Lenz on Marketing

03.16.12Posted at 10:08 amComments ( 0 )

There is as Much Creativity in Great Business as in Great Art

Was Steve Jobs a creative genius or genius of business?

Both. And that’s no coincidence. Because great businesses solve problems, and problem solving requires creativity.

Jobs said his model for business was the Beatles. It doesn’t get much more creative than that.

Among Jobs’s creative solutions to complex problems:

  • iTunes and the iPod, which solved the outdated method in which we consumed music in the digital age
  • The iPhone, which solved our unfilled desire for portable and integrated communication, entertainment, and internet devices
  • iCloud, which solved our inability to manage content and devices remotely

Jobs said creativity is “connecting things.” He was able to connect his imagination and our daily lives. That was the Beatles greatest contribution as well. Both changed the world, and both were incredibly creative.

There is as much creativity in great business as in great art.

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03.08.12Posted at 5:56 pmComments ( 0 )

High Heel Idea Kicks Resurgens Doctor into Spotlight: Dr. Gary Stewart Featured on Good Day Atlanta

 

When story ideas hit home, major media outlets are quick to respond.

That was the case recently, when an idea from a Lenz PR team weekly meeting made it all the way to Good Day Atlanta on Fox 5, with a three-minute segment on the dangers high heels pose to women’s health.

Following the meeting, Lenz PR Director Ryan Klee contacted reporter Beth Galvin at Fox 5, who jumped on the story that she called, “The High Price of High Heels.”

Dr. Gary Stewart at Resurgens Orthopaedics was the ideal practice spokesman. Not only did he locate a patient willing to discuss her foot problems (the most crucial element to human interest stories such as this), he pulled foot X-rays that showed the damage high heels can do to women’s feet, and even brought in a part of his wife’s shoes for the interview.

Telling viewers that foot pain due to high heels is the No. 1 complaint he hears from patients, Dr. Stewart outlined the structural damage heels can cause. His recommendation: “If you must wear high heels, use them sparingly.”

Dr. Stewart, whose areas of expertise include surgery of the foot and ankle, practices at the Morrow and Henry offices of Resurgens Orthopaedics.

Klee said while the story required a lot of time to coordinate, it truly paid off for the practice with the segment that aired three times during sweeps week on March 1.

Watch the segment here.

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03.05.12Posted at 11:36 amComments ( 0 )

DeKalb Medical Signs On to Sponsor The Weekly Check-Up with Dr. Bruce Feinberg

DeKalb Medical joins the growing list of sponsors of The Weekly Check-Up with Dr. Bruce Feinberg providing a weekly DeKalb Medical Minute to update listeners about the variety of DeKalb Medical programs and services.

On the program’s DeKalb Medical Minute, Dr. Stephen Thomas, vice president of the DeKalb Medical Physicians Group, discusses the week’s free public programming at DeKalb Medical.

Produced by Lenz, Inc., Atlanta’s leading healthcare marketing firm for two decades, the two-hour program airs live every Sunday from 3-5 p.m. on AM 750 and NOW 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB, and streams online at WSBRadio.com. The show is presented by CuringProstateCancer.com.

The program includes caller questions, fielded by featured guests and the show’s host, Atlanta oncologist Dr. Bruce Feinberg, and addresses a wide range of topics about healthcare, from current events and healthcare policy to daily tips for better health and fitness.

Recent DeKalb Medical guests on The Weekly Check-Up include Dr. Melissa Seely-Morgan discussing how women’s diseases, such as uterine fibroids, are detected and what new treatments are available, Drs. Maurice Jove and Scott Barbour discussing joint pain, and Dr. Augustine Conduah discussing sports medicine.

Dr. Feinberg said he appreciates the support from DeKalb Medical and well as the contributions from experts on their staff. “DeKalb Medical is helping us reach our goal of providing comprehensive health-care information.

“We continue to help Georgians separate fact from fiction on the healthcare horizon as we discuss the latest news and treatment options for a wide variety of health issues,” Dr. Feinberg said.

In addition to CuringProstateCancer.com, other sponsors of the show include Radiotherapy Clinics of Georgia, Georgia Urology, P.A., The Village Vets, and Best Self Atlanta magazine.

