Greentarget

Greentarget

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New relationships underscore increasing demand in agency’s services across earned media, research, content and digital.

CHICAGO, December 13, 2018— Greentarget Global Group, a leading business-to-business public relations firm, today announced the addition of several new clients in the third quarter of 2018. Greentarget will be providing PR services ranging from research projects, thought leadership initiatives, and media relations programs.

Greentarget’s new clients include:

  • Brown Rudnick, a law firm with offices in the United States and Europe that represents clients from around the world in high-stakes litigation and business transactions.
  • Carbon Black (NASDAQ: CBLK) is a leading provider of next-generation endpoint security delivered via the cloud.
  • TransMed Systems, a leading provider of intelligence, technology, and expertise to dramatically improve the process of developing, identifying and matching eligible patients to clinical trials.

About Greentarget

Greentarget is a strategic public relations firm focused exclusively on the communications needs of highly competitive business-to-business organizations. The firm was founded in 2005 to focus on the specific communications issues facing sophisticated organizations that compete on expertise, service and reputation. Today, Greentarget delivers a unique mix of earned media, content, research, digital, analytics and special situations counsel to help clients communicate and influence through normal business cycles and in times of crisis. The agency’s success is due to carefully cultivated talent, specialized capabilities and strict adherence to a client service process called The Greentarget Way. Greentarget’s team of 60+ employees, located in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London, offer the entrepreneurial spirit, geographic breadth and depth of experience required to serve leading business-to-business organizations. For more information, visit www.greentarget.com.

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In an ever-evolving digital world, it can be difficult to identify the newest and most effective public relations tools to keep your business relevant and your ideas fresh. Last month, Greentarget attended PRWeek’s PRDecoded conference in Chicago, which focused on how communicators can use these tools to thrive in a digital world. Marketers from technology, consumer goods, travel and hospitality brands presented alongside agency leaders to discuss the latest PR and digital trends.

What our team learned at the conference is that when it comes to navigating this fast-paced environment and staying relevant, it really comes back to one thing: cultivating relationships. To understand the newest digital platforms, what they measure and how they can impact business, it is crucial to remember that the end user of all these platforms is a person. PR professionals have a natural edge here. We talk a lot at Greentarget about how PR professionals are the “keepers of the lost art of media relations.” Public relations professionals are by definition relationship people. Here are some ways that focusing on relationships gives us an edge in the digital landscape and equips us to keep up.

Reinvention

In the conference’s opening session, “The Leading Disruptor,” Matt Maloney, founder and CEO of GrubHub, stressed the importance of being open to change, revisiting your business plans at least every six months and encouraging your team to keep up with new tools and trends. Accurately defining your company narrative and remaining aligned with your vision will give your team the room they need to push the envelope and grow with the business.

Storytelling

It’s no surprise that the words “content” and “narrative” were thrown around repeatedly across all sessions. The problem has become that there is so much content to consume and even more ways to consume it. We ourselves took aim squarely at the problem in Greentarget’s annual State of Digital and Content Survey, highlighting the issue of information overload. DeLu Jackson of Conagra challenged us to spend more time listening to, monitoring and engaging customers and clients to craft more meaningful content to answer the question “What are we solving for?” in his session titled “Producing for Your Customers.”

Attention

How do you attract someone’s attention and get them to “lean in” to your narrative?

“When content is abundant, attention is finite,” Charlie Hart of RXBar said in his session titled “The Price of Attention in a Digital Age.” Hart showed how the mechanics of the human brain discern what information is worth our attention: be clever, mysterious and seductive. Challenging your audience to think is the best way to earn, and keep, their attention.

Sandra Stahl of Jacobstahl Marketing Communications used the example of Wendy’s in her session, “Relationships Remain the Center of Digital Communications.” She offered one of the company’s most recent campaigns, creating a menu item from a fan’s tweet, to show how the company has succeeded by noticing—and monetizing—their users’ attention.

