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August 24, 2009

Notice & Access

Filed under: Annual Reports, Design, Environment — leasa @ 10:27 am
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Rick Howe, Director of
Corporate Communications at BioMed Realty Trust on his views regarding
implementing Notice & Access. Here is what he thinks….
What motivated your company’s move to Notice & Access?
The primary motivations for BioMed were to more actively and effectively
communicate BioMed’s business strategy and operating and financial results
for 2008, improve the company’s environmental stewardship, and realize
potential cost savings.
What formats did you provide to your shareholders?
BioMed sent a postcard to notify stockholders of our online annual report
URL, posted an interactive online version with extensive video content on
our website, and distributed a print version of the annual report as
requested and as required by SEC rules.
Did you also create a print format? Why?
Yes. A printed version of the annual report was provided in order to ensure
that all investors had access to BioMed’s 2008 Annual Report and to comply
with the SEC’s notice and access rules.
How did Notice & Access change the process of creating the annual
report?
The decision to provide a postcard, online annual report and a printed
version, coupled with the multi-media content in the online version,
required a much higher level of communication and collaboration with Mentus.
Add to that the simultaneous implementation of BioMed’s improved interactive
website, which added to the complexity of the process and magnified the need
for all manner of communication and consultation.
How does the annual report reflect your company’s social and corporate
responsibility?
Sustainability was behind our decision to convert BioMed’s annual report to
an online format. In addition to the environmental benefits of using less
paper, along with the cost savings for our business and shareholders, the
online format offered a level of interactivity that is not possible on paper
and enabled us to communicate the details of our business more effectively.
How did shareholders receive the annual report? Was feedback positive?
While we did not receive a substantial volume of comments, all of the
feedback on our online annual report was positive.
What challenges/success did you experience with Notice & Access and
moving the annual online?
The primary challenge was keeping track of all of the moving parts,
including our first online annual report, video updates and revisions,
postcard, printed version, and revamped website. Our original hope was to
launch all of these pieces in March, but the broad scope of these
interconnected parts pushed the implementation to mid-April. In spite of
these challenges, the annual report was delivered in accordance within
mandated SEC timeframes and the website went live concurrently with
virtually no technical problems at implementation or since.
Were there tangible financial benefits to going online?
The total cost of the entire annual report package (postcard, online annual
report, printed version, transfer agent and broker fees) was approximately
15% less than previous years without Notice and Access.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Rick Howe, Director of Corporate Communications at BioMed Realty Trust on his views regarding implementing Notice & Access. Here is what he thinks….

What motivated your company’s move to Notice & Access?
The primary motivations for BioMed were to more actively and effectively communicate BioMed’s business strategy and operating and financial results for 2008, improve the company’s environmental stewardship, and realize potential cost savings.

What formats did you provide to your shareholders?
BioMed sent a postcard to notify stockholders of our online annual report URL, posted an interactive online version with extensive video content on our website, and distributed a print version of the annual report as requested and as required by SEC rules.

Did you also create a print format? Why?
Yes. A printed version of the annual report was provided in order to ensure that all investors had access to BioMed’s 2008 Annual Report and to comply with the SEC’s notice and access rules.

How did Notice & Access change the process of creating the annual report?
The decision to provide a postcard, online annual report and a printed version, coupled with the multi-media content in the online version, required a much higher level of communication and collaboration with Mentus. Add to that the simultaneous implementation of BioMed’s improved interactive website, which added to the complexity of the process and magnified the need for all manner of communication and consultation.

How does the annual report reflect your company’s social and corporate responsibility?
Sustainability was behind our decision to convert BioMed’s annual report to an online format. In addition to the environmental benefits of using less paper, along with the cost savings for our business and shareholders, the online format offered a level of interactivity that is not possible on paper and enabled us to communicate the details of our business more effectively.

How did shareholders receive the annual report? Was feedback positive?
While we did not receive a substantial volume of comments, all of the feedback on our online annual report was positive.

What challenges/success did you experience with Notice & Access and moving the annual online?
The primary challenge was keeping track of all of the moving parts, including our first online annual report, video updates and revisions, postcard, printed version, and revamped website. Our original hope was to launch all of these pieces in March, but the broad scope of these interconnected parts pushed the implementation to mid-April. In spite of these challenges, the annual report was delivered in accordance within mandated SEC timeframes and the website went live concurrently with virtually no technical problems at implementation or since.

