White Papers
Periodically at Airfoil, we expand on the insights we offer clients-and the trends we see from our higher-thinking perspective-in the form of white papers. These publications are designed to provide both advance knowledge and actionable information to help improve communications programs and increase market penetration.
All our whitepapers are available in this section of our site. To receive a printed version or to be placed on our e-mail list for future white papers, please e-mail info@airfoilpr.com.
Healthcare Public Relations -
An examination of healthcare’s consumer-driven future
With empowered consumers, the patient has the power in a new healthcare dynamic. In coming years, what will be the consequences of consumer-driven healthcare for marketing communicators, who now must market to both the provider and the prospective patient? The Prognosis for What's Next in Healthcare scans the healthcare sector to offer enlightening insights.
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To hear this white paper, listen to part one (mp3), part two (mp3) or subscribe to our podcast feed.
What in the World is Web 2.0?
Web 1.0 was Niagara Falls—a torrent of information. Web 2.0, by contrast, is a global water-pistol shootout. Rather than being deluged by the flow, participants in Web 2.0 can become part of communities that enable a tremendous amount of personal interchange. What in the World Is Web 2.0 examines how blogs, social sites and related developments are impacting news outlets and public relations, offering advice for communicators. To hear this white paper, listen to part one (mp3) , part two (mp3) or subscribe to our podcast feed.
If you prefer the 1.0 version, you can read the entire white paper.
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Small is Big
The biggest target segment for marketers today isn't GenX, GenY, or Baby Boomers; it's small- business owners. While iPhone, YouTube and MySpace have dominated the front page of our front pages, the business section is filled with the efforts of large enterprises and startup companies alike to appeal to the vast small-and-midsize-business category, known as SMBs.
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Are You Talking to Me?
Are you talking to me, up here on the C level? Or are you talking in geek to the information technology department? Those guys in the server room used to drive our technology growth, but now those of us without an “I” or a “T” in our titles are making the decisions on how and why we’ll use technology to address inefficient processes and competitive challenges. A shift has occurred in how businesses talk about technology, and marketers need to accommodate that change. Now it’s the managers of the business, rather than the managers of the network, who are driving the demand for technology tools.
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A Fractured New Universe with Thousands of Stars
With their fingers on the triggers of powerful new tech tools, consumers are rapidly carving up the marketing universe to reshape it to fit their own perspectives, rather than following the traditional viewpoints assumed by marketing and public relations professionals. For decades, marketers, communicators and entertainment companies were assured of an orderly universe of network media, newsstands, phone companies and movie theaters orbiting comfortably around the life-giving source of 18-to-34-year-olds. Suddenly the consumer world has been knocked out of kilter. Out of the blue, we’ve discovered, not one world of consumer tastes and habits, but thousands of worlds beyond the conventional boundaries of our media and market concepts.
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Building Your Brand in the Local Community
If brand strength is the degree to which consumers develop emotional attachments to a brand, then those relationships must be developed where the consumer lives, works and plays. Local sensitivities and preferences play important roles in the successful emergence of emotional connections to a brand. A brand must go beyond developing a national awareness to establishing a powerful emotional tie with consumers at the local level, and that is where public relations can make a compelling impact.
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Elevating Credibility through Research: Gaining the Trust of Your Audiences
Today, research results are released by just about every company, group and aspiring entrepreneur around the world. Non-scientific polls are positioned next to meticulously developed research studies. How can companies gain credibility for their own research? Marketers can build credibility by asking themselves a series of questions that position the research appropriately with the consumer, and consumers can judge the value of the research by considering a series of validity factors.
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Decisions in Outsourcing Public Relations
Many corporations are finding that a single in-house public relations person does not have the time or resources available to fully leverage PR opportunities. They are realizing, as well, that in-house staff rarely have the relationships with key reporters that an agency does. Agencies are being valued for the scope of their skills and capabilities. So agencies are being given greater consideration as businesses learn to operate in smarter, more flexible ways.
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Working with PR Agencies from the Inside Out
Specialized public relations firms have begun to flourish again, along with now-downsized generalist agencies. As corporate marketers get smart about how to manage and source their public relations programs, many have become smart about when and how to outsource work to agencies. This white paper explores the benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing public relations to an agency, as well as profiling best practices in working with PR firms.
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From Message to Money
For marketing executives, determining the true impact of public relations efforts (and subsequent ROI) has always been difficult. Long-term corporate objectives, such as enhancement of reputation and increases in customer preference, are largely intangible and difficult to quantify; and their direct link to revenues is weak. This paper explains a simplified model for evaluating the effectiveness of PR strategies and tactics and suggests how this model may be implemented within companies that lack sophisticated tracking mechanisms.
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