Humanity

At the core of any digital strategy is understanding and building a relationship with your target audience. While one of the biggest challenges that marketers face is keeping up with the rate of evolution and change in technology, no matter the new digital platform, people remain the constant in this changing landscape, Stahl said. People are looking for the same thing from digital marketing and communications that they want from any other interaction: a relationship.

The PRDecoded conference validated the notion that building and maintaining relationships remains the most important component of our job as communications professionals, while providing an exciting, fresh look at how PR is evolving in the digital age. Building trust across multiple platforms and adapting to change daily is no small feat. But it’s also what we do best. Being in the center of the digital age allows us even more opportunity to showcase those skills.

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If you’re lucky enough to have seen Hamilton, the Broadway megahit penned by Lin-Manuel Miranda, you’ve likely listened to the soundtrack every day since you saw it, daydreamed about the Hamilton Exhibition opening next year in Chicago and stalked Miranda’s Twitter feed incessantly. Or maybe that’s just me. Through a combination of good fortune and slight obsession, I’ve actually seen Hamilton three times this year. But beyond the romance of the theater and the beguiling Hamilton score, I found striking connections between Alexander Hamilton’s practice of public relations and the work we do at Greentarget. Here are a few lessons we can take out of Hamilton’s PR handbook: 1. Thought leadership has always been, and always will be, essential. Hamilton knew his voice carried weight. The Federalist Papers – a collection of essays written by Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison promoting the ratification of the U.S. Constitution – was the product of a content strategy created to influence the course of history. At Greentarget, we believe true thought leaders have an obligation to participate skillfully in the conversations that matter to their clients, especially as they seek to burnish their reputations, attract talent or achieve a higher purpose. Hamilton was largely driven by his pursuit of a higher purpose – but he was also ambitious, and his thought leadership elevated his personal brand, fueling his ascent to an essential role in the first presidential administration. 2. The importance of directing a smarter conversation. While Aaron Burr repeatedly advised him to “talk less, smile more,” Hamilton couldn’t help himself. He never shied away from an opportunity to “drop some knowledge,” and as a result he was often able to shape public perception of important issues. To be a true thought leader, an organization must consistently deliver insights and intelligence that inform business decisions for its key audiences. We sometimes encourage our clients to assume they’re “the smartest in the room” and capitalize on any opportunity to offer their unique perspective and elevate the conversation. 3. The significance of media. Hamilton relied heavily on newspapers and pamphlets, partly because they were among his only means of distributing his ideas. But even with the changing media landscape of the 21st century, traditional media is still a go-to source for executives and business leaders. Greentarget’s 2018 State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey shows that 54 percent of in-house counsel surveyed go to traditional media (e.g., The Wall Street Journal) each day for legal, business and industry news and information, and 45 percent find such sources very valuable – far above any other source. And Greentarget’s new survey of C-suite executives, the State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey – Professional Services, found that more than half of those executives get their content from traditional media every day, and 75 percent find it very valuable content for business and industry news and information. As PR pros work to keep up with the ever-changing media landscape, I invite you to view Hamilton through the lens of your work. Consider what he knew about shaping public perception by contributing to a smarter conversation, and remember that, though we take pride in finding new and exciting ways to distribute our clients’ messages, the tried-and-true methods still resonate. And, while it’s true that we may not be in the business of deciding “who lives or who dies,” at Greentarget we certainly believe you can tell your story.

