96 hours In Austin with Stephanie.

March 14th, 2012 | Posted By Stephanie Smirnov

Friday 11 AM: Heading to Austin for the inaugural Dad 2.0 Summit and the South by Southwest conference (SxSW.) I’m trying to find suitably Austin-ish outfits in the sea of Manhattan black that is my wardrobe.

Friday 11:05 AM: Give up and throw eight black outfits in suitcase.

Friday 3 PM: Settled into my flight awaiting take-off. Bob Greenberg, the founder of R/GA and an industry legend, is seated one row up. Everyone boarding stops in the aisle to pay their respects, slowing boarding process considerably.

Friday 6:30 PM: Arrive in Austin during a nasty downpour. Seeing loads of tweets about two-hour lines at badge pick-up at the Austin Convention Center. Struck by wave of SxSW anxiety.

Friday 6:32 PM: Pass Gina Gershon as I de-plane. Almost as exciting as seeing Bob Greenberg.

Friday 7:30 PM: Ask driver to detour from hotel to Convention Center so I can deal with badge situation. SxSW registration is like going through immigration at JFK, except with tattoos and iDevices.

Saturday 8:00 AM: Busy day: must schlep 40 minutes outside Austin to Dad 2.0 Summit to speak on a panel about the business of blogging. Next, ensure that social media rock star Guy Kawasaki gets from Dad 2.0 (where he’s keynoting) into my car on time so I can deliver him to the Guy Girl Party back downtown where our Sam Adams client is debuting B’Austin Ale, the crowd-sourced beer Guy helped them create. Find out my bloggy pal Liz Gumbinner of Mom 101 and Cool Mom Picks is at my hotel: we share a car out to Dad 2.0 and swap working mom war stories.

Saturday 8:15 AM: Still raining. Email from colleague Lindsay who’s dealing with party set-up at Stubbs BBQ with Sam Adams clients. “Mud” and “rain boots from Walmart” are mentioned. Wondering if SxSW community can crowd-source an ark.

Saturday 4 PM: Dad 2.0 panel goes well. Thrilled this conference is supported by high-profile sponsors (including our Tide client.) Strikes me that Dad 2.0 is more than a blogging conference: these guys are deep into a cultural conversation about the state of modern fatherhood, masculinity, and domestic roles. Inspired by everyone I meet and really happy for conference organizers Doug French and John Pacini.

Saturday 4:15 PM: Pile in to car right on time, headed for downtown: me, Guy and more bloggy friends Kristen Chase and Julie Marsh. Fun conversation in car ranging from the future of Google+ (Guy insists it will survive) and what smart phone Guy favors these days (give you a hint: it has a stylus.)

Saturday 5:15 PM: Arrive at Stubbs BBQ: the outdoor areas have been tented, the first band on the bill is sound-checking and the B’Austin Ale is free flowing. Pretty soon the Guy Girl party is in full swing, and we’re happy to see tons of media and industry friends stopping by.

Saturday 10 PM: Back at hotel and in bed. I am old.

Sunday 2 PM: The sun is out! I’m meeting PR pal Kerry for brunch on South Congress, a stretch of road full of funky vintage stores, food trucks and cafes. The weather and SxSW spillover have filled the sidewalks with tons of people, but the mood is chill. Two girls stand in a doorway playing their violins for the crowds. I have a blackened tuna taco here that makes me swoon.

Sunday 5 PM: Kerry drags me to a Google panel at the Convention Center, which turns out to be mind-blowingly great. It showcases the Re:Brief Project, an experiment in which Google reinterpreted iconic ad campaigns from the 60s and 70s using the digital assets and technologies available today. They did so in partnership with the original creative teams and the results were insanely inspiring. The live demo of an updated Coke campaign (“I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke,” 1971) in particular brought the house down. The Google presentation reminded me we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible with digital engagement.

Sunday 7 PM: Fun dinner at Vspaio hosted by our partners at FLOW Nonfiction, with whom we’ve teamed for three client projects. They specialize in branded documentary filmmaking, helping cause marketers mine for the human stories that bubble up during their campaigns, and convey them cinematically. Joined by my P&G client Sarah, we’ll be speaking with them the next morning on our Branded Documentary panel at the Convention Center.

Sunday 11 PM: Back at the hotel and in bed. Have I mentioned I am old?

Monday 11 AM: Show time: we deliver our Branded Documentary panel to a packed room. The live tweets and Q&A are lively and positive. We have to vacate the room quickly afterwards because Kevin Smith is next up and the line to get into his session is already snaking down the hallway.