Were there tangible financial benefits to going online?
The total cost of the entire annual report package (postcard, online annual report, printed version, transfer agent and broker fees) was approximately 15% less than previous years without Notice and Access.

August 21, 2009

Summer

Filed under: Agency Life — janine @ 9:46 am

I do love the summer! The overall vibe is just more relaxed and you tend to do things at a slower pace. The sun is always shining and in this business with clients taking their vacations, deadlines become a little looser and we often take on some non-traditional projects. These projects allow us to expand our brains beyond the normal path of creativity and often result in a fun exploration with successful results. Is this because of the vibe of summer? Could it be the extra Vitamin D that everyone is getting from the sun? Either way many people are open to trying new things or have more time to explore a new idea.

Many companies also have “summer hours” or “flex Friday’s” and report that more work actually gets done with less time because it forces employees to work harder within those days. Could summer actually be a more efficient or creative season? It still remains to be seen but you’ll hear a lot of employees come Fall wishing it was still Summer (weather aside).

August 14, 2009

Sometimes Less is More… Like in a PowerPoint Presentation

Filed under: Positioning, Presentation — karen @ 11:12 am
I recently attended a life science industry event. The keynote speaker began at 8am. I had a cup of coffee in hand and was ready to be educated. 45 minutes later and 189 power point slides later I had been teased with a volume of information that I couldn’t possibly have absorbed. I am not exaggerating…. literally 189 slides. I kept watching slides of impressive graphs and statistics fly by at lightening speed (averaging 15 seconds per slide) and thinking to myself, “wait, go back, I couldn’t see what that said!” 189 slides is about 150 slides too many.
PowerPoint presentations are tools to guide a discussion; they are not standalone pieces that tell a story on their own. The most engaging presenters are those that draw you in, that make you feel as though you are a part of the conversation and not a bored student sitting in the back of the classroom listening to the famous Charlie Brown teacher voice drone on (mwahh mwaaa mwaah mwahh mwaaa mwaaa).
Use slides to remind you of key points you wish to discuss and to guide you, not substitute for you. Your listeners will appreciate it and you will be perceived as far more knowledgeable and engaged. When creating a PowerPoint, whether for a client or our own new business presentations, I always try to ask myself, “if the attendees at this meeting read this document on their own, would they know everything I am aiming to share with them?” If the answer yes, then the slides are too detailed and need to be scaled back. Attendees need to consciously or subconsciously assign some value to your physical presence at a presentation in order to feel their time was well spent. If they could have received it all in an email an opportunity to really connect was lost.

I recently attended a life science industry event. The keynote speaker began at 8am. I had a cup of coffee in hand and was ready to be educated. 45 minutes later and 189 power point slides later I had been teased with a volume of information that I couldn’t possibly have absorbed. I am not exaggerating…. literally 189 slides. I kept watching slides of impressive graphs and statistics fly by at lightening speed (averaging 15 seconds per slide) and thinking to myself, “wait, go back, I couldn’t see what that said!” 189 slides is about 150 slides too many.

PowerPoint presentations are tools to guide a discussion; they are not standalone pieces that tell a story on their own. The most engaging presenters are those that draw you in, that make you feel as though you are a part of the conversation and not a bored student sitting in the back of the classroom listening to the famous Charlie Brown teacher voice drone on (mwahh mwaaa mwaah mwahh mwaaa mwaaa).

Use slides to remind you of key points you wish to discuss and to guide you, not substitute for you. Your listeners will appreciate it and you will be perceived as far more knowledgeable and engaged. When creating a PowerPoint, whether for a client or our own new business presentations, I always try to ask myself, “if the attendees at this meeting read this document on their own, would they know everything I am aiming to share with them?” If the answer yes, then the slides are too detailed and need to be scaled back. Attendees need to consciously or subconsciously assign some value to your physical presence at a presentation in order to feel their time was well spent. If they could have received it all in an email an opportunity to really connect was lost.

