• Healthcare Marketing in 2021: Planning for the Unplanned

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    We’re nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the time of writing this, the vaccine is being distributed to millions of Americans. The vaccine is a miracle of science, but until enough people are vaccinated, the virus will continue to spread across the nation. Amidst the economic stress, the isolation, and the general fear of the unknown that we can all relate to, healthcare leaders, in particular, are faced with incredibly difficult decisions that impact the health and safety of not only their valued employees, but the community-at-large.

    COVID-19 has transformed the healthcare industry by demanding innovation across each and every patient touchpoint. In the US, healthcare organizations instituted remote working for non-essential employees, worked tirelessly to ensure that virtual clinical visits were conducted safely and securely, provided at-home patient treatment plans, and developed protocols specifically to address the new climate in which we are operating. 

    But just as we couldn’t predict that we would spend the last year battling a global pandemic, it’s impossible to predict what will happen in 2021. We can, however, anticipate that the healthcare industry will continue to be impacted for years to come.

    New Competitors Recognize Patients’ Changing Needs

    The healthcare industry is constantly challenged by complex factors including health insurance reimbursements, governmental influences, restructuring, mergers/acquisitions, innovations in technology, and, most recently, the entrance of powerhouse players into new healthcare delivery avenues.

    Mega-brands, such as CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens, are changing the way healthcare is administered by announcing that they plan to provide clinical services, such as walk-in care, mental health services, and health screenings, to patients on-site or virtually through their pharmacies. In addition, private equity groups are noting the advantage in investing in the healthcare space.

    Now, these sophisticated brands and investors are entering a market that has been in need of a shakeup for some time, and they’re looking at healthcare from a different point of view. With years of consumer data collection, vertical integration structures, and significant budgets under their respective belts, they will certainly have a competitive advantage. They know that consumers demand expedited service, specifically Millennials. Millennials are not the generation of the future. They’re here now, and they are the target audience. They, along with Gen Zers, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers, expect the brands they trust to deliver excellent customer service – and fast.

    What does that mean for regional and local healthcare brands?

    All healthcare organizations and individual practitioners have an opportunity to enhance the patient experience. Think outside the box! You’re in the healthcare space, but that doesn’t mean you can’t leverage knowledge from mega-brands in other industries.

    What do powerhouses like Uber, HBO Now, Legal Zoom, and OpenTable have in common? They ask their customers what they want regularly and pivot quickly to meet their needs. Healthcare organizations must do the same in order to compete not only with their local competition, but with services that are now available online, 24/7, to anyone with an Internet connection.

    It’s important to remember that the relationship you built with your audiences ahead of the pandemic is worth saving. So, you may need to rethink the customer experience to meet their changing needs.

    Social Inequalities Exposed

    COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people of every color, creed, gender, and religion in the United States and across the world. That said, the spread of the virus has certainly exposed issues of inequality within the healthcare infrastructure.

    According to the CDC, there is increasing evidence that certain racial and ethnic minority groups, such as Native Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Blacks, are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Factors that contribute to this disparity include discrimination, healthcare access and utilization, occupational impacts, education, income and wealth gaps, and housing circumstances.

    By responding to inequalities in the healthcare industry, organizations not only serve and save the lives of their diverse patients, they also impact their own bottom line. Each year, health disparities contribute to billions of medical costs, including approximately $35 billion in the cost of excess healthcare expenditures, $10 billion cost of illness-related productivity loss, and almost $200 billion in premature deaths.

    While this issue is incredibly complex, healthcare leaders can start by publicly communicating their organization’s stance on addressing the health disparity. By doing this, you’re telling your patients, your staff, and your partners in the community that each of their lives is important, respected, and equal.

    Rethinking the Current Model of Healthcare

    In 2021, as with 2020, many organizations are going to be challenged to think outside the box and innovate to improve the lives of their patients. For almost a year, patients have been isolated at home, turning to their devices for entertainment, news, exercise, and social interaction in order to maintain some semblance of normalcy. While telehealth enabled patients to interact with their doctors virtually, the isolated patients looked to their devices for other health resources as well.

    After the shock of the pandemic set in and consumers realized that they needed to make the best of the situation, many of them turned to companies like Peloton, Melissa Wood Health, and Under Armour’s Map My Run to stay in shape while gyms were closed or at limited capacity. Meditation apps, like Headspace and Calm, also gained popularity over the past year as we turned inward to focus on our mental health during these stressful times.

    How can healthcare providers leverage the heightened interest of individuals in their own health at this time?

    • Analyze the market research available to you. If you’re a physician or healthcare administrator, analyze your HCAHPS scores, online review sites, or proactively send a survey to patients asking for their feedback.
    • Walk through your own customer experience to identify opportunities for improvement.
    • Ensure that telehealth visits are customized to the patient. This is a brand-new medium for patients, so there’s opportunity to define high standards and top level care.
    • Make the customer experience personal by leveraging HIPAA-compliant messaging systems.
    • Encourage patients to measure their health through apps and wearables.

    Marketing Post-Pandemic

    The best way to reach your customers right now and in a post-COVID world is through word of mouth. What is the world’s largest word of mouth tool? Digital advertising. While every healthcare organization is different, a handful of marketing tactics should be considered.