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02.16.12Posted at 9:16 amComments ( 0 )

Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic Chooses Lenz to Direct Practice Public Relations

As sure as azaleas bloom in April, spring brings pollen season to metro Atlanta and news coverage abounds.

This year, Atlanta Allergy & Asthma Clinic, Georgia’s largest allergy and asthma practice, hired Lenz to direct a major public relations campaign to begin with spring allergy season and run year round.

Not only is Atlanta Allergy & Asthma Clinic the largest practice in the state with 19 offices throughout the metropolitan area, it operates the only National Allergy Bureau certified pollen-counting station in the Atlanta area. The practice publishes daily pollen counts on its web site http://www.atlantaallergy.com/ and through an email newsletter.

Lenz President and CEO Richard Lenz announced the new relationship on Monday, Jan. 30, and the Lenz PR team immediately began coordinating news coverage. By Feb. 2—when the regional groundhog weather prognosticator General Lee predicted an early spring—Lenz PR Director Ryan Klee had arranged two local radio interviews for Dr. Stanley M. Fineman, and the media blitz was on.

Within days, as the mild winter and early spring sent pollen counts soaring, media interest blossomed both locally and nationally, producing stories on 11Alive, WABE, WGST, WSB-AM, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Star94, the Newnan Times Herald, Everydayhealth.com, NBC Nightly News, and the Today Show, and more stories are in the works.

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01.06.12Posted at 1:52 pmComments ( 0 )

Branding Is the Invisible Hand of Business

Coke and Pepsi; Target and Wal Mart; CNN and Fox News. Each brand carries an emotional punch, baggage perhaps, and often strong loyalties and opposition.

Your brand is the first thing your customers think about you and the lasting memory they carry away from an encounter. It’s what they say about you behind your back.

Your customers own your brand, but you can shape it—with the type on your business cards and the voice that answers your telephone. Your web site helps communicate your brand across the world just as the physical sign over your door brandishes it to passersby.

Intangible, unseen and largely misunderstood, your brand is the greatest influence on your company’s success or failure.

That’s because it impacts every aspect of your business from why customers choose you (or not) to what you can charge for your products and services. Your brand determines the employees you can recruit and retain, whether or not the media covers your story, and the effectiveness of your marketing spend.

When you understand the power of the brand, you understand that the quality, and relative quality, of your product is secondary. That’s why the best-branded products always win.

There is perhaps no better case study than Coke and Pepsi.

For years, Coke and its powerful brand (“The Real Thing,” Santa, polar bears) have dominated the cola category despite Pepsi’s countless reminders via The Pepsi Challenge that most drinkers prefer its product.

Thanks to neuromarketing, we know a little about why. In this field, researchers measure changes in brain activity when subjects encounter marketing stimuli. A famous study using this technique involved Coke and Pepsi.

In a blind taste test reminiscent of The Pepsi Challenge, half of the subjects chose Pepsi and half chose Coke. But when the choices were revealed ahead of time, three quarters of the group chose Coke.

Most telling was the difference in brain activity.

The Pepsi group had a stronger response than Coke in the part of the brain that processes feelings of reward. Those who chose Coke, however, displayed activity in the parts of the brain that govern cognitive powers and memory, indicating that the Coke drinkers were thinking about their memories and associations with the product.

The study demonstrates that Coke’s superior brand is more important than Pepsi’s superior taste.

Two and a half centuries ago, economist Adam Smith coined the term “invisible hand” to describe the self-regulating nature of the marketplace.

In business, the ultimate regulator of success and failure is the brand. It is the invisible hand of every business, including yours.

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11.16.11Posted at 12:21 pmComments ( 0 )

Make Your Next Move

Lenz is happy to announce the launch of an integrated radio and web campaign for the Georgia WebMBA® from Georgia College, aptly named “Make Your Next Move.”

The campaign kicked off yesterday with advertisements airing on AM 750 and 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB leading listeners to a microsite at makeyournextmove.org.

Check back here for more on the progress of the campaign in the upcoming weeks!

