Author: Ketner Group

Public Relations, the wild child: Commonly misunderstood and wrongfully stereotyped

Posted on | by Ketner Group

Public relations may be one of the most widely misunderstood professions. SXSW® Interactive is taking place here in Austin this week and I’ve been hearing chatter about “those PR types” that are annoying to who exactly, I’m not sure. During inevitable polite small talk babble, when I get asked the “What do you do” question, I typically respond, “I do PR for high tech companies.” More often than not, my inquisitor will look at me in one of two ways:

  1. As if I just told them I worked in quantum mechanics (they have no idea what PR is), or
  2. As if I just told them I’m an evil advertiser who sucks up all of your money, sends you mail you hate to receive and interrupts your Sunday evening showing of Desperate Housewives once every 15-20 minutes with those darn commercials.

I must say that I am neither one of those. I am also not at all like Samantha Jones from Sex and the City, I do not throw parties and plan events all day long, and – much to the dismay of a BCBG sales associate a few weeks ago – I could never get away with wearing a slinky, tight skirt suit that distracts from my awesome personality while I’m representing a client.

Because that’s what we do. We represent – we ARE – our clients. Everything we say and do reflects upon our clients. Perhaps the reason why PR is so widely misunderstood is because we work hard to remain invisible to those on the outside. We are essentially our clients’ eyes, ears and mouths. “What are people saying about X?” “What do we see X’s competitors doing?” and “What does X need to say to effectively and positively communicate with their audience?” Continue reading →

A word from our newest!

Posted on | by Ketner Group | 1 Comment on A word from our newest!

Brittany graduateI’m Ketner Group’s resident rookie. I graduated with my bachelor’s of public relations way, way back in May 2009, and promptly joined the Ketner Group family.

I’ve known from the beginning that I liked my job. We have awesome clients. I have a super cute desk (let’s be honest, what PR girl does not like cute office furniture from IKEA?) and post-it notes that bear my initials (again, PR ladies, do not act like you aren’t jealous). I even have my own extension and business cards (I know you are impressed!). Our team really is like a family, which I proudly admit even though I fall squarely in the “cliché” camp with that admission.

I knew I liked my job, but when friends, family and really anyone else asked me how I liked it, I would quickly give a thoughtless answer, something like, “It’s OK,” and change the subject.
Really? It’s just OK?

I blame my wishy-washy feelings on the transition from full-time student to full-time employee. Let’s examine.

Maybe it was my deep-seated fear that I chose the wrong major. I mean, there was that existential meltdown of 2007 when I applied for and was accepted to become an advertising major, only to jump right back into the PR camp after deciding my professors were biased and made advertising appear overly sexy and glamorous. For shame, professors! But I never did feel confident in my decision again.

Maybe it was how I didn’t know how I truly felt about the cold, hard fact that I will never again have a summer vacation or a whole month off for winter break. Truthfully, it was a little difficult to pick and choose which family holiday obligations I was actually obliged to attend, and then to carefully ration my vacation days so as to make the most people happy while saving enough days for the rest of the year. Continue reading →

The year of Twitter: Is there such a thing as too much talk about social media?

Posted on | by Ketner Group | 6 Comments on The year of Twitter: Is there such a thing as too much talk about social media?

socmed

The Global Language Monitor, which examines language usage across the world, recently ranked “Twitter” as the top word in the English language for 2009 — meaning it out-ranked “Obama,” “H1N1,” “stimulus,” and “vampire” to take #1.

While this seems a bit surprising with everything that’s gone on this year, it’s not shocking. Social media came to the forefront of interest and attention, and every traditional media outlet jumped in the ring to break that minute’s social media trend story and to get a piece of the pie themselves by connecting with their readers via social networks.

Not that we’re complaining — we’ve gotten to see the social media craze first-hand with our client CheapTweet.  Launched just before Black Friday in 2008, CheapTweet couldn’t have been better positioned for what 2009 had in store: an aggregator that pulls deals from Twitter and creates a community around finding the best possible deals for every shopping need.  Social media darling Twitter? Check. Saving money in a recession? Check. We worked with CheapTweet to formulate the message and get the word out, and the site was featured as a holiday shopping must-see on MSNBC less than two weeks later. That followed in 2009 with hits including InStyle, Parents, New York Times, CNN, TechCrunch, Internet Retailer and tons more — and thankfully, CheapTweet’s message and product were strong enough to roll over the competitors that popped up along the way. Cyber Monday (yesterday) brought the company’s heaviest traffic to date. Continue reading →

Paper cuts sting, but will they heal over time?

Posted on | by Ketner Group

A few of us Ketner Groupies recently attended a PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) luncheon and got to meet three of Austin’s most notable media professionals. Patti Smith, general manager and president of KVUE TV, Debbie Hiott, the managing editor of the Austin American Statesman, and Susanna Hamner, a freelance journalist that frequently writes for the New York Times, discussed the evolution of media in a changing world (specifically in a world where social media has become a viral phenomenon for spreading breaking news, celebrity gossip and saucy rumors). As we debated the different ways social media displaces traditional media, the conversation quickly turned to the hardships that have been plaguing print media for the last couple of years.

According to Paper Cuts, a website tracking the status of the newspaper industry, 175 newspapers have shut down or stopped printing since 2007, including the Rocky Mountain News, who closed its doors after 150 years, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, who now exists only online after 146 years of printing. Another 30,146+ newspaper jobs have been cut since 2007 and industry experts predict that many more will disappear by the end of 2009. Continue reading →

Beauty is only skin deep. Right?

Posted on | by Ketner Group

beauty

I’m a big believer in inner beauty — a huge fan of Dove’s famous Campaign for Real Beauty, a follower of feminist ideals, you name it. But I can’t deny the huge rule that image plays in peoples’ perceptions and beliefs regarding just about everything, from the latest runway fashions to celebrities to homes to the logo design on a box of trash bags. People often judge a book by its cover (I’m certainly not immune)  — and I’ll bet the image at the top of this blog caught your attention enough to start reading this post (don’t stop now!) As any marketer knows, image can make or break success, regardless of what’s underneath. With people, we can all strive to judge others by the beauty of our characters — and when it comes to a product or service, by the quality of what you’re paying for. But with the tough competition in today’s market, quality does not always equate to success, and we marketers owe our jobs to that fact.

So why all the talk about image? Well, as a 19-year old company that’s gone through more exciting changes in the last year than ever before, we were in desperate need of a facelift. There was a disconnect in what our website was saying about us and who we felt we were. And after a few hiccups along the way, we’re finally here! We are proud to unveil the brand new www.ketnergroup.com, and we hope you’ll come back often to check out our blog posts and latest client news. Any comments or suggestions on our new look? Feel free to leave them here!

Stay beautiful, folks.