PR perspectives in this issue

·  PAN-o-rama: Views From Our President

·  PANacea: Success Stories

·  P.A.N.: Press And News

·  PANagram: Client Perspective

·  PANtastic News: Current Agency Happenings

PANacea: Success Stories

Wearable electronics come into fashion
Learn how PAN helped launch this manufacturer of touch-sensitive interactive fabrics at two major trade shows -- back to back.

Color kit brings hottest hues to editors
See how PAN's creativity took a press kit to new heights (and colors).

The making of a Mossberg hit
What does it take to get one of the country's most influential tech journalists to cover your company or product? Discover how PAN scored this mega-hit in the Wall Street Journal.

Client synergy makes for major coverage
See how PAN showcased two clients as market leaders to create a roundtable event on software quality that resonated with eWeek editors.

Regional coverage works for speciality retailer
See why specialty retailer Work 'N Gear turned to PAN for the second year in a row to secure a business feature in a major daily.

P.A.N.: Press And News

Industry Analysts – Friend or Foe?
by Jodie Wertheim, Senior Account Manager

A controversial article in InformationWeek a few months back questioned the credibility of the industry analyst community and its influence over the world of technology vendors. Amidst all the buzz and blog postings that article created, those reporters asked and answered the questions many organizations have been thinking for quite some time – am I achieving true and quantifiable value from my industry analyst relationships?

Many of our clients ask themselves that very question everyday, whether they have an established analyst program or are just initiating relationships with those who cover their space. It’s an important issue that could affect company sales, product development, recruiting and retention and a potential backlash from investors, boards of directors and the like. Recent consolidation in the space isn’t helping matters either. Gartner’s acquisition of Meta Group in 2005 is the latest in a chain of changes within the landscape that will affect how organizations spend those allocated analyst dollars and how potential customers perceive those firms for advice and feedback.

So what to do?
We need the analysts to understand what your organization does and how it does it, so they can recommend you to prospects. Analysts at the large and small firms still hold a level of responsibility to understand all players in the space before making a market analysis or offering recommendations. But how do you handle the competitive nature of the industry and the fact that your competitors may be spending more money with a firm than you are and what that could mean for your standings in an upcoming report?

Read on...

PANagram: Client Perspective

Working with PAN:

KANA
Menlo Park, CA

Jessica Hohn, Director of Corporate Communications
Allison O'Brien, Director of Marketing

KANA, a world leader in multi-channel customer service, is one of PAN’s long-standing clients, having been partners with us since 2000. That long-term relationship has created special bonds all the while sustaining a large media relations, analyst relations and marketing communications program. The KANA account team at PAN works closely with Director of Corporate Communications Jessica Hohn on media and analyst relations, while a synergistic account team helps Director of Marketing Allison O’Brien with marketing communications and events.

The two are quick to note that PAN truly functions as an extension of the KANA PR, AR and marketing departments. “Allison and I have a lot on our plates, so we rely on PAN for their expertise in the industry and the intellectual property they have with KANA, since they’ve been with us through many acquisitions and stages in the company,” said Hohn. “PAN works directly with a lot of folks within KANA, so they are constantly keeping things moving – that helps especially when we are on the road traveling, as we do quite frequently.”

One of the directives that Hohn gave the KANA media team earlier this year was to gain visibility for KANA’s new executive leadership, including a new CEO and chief marketing officer. “I charged the team with getting our new CEO some face time with the media, and they’ve succeeded in doing that with a good mix of media interviews from the CRM and IT trades to the business press. They secured some great hits in Fortune, InfoWorld, and InformationWeek,” added Hohn.

Read on...

PANtastic News: Current Agency Happenings

Client Acquisitions Make News
For many companies, the ultimate goal of public relations is to increase their visibility to a point where they can successfully execute on an exit strategy, which is often going public or being acquired. These days, in technology, the trend is to be acquired. PAN recently brought three well-known high tech companies to a pinnacle in their media and analyst visibility which resulted in their successful acquisitions. In all three situations, PAN was credited with being a key part of the company’s exit strategy.They are:

• Systinet by Mercury Interactive
• Segue by Borland Software (planned acquisition)
• Blast Radius by Justsystems (planned acquisition)

Life at PAN: Our Employees Make Us Shine
In this issue, we introduce you to "The Kims": Kim McCrossen and Kim Baker. Both are senior associates who excel at PAN.

Featured Employee: Kim Baker
Current Role: Senior Associate
With PAN Since: July 2004
Education: B.A., Art History, Hamilton College (Clinton, NY) and M.A., Journalism, University of Arizona
Resides in: Somerville, MA

Featured Employee: Kim McCrossen
Current Role: Senior Associate
With PAN Since: November 2005
Education: BA in English/BA in Spanish, Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
Resides in: Charlestown, MA

Why did you choose PR as a career and how did you get started?
Kim B: I ended up in PR completely by chance, as a lot of people do. A friend of mine in grad school took a course in PR, got hooked immediately, and wound up moving to L.A. to work in the entertainment industry. She encouraged me to do the same, but I was more interested in becoming a travel writer. I did some freelance work in Arizona and spent time as a features reporter for a newspaper in Tucson. This was at the height of the dot-com era, and I heard through the grapevine that a number of hi-tech PR firms were hiring and particularly needed people with strong writing skills.