    • A user-friendly website is a top priority in today’s digital age. It’s been said that the website is the new front door to your hospital/practice – and any brand, really. Over 70% of healthcare consumers start their search for a provider by looking to the Internet, and Google received more than 1 billion health-related searches per day in 2019 (pre-pandemic)! If your patients’ web searches don’t lead them to your website and/or your website doesn’t give them the answers they need or is difficult to navigate, they’re very likely going to shop around.
    • 3.3 billion people across the globe are now active on social media. That’s nearly half of the world’s population! Is your healthcare organization on social media? From a branding perspective, it’s very important to have a social media presence. As you already know, it’s also very important to be following HIPAA-compliant strategies. As a free tool, social media is certainly an effective way to engage with your staff, referral sources, and patient base, and to promote services, new hires, and innovations.
    • Videos and blogs written by content experts are an effective way to reach an audience that is looking to learn more about a specific topic. Not only that, this content can be repurposed for use on social media, e-newsletters, and website content. Additionally, longer-form blogs with frequently-searched keywords are favored by search engines, and help web users find you by leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

    We’re all looking forward to getting back to “normal,” but as marketers, we need to be sensitive that many consumers will be hesitant at first. Once we start to transition to a post-pandemic phase, the consumer will be acutely aware of what they just endured. That said, other patients who put their health on hold are going to be anxious to reclaim it, and we should be ready.

    For example, elective surgeries across the country have been limited in order to equip hospitals with the emergent resources they need during the pandemic. It’s fair to anticipate that there will be an influx in elective surgeries that were postponed or canceled previously. Does that mean that marketing won’t be necessary because the demand will be high? Not necessarily. It’s still important to ensure that you’re communicating your value proposition to patients and to referral sources in order to differentiate yourself from your competition.

    Navigating healthcare decisions and healthcare environments will never be the same post-pandemic. As marketing communications professionals, our role is to help our patients adjust to this new landscape and receive the best care possible in 2021 and beyond.

    •

    martin_admin

    •

  • Sports Marketing Trends for 2021

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    The uncertainty around the COVID-pandemic continues to limit future planning as we look ahead to 2021, and sports marketers especially are currently assessing what to take away from a mercurial 2020 in terms of shopping tendencies, audience habits, and the impact of modified live events.

    So, while the world is clearly still in flux, we’ve taken a look at some of this year’s trends that we think will stick in the sports marketing realm and what we expect to be important factors to consider in 2021.

    Political Overlap

    This year will be remembered for many things, but in the sports world, 2020 will definitely be the year it became commonplace for athletes and teams to take political stands and speak out on issues like social justice. And while there is highly charged debate as to whether this has positively or negatively affected sports viewership this year, one thing is clear –  we don’t anticipate it subsiding in the near future.

    Now more than ever, athletes want to make a difference outside of games and practices. Their large, engaged social media accounts – and increasing support in the form of flexibility and opportunity from their teams and leagues – give them the platform to make an impact on important societal issues.

    Brands looking to partner with athletes (and influencers in all sectors) have more substantive content to choose from than ever before. Whenever we talk to agencies about matching a brand up with one of their athletes, our first questions are “What are your athletes interested in? What do they stand for? What do they want to do after their playing days?”

    If you’re not getting substantive answers, then the athlete is probably not right for your brand. Given the right fit, athletes can definitely be valuable to your integrated marketing plans, but make sure there is substance and purpose to any partnerships.

    And remember that college players could be an option for your brand as well, thanks to the NCAA recently opening rules around student-athletes profiting from their name, image, and likeness (NIL).

    Stand for Something

    A trend across the marketing landscape is consumers’ desire for brands to not only talk about making a difference but to back that up with tangible action. That can mean a financial or resource investment, but the key factor is building trust by demonstrating that you care about something more than profit and growth: you need to impact issues that are important to your audience.

    Clearly, and justifiably, social justice issues have dominated in 2020. The importance of corporate social responsibility isn’t going to wane, so it’s important that companies focus on their own diversity, equity, and inclusion.

    It’s also clear that especially Gen Z really values sustainability and are environmentally conscious in many of their purchasing habits. Some athletes are even speaking out on previously taboo topics in the sports world like mental health.

    Bottom line, make sure you are making business decisions that positively impact your consumers, employees, and communities: as Pernod Ricard CEO Ann Mukherjee said on a recent Adage podcast, we need to replace the focus on “return on investment” with “return on responsibility.”

    TV Ratings Decrease But Rights Deals Increase

    One of the most debated stories in sports during 2020 has been the decline of TV ratings across every major league.

    2020 Sports TV Ratings (via Sports Media Watch)

    • MLB World Series: -32%
    • NBA Finals: -49%
    • NHL Stanley Cup Finals: -61%
    • NFL Regular Season (through Week 5): -13%
    • Kentucky Derby: -43%
    • US Open Tennis: -45%
    • US Open Golf: -42%

    This comes with the next wave of negotiations set for 2021, though some expect rights deals to continue to increase in value.

    There is considerable debate about why we’ve seen such rampant declines – including some claims that athletes taking political stands has led to lower ratings – but one thing is clear: live sports is really the only appointment viewing left.

    So whether that is spending big dollars to advertise during broadcasts (Buffalo Bills ratings have bucked the NFL’s trend and actually increased this fall in Western New York – thanks largely to their positive start), sponsoring one of the many new in-game opportunities that are taking fans closer to the athletes on the field, or utilizing more grassroots efforts like timing your social media pushes with targeted, relevant content around live games, being involved with sports events have tremendous value in the equation of how to reach your consumers.

    One important note here is that without gate receipts, all teams are scrambling for other revenue solutions, so now is a great time to be pitching new and fresh sponsorship ideas. 

    And if traditional sports are too expensive and crowded, the e-sports and sports gambling spaces continue to gain traction and sophistication (legislatively on the gambling side this election season but also business-wise as both industries rapidly mature), providing increasingly valuable alternatives.

    Shopping in Micro-Moments

    The barrier to online purchasing no longer exists. This is one of many trends that has been significantly advanced by the COVID-19 pandemic: consumers will buy anything on their phones at just about any time. This new “micro-moments” trend means that shoppers are making more transactions through their smartphones, especially while watching TV, traveling, working, etc.

    This is good news for sports marketers: more and more fans are scrolling through their phones while they’re watching games. So a smartly timed email blast is a great opportunity to put out conversion-based messaging – just be sure you’re authentically and constructively hooking your communications around events and news relevant to your audience.