August 13, 2009

The Hard Edge of Brand Iconography

Filed under: Branding — guy @ 11:07 am
In evaluating the conceptual platforms for a current campaign, I was reminded of a major challenge in developing a new brand – usually on the mind of almost every new client. Creating memorable, striking images that have the power of becoming an icon for a product or idea is usually Job One for any creative, and why we get the big bucks. On the surface this seems straightforward.
Simple… the more obvious the image, the more memorable it will be.
Wrong.
What makes a brand image effective is the collective nature of consumer perception – as perception and understanding of the brand message becomes continuously reinforced, the message becomes a personal truth that can later be triggered simply by the brand image. The creative challenge is first selecting an image that is easy and compelling to visualize, and then aligning it to a brand message that is important to the target.
This is the hardest to implement at the beginning, when the product “brand “ is unknown. The company or product brand needs to develop “ownership” of its attribute as its differentiation against the competition. The challenge is that in the current overloaded media environment, all the most obvious attributes of value – faster, cheaper, more effective, ad infinitum, have been utilized to the point of overkill. From shields and umbrellas for protection to a bulls-eye for precision to a DNA strand for biotech – images that have become banal, tired and ineffective, certainly not smartly differentiating the product.
Consequently new imagery must be created that is not as directly obviously connected to the attribute desired. The connection now has to be built more subtly, but no less effectively. Unfortunately, this requires heavy lifting – more creativity, longer campaigns, more repetition, more expense. But when it works, it works.
For example, look at Nike. This famous ad campaign does not even show the shoes. It talks about unleashing the power of initiative, showing a photo of any athletic effort with the “swoosh” logo and the phrase “Do it”. This is great branding, but it must be remembered it is the result of several decades of the same message and image association being repeated millions if not billions of times.
The most powerful visual branding is not simply a function of the image itself, but also always the context of that image. This context is developed by the verbal support of that imagery, the positioning and messaging. The heavy lifting comes from continuously reinforcing that message and image/word association long enough to imbed it into the audience consciousness. This is where repetition comes in. Break-out brand imagery now requires subtlety, the courage to go with the obscure, and the guts to pay the necessary cost.
The best marketing, like everything else, is never easy.

In evaluating the conceptual platforms for a current campaign, I was reminded of a major challenge in developing a new brand – usually on the mind of almost every new client. Creating memorable, striking images that have the power of becoming an icon for a product or idea is usually Job One for any creative, and why we get the big bucks. On the surface this seems straightforward.

Simple… the more obvious the image, the more memorable it will be.

Wrong.

What makes a brand image effective is the collective nature of consumer perception – as perception and understanding of the brand message becomes continuously reinforced, the message becomes a personal truth that can later be triggered simply by the brand image. The creative challenge is first selecting an image that is easy and compelling to visualize, and then aligning it to a brand message that is important to the target.

This is the hardest to implement at the beginning, when the product “brand “ is unknown. The company or product brand needs to develop “ownership” of its attribute as its differentiation against the competition. The challenge is that in the current overloaded media environment, all the most obvious attributes of value – faster, cheaper, more effective, ad infinitum, have been utilized to the point of overkill. From shields and umbrellas for protection to a bulls-eye for precision to a DNA strand for biotech – images that have become banal, tired and ineffective, certainly not smartly differentiating the product.

Consequently new imagery must be created that is not as directly obviously connected to the attribute desired. The connection now has to be built more subtly, but no less effectively. Unfortunately, this requires heavy lifting – more creativity, longer campaigns, more repetition, more expense. But when it works, it works.

For example, look at Nike. This famous ad campaign does not even show the shoes. It talks about unleashing the power of initiative, showing a photo of any athletic effort with the “swoosh” logo and the phrase “Do it”. This is great branding, but it must be remembered it is the result of several decades of the same message and image association being repeated millions if not billions of times.

The most powerful visual branding is not simply a function of the image itself, but also always the context of that image. This context is developed by the verbal support of that imagery, the positioning and messaging. The heavy lifting comes from continuously reinforcing that message and image/word association long enough to imbed it into the audience consciousness. This is where repetition comes in. Break-out brand imagery now requires subtlety, the courage to go with the obscure, and the guts to pay the necessary cost.

The best marketing, like everything else, is never easy.