Monday 7 PM: Back at the airport, headed for JFK. Every person on my Jet Blue flight looks familiar, cool, important or all three. I spot Bonin Bough from Pepsico, big-deal PR blogger Brian Solis, a trio of pals from Daily Candy and Willem Dafoe (who is surprisingly tiny.)

Tuesday 1 AM: Home. New York is cold, and I am clad in wrinkled SxSW linen. I am exhausted and my back hurts from the flight (have I mentioned I am old?), but thrilled with my 96-hour whirlwind and eager to hit Austin hard next year.

Stephanie Smirnov is the President of the agency and can also be found at her personal blog LiketheVodka.com

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From the Trenches of New York Fashion Week.

February 17th, 2012 | Posted By Erin Serrano

The lights, the runways, the models, the clothes! This is what one thinks when you say New York Fashion Week. For this PR girl, my mind goes to – the boxes, the vendors, the spotlights, the signage, the caterers, the press, the wine! Not exactly the most glamorous of images, is it?

For the past six years, I have had the pleasure of working on my client’s big NYFW program – the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation created by Ecco Domani Wines. It is an amazing program that gives the best and brightest emerging designers the chance to present their collections on fashion’s biggest stage. The fun part for me is getting the unique peek behind the curtain of glamour.

Making your mark…

Now there’s no question why a brand would want to be a part of this major event. You’re getting your product in the hands of highly-influential fashionistas and connecting your brand to the world of style. But making that happen and making it memorable is more than just pouring wine. For Ecco Domani in 2001, it was about leveraging the brand’s modern and stylish brand image and making a footprint in fashion that would create a lasting impact on the industry as a whole. Enter DeVries and the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation! For 11 years, we have helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in fashion like Zac Posen, Derek Lam and Alexander Wang to name a few.

It’s more than just pretty clothes…

My friends look at my job and think – “Oh wow! Fashion Week – it must be so glamorous!” What they don’t see is the months of work that goes into building a program that will grab the attention of the most sought after editors and writers all within a sea of other glitzy brands.

From stalking showrooms and new designers to sifting through over 200 applications to make sure each one qualifies – my team’s work begins almost a year before the lights go up on the runway. During Fashion Week, we are working with seven different designers (and personalities) to make sure their shows are ready to go while coordinating catering teams to pour that oh-so-important wine at each event. Not to mention, is the gobo spotlight working? Did Women’s Wear Daily get their invitation? Are the signs where they need to be (yes that was us walking down 10^th Avenue carrying an eight foot tall step-and-repeat because there was no time to messenger it!)?

But when it all comes down to it and you take a step back to see all the hard work pay off, it’s a great feeling. When I meet the designer who, with tears in her eyes, tells me that this program has changed her life, I’m proud of my work. When my clients are all smiles as they walk into the event that my team has worked so hard to put together, I feel glamorous, on the inside.

Erin Serrano is a Senior Account Supervisor here at DeVries. You can find her talking all things wine and travel on Twitter.

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Loads to Learn From KJ Dell ‘Antonia of the Motherlode

February 16th, 2012 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

A couple of months ago the New York Times announced that KJ Dell’Antonia would be taking Lisa Belkin’s place at the popular Motherlode blog. Recently, I sat down with KJ to chat about her career path and how she became the new lead blogger at the Motherlode. Here’s a snapshot of what we can learn from KJ’s career path.

1. Don’t be afraid of change.

After 9/11, KJ was laid off from her job in the legal field. Rather than frantically updating her resume and sending it out to law firms, KJ took a moment to reassess and decided to focus on an entirely new career as a professional writer.

Change can be incredibly scary, but by taking on a new challenge KJ was able to build relationships with some of the most well-known traditional publications, and build a career that allowed her to stay home with her family.

2. Say yes more often.

KJ said that it took years to build relationships with well-known editors. The key was to say yes to opportunities you might not otherwise take and broaden your expertise. “If I wanted to write for a publication I would write about whatever they wanted in whatever voice they wanted. To get the good work you have to prove that you are willing to do all of the work.”

In sticking to this philosophy and saying yes to a position reviewing children’s media at Slate magazine she was able to eventually land the job at Slate she was really interested in. “It was one of those stories that saying yes to other things leads you to what you really want.”