    There is No Brand Loyalty

    We are hearing more and more about consumers’ increasingly eroding brand loyalty. According to Forbes, “75% of consumer have tried different stores, websites, or brands during the pandemic” – and “60% of those expect to adopt new brands and stores into their post-pandemic routines.”

    You should be constantly nurturing your consumers and maintaining a community with your audience – not just with sales messages, but through content that adds value to their lives while also complementing your overall goals.

    Across the board, brands are going direct-to-consumer, thanks mainly to the unreliability of brick-and-mortar shopping. So if you haven’t adopted an e-commerce strategy in 2020, it should be atop your priority list for 2021 – knowing that you can’t just set up a platform and expect people to start buying from your website without an integrated plan to launch and promote this new service.

    Transparency and Authenticity

    These are not new buzzwords for marketing. But the pandemic has definitely taught us all that imperfections are not only acceptable but welcome. Thanks to the proliferation of incessant video calls with our coworkers and clients, and event artists and entertainers “performing” from home, we’ve been invited into just about everyone’s houses over the last eight months. It’s clear consumers care more about transparency than perfection. So keep that in mind with all of your communications efforts in 2021 and beyond.

    •

    martin_admin

    •

  • How to write and deliver a speech that inspires action

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

    You know the line. You remember it. And you might even quote it from time to time. When President John F. Kennedy delivered those words in his 1961 Inaugural Address, he connected with people across the nation and compelled them to take action.

    You may not have President Kennedy’s eloquence—or his team of writers—but you, too, can deliver a strong speech that will drive your target audience to support your cause, join your team or buy your products.

    And whether in person or via Zoom, the most effective speeches combine strategic writing, advance planning and confident delivery. And, when done well, they can be a powerful tactic in many public affairs and marketing campaigns. So, let’s get started—11 tips to rock your next speaking gig and inspire your live or online audience.

    1. Know your audience and what will resonate

    Your audience wants to be informed, engaged and entertained. If you use material that won’t connect with them, you’re wasting your time—and theirs.

    Think ahead about who will be in the room and understand what matters to them. Additionally, consider who you want to reach with your speech once it has been shared online or in the media. There’s a difference between the audience in the room and your target audience. Sometimes they’re the same, but not always. Deliver messages that will inspire action from your target audience, but don’t ignore the people in front of you.

     2. Drive your speech with a story, and fuel it with data

    Humans connect with stories about other humans. We care about numbers, but we’ll remember a story. Strong speeches often use the narrative of one person or a group of people to bring a problem, opportunity or idea to life.

    Where can you find original stories for your speech? Talk to your colleagues and employees, engage the community and stakeholders or consider your own personal experience. If you’re the person leading a campaign to promote a product or issue, it’s likely people will want to share their stories with you—and you should share them with your audience. That said, don’t forget to add statistical data to your anecdotal evidence. Stories backed by numbers tend to make the largest impact.

     3. Give a speech, not an essay

    Write like you speak. Most people will watch or listen to your speech. Some might see a quote in the newspaper. Very few will read the full text (unless it makes history).

    You never want to ignore grammar and syntax. But, rules can be broken, especially if it adds to the passion or pacing of your speech.

    Use short sentences. Mix in a few long ones to help your terser phrases and sentences grab attention. Speak in active voice and pack in action verbs—both make your messages more vibrant and compelling. As you write, read your sentences out loud. Assess how the words and phrases interact. Keep your ears tuned to the pacing of your speech. If you’re getting bored reading it, edit it to make it sharper and shorter.

     4. Think about the sound bite

    If you’re speaking at a rally or news event, you need determine the key takeaway you want people to remember. Ask yourself, “If this speech is meant to inspire, what message needs to be in the stories about it?” The answer will lead you to the sound bite you want reporters to use.

    Write the sound bite to be concise and quotable. No longer than 10-15 seconds, if possible. Play with clever phrasing and colorful words. Make it grab attention. In your script or notes, highlight or underline the sound bite—this will serve as your cue when reading it. When you deliver the speech, hit the sound bite hard, state it clearly, and be sure you’re not looking down at your notes.

     5. Create a compelling, memorable Call to Action

    That line from President Kennedy—it’s a Call to Action. It captures attention and challenges the audience to get involved and do their part. Strive to emulate it. However, don’t get so hung up on creativity when a simple, direct Call to Action can be just as effective. You can use the pacing of your speech and the imagery of your writing to build up to an easy-to-understand phrase that motivates your audience to act.

    “Stand with us.” “Sign our petition.” “Experience a life enhanced by our technology.” Whether a candidate, an activist or a pitchman, the Call to Action is important.

     6. Be yourself, and show your passion

    Speak from the heart. Sharing your personal experience will help you connect with your audience—no matter how far away they are. Your story will bring humanity to your words and make you a trustworthy spokesperson.

    However, if you’re writing a speech for someone else to deliver, this can be more challenging. Just like you need to know your audience, you most certainly need to know and understand the person you’re writing for. Talk to them about what they want to say. And when you go through revisions, ask for their help to make the speech more personal.

     7. Stay on message

    After spending so much time crafting the right message, don’t blow the opportunity with an ad lib that steals headlines.

    Know the key messages your speech needs to convey, and focus your energy there. If a reporter asks you an off-topic question after your speech, answer it—and then pivot back to your central messages. Do your best to keep news coverage focused on your speech topic.

     8. Nothing is off the record

    Remember Mitt Romney’s 47 percent comment in the run-up to the 2012 election? He was giving remarks at a fundraiser, and the leaked video led to damaging coverage. Use that as a lesson. Everyone, at all times, has a recording device in their pocket. When giving a speech, you should proceed as if you’re always being recorded—and the video or audio will be shared with others.

    If an organizer of a speaking engagement claims the session is off the record, be forthcoming, but remain on guard. Don’t share anything you wouldn’t be comfortable appearing online attributed to you.