I was contacted by a firm in New York and thought PR was something I might try for a year. That was more than six years ago. When people ask me why I chose PR over journalism, I tell them that they are really two sides of the same coin. I may not be a reporter, but I work with reporters all day long.

Kim M: When I was growing up, I had family members that worked in both marketing and public relations. I thought it was such a fascinating industry as it related to client relations, servicing many differeny industries at a single time. I had the opportunity to study abroad and while I was there my aunt encouraged me to explore the field of communications, so I thought I'd give a try. After speaking with a PR firm, I was so impressed that when they offered me a job, I accepted right away.

My experience was very positive and when I returned to college for my senior year I started to look for public relations jobs in and around Boston. I liked the idea of having the ability to be creative and work with a diverse portfolio of clients. It was so interesting to learn about so many sectors within the high technology industry that I decided to make PR my career.

Continue reading about The Kims.

PAN at Search Engine Strategies Show
Here at PAN, we represent a lot of trade shows, but we have never exhibited at any. That changed last month when we exhibited at the Search Engine Strategies (SES) conference in New York City (February 27 - March 2).

Senior Account Manager Joel Richman mans the PAN booth at SES NY.

PAN was chosen to represent SES due to our extensive experience representing clients in the search space, including Lycos, PreFound, UpSNAP, PubSub, iPhrase and Impaqt. As we prepared the press room for the influx of attending media, we decided to take the relationship one step further and become one of the several hundred exhibitors at the show. Over the three days, we met with clients, prospects and the media and certainly created a stronger brand name for our firm within this hot space!

Gear Up for Spring Media Contest Winners
Congratulations to Carrie Schuller and Becki Parkhurst for winning PAN's Media Relations Contest: "Gear Up for Spring." The contest sought to find the best national broadcast and print coverage from January through March.

For broadcast, Carrie secured HGTV for client P'kolino. Getting PubSub featured in a Walt Mossberg column in the Wall Street Journal earned Becki top honors in the national print category (see case study above). This is the fourth time that Becki has won one of the media department's contests! Both received a $150 gift certificate to Banana Republic. We know they'll be dressed for success this spring!

PAN After 5 -- Mark's 40th Birthday
EVP Mark Nardone recently reached a significant milestone -- his 40th birthday! We celebrated in true PAN style on March 16 with a birthday roast. Several members of the PAN staff roasted Mark with anecdotes straight out of an episode of "This is Your Life." Through it all, Mark was a good sport and thanked everyone for helping him celebrate.

See photos from Mark's Roast...

PAN-o-rama: Views From Our President

There's been a lot of good news for the public relations industry as a whole recently. The Council of Public Relations Firms (of which PAN is a founding member) reported a "good deal of optimism among public relations firms these days as business in 2005 continued its upward trajectory."

In fact, the Council's 2005 Q4 “quick survey” found that the majority (83%) of member firms made strong gains in revenue in 2005 (by an average of 12%), and the majority experienced growth in profitability.

Here at PAN, we have seen an upturn in business across all three of our portfolios and overall a positive sense from our clients that budgets are opening up more and more for public relations programs.

The Council also recently asked member firms: "What are the top issues facing the profession over the next three years?” The top four answers reflect the importance of promoting the value of public relations, and positioning the industry for success in the 21st century:

• Demonstrating the value of PR;
• Developing talent;
• Innovation;
• Industry growth.

At PAN, we are taking all of those issues seriously and addressing each one head on. To help measure our PR programs more effectively and to demonstrate our value, we've recently rolled out our "metrics dashboard" that charts our progress in each program element, keeping both PAN and the client accountable. We've gotten rave reviews from the clients who piloted it and we are now implementing it with all existing and new clients. Personally, I love it and I know it definitely helps demonstrate the value that we bring.

In terms of developing talent, I just concluded my fifth year as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University, teaching a graduate level course on "Managing a PR Firm." The 16 students in my class showed so much promise and a true zeal for the profession. Many of my students often come to PAN to start their careers after they graduate. For me, it's very gratifying to have the opportunity to give back and help young professionals embark on a successful PR career.

Innovation is something that we take to heart at PAN. After 10 years in business, it's often easy to do things "the way they've always been done." But, we don't settle for that. We continue to evolve with the industry and new technologies. For example, we recently introduced our new media services to help clients get involved in the blog-o-sphere. It's almost cliche now, but we were there beginning last summer working with a leading new media firm to develop a strategy and program that would help our clients make a smooth entry into the space.

We are also doing our part to support the growth of the industry by helping to promote our profession and the value that we bring. This year, we are participating in some national and regional awards for outstanding achievement in public relations (you'll hear more about the results in the next newsletter). Through my role on the board of the Council, I'm also working closely with leaders from other public relations firms across the country sharing best practices.

At PAN, we are poised well for a good year ahead. We've got a strong senior team that continues to help Mark and I build the business and deliver outstanding results to our clients. I feel good about the future and I hope you do too. Drop me a line and let me know.

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