3. Build yourself a niche.

It was at Slate that KJ learned the ins and outs of blogging about parenting for a traditional media outlet. “There aren’t many parenting blogs that are topical, political and cultural all at once.” When the position opened up at the New York Times KJ was one of the few bloggers that was writing in the way that the Times was looking for. In building a niche in this traditional parenting blogging space KJ was able to stand out from the rest when the position opened up.

KJ had some great advice for aspiring writers and freelancers who are interested in writing for publications like the Times. You can find the full interview over at She Posts.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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A Brit’s Take on the Super Bowl.

February 10th, 2012 | Posted By admin

I’ve always felt like I’ve had some kind of damaged central nervous system, I’m not sure what the issue is, but somewhere between my eyes and my hands there is a problem.

Everywhere from sitting in corporate boxes at the Rugby world cup in France to crowded pubs in London watching England in the vital stages of the World Cup, each time a goal is scored, the reflex action of punching the air, jumping for joy and yelling just doesn’t quite happen for me, I do well to muster a smile. The thing is I just don’t care.

It’s not that I don’t love sports. I thrive on playing them. I just don’t get supporting it, I don’t have that urge. Supporting individuals makes a little more sense to me, they are people, and they do have personalities, backgrounds and thus are somehow relatable. I can see how the stories of someone like the Golfer John Daly, make me feel a certain fondness and if say Roger Federer went to my school again it would make sense. But not teams, and least of all teams that have no obvious connection to each other or me.

It’s for these reason I was a bit reluctant to watch the Super Bowl with a big group of people. I thought my muted chants and my badly timed and apathetic cheers would make me stick out a bit, I was worried about feeling awkward (a permanent English fear). So we decided to watch it at home, on a pleasantly large American sized TV and with the sound up so I could try to understand what was happening.

Within minutes I loved it, the MASSIVE ads, the big sound, the amazing stadium, even across the country, in the heat and sunshine of LA I felt transported to the seats of the Lucas Oil Stadium. A few minutes in and I was both transfixed but also roused into strong support of my now beloved New York Giants.

The quarters went on, points were scored and by the end of the game my voice was hoarse with support and I was thrilled by the win.

I have no idea what happened, but I loved it. I am not sure why but here are some thoughts.

The game seems more approachable, accessible and open than Football in the UK. I had no idea of the rules but it seems like I was not the only one. It seemed more like a tide of enthusiasm and energy engulfed everyone. Knowing how points were scored or what offside meant seemed like a bit of distraction from the real fun of big ads, big hits, big music.

In fact, at times the game seemed irrelevant, and was more about the joy of consumerism and sponsorship and humor. Even when the teams won, the first focus of the interviewer seemed the owners and not the actual players.

A lot of fun, at this rate my ability to celebrate may develop. Bring on the basketball matches – I think New York has a team—and maybe my once incurable lacking of the celebratory nerve may be cured all thanks to sponsorship, family fun, good ads and an excuse to cheer, eat and be merry.

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We Are Loving: How To Survive a Super Bowl Sick Day

February 3rd, 2012 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

This Sunday, football lovers across America will be preparing their Queso dip, grabbing a bucket of wings and settling down in front of the big screen to watch the biggest game of the year. While super fans everywhere are busy getting excited about the big day, they may be forgetting about the inevitable cold and flu season that is upon us. Our client, Vicks, asked people across the country how they would survive a Super Bowl sick day with questions like: “Which NFL player would you most likely want to feed you chicken noodle soup?”

See who these super fans chose to share that bowl of soup with, and check out some of the other fun responses in this infographic all about Super Bowl sick days:

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DeVries Forecasts 2012 Trends

January 17th, 2012 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

The New Year is the perfect time to start thinking about trends and technologies that will build momentum in the coming year. We tapped our Creative and Strategic planning team here at DeVries, and asked what trends they think will shape the digital and creative landscape in 2012:

Timeline in the Spotlight
The cottage industry forming around Facebook Timeline will continue to evolve, creating fertile new territory for brands and organizations. Timeline already serves as inspiration for a chilling drug awareness PSA, clever business card offering and several profile customization services. Expect to see Timeline-fueled creativity explode in 2012, for brands and individuals alike.
–Stephanie Smirnov, President and Chief Creative Officer

Unplugging and Technology Breaks
We are seeing a movement towards unplugging and taking necessary breaks from some of the social media overload and technology that has consumed people over the past few years. No longer are we dying to be connected 24/7. Hotels are offering “breaks from technology” as a coveted feature to entice travelers to book retreats at their properties. Groups of friends going out to dinner are stacking their phones on the table throughout the meal, with the person who checks their phone first to be punished by paying the entire tab. Scaling back, simplifying, and getting back to basics is going to be big in 2012.
–Amy Schoenberger, Social Media Specialist

