is conflict. And this can … Read more