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The declaration came in a room full of marketers at the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) Summit a few weeks ago in Portland, Oregon. And it drew nods from the crowd. “The audit, as we know it, will be gone in five years,” said Ed Kless of Sage, a business management solutions provider. Kless was talking about the impact of technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence, which are already reshaping the industry. Against this backdrop of surging disruption, the AAM Summit’s theme was fresh thinking – with a focus on trends, tools and best practices to make accounting firms stand out regionally and nationally. Here are a few of the conversations and topics that stuck with me after I left Portland:
  • Make Accounting Marketing Personal. In the opening keynote session, comedian and former CPA John Garrett discussed how accounting firms can differentiate themselves by letting their personalities shine through in their marketing. For an industry constantly focused on numbers, audits and processes, this makes sense. By humanizing their organizations (and talent) through networking, community relationships and creative thought leadership, firms can rise above the noise.
  • Evaluate and Optimize Your Marketing Technology Stack. No matter the size of the firm, investing in the right marketing technology can yield incredible benefits. In the “Building Your Marketing Technology Stack” session, two firms (one with an annual revenue of $250 million, the other $5 million) shared how they invest in technology to optimize their marketing. These firms understand how syncing brand awareness, customer nurturing, conversions and analytics are critical to growth.
  • Online Reputation Matters in the Accounting Buyer Journey. The session “Online Reputation for Accounting Firms” introduced some powerful research. For example, 33 percent of prospective accounting firm clients will read online ratings, said Kat Kocurek from Inavero, a satisfaction survey provider, and more than half of prospects referred to a firm will research it online. This reaffirms that the days of relying on relationships and handshakes in the buying process are long gone.
  • Hyperlocal Marketing Matters. However, when I spoke to marketers from smaller accounting firms in Michigan and Virginia, they told me that building local relationships is still critical. Incentivizing accountants to network and build community relationships remains a key part of the hyperlocal marketing strategy.
  • Business Development Is Everyone’s Responsibility. For many smaller firms, getting the partners and accountants to support marketing activities can be critical to growth. One session covered how gamification and simple incentives like branded giveaway items could encourage accountants to network with prospects in the community.
  • Diversify Content. I also spoke with many marketers looking at developing new thought leadership content to engage their audiences. There were a few firms even exploring the notion of podcasts. In one session, the speaker described how podcasts provide engaging information for target audiences hungry for insights.
  • Long-Term Thought Leadership. If your marketing team is thinking of building a thought leadership platform, it’s worth the effort to think ahead — how will that platform evolve in three to five years? In “Winning in the Market for Ideas,” a former Big Four marketing chief emphasized the importance of building a thought leadership campaign over the course of several years to keep up with evolving preferences in the marketplace.
The accounting business, like so many others, is subject to the same disruptions and evolutions buffeting the rest of the business world. Firms that will win out are the ones that will build aligned sales and marketing approaches and ultimately apply fresh thinking to the changes that are rushing through the industry.

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CHALLENGE

It’s a question professional services firms often face: How do you keep a multi-year research campaign fresh and relevant to continually support and enhance a client’s overall brand while expressing authority on pressing issues? Answering that question – and finding ways to refresh longstanding, institutional research campaigns — is key for many of Greentarget’s clients in an era of closely watched marketing budgets and an emphasis on ROI.

There are few professional experiences more exciting than the launch of original research, and consulting firm Strategy& established itself as a primary authority on CEO transitions through its annual CEO Study. But over time, the Strategy& communications team became concerned that the survey, while still relevant and strongly received, was in danger of fading into the background.

Strategy& engaged Greentarget to revitalize the research and ensure that the annual CEO Study did not lose its mantle.

APPROACH

Market research on narratives related to CEOs revealed a surge in media coverage related to female CEOs, chiefly around compensation disparities and the increasing number of female CEOs involved in IPOs. Additionally, Greentarget’s research revealed that data surrounding the increased tendency of corporate boards to pursue “outsider” CEOs (executives hired from outside of the organization) was sparse at best.

With this context, Greentarget suggested Strategy& pivot from the typical approach of presenting the entire data set holistically and instead segment the data in line with the themes of outsider and female CEOs. Greentarget also helped Strategy& identify a panel of female partners to carry the insights forward authentically through a combination of earned, owned and shared media, another departure from the firm’s typical approach.

  • Shaping the Narrative with Owned Content
    The team drafted content, including blog posts, on behalf of female consultants for publication in media outlets and the survey report’s microsite. A post about the challenges organizations face and the approaches they must take to build a pipeline of female leaders resonated with Strategy&’s audience, with nearly 2,000 views and a 52 percent full-read ratio.