The Facebook Slump
Although the number of Facebook users continues to grow, I predict that in 2012 younger, influential consumers will spend less time there, flocking to social media sites that let them share their content and experiences seamlessly and more creatively. With almost 12 million users on Instagram, Foursquare at 10 million strong and networks like Pinterest attracting 31 million views per month, there is growing proof that consumers are yearning for social experiences outside of Facebook. With the well documented unplugging trend that Amy notes, consumers are not likely just adding these networks to their repertoire of platforms, they will actually start replacing their Facebook time with them.
–Adrianna Giuliani, SVP, Creative and Strategic Planning

Creativity Explosion
2012 is the year that we will witness new heights of creativity on the web. After seeing so much growth in user generated content, we are now going to witness a shift from people creating their own, to simply curating what they find to be interesting. And because it’s so hard to get noticed, only those really dedicated to creativity and those with talent will continue to create and innovate. That’s why tools like tumblr and pinterest have been so popular lately. They help us sift through hoards of fascinating content, images, art, photos etc and simply share what we like. As a result so much creativity will bubble up to the top!
–Andy Amendola, Director of Digital

Email to Snail Mail
We send so many emails each day that people are craving a more personalized way to connect with friends and family. This year we have seen an explosion of branded campaigns and services that turn digital products into physical mail—from the Heinz personalized Get Well Soup Cans to Postcardly, a service that turns emails into real postcards and mails them out for you. I think, in 2012, we will continue to see the desire for physical mail and personalized products surge.
–Cassie Boorn, Social Media Coordinator

Now that we have shared our predictions, what do you foresee happening in 2012?

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Cause Marketing: Is Bigger Necessarily Better

December 19th, 2011 | Posted By Amy Schoenberger

So, I kind of lead a double life. By day, I do PR for one of the largest brands in the world. By night, I run the New York board of a small charity that came into existence a few short years ago.

You’ve probably heard of Tide. You probably do your laundry with it. What you might not know is that Tide has an amazing program called Loads of Hope, which provides clean clothes to families who have been affected by disaster.

About four years ago, I found out about a nonprofit organization called Nest that provides loans to women artisans in developing countries. I loved the idea, and about one year and a trip to Guatemala later; I had taken on the role as president of the NYC board.

What’s most interesting is that even though these programs are so drastically different, a lot of the principles in how to create a successful cause marketing campaign are the same. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned by working simultaneously on cause marketing efforts for projects big and small:

Make the Most of the Resources You Have:

With Tide, we are backed by a large company that invests wisely in its marketing efforts. There are dedicated teams of people at top creative agencies whose full time jobs are to come up with ideas and ways to turn those ideas into actual programs.

With a small nonprofit, you are most likely dealing with a minimal to nonexistent budget. If a nonprofit is fortunate enough to have one or more full time staff members, they most likely have to spend their time courting big donors and thinking of new ways to fundraise before they can turn their focus to marketing. Nest, with only two full time staffers, has to rely on their network of hundreds of volunteers across the country, most with demanding full time jobs who can only help with Nest in their limited free time.

Get Creative:

With a well known program like Loads of Hope, trying to come up with new ideas and to make such an established program feel fresh can be difficult at times. Yes, we are always going to different disasters and it’ll always be local news to the residents of the affected area, but in terms of the bigger picture, what can we do to engage more people around the country in our cause?

On the contrary, with the rapidly growing nature of Nest, new news is constantly pouring in. Between new partnerships with retailers, new loan recipients and events happening in each city, we’re flooded with information. The challenge here is how to choose what people outside the organization will find interesting. We’re often sifting through the clutter and determining what the most important news is and how to use it in a way that will get our target consumers involved.

Keep the Focus on the Mission:

The one thing that remains constant in my work on both Tide and with Nest is the bottom line. Both programs have a very clear mission-to help people. Whether sitting in a woman’s home with her children in Morocco or standing in the freezing cold by the Tide Loads of Hope truck in Fargo, North Dakota with a man whose home was destroyed, it’s the people who keep us all inspired to continue doing what we do.

What do you think? Would you rather work for a big brand’s cause or a small nonprofit? Share your thoughts below.

Amy Schoenberger is a Senior Account Executive on the Tide account at DeVries.

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DeVries Listens: The PR Doctor is in. Free Micro-Consultancy Sessions Available Now.

