Art Directors Club of Denver Annual Show

Philosophy Communication recently took nine awards home from The Art Directors Club of Denver annual show. The organization is one of the oldest advertising/design clubs in the country. Categories wins included identity design, print advertising, Public Service and 3D.   The Culinary Scene is Roth Distributing’s umbrella brand for their education/training service. The Continental Room

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We Can Count… On 10 Years

By now, you probably know that Philosophy Communication is 10 years old. We haven’t had a “10-year” blog post in a few weeks, so I was thinking about what to write about. I fired up my laptop and began checking our social media sites to see if anything sparked an idea. My pages were loading

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Lessons Learned

As grown-ups, birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones tend to cause us to reflect rather than celebrate in the way a 10-year-old child might. Since we’re grown-ups (most of the time) here at Philosophy Communication, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the most important lessons in life and business we’ve learned over

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Philosophy Communication Wins PRSA Grand Gold Pick

Summary of the Situation
When the creators of a unique play, Girls Only – The Secret Comedy of Women, approached Philosophy Communication about handling the show’s media relations, we knew we had a creative goldmine of a client. The play, written by two Denver actresses, is a lighthearted romp through all things girly, drawing on universal experiences of women. The show had run previously at a Canadian comedy festival with a positive reception, and the creators felt certain it had national appeal in the U.S. They had planned a six-week run beginning mid-January in a small 120-seat theater in Denver, with hopes of attracting a national production company to take the show on the road. They had a small budget and a few basic postcards to promote the play. Other than that, media relations would be the only external push to sell tickets. With a small budget and little time before the show’s opening night, Philosophy knew that they had to produce results for this client very quickly.

ADCD Paper Fashion Show Video

See Philosophy’s winning design at 0:50!  

Philosophy Communication Wins 2009 ADCD Paper Fashion Show

Denver, Colo. (PRWEB) May 15, 2009 — Paper fashion isn’t just for childhood paper dolls anymore. Paper fashion has hit a new level of originality: the runway. Philosophy Communication, Inc., a Denver-based marketing and public relations agency was honored as winner of the 2009 Paper Fashion Show.
Philosophy ruled the runway with a “paper” strategy that the fashion show has never experienced: capri paper pants. With 380 attendees and 37 competitors, Philosophy Communication dazzled the crowd with a delicate peacock ensemble made of finely cut paper pieces and folds accompanied by large moveable paper wings.

PR’s Public Flogging

PR Week has an article this week about a second editor who has posted a black list of PR professionals who have sent her unwelcome pitches. Gina Trapani, editor of Lifehacker, followed in the footsteps of Wired magazine editor, Chris Anderson, posting the e-mail addresses of PR people who have not met their expectations for pitching stories.

I understand reporters’ frustration. Public relations professionals have a responsibility to research a publication, formulate a pitch that is relevant to an outlet’s readers or viewers and send the pitch to the right person. However, this mass posting of PR professionals’ e-mail addresses demonstrates a severe lack of understanding of our own professional responsibilities, time constraints and the demands placed upon us.

Annoying Advertising

In a recent lunch meeting, I was minding my own business making a delicious turkey sandwich when something on the deli bag caught my eye. It was an advertisement for a television show…on the deli bag sticker! What? Is there nothing sacred anymore? It is understandable that ads might be on a brand name box of chips. This is something I expect, and of course, completely ignore. However, when ads start popping up on the store brand’s deli bags, the ads have gone too far.

Ethical Dilemmas

When I co-founded Philosophy Communication, my dad gave me a short but extremely valuable piece of business advice that I find myself recalling a few times each month. I thought the advice was worthy of a blog post, since I often share it with so many peers and business owners. His wisdom is terrific for businesses searching for the “right” thing to do. The advice: “Whatever you do in business, make sure you can discuss it at the dinner table with the people involved.” Sounds simple, but not always as easy as it sounds.