    Using Twitter’s behavioral-targeting tools, Greentarget designed social media campaigns extending the reach of the survey’s themes. The team also developed targeted paid campaigns on LinkedIn to reach C-suite and executive-recruiter audiences.
  • Spreading the Word
    Greentarget’s media relations team not only shared top-line findings about women and outside CEOs, it pursued additional angles from the survey with unexpected media targets to expand the reach of the survey. For example, the team positioned the finding around whether MBA graduates make better CEOs with the management and diversity reporter at Bloomberg Business, which resulted in a story with prominent placement that featured Strategy& subject matter experts.

    Greentarget launched a real-time monitoring process that identified news hooks and topics to help Strategy& stay abreast of CEO transitions and related news. For example, a few weeks after the survey published, Nestle hired an outside CEO, and Greentarget used the announcement as an opportunity to offer the survey data to reporters and secure additional interviews for Strategy& spokespeople.

    Greentarget’s content team helped Strategy& spokespeople develop strong points of view on the survey findings, resulting in multiple blog posts from spokespeople like DeAnne Aguirre, the Global Leader of Katzenbach Center (part of the Strategy& network).

    To target new relevant prospects and markets, Greentarget developed a global FAQ document and other marketing materials to support regional marketing teams and further promote the survey findings and relevant data to additional networks. This approach offered a bridge between the firm’s thought leadership and business development, leveraging insights to spark conversations with prospects.

RESULTS

  • Enhanced Reputation While Establishing a Position of Authority
    The report garnered 100 more top-tier media stories than the previous year, including mentions in the Financial Times, The Economist, Fox Business, Bloomberg and Washington Post. In all, Greentarget secured more than 150 media placements worldwide.

    On the social media side, engagement rates on Twitter and LinkedIn well outpaced the average for both platforms. Furthermore, 94 percent of social mentions and 89 percent of overall social impressions were earned – meaning Greentarget’s recommended survey themes were on target and resonated with the intended C-suite audience.

    The materials Greentarget developed, including the regional FAQ document and blog posts, helped secure media coverage in key markets such as the UK and Germany, reinforcing Strategy&’s global position as a premier consultancy.

    Overall, Strategy& leadership considered the effort the most successful survey campaign to date.

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Greentarget and Duff & Phelps, the global advisor that protects, restores and maximizes value for clients, won The Holmes Report’s 2018 Diamond SABRE award for Superior Achievement in Research and Planning. The SABRE Awards recognize campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of strategic planning, creativity and business results. Greentarget and Duff & Phelps were recognized for their campaign, “In Defense of Fairness Opinions.” As the industry leader, Duff & Phelps felt a responsibility to elevate the conversation around fairness opinions, an important industry practice relied upon by corporate boards. While Duff & Phelps could speak to its own client work, the firm needed empirical evidence to demonstrate the utility of fairness opinions as an industry practice. The solution required analyzing thousands of pages of data filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (which could only be done using artificial intelligence). The result was a report entitled, “In Defense of Fairness Opinions: An Empirical Review of Ten Years of Data.” Greentarget partnered on the thought leadership campaign, including the research program, content development and media outreach. “Boards of directors seeking fairness opinions have long been left to rely on their own intuition and experience in scrutinizing valuation estimates. The report provides directors with new data and empowers them to ask more informed questions,” said Chris Janssen, Global Head of Transaction Opinions at Duff & Phelps. “It’s an honor to be recognized for our efforts and commitment to providing clients with cutting-edge thinking on a long-standing and valued business practice.” “This program demonstrates how data-driven storytelling can address the most complex questions in technical industries,” said John Corey, Founding Partner, Greentarget. “Data-driven storytelling provides a powerful complement to the quantitative research programs we’ve delivered for years. Leaders in business services that can integrate big data, machine learning and predictive analytics into their marketing programs can add tremendous value to their clients. We were honored to work with Duff & Phelps on this ground-breaking campaign, and we are thrilled to see Duff & Phelps and Greentarget recognized for this prestigious award.”
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