November 14th, 2011 | Posted By Stephanie Smirnov

2011 has been another great year of building brands and deepening client relationships – everything from supporting seven different billion dollar brands, to helping launch visionary startups.

During this time we’ve won awards, grown our client base, developed new capabilities and kept clients and our staff happy. We’ve had a lot of good times but we’ve never really stopped to say too much about ourselves – and we’re not going to start now!

We talk in our business about how the shift from broadcasting to conversations has transformed how PR pros and marketers do their jobs. Dwelling as we do in this new Conversation Age has inspired us to transform how we market our own agency, too.

You can’t tell brand stories without listening first. It’s what we do for our clients, and we’d like to do it for you, too. From now until the end of the year, we are offering free, no-strings-attached PR micro-consultation sessions. It’s your chance to discuss any issues in the consumer PR world that you think we may be able to help with – it’s 30 minutes focused only on you.

Here’s how you’ll know if our micro-consulting offer is right for you:

· You are a marketer or in-house PR professional representing a company or a brand (we don’t handle individual or celebrity publicity)

· You seek consumer PR counsel (we don’t do investor relations or lobbying)

· You don’t work for a company who competes with one of our clients

At DeVries we consider this the start of the conversation age, a time for great brand stories, but most importantly a time to listen.

From November 1st we’re offering completely free , no obligation consultation sessions.

To arrange your session, please contact me by email ssmirnov@devries-pr.com, or write a comment below.

We love new challenges and having a chance to make a difference. Hope to hear from you soon – we’re all ears.

Thanks,

Stephanie.

Stephanie Smirnov is the President of the agency and can also be found at her personal blog LiketheVodka.com

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I Got Schooled at Blogalicious

October 31st, 2011 | Posted By Adrianna Giuliani

Last week, I was completely energized after attending Blogalicious a women’s blogging conference. I was on a panel—The Truth About Brands & Bloggers—but truly considered myself more of a student than a teacher for the weekend. Through a number of candid conversations with my fellow panelists and impromptu chats with some prolific bloggers, I got a refresher—and crash course—of what’s on the minds of brands and bloggers as we continue to work together in the space. Here are the Cliffs’ Notes on what I found most relevant and inspiring. Special thanks to my rockstar panelists Nancy Martira,Ted Rubin and Don Moore, the fabulous women of Blogalicious who invited me down and of course the brilliant bloggers who schooled me all weekend.

From Blog Squads to Ambassadors and Brigades: A lot of buzz words can surround the blogosphere as brands and bloggers partner together. From content campaigns, to ambassadors, brigades and squads the list can read like something out of a super hero book. Then there are your twitter parties, tweet ups, sponsored posts and content campaigns all working to support an overall theme, message or conversation. But from what I have sensed and seen in the space, we’ll see a shift in the year ahead, where the bloggers move from a supporting role in a marketing communications plan to the star of it. We’re already seeing national mainstream brands like TJ Maxx lead the way and I predict we’ll see more bloggers take center stage in 2012. Nancy Martira and I were on the same page here and she encouraged both bloggers and brands to brainstorm something big together (there were a lot of head nods)!

If Content is King, Engagement is Queen: One of my fellow panelists Ted Rubin said this during our panel and it was met with applause and laughter. Although I teased him for pandering to the almost 100% female audience, I must say he was truly spot on. The last few years brands have spent time building their social media profiles, but now that they have these audiences, making sure they are engaged, listened to and thanked is key. Working with bloggers is a terrific way to humanize a brand, create winning content and build a community where consumers will gain value and stick around.

People Share Awesome: This quote was from Don Moore, and while it sounds like common sense, for those of us work in the space we know it is not always so common. As brands and bloggers work together more, it’s increasingly important to work on campaigns and creative ideas that their readers and consumers want to share. No one wants to be the brand that takes over a blog with sponsored content that becomes the dullest thing on the menu? The content that bloggers create and share, on behalf of brands should be as awesome as the content they organically share. That means not pushing bloggers to create overly commercial messages and content. We all win when we move from marketing to people to moving them.

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@DeVriesPR

96 hours In Austin with Stephanie.

From the Trenches of New York Fashion Week.

Loads to Learn From KJ Dell ‘Antonia of the Motherlode

We Are Loving: How To Survive a Super Bowl Sick Day

DeVries Listens: The PR Doctor is in. Free Micro-Consultancy Sessions Available Now.

I Got Schooled at Blogalicious

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