Category: Culture & News

A veteran in global sports marketing with IMG and Coca-Cola Company, David Gough joins us to build upon its successful portfolio of sports marketing and events properties, including the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, CBS Sports Classic and McDonald’s All American Games. David has worked on some of the world’s leading brands, such as DIRECTV, Johnson & Johnson and Fiat. The agency will leverage his wealth of experience for growth of KemperLesnik’s event and activation business.

“David’s wealth of experience and knowledge of the sports marketing, events and activations industry will complement our team of sports marketing professionals,” said Steve Skinner, CEO of KemperLesnik. “We look for David to contribute his ideas, skills and relationships to help grow the business.”

David most recently served as managing director for the Boxing Marketing Arm, based in Lausanne, Switzerland. In that role, he built from scratch a new business unit for the International Boxing Association, developed the business plan, and oversaw TV rights acquisition, sponsorship sales, and marketing for AIBA. Prior to this role, David served as the global director marketing capability at Beverage Partners Worldwide, where he was responsible for the development of global marketing activation programs and sponsorships designed to bring to life NESTEA Global Integrated Marketing Campaign (IMC). Before moving to Switzerland, David worked at IMG Live, where he led the global agency sports sales and marketing, and was director of sports marketing at the Coca-Cola Company, responsible for negotiation, management, and activation of high value sponsorships with the NFL, MLB, and NCAA.

With more than 20 years of experience in marketing, sales and content production, Scot Thor has been instrumental in creating innovative broadcast, digital and social media campaigns for leading brands, television and publishers. He joins us with multiple awards, including National and Regional Emmys and Telly Awards.

“We are looking forward to welcoming Scot to the agency,” said Steve Skinner, CEO of KemperLesnik. “His expertise in production and developing effective content marketing campaigns will prove invaluable as we continue to expand the agency’s service offerings.”

Prior to KemperLesnik, Scot served as the vice president of content and executive producer at a sponsorship marketing agency, where he identified new opportunities for clients, developed creative for all channels and managed content campaigns. He also formerly served as senior vice president of programming and production at Back9Network, senior vice president at 20 West Productions and vice president of media at a leading sports marketing agency. While there, Scot oversaw the management of sales, distribution, business development and programming and production for all sports and entertainment television and digital content initiatives.

At KemperLesnik, Scot will work alongside existing client teams to enhance content marketing strategies that have become a growing part of our agency’s service offering.

I came into the summer with no real previous experience in the public relations industry but that all changed thanks to the people and culture at KemperLesnik. During my brief three months, I learned more than I could have imagined, but here are the three things I took away:

1. Communication is key: As with any job or internship, it’s important to communicate with your coworkers and supervisors.  Throughout the summer I completed various tasks, from creating media lists to writing press releases, and each task had some form of communication involved.  I learned how to communicate and write to certain people, and how important it is to know what appeals to that person or journalist you are pitching to.
2. Work hard: This one is pretty obvious but it couldn’t be more true.  It’s important to stay organized and be timely because that’s what goes into working hard.  When you’re given a deadline by a supervisor, beat it by plenty of time.  There will be times when you’re overloaded with work, but that’s when the whole communication thing comes into play, and it’s important for everyone to be on the same page.  I learned how to prioritize my work in order of importance and to stay on top of whatever needed to be completed.
3. Work in an environment that fits you: I think this is the most important thing I took away because KemperLesnik made me realize it.  Working in an environment that suited me allowed me to be more comfortable asking questions, which in turn led to me learning more about the field of public relations. It made me realize that if I was doing the same work in a culture I didn’t appreciate, it would have made for a far less productive and enjoyable summer.

Overall, I had such a great experience at KemperLesnik.  I met great people along the way, improved my communication and writing skills, and even though they both have ways to go, they improved from where they were three months ago.  I can’t wait to continue learning along the way, wherever it may be, and will always appreciate my time at KemperLesnik.

KemperLesnik recently held its annual All Hands conference, a day we set aside to take a step back and refresh our thinking on how we can be better and do better as an agency and for our clients. To that end, we hosted Second City’s Tara DeFrancisco and her improv troupe to arm us with some simple tools to improve communication and foster creativity. One time-honored improv technique in particular – the ‘Yes, and’ – stood out. Why? Here’s a few reasons:

1. Reduce barriers and increase acceptance – When you build up your colleagues and clients by saying ‘Yes, and’ they will be more open to sharing their ideas with you and, in turn, accepting yours. What’s more, ‘Yes, and’ also helps breaks down emotional barriers. That is, in the workplace we can be so focused on sticking to what we know is certain that we fall short of tuning in to the emotion of a conversation, colleague or situation.  Using this tool breaks down any emotional negativity by fostering acceptance and positivity.
2. Unleash creativity – the antithesis of ‘Yes, and’ is ‘No, because,’ and it’s what many workers respond with when presented with something new or out-of-the-box. That’s because we as adults are programmed to be practical and so naturally tend to look for reasons for why something won’t work. However, if you’re constantly saying ‘no, because’, you shut the creative process down before it even gets going. It takes effort to shift your mindset to ‘Yes, and’, but doing so can have great benefits as you never know what grand ideas will come out of free-flow conversations.
3. Foster adaptability – the very nature of working in an agency demands that we be adaptable. Every day is different, and rarely what you expect! Using ‘Yes, and’ helps you learn to be more flexible as it requires you to actively listen to what your colleagues and clients are saying and quickly think on your feet to build upon it, rather than stay rigid to your own ideas.