    9. Keep it short—much shorter than this blog post

    I know, this blog post is getting long. But have you seen that one Woodrow Wilson quote?

    “If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now.”

    Being concise is tough. Especially when you’re speaking on a subject you’re passionate about. When you’re writing, be a harsh editor and eliminate excess words that won’t contribute to the desired result—delivering a memorable speech that inspires action.

    10. Maximize the content

    As a public affairs practitioner who believes in working hard and working smart, this, to me, is the most important tip.

    You only have 24 hours each day. You need to sleep. You need to eat. You need to see your family and friends once in a while. If you’re going to take several hours to write, revise and deliver a speech, make sure you maximize the reach of the content you’ve created.

    Here are seven tactics to get your speech in front of your target audiences:

    • Send an email blast to supporters or customers encouraging them to attend the speaking engagement.
    • Create a Facebook event and invite followers to the speech.
    • Draft a quick media advisory and pitch the news media.
    • Shoot video and share it online—or broadcast it on Facebook Live, which gets strong user engagement.
    • Convert sections of your speech text into tweets and schedule them to publish after your speech starts.
    • Use Canva to turn your Call to Action or sound bite into a cool social media graphic.
    • Distribute video of the speech to news outlets, share it on social media and email it to supporters (and encourage them to share).

    And that’s just a start—for example, if the speech is on an evergreen topic, share it multiple times on your social media channels.

     11. Revise and practice

    Before you step up to the podium or screen, be sure you’re prepared to deliver your best speech. After you finish your first draft, revise it. Then, read it out loud. This will help you identify additional edits. Ask a trusted colleague to give it a read and suggest edits.

    When you rehearse it—and I know this will feel really weird—stand in front of a mirror or record yourself with your phone. Body language, tone and pace all matter. So, practice your speech and assess your performance.

    And since the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has relegated many speeches to remote delivery, here are two bonus tips for speeches in the Zoom era:

    12. Talk to the camera

    There was a time that speaking to the screen of your laptop was odd and a bit uncomfortable. Skype, Facetime and nearly a year’s worth of socially distanced meetings have changed that, but there are still plenty of mistakes you can make when interfacing with technology instead of a sea of people.

    Before your scheduled remarks, try to get comfortable speaking into your camera the same way your speak to a live group, focusing on your online audience while executing crisp, coherent statements—albeit from the confines of your office or home workspace. Be aware of how you’re making eye contact with your on-screen attendees, as well as your appearance during delivery—which brings us to our next tip.

    13. Set your stage

    As we’ve now learned after months of speaking with colleagues on camera, what’s going on in their background can hamper communication.

    Is there a spouse wandering into their shot? Are children banging on the door to their home office; is there a dog incessantly barking in the background; or is drab interior decoration on camera distracting from whatever vital points he or she is making?

    Whatever the case, it’s important that the space you choose to host your online delivery be secure—and set-dressed appropriately. Make sure to assure quiet throughout your presentation, with all parties who could affect your live speech aware of your schedule. As for what’s in frame, arrange your shot’s background in either a simple, professional or complementary manner.

    There’s a reason people like to speak on camera in front of not-so-randomly arranged bookshelves. Books and photos and regional memorabilia can reveal a little about the speaker, and that can help them connect with their television or online audience—and, ideally, complement the content of their message.     

    Ready to get started?

    If you already have a speaking engagement lined up, I always find inspiration in reading and watching the speeches of some of history’s great orators. And that makes sense when you’re striving to be inspirational. If your speech needs to be delivered in a different tone – for example, down-to-earth, solemn or funny – look for videos of people speaking at a similar event or on a similar topic. Analyze what they do and don’t do well.

    If you’re just starting to look for speaking opportunities, connect with groups that often hold events. Chambers of commerce, Rotary Clubs, young professionals’ groups or industry associations. Identify how and why you would bring value to their members, and then pitch yourself as a speaker. And, if you need support with writing or preparing for a speech, developing your key messages or executing your advocacy campaign, connect with The Martin Group’s seasoned team of public affairs professionals who work with clients across Upstate New York and beyond.

    •

    The Martin Group

    •

  • FeedMore WNY Website Redesign

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    Building a brand that benefits the community.

    For decades, Meals on Wheels and the Food Bank of Western New York worked together to help eradicate hunger across our community. While their efforts had an immeasurable positive impact, both organizations felt they could do more together. Before embarking on their shared mission, leadership at FeedMore WNY enlisted the help of The Martin Group to develop the new brand while delivering on three key goals:

    • Educate the community on details of the merger and upcoming programs
    • Retain and recruit volunteers
    • Increase donations from new and existing donors.

    To best understand the challenge ahead, The Martin Group performed a discovery and strategy session. Ultimately, it resulted in a strategic brief that would help our creative team build the new brand.

    Leveraging bright, vibrant colors and a bold typeface, the new logo was attention-grabbing without overpowering. The direct, yet unique tagline “more food, more good” perfectly encapsulated the ideology behind FeedMore WNY. With these two main assets approved, our team then worked to develop other brand elements, including:

    • A full brand standards guide
    • Custom illustrations and animations
    • Website
    • Vehicle wraps
    • Brochure
    • Volunteer tote bag
    • Business cards and stationery

    Every tactic was designed to directly connect to the FeedMore WNY brand by utilizing the broad spectrum of their new color palette and playful messaging, including headlines that followed the “more food, more good” construct.

    •

    martin_admin

    •

  • Back to School Like Never Before

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    As college students finish gearing up for the new school year, the usual late-August concerns – Did I buy the right books? Do I know how to get to all my classes? – seem quaint in comparison to the unprecedented uncertainty that COVID will bring to the fall semester. 

    For the communications departments of our colleges and universities across the country, the students are but one audience among several key constituencies that require separate, ongoing communications strategies tailored to their distinct needs and concerns.

    Here are the primary audiences for whom colleges and universities must maintain unique, COVID-specific communications microstrategies throughout the semester (and beyond).