Ms. Communication

Or rather, miscommunication is the root of so much strife in the world, from interpersonal relationships to global politics. With technology sprinting ahead faster than we can thoroughly grasp it, opportunities for miscommunication have multiplied.

Who cares about my brand?

For those of you who dare ask this question to someone who works in public relations or marketing, the answer is, “everyone!”
Take the famous golden arches – think there is a single American alive who doesn’t immediately associate this symbol with McDonald’s tasty Big Macs and French fries?
Try this tagline: “Just Do It.” Nike, anyone? How about this one: “Don’t leave home without it.” Your American Express card, that is.
According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is a name, term, design, symbol or other feature that distinguishes products or services from competitive offerings. A brand defines your company and includes components like your company name, logo and tagline.

Could This Be A Viable Business?

If there is one thing that I know for sure, it is that I absolutely wish to deliver the correct information to reporters on the first try. Having worked on both the newsroom and media relations side, I empathize with the inundation of phone calls, e-mail and mail that reporters receive. However, I have always wondered one thing. Why don’t reporters create a Web page outlining specifically how they like to receive information and when? Yes, it is our job to read past articles and be most familiar with the publication. Though, it isn’t always that simple nor is it that clear. I wonder if that could be a business endeavor – creating reporter Web pages clearly outlining all of the specifics for detail-orientated public relations professionals? A fee that I am certain public relations professionals would more than gladly pay. Hmmmm…I wonder?

Who Can You Trust?

Information overload has never been more real. Today we can get information about any topic that interests us, from Britney’s latest exploits to the political climate in Turkey, with just a click of the mouse. Between the Internet with its myriad news and information sources; hundreds of television channels, many that cover only one topic; and the usual suspects of newspapers, magazines and the nightly news, there’s little we can’t uncover. Unfortunately, this explosion in media options has brought confusion about legitimacy and agenda of those reporting news.

Did I Say That?

Communication is all in the context, right? I could say, “You are hopelessly romantic,” but if your cell phone cut out and you only heard “you are hopeless,” you’d probably never speak to me again. And here I am thinking I’m paying you a compliment.

The altitude of attitude.

Media relations always seemed like a good fit for me, and finally, one day I was ready to give it a try. In the beginning, I was a bit naïve, thinking that everybody would give me the time of day, listen to my pitch, and I would go on placing articles, case studies and product mentions right and left. After getting my feet wet for a few weeks, I realized that this may not be the case. But what I also realized throughout what seemed like a million pitching phone calls and e-mails was the importance of keeping a good attitude, or how I like to say, “keeping the altitude of my good attitude high and the altitude of my bad attitude, low.”

What’s the Story?

It seems like common sense, but some of us public relations professionals occasionally lose sight of exactly what it is we are pitching to the media. We can get wrapped up in the client’s vision- Yes, indeed, YOURS IS the GREATEST, MOST INNOVATIVE hands free fishing pole on the market- and allow our focus to deviate. But our job is to know our clients inside and out, take a step back, put on our “objective” glasses, and creatively discern what their story is.
It’s not always that easy, but isn’t that why they are paying us the medium-to-big-bucks vs. doing it themselves?

What’s up with all the bad writers who think they can write?

Art directors, executive assistants, lawyers, CEOs, and yes, even fellow marketers, express with great confidence that they are great writers. To me, proclaiming that you are a great writer is no different from saying that you can sing – and not Pop Princess Britney Spears smoke-and-mirrors kind of singing. I mean real singing, where you can close your eyes, and the emotion, sound and tone of the voice truly moves the listener, transporting them to a whole new place

Can I Have a PR onThat?

Earlier in my career I had a colleague ask me for “a PR.” She came into my office, told me about a new service her department was launching, and said, “I’m going to need a PR on that.” Not understanding what she really meant, I said, “no problem” and began developing my strategy. After all, I’d spent my entire career thus far in PR. I even deliberately earned a degree in PR in college.