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11.09.11Posted at 3:32 pmComments ( 0 )

Social Media Ranks High In Public Relations Toolbox

As a major league Facebook user — currently 801 friends counting Pete the Cat — I don’t find it surprising that social media is quickly rising to the top of corporate PR spending. Just the name public relations defines the essence of how social media works.

Now, the numbers back up my belief that social media is a key component of any PR plan.

In the 2011 State of Digital Marketing Report, compiled by Webmarketing123, a California-based online marketing agency, 60 percent of respondents said they plan to increase their budget for social media marketing in 2012.

Matt McGee, writing for the Search Engine Land web site, says those increases in social media spending are likely fed by other statistics from the survey: 68 percent say they’ve generated leads from either Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, while 55 percent have closed deals from social media leads.

Although the focus of McGee’s post was on search engine optimization (SEO), for his B2B marketing audience, the numbers about social media reveal the magnitude of social media and its importance to business.

Of the Business to Consumer (B2C) companies who responded to the survey, 75 percent are the most active on Facebook, followed by 8 percent on Twitter and 6 percent on LinkedIn.

Business to business (B2B) companies surveyed said they are active more evenly across all three leading networks: 34 percent Facebook, 26 percent Twitter, and 25 percent LinkedIn.

Both B2B and B2C marketers say that website traffic is the primary way they measure the success of online marketing efforts.

My Facebook friendship with Pete the Cat (the character in paintings and children’s books by Decatur artist James Dean), may not directly lead to sales of Dean’s work, but it does help Dean’s brand recognition. Plus, Pete the Cat makes me smile every time I see one of his posts.

For the State of Digital Marketing Report, (you’ll have to register to download), go to:

http://go.webmarketing123.com/seland-state-of-digital-marketing-report.html

For McGee’s post on Search Engine Land, go to:

http://searchengineland.com/seo-beats-ppc-social-media-for-generating-leads-99064?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=feed-main

 

— Alice Murray

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11.03.11Posted at 3:08 pmComments ( 0 )

The Weekly Check-Up Extends to Two Hours

Radio show adds extra hour starting Dec. 4

Would you like to check in with a doctor every week to keep up with vital healthcare news and information? You can, simply by turning on your radio to AM750 or Now 95.5 FM on Sunday afternoons.

The Weekly Check-Up with Dr. Bruce Feinberg will expand to two hours Dec. 4, broadcasting live from 3-5 p.m. Sundays on News/Talk WSB.

Brought to you by CuringProstateCancer.com, The Weekly Check-Up focuses on timely healthcare information with medical guests each week who share their expertise on subjects from autism to urology.

WSB Radio Program Director Pete Spriggs called The Weekly Check-Up an important addition to the station’s lineup.

“WSB listeners have a big appetite for medical news, and information that can help their own health. The Weekly Check-Up delivers that, in-depth. The show gives us an opportunity to keep listeners informed about trends in healthcare and how those issues impact their lives,” said Spriggs. “We are proud of our association with Lenz, and thrilled to be working with them on this important program.”

Since its launch this summer, The Weekly Check-Up has earned a 50 percent increase in listenership. The program covers topics from health and fitness experts, and features tips to help people live better and healthier lives.

The program is produced by Lenz, Inc., Atlanta’s healthcare marketing specialists since 1992. Lenz, Inc. offers marketing strategy and consultation, creative and interactive execution, PR, and more. LenzMarketing.com.

In addition to Lenz, Inc., current sponsors include:

RC Cancer Centers offers prostate cancer treatment with high cure rates, no cutting, and few side effects, and has treated more than 13,000 men from all 50 states and more than 40 countries. CuringProstateCancer.com.

Georgia Urology, P.A. is the largest urology practice in Atlanta and the Southeast. Our board certified urologists provide the finest urologic care available and strive for the best outcomes for all of our patients. GAUrology.com

The Village Vets pride ourselves on being a full-service hospital, capable of handling most medical and surgical problems. We provide a wide range of services such as preventative health care, dental care, surgery, boarding and grooming. TheVillageVets.com.