    Students  

    While much work has already been done communicating to this audience about the myriad operational changes they will face as they return to campus, clear and consistent communication around safety precautions – both the required and the strongly encouraged – will play a critical role in reducing the risk of outbreak.

    The tone of this communication is everything, however, as the need to encourage vigilance competes with the desire to instill and maintain confidence and optimism. 

    The University of South Carolina has effectively utilized social media to convert an obligatory safety message into an inspiring call for solidarity, leveraging the hashtag “IPledgeColumbia” to ask students to take the pledge that they will do their part to protect themselves and others by following a series of public health guidelines.

    Parents

    While more than one out of every four U.S. colleges plans to begin fall classes entirely or mostly online, many schools are resuming in-person instruction and reopening their dorms. And for the parents of students returning (or otherwise heading off) to campus, the safety of their children will be of overwhelming concern. 

    This is where regular, ongoing updates about the situation on campus will go a long way toward easing worried minds. If all goes well on campus and no new cases are being reported, this good news should be communicated frequently. (Indeed, the repetitiveness of communicating “there are still no new cases” week after week will be a great problem to have.) Likewise, if cases do crop up on campus, this information must be proactively communicated by the institution, along with decisive, reassuring information about the steps the school is taking to mitigate further spread.

    Educators and staff

    This group might be the most significantly impacted by COVID-related disruption. They will have already endured considerable hardship and anxiety before the first day of classes begins, as they’ve been forced to make major adjustments to their life and work, all while – especially for untenured professors – the specter of being laid off has loomed large. Indeed, approximately 225 institutions across the country have either not renewed employment contracts or announced layoffs and furloughs, according to the The Chronicle of Higher Education’s layoffs tracker.

    As if that weren’t enough, educators returning to campus will also face heightened health and safety concerns compared to those of students, as they tend to be older and, therefore, at greater risk.

    For this audience, many of the priorities mentioned above – ongoing education around safety precautions, regular updates that communicate the institution’s progress toward containing any outbreaks, etc. – are equally relevant here. But opportunities should also be taken, whenever and wherever possible, to celebrate this group, and to thank them for the very real risks they’re enduring by coming back to campus.

    The community at large

    The local communities surrounding our reopening colleges and universities will feel a unique type of anxiety all their own. As Yasha Mounk, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University, recently wrote in The Atlantic:

    “If colleges reopen, kids from parts of the country with high case counts will, inevitably, travel to parts of the country with low case counts—and bring their home-state problems with them. This is why the biggest threat posed by reopening colleges is not to students, faculty, or staff, but to the surrounding community.”

    Lines of communication must remain open to the community at large. In many markets, local print and broadcast media will be an invaluable conduit for delivering messages from the institution. But social media can often provide a more direct channel, and both paid and organic social media tactics can effectively deliver timely news and updates to the community. Email and SMS messaging capabilities should also be considered for more immediate, time-sensitive news and information.

    There are, of course, other audience segments – alumni, donors, policymakers, etc. – that mustn’t be ignored. But the above groups represent those set to be most impacted by COVID’s disruptions to school operations and, as such, must be prioritized accordingly.

    •

    martin_admin

    •

  • Personal stories inspire the next Play Everywhere

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    Outdoor play is beneficial to the health and development of children.

    This is a reasonable, fact-based statement, and is backed up by everyone from nationally recognized free play advocates to internationally renowned research universities. It’s a simple realization, rooted in visions of kids on playgrounds or asphalt courts, and now expanded across the ambitious expanses of public parks or nestled within downtown streetscapes. The only problem appears to be that there still aren’t enough of these spaces inside all communities, especially those in need.

    That’s the inspiration behind the Play Everywhere Design Challenge, established by playspace-focused nonprofit KABOOM!, and supported by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. Exclusive to Western New York and Southeast Michigan communities, Play Everywhere awards organizations an annual total of $1 million to create lasting, scalable design installations that provide more play-everyday opportunities for families in neighborhoods that have experienced significant disinvestment. After awarding grant monies to nearly 50 inventive installations in 2018 and 2019, the program planned to welcome applications for its third edition this summer.

    Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and put the practice and safety of public play in doubt.

    In these conditions, the taken-for-granted idea of children playing freely in artistically reconfigured locales  would be clouded by concerns for both the evolving present and unknown future. There could certainly still be new and inventive playspaces, but amid ongoing uncertainties of what the eventual state of play could look like, there needed to be a way to illuminate past successes—and personify the possibilities of what can still be.

    To accomplish both of these connective elements, The Martin Group conducted a pair of interviews with two previous Play Everywhere winners to promote the competition’s application period opening on July 13. Through these interviews, we constructed two long-form features that put familiar faces on the community-energizing possibilities of creative playspaces, lamented the challenges such gathering spots face in the cautious times of COVID-19, and highlighted the overwhelming belief each has in how Play Everywhere projects can impact children—no matter the circumstances.   

    For Advancing Macomb’s “Let It Flow, Mount Clemens”—an interactive 2018 winner established to highlight its Michigan community’s history and artistic potential—the project has inspired interactive play and interest in what came before, and what can still be. For GO ART!’s winning 2019 concept, “Play Me a Tune Music Garden,” the Batavia, New York-based nonprofit established an idyllic, instrument-strewn alleyway that unveils the possibilities of music, but because of pandemic-related safety concerns, is still enthusiastically building to its intended potential.

    Together, these stories reveal not just the sentiments of each interview subject and the details of their projects. Both also provide a relatable aim for like-minded organizations, as well as inspiration for the installations that still could be. Each was established to bring communities together, and amid challenges either being managed or still unforeseen, community organizations are still working tirelessly to find ways to bring its families together within its neighborhood’s allotted space.

    Do today’s hurdles make things different for this year’s applicants? Yes—but thanks to another year of Play Everywhere, ambitious designers can access the same inventiveness as past grantees, all to devise playspaces for a different (and much brighter) tomorrow.