Don’t be fooled, going to an improv show is great for some laughs, but its usefulness goes beyond the stage. Using improv techniques in the workplace, particularly ‘Yes, and’, have tangible positive benefits on our interactions with colleagues and clients.

For the second consecutive year, KemperLesnik has been named by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR) as one of Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®. The competition identifies and honors organizations throughout the nation that display a commitment to excellence in their human resource practices and employee enrichment.

“At KemperLesnik, we are committed to maintaining the well-being and happiness of our staff members while delivering breakthrough work to our clients,” said Steve Skinner, CEO of KemperLesnik. “We’re grateful to have been chosen by NABR for the second year in a row. This recognition inspires us to continue to strive for excellence.”

Organizations are assessed based on categories such as communication, work-life balance, employee education, diversity, recognition, retention and more. The final list is divided into three categories by size of business: large businesses (301+ employees), medium businesses (101-300 employees), and small businesses (1-100 employees).

Winners will be honored at a symposium and awards celebration on Monday, July 17, 2017, at the Chicago Marriott Southwest at Burr Ridge with emcees Judy Hsu (ABC7) and Pat Cassidy (WBBM-AM).

For a complete list of Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For®, please visit www.101bestandbrightest.com.

 

Recently, our KemperLesnik team was fortunate to learn from one of the world’s best creators and innovators, Duncan Wardle, the former vice president of innovation & creativity at Walt Disney Co. and current owner of iD8&innov8.

Our day with Duncan was filled with drills, tips and exercises used to help us push pass our own limitations and generate creative ideas.  The day was meaningful, and impossible to sum up in a single blog post, but here are some of the key takeaways:

1. Awaken your inner child. Children have this ability to live without fear of consequence. They think, feel, act and speak without apprehension because they do not know any better to understand that the world around them. How many great ideas are left unsaid because of fear? What if we as adults, with all of our education and exposure to the world, could tap into this childlike thinking? The possibilities are endless.
2. Yes, and…“Yes and…” suggests that a participant should accept what another participant has stated and then expand on that line of thinking. “Yes and…” encourages the creative process and a positive work environment, unlocking new ideas.
3. Innovation involves getting to a different level of thinking that you could not get to by yourself. When it comes to ideation, it is easy to fall into the thinking that it is a process that an individual should tackle alone, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, ideation is a collaborative experience, and the process of exchanging ways of thinking and perspectives.

The learnings from Duncan’s visit are intuitive – think openly and freely, encourage a positive work environment and collaborate. As simplistic as these concepts may seem, we often stifle our own creative process when fail to remember to do these things. Duncan’s presentation serves as a mirror of our current selves, and also as a reminder of ways to put our best creative foot forward.

Memorial Day is the weekend to remember those who sacrificed the most for our growth and way of life. This year it was also the weekend that we lost a dear friend and mentor, Tripp Frohlichstein. Tripp lost his battle to Multiple Myeloma; he was 66 years old.

In the halls of KemperLesnik, the news hit hard and brought some to tears. He will be sorely missed by our agency family and the world of communications. No one lit up a room like Tripp. As THE premier media trainer in the business, he handled almost every high-powered CEO in every industry with dignity, class, humor and, yet, a firm hand. The Tripp-created process of message mapping is now standard for any brand communicator or crisis team. He is legend in how he became a student of the sound bite – curling his mouth in glee at hearing a perfectly honest and transparent response by a chief executive in the moment of public crisis.

Tripp’s smarts and firm hand guided our clients through plant closings, natural disasters, executive malfeasance, strikes, plane crashes and cell tower disputes. He was a master at his craft and aptly named his company MediaMasters, a firm that would guide such big brands as Tellabs, McDonald’s, U.S. Cellular and countless others.

Tripp will be remembered most as a warm voice on the other end of the phone, a funny storyteller at the end of a long day and a proud husband and father. He leaves behind a loving wife and two sons. He left us all as well, but hopefully as better communicators than before we met him. His tenets for communicating in a crisis ring truer than ever in the face of the national discourse today. Be honest. Be transparent. Think about the listener, and explain why they should care. WII-FM, he would say, is his favorite radio station (What’s in it for me?). We were crushed by the news of his passing and will forever remember his legacy and the wisdom and wonder he gave us all. Legend. That’s my home base message when it comes to telling others about the greatness of Tripp… you will be missed and remembered forever.