The Brain Balance Program® is an individualized and comprehensive approach to helping children with neurobehavioral and learning difficulties surmount their unique challenges. http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/

Dr. Michael A. Quiñones offers the highest quality medical care utilizing the latest techniques to prevent, detect, and treat a variety of illnesses. http://www.drqmd.com/

 

 

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10.24.11Posted at 12:26 pmComments ( 0 )

Thanks to Decatur First Bank President For Her Work in Our Community

Since 2005, when we established a board of directors to launch the first Decatur Book Festival, Judy Turner, president and CEO of Decatur First Bank, has been a sure and steady hand at the helm of the festival.

As treasurer, Judy helped us navigate the stormy seas of fund raising and made sure that we kept our finances on track. Without Judy’s leadership, the AJC Decatur Book Festival would not exist as we know it.

The news Friday that Decatur First Bank was closing and being acquired by Fidelity Bank brought a great deal of sadness in our community. It’s especially sad for bank customers who love the friendly atmosphere, the aroma of freshly popped popcorn, and the genuine customer-centric environment of the bank.

Those of us who know and admire Judy and the staff she hired to operate our community bank are heartbroken. We understand that the transition to banking at Fidelity will be smooth and won’t impact our deposits. However, we lament the demise of such a vital part of Decatur.

Please join all of us at Lenz in sending best wishes to our friends at Decatur First Bank and a word of thanks for all the ways they have helped our community.

— Alice Murray

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10.24.11Posted at 11:49 amComments ( 0 )

PR Effort for AJC Decatur Book Festival Pays Off in Print, Electronic, and Online Buzz

Bookzilla is back in his bunker polishing up his memoir as the AJC Decatur Book Festival team recaps the annual Labor Day weekend event.

While the more than 550 volunteers make the largest independent book festival in the country event run smoothly, it’s the PR team at Lenz that gets the word out to the estimated 70,000 or so attendees.

After running PR for the festival for six consecutive years, Lenz Public Relations Director Ryan Klee calls the festival “a great model of integrated marketing and PR.”

“We’ve learned you can’t just do one thing and be successful. We combine our work with TV, radio, and print media with a huge push in social media to get great results,” he said.

PR season for the festival kicks off with a media launch in mid June when Lenz invites local media and VIPs for an announcement of the year’s keynote speaker. That event is always followed by a flurry of attention as releases go out to local, regional, and national media outlets.

This year’s two big magazine mentions were in O, the Oprah Magazine, and Garden and Gun.

Publisher’s Weekly previewed the event, as did local magazines, including Decatur Living, where the festival scored the cover story with pictures of nationally known authors who live in the Decatur area. Atlanta magazine featured a review of Decatur author Amanda Kyle Williams’ The Stranger You Seek that debuted at the festival.

Television coverage came the day of the festival from Atlanta’s 11 Alive, while radio stories spanned the dial during the week before the festival — on stations from Dave FM to WABE to Christian station FISH 104.

Print media made a big splash for the festival with daily stories in the week leading up to the event in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  — the festival’s title sponsor — and features in Creative Loafing, The Champion, Atlanta INtown, and local Neighbor weeklies.

But it was social media buzz that took the city and the region by storm. Lenz supplied information to popular online news sites and bloggers such as Atlanta PlanIt, Patch, Decatur Metro, and Baby Got Books, while sharing a daily stream of updates on Facebook and Twitter. By the start of the festival, the Decatur Book Festival page had more than 4,000 “likes” and Bookzilla BookMonster’s personal page had more than 500 friends.

Created for the 2009 festival by Lenz Creative Director Scott Sanders, the book monster — with an epic story worthy of a graphic novel — grew in scope each year with the festival celebrity even generating an interview on the popular Scout Mob site.

The one-on-one interview between Scout Mob and Bookzilla took social media marketing to a new level, with Bookzilla talking about his blog, where he enjoys hanging out on the Decatur Square, and top tips on things to do at the festival:

Then there was both a post and photo of Bookzilla on Smithsonian.com’s Dinosaur Tracking blog on Sept. 6, which answered the age-old question of  “What’s big, green, and loves books?

Klee called the massive PR effort a huge success because of its combined focus on traditional and social media.

“We told our story to all the right people, and the effort paid off,” he said.

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