    For more information on KABOOM! and the Play Everywhere Challenge, visit kaboom.org/grants/play-everywhere-design-challenge. (Full application deadline is October 30.)

    •

    martin_admin

    •

  • Going Virtual in Times of Crisis

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    mobile phone with zoom app

    In a matter of two months, the entire world has been turned upside down.

    Office spaces are empty, with floors of staff members working from makeshift home offices. Normal interactions—from simple greetings at the grocery store to informal meetings over coffee—have been replaced with quick glances and necessary cancellations. Large public gatherings? Now a seemingly distant memory.

    This is the world of COVID-19, and it’s a world that comes with significant restrictions that’ve upended the way we live—and the way we do business. Despite technological advancements that’ve made telecommuting and teleconferencing manageable, in-person meetings and events were always the preferred choice in most marketing and public relation plans. Up until less than 10 weeks ago, these types of calendar items were still scheduled. Yet, today, as we continue to navigate the pandemic and public health concerns, marketers are scrambling to find a new path forward.

    So what happens when all these types of events—from large-scale conferences to press briefings to launch announcements—have to utilize available technology to go virtual? You have to rethink and re-plan things that were once formulaic to accommodate the crisis of the times, all while breaking through the clutter and delivering on the goals of the intended event.

    Over the last two months, The Martin Group has had to perform such virtual transitions both internally and externally for multiple clients. But in the case of the Cornell University-supported global agriculture competition Grow-NY, converting a live press event initially slated for a crowded farmers’ market to a virtual briefing required a coordinated and integrated effort across multiple agency departments and stakeholders—and required a carefully constructed gameplan to make the unconventional function as the conventional. 

    Here’s how our team took our initial plans and turned them into an executable occasion in the online realm.

    Analyze the situation

    No one wants to confront the impossibility of previously laid plans. But to successfully convert an in-person event to a virtual function, you have to scrutinize your state of affairs and see if you can make it work another way. 

    Due to the unforeseen circumstances of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the need to continue adhering to social distancing guidelines, the planned announcement of the second installment of the Grow-NY competition—featuring industry and government leaders at the Syracuse Farmers’ Market—had to be cancelled. Instead of relegating the briefing to an expansive press release, the TMG team leaned on its digital experience and enlisted the help of its PR, social media and paid media teams to coordinate a virtual briefing to live broadcast across the website and social media channels.  By our estimation, this would work to maintain engagement and build excitement within both the industry and local community, as well as provide a platform for the competition’s reps to communicate how this year’s competition was ready to build upon last year’s successful endeavor.

    Define your goals

    Will the goals for your event be the same as they’d be in a traditional setting? That’s completely up to you and how you approach the digital space—but when laid out just right, you may find your goals may be more unchanged than you anticipated.

    Despite going virtual, for Grow-NY, our primary goals were still connecting with media, influencers, and key stakeholders to announce the exciting details of the $3 million global competition for agtech startups and entrepreneurs, as well as specifics of the culminating Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit in Syracuse on November 17-18. Our secondary goals were to increase the number of incoming applications (and raise awareness of applications) throughout the submission period, ending on July 15. After reviewing these goals, we determined we could still accomplish all of them with a virtual production, so we proceeded with planning while understanding we may have to do more legwork to educate and inform our audiences of our new plans.

    Whereas an in-person event would require a few TV crews and wayfinding signs to drive attention and ultimately crowds to the location, we relied more heavily on paid social media campaigns to get the word out to targeted geographical audiences in the Syracuse market, performed strategic media pitching and personalized influencer outreach to encourage “who’s who” log on and leveraged email marketing to encourage pro-active event registration.

    Understand your limitations

    What happens to the flair or fanfare of an on-site event when it’s relegated to an online webcast? A lot of it might be unnecessary—and this could be a good or bad thing. Businesses are learning this every day, as the absence of an in-person staff may save on costs, but might sacrifice much of the community or interaction that makes a specific workplace so desirable to available talent.

    When taking our Grow-NY announcement from the backdrop of a vibrant (and topical) farmers’ market to a multiple-location online production, we’re obviously sacrificing setting—but these are the restrictions we’re living with. That makes the content of the message—as well as the run of show—even more vital than it typically is. If your information isn’t engaging, there’s no swag and on-site pyrotechnics to pad an otherwise underwhelming announcement.

    The content is still the key, albeit served in a different setting. To enhance this content, we invited our past competition winners to participate in an engaging Q&A session on their progress to date and recruited our local politicians to submit video remarks on what the competition means for the region. We also didn’t shy away from addressing the elephant-in-the-room—COVID-19 and its impact on the regional trips and conference. These efforts ensure we created a run-of-show that still had that strong content hook and gave viewers the answers they were looking for.   

    Outline your tactics and logistics

    Once you decide to transition your event to a virtual affair, there are plenty of tactics and logistics to consider, just as there would be for a traditional event. The biggest tactical decision specific for a virtual event may be whether to execute as a live stream, pre-recorded, or a hybrid of both.

    With Grow-NY’s May 14 launch briefing, our team recommended a pre-recorded video stream recorded on Zoom and powered by the Vimeo Livestream platform. While the platform allows for live and pre-recorded video integration, removing the live component would allow us to mitigate technology malfunction risks, all while still producing engaging content—delivered by a diverse speaker list, showcasing imagery from year one of the competition, and coordinated by a well-organized event outline. This pre-recorded content could also be broken up and distributed across social media platforms, allowing the event to be consumed in digestible soundbites as part of a larger communications plan—which is one great advantage that virtual events have over in-person ones.

    Ultmately, you need to explore available software and technologies that fits your needs best. Some events may be more suited for a casual Facebook Live, others may need Q&A discussions on a Zoom or GoTo Meeting. Think about how much interactivity your event needs, the technology requirements of your audience and your campaign budget.