August 11, 2009

Non-traditional Ways to Reach your Core Audience

Filed under: Marketing, Public Relations — troy @ 11:04 am
The Mentus team recently did PR around the launch of MyCeliacID, a DIY diagnostic test for celiac disease. It is made by Prometheus Labs in San Diego, CA. Celiac Disease is a severe allergic reaction to Gluten, a common ingredient in most foods. It can cause inflammation and damage to the small intestine. The ‘classic’ symptoms of Celiac Disease include abdominal pain and weight loss.
Today’s media is changing…people traditionally received information from a handful of reporters for a given television station, newspaper or magazine. PR professionals would reach out to journalists, they would opt to cover a story and a day or so later, the story would run and it was news. With today’s media, info is distributed in an instant and the select reporters who once cradled the news no longer have the exclusive privilege of the only holder of the story. Not that these news sources are any less valid because there is still value in the traditional forms of media.
But my point is there are now other non-traditional ways that are just as effective (if not more in some cases) to reach your core audience. Particularly when that audience is well defined.
I was amazed by the number of online communities, twitter accounts and blogs that were themed around celiac disease and a gluten-free diet. With these new forms of communication, it really brought home to me the importance of reaching out to these blogs and online media outlets. I was simply impressed by how fast and how much REACH we were able to leverage.
Blogs are VERY unique in that they are specific and the participants are savvy, hungry for relevant information, passionate and solely focused on their given cause. The press release pick up and inclusion of MyCeliacID information was amazing. The press release was mentioned in some form on ALL the major Celiac ID and Gluten related blog sites. Participants were commenting about it and MyCeliacID was certainly “buzzing” in the celiac community. People with twitter accounts posted “tweets” about the announcement and in turn notified all their followers.
One of the drawbacks is when info moves so fast, it’s like the “telephone game” you used to play as a kid. Because ANYONE can be blogger and report news, the message can be misconstrued. We encountered this and had to track down the original source and correct it ASAP. It was a pleasure to realize most wanted to share accurate and up to date information and were happy to correct their minor errors. We also had the opportunity to monitor what was said when participants commented, it was great because it allowed for us to see real unfiltered feedback from people who may have used it or what they have heard about it. If the product or service has a specific audience I highly recommend reaching out to blogs and other viral outlets. It Works!

The Mentus team recently did PR around the launch of MyCeliacID, a DIY diagnostic test for celiac disease. It is made by Prometheus Labs in San Diego, CA. Celiac Disease is a severe allergic reaction to Gluten, a common ingredient in most foods. It can cause inflammation and damage to the small intestine. The ‘classic’ symptoms of Celiac Disease include abdominal pain and weight loss.

Today’s media is changing…people traditionally received information from a handful of reporters for a given television station, newspaper or magazine. PR professionals would reach out to journalists, they would opt to cover a story and a day or so later, the story would run and it was news. With today’s media, info is distributed in an instant and the select reporters who once cradled the news no longer have the exclusive privilege of the only holder of the story. Not that these news sources are any less valid because there is still value in the traditional forms of media.

But my point is there are now other non-traditional ways that are just as effective (if not more in some cases) to reach your core audience. Particularly when that audience is well defined.

I was amazed by the number of online communities, twitter accounts and blogs that were themed around celiac disease and a gluten-free diet. With these new forms of communication, it really brought home to me the importance of reaching out to these blogs and online media outlets. I was simply impressed by how fast and how much REACH we were able to leverage.

Blogs are VERY unique in that they are specific and the participants are savvy, hungry for relevant information, passionate and solely focused on their given cause. The press release pick up and inclusion of MyCeliacID information was amazing. The press release was mentioned in some form on ALL the major Celiac ID and Gluten related blog sites. Participants were commenting about it and MyCeliacID was certainly “buzzing” in the celiac community. People with twitter accounts posted “tweets” about the announcement and in turn notified all their followers.

One of the drawbacks is when info moves so fast, it’s like the “telephone game” you used to play as a kid. Because ANYONE can be blogger and report news, the message can be misconstrued. We encountered this and had to track down the original source and correct it ASAP. It was a pleasure to realize most wanted to share accurate and up to date information and were happy to correct their minor errors. We also had the opportunity to monitor what was said when participants commented, it was great because it allowed for us to see real unfiltered feedback from people who may have used it or what they have heard about it. If the product or service has a specific audience I highly recommend reaching out to blogs and other viral outlets. It Works!

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