As spring turns to summer, sporting and lifestyle events will fill the calendar and introduce us all to brands old and new as their logos dance across banners, telecasts and promotions. Sponsoring sporting and lifestyle events is a tried and true technique for reaching customers and bringing brands to life. But many brand teams fall short of reaching ROI nirvana by not activating their hard-earned sponsorship through an integrated campaign.

Global sponsorship spending was projected to grow nearly 5 percent in 2016 to $60.2 billion, according to IEG. Supporting sponsorships with a combined experimental, social media and media relations campaign is a cost-effective way to get the most out of your spend and drive all important ROI.

Here are five ways to give it your all when planning sponsorship programs in the coming year.

1. Engage consumers with a social media campaign – make the experience connect with customers on social media. Providing platforms for sharing photos of their interactions with the brand extend the sponsorship beyond game day or concert week. Build an add-on to that virtual reality experience that lets people share their wild VR ride socially. The additional reach is well worth the added expense.
2. Use media relations to extend messages beyond the sponsorship – create a larger story around the activation that connects the brand to the conversation of the day. Cause-related partnerships turn brands into heroes and are noticed by the media.
3. Boost with paid social – content grows and engages quickly when supported with a small paid search campaign. Videos and graphics that relate the brand to the success of a sponsored event go a long way in building further consumer engagement.
4. Extend reach through a sweepstakes or contest – an oldie but goody technique finds new life through social media. Don’t forget to think of ways to build buzz in the lead up to sponsorship week by providing consumers chances to win unique experiences or limited edition brand offerings.
5. Use digital tools to collect usable data through onsite experiences – on-site activations give consumers the chance to sample brands and provide marketing teams with valuable data that generates leads. Mobile devices and new software bring the power of data collection to the hands of brand ambassadors, giving a valuable way to drive sponsorship ROI data.

Sponsorships are big financial commitments and require buy in from many internal corporate teams. So don’t stop short and accelerate your investment through an integrated activation campaign.

I’ve been writing media pitches for nearly a decade, and previously I was on the receiving end of them when I was a TV news producer.

So what makes a good pitch? I went straight to the source (aka editors and reporters) and asked them. Here are the four key takeaways:

1. Do the research: This applies to the topic, the outlet and the reporter.
   • Develop a well-rounded pitch, which includes the problem and the solution. If possible, include third parties to round out the story.
   • Study the outlet to determine if this type of story would be good for their readers.
   • Review the reporters and do not rely on technology (i.e. Gorkana) to tell you what a reporter writes about – actually read, watch or listen to their stories.
2. Do give background: This applies to the topic and the reader.
   • Never assume that the reporter knows what GDRP or GRMS stands for, or why it is important. Make sure you briefly explain your content.
   • Always ask this question before you send your pitch, will the reader care? If they will, send your pitch!
3. Do get to the point:
   • Nobody likes a long pitch. Get to the point and get out (three – six sentences).
   • When phone pitching keep it short and sweet.
   • Do not leave a dozen messages, but keep calling!
4. Do be yourself:
   • Get to know the person on the receiving end of your pitches and find out what they really do like.
   • If you’re a bossy person, please do not tell a reporter that they must cover a story as nobody likes to be told what to do or when to do it.

So be smart, be short and be yourself!

When I first started out in PR, my agency used AOL as our email platform – and we were lucky. Some of my clients and media contacts didn’t even have email, so if I needed something, I had to call them. And it wasn’t always fun. Phone tag, reporters’ tirades, suspicious receptionists, disconnected numbers. I welcomed widespread email, and eventually texting and social media, with no hesitation. Why would someone want to bother with the phone when this other stuff is so much easier – and less stressful?

Now I know why.

There have been so many times in recent months when I’ve been cc’d on email chains that go on 10 times longer than necessary because the topics were subject to interpretation or the responses required multiple follow up questions. Everyone got what they needed – eventually, but not before flooding inboxes needlessly and frustrating the folks on the chain. And every time, I thought, why don’t they just pick up the phone? Can’t they tell it’s time to end the email back and forth?

Email still certainly has a place in the office and it can make our lives easier, but it shouldn’t be the default communication. Not every conversation is right for email; some things are simply better handled via direct conversation. But the deeper we go into the age of electronic communication, the more it seems like we’re losing our ability to judge when real conversation is required. With that, we’re losing opportunities to build and solidify relationships, and for PR people especially, that’s a waste. So do yourself a favor and pick up the phone today – and challenge your team to do the same. Your contacts might be surprised, but you’ll stand out, you’ll get the job done faster and they’ll thank you for your efficiency.