    Remember: Traditional promotion still applies

    Whether your event is happening via podium or portal, there’s still PR. There are still story pitches and press releases, and there’s still an extension of the on-site messaging across social media.

    This makes the public relations and promotion aspect of the transition the most easily transferrable—albeit with a caveat. Without on-site access for cameras or reporters, this has required more detail for the Grow-NY event pitches, but has also provided additional opportunities. Pre-recorded footage could be made available for embargoed distribution, which could whet interest for larger, more detailed pieces by targeted media outlets. For paid digital and social, the decentralized nature of the event presents an opportunity to leverage paid advertising in combination with a destination landing page to capture lost attention, as well as a call-to-action to the competition website for more information.  

    While we wait to pivot toward a functionality we’re more accustomed to, now is the time to explore new avenues—and see if they can take our professions and plans to more inventive places.

    •

    martin_admin

    •

    ,

  • Meet the Team: Pauline Wegman and Paul Schmidt

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    employees

    How did you get started in your profession/the industry?

    Paul Schmidt: I always knew I wanted to work in this industry. Graduating from Northeastern University with a Communication Studies degree and working on the ecommerce team at Reebok was how I got my foot in the door. From there, I continued my education and attended art school in Atlanta, working in restaurants and as a photography assistant part-time. I had never project managed in an official capacity prior to working at The Martin Group, but I can honestly say all of my experiences have prepared me for a different part of this role.

    Pauline Wegman: After graduating college with a fine arts degree, I took an unpaid internship with a local startup. Luckily, they hired me as a full-time graphic designer after two weeks and I spent the next year designing footwear and apparel for FIFA and NASCAR. I then switched over to a different company where I worked in graphic and web design for a couple years, then was promoted to manage a digital media team for nearly four years thereafter. When the opportunity arose to work on the digital team at The Martin Group, I accepted wholeheartedly.

    What kinds of projects are you working on right now?

    Paul: I help manage digital projects on the Wegmans team—that includes anything as small as gifs and social posts, to large campaign sites and emails.

    Pauline: On the Wegmans website, I’m currently revising and adding pages to the Feel Your Best campaign, as well as developing wireframes for a large salmon campaign. I’m also designing and coding emails geared toward staying in and their curbside pickup and delivery options.

    What’s your favorite part about working on the Wegmans team?

    Paul: Wegmans operates at an incredibly fast pace, so there’s no time to sit around. Some people wait months or years to see their projects come to life; whereas at Wegmans, it doesn’t take too long to see the work The Martin Group contributes to pop up in an inbox or in the stores themselves.

    Pauline: My coworkers are amazing. The food photography never lets me down–though it does make me hungry most days. I also like knowing that I contribute to designs that reach a large audience.

    What’s the best career advice you’ve received?

    Paul: Any passage from the book, ​Feck Perfuction ​by James Victore.

    Pauline: Stay focused and work hard; hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

    What are you passionate about?

    Paul: I’m passionate about creative projects, design, pop culture, politics, and food.

    Pauline: Art/design, dogs, home renovation, traveling.

    If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what would your dream job be?

    Paul: Working as an editorial illustrator for a magazine or news site.

    Pauline: Either an interior designer or a full-time painter/stay-at-home dog mom.

    How do you spend your time outside of work?

    Paul: I like to get out and enjoy the warm weather in the summertime, attend festivals, try new bars and restaurants, draw and paint.

    Pauline: Pretty much doing anything I’m passionate about. I can usually be found painting in my home studio, playing with my dogs, working on house projects, or researching and planning a trip. Oh, and if I’m truly being honest, I binge-watch a decent amount of trash TV.

    Who’s the closest sitcom character to your real life?

    Paul: Maybe a mix between Max and Penny from ​Happy Endings.

    Pauline: 50/50 split between Monica from Friends and Jess from New Girl.

    Describe your perfect weekend.

    Paul: At this stage of quarantine, I’d settle for spending time anywhere in public, surrounded by people. But…some of my most enjoyable weekends have been spent on summer getaways along the New England coast, enjoying the beaches, seafood, and nightlife.

    Pauline: Ideally in summer–lots of fresh air, kayaking, hiking, and hanging out with my friends and family.

    What’s your favorite restaurant in Rochester?

    Paul: Restaurant Good Luck for cocktails and their burger or Mr. Dominic’s at the Lake if I’m craving Italian.

    Pauline: Fiorella! It’s super quaint and authentic and the food is to die for. They also have the cutest plates and napkins (these little details really feed my soul).

    Describe your ideal pizza. 

    Paul: A Wegmans Meals 2 Go, Large 2 Topping Pizza— Free Delivery; No-Contact Delivery with DoorDash.

    Pauline: Bee sting pizza – pepperoni and honey. ? It’s. ?So. ?Good.

    What music is playing in heavy rotation right now?

    Paul Schmidt: According to Spotify: Tame Impala, Frank Ocean, Kacey Musgraves, and the playlist “Pollen.”

    Pauline Wegman: I have to admit that I have a pretty bad habit of listening to songs on repeat until I get sick of them. I’d say my top three songs right now are: “PDLIF” – Bon Iver; “Crazy” – James TW; and “Neon Fools” – Adam Doleac.

    What song do you know all of the lyrics to?

    Paul: “Money Maker” – Ludacris ft. Pharrell

    Pauline: Probably every song on the Maroon 5 “Songs About Jane” album. It’s really stuck with me throughout the years…

    What is the top travel destination on your bucket list?

    Paul: I’d like to explore Germany and Lebanon and trace some of my family’s roots.

    Pauline: Australia and New Zealand.

    OK, two truths and a lie.

    Paul:

    I’m vegan. My great grandmother was kicked off the Titanic. I drew my own tattoo.

    Pauline:

    I’ve traveled to Italy. I had chickens growing up. I own a motorcycle.

    •

    martin_admin

    •

  • Tips While Working From Home

    You searched for new era cap – Page 24 of 31 – The Martin Group

    The most recent Gallup survey on telecommuting (released in 2017) revealed that 43% of Americans occasionally work from home (WFH). This seems reasonable, as enabling technology, family responsibilities, and the constraints of commuting have made telecommuting a favorable option—from time to time.

    But with the current COVID-19 health crisis affecting workers everywhere, time-to-time has transitioned to all the time. Employees versed in casually finishing up some work on the couch are now faced with doing an eight-hour shift on the couch, five days a week. Mothers and fathers who exhaustingly juggle professional responsibilities with parenting are now attempting to do both simultaneously—while moonlighting as homeschool teachers. The idea of home—traditionally established as a respite from the chaos that exists outside its door—has now been repurposed as part-office and part-daycare, all while existing as our shelter from an ongoing storm of sickness and social distancing.

    It’s a lot to handle. But just like we’re managing lifestyle changes day-to-day, the transition to working from home—and all that comes with it—can be managed with a handful of helpful tips.   

    Get dressed

    Is it a lot easier to roll out of bed, set the kids up for the morning, then transition to your workspace in your incredibly comfortable pajamas? Yes—but this working-from-home routine is no longer a short-term situation. This could go on for some time, so dressing like it’s a workday can help make this new normal a little like the old normal, all while facilitating a focus that can waiver within the relaxed confines of home.

    Tip from the trenches: Once my two- and four-year-old are on their second bowl of Cheerios—and third wrestling match over who gets the Magna-Tiles—I shower and change into what I’d regularly wear to the office, including a collared shirt, jeans, and shoes. (And note: GQ agrees with me.) 

    Devise a workspace (that enables work)

    If you don’t regularly work from home, then it’s likely you don’t have a set-up that’s conducive to hosting 10-hour workdays—or one that’s sequestered from everyday distractions. Now you need one. It doesn’t have to replicate your office, but it also shouldn’t be too comfortable. (See: Your bed.) It just needs to be a setting that enables productivity while affording you privacy to get the demands of the day done.

    Tip from the trenches: For the last two years, my wife and I have used an old high school desk as my daughter’s changing table. She’s now potty-trained, so we’ve repurposed the desk—as a desk. For this WFH period, we moved it into our bedroom, and now split time at the sunlit space throughout the day.

    Create some playlists

    Music can motivate—and insulate. Depending on your mood and genre choice, the right run of tunes can keep you on track, hold your attention on a series of assignments, and block out distractions from roommates—or little roommates. To start, try devising a lengthy playlist on Spotify (for free or paid accounts) full of songs that can elicit creativity, calm your nerves, and carry you through the day.

    Tip from the trenches: Over the years, my eclectic playlists have both facilitated writing and blocked out distractions from working in remote locations like loud coffee shops. Now at home, they keep me on task—and keep out the noise from the toddler battles happening on my wife’s watch.

    (Some albums I listen to when I need to get work done: “Break It Yourself” by Andrew Bird, “American Hearts” by A.A. Bondy, “Devils & Dust” by Bruce Springsteen, “The Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” by Neko Case, “Astral Weeks” by Van Morrison, and, oddly enough, “OK Computer” by Radiohead.)

    Connect with coworkers

    We all need time to ourselves, but isolation (or time spent solely with family) isn’t for everybody. Communicating with your coworkers—whether on actual work or news of the day—is a necessary exhale for the extrovert in all of us. Being deprived of that can affect our overall well-being, so find an opportunity to hear a live voice or see a face, whether through Zoom meetings, FaceTime or your standard iPhone.

    Tip from the trenches: Since the start of The Martin Group’s WFH period, much of our communication has happened through Microsoft Teams—and not just for work-related meetings. We’ve also hosted an office-wide Happy Hour, allowing coworkers to share a drink and some laughs amid the ongoing solitude; and the early April introduction of Snap Camera by VP|Creative Director Michael Tsanis has certainly added some extra entertainment.

    Defend against distractions—big and small

    There are plenty of distractions at home without a worldwide pandemic dominating your news and social media feeds. If you’re tending to any number of children at home, those disruptions can multiply exponentially—depending on the energy level of said kids. It’s an ongoing challenge, but it takes a stern commitment—and one that will be continuously tested—to tune out these interruptions. 

    Tip from the trenches: For news, establish two times per day to check your source of choice for updates, then let it go. For the kids, let your partner take the reins for his or her shift, and barricade yourself in your space. For me, I put two free weights at the base of my bedroom door to stop any intrusions. (Note: The maniacs still try to break down the door, but that’s where the music comes in.) 

    Schedule an escape

    Working in this confinement can be depressing, so you need a daily release. While social distancing and various other measures are limiting our outdoor activity options, we can still take walks, runs, or bike rides, so be sure to schedule one (whether alone or with the family) for at least 30 minutes per day. It’ll not only provide a necessary exhale in a constrained day, but it will always give you something to look forward to. 

    Tip from the trenches: Since the start of WFH, I’ve either taken a neighborhood walk with my family, a three-mile run—or dependent on my anxiety levels, both—every day. Adults or kids (especially kids) are not meant to be confined like this, so it’s an absolute necessity to get out, even if it’s for a short time.

    Go to sleep

    When you work from home, there’s no quitting time. No one says goodbye or turns out the lights, and no one tells you to go home—because you’re already home. Outside of time-senstive obligations, you set your own parameters, and this can be quicksand for those who can’t close their laptops. Set a time to end your day, then stick to it. You’ll need rest for tomorrow—and the weeks we’ll continue to do all of this. 

    Tip from the trenches: Since my work day is now split up with childcare and my wife’s work responsibilities, I’ve established a three-hour block to work after my kids are asleep. Once it expires, I retire—and since I’m working at a desk next to my bed, I can roll off one and into the other. 

    •

    martin_admin

    •