Robin Leedy & Associates Newsletter/Blog

Our CharcoCaps® Anti Gas Formula pitch on “travel bloat” made it into the June issue of Prevention (readership more than 13.5 million!), reporting it as “a capsule that will banish bloat when traveling.” The article recommends taking “two capsules before takeoff as insurance against painful gas while flying.” Even better – you won’t have a problem getting CharcoCaps through security!

And, speaking of gas, you can’t say RL&A doesn’t get creative when developing story angles for our clients’ products. In fact, we’re becoming famous in newsrooms, according to one health editor at the NY Daily News, who recently commented to us on our quirky memorable pitches for CharcoCaps® Anti Gas Formula, “CharcoCaps is famous in newsrooms for its memorable pitches. One Passover, it coined the term ‘Gassover,’ based on some well-known properties of matzo and other holiday fare. Among other favorites: ‘Tackle Tailgate Flatulence Before the Next Game’ and ‘Passing Gas by Running Like the Wind.’ This writer also posted our new gas card giveaway online: Daily News helping to drive Web traffic to the newly re-vamped brand site.

RL&A’s efforts for client Softlips® lip conditioners with sunscreen paid off recently with a placement in Seventeen magazine, one of the largest magazines geared toward teenage girls (readership 8.2 million). The popular magazine featured Softlips in its section on “Your Best Sunscreen! products to be used every day.

The Microplane XL-Pro Foot File was recently awarded Star magazine’s “Super Star Beauty Award” as “the best pedicure tool” in its May 12th issue. RL&A uncovered the awards program through media contact and submitted the Microplane foot file, which ultimately won accolades amongst thousands of products loved by celebs and their beauty gurus. Star has a readership of 6.8 million.

The ongoing RL&A campaign for ROHTO® eye drops includes beauty/style advice from Nick Barose, the top make-up artist behind many celebs’ most memorable looks. Barose, who works with the likes of the Olsen twins (aka Mary Kate and Ashley) and Mischa Barton, among others, recommended ROHTO® Arctic eye drops in the June issue of Glamour  (readership 9 million), calling it “beauty sleep in a bottle,”  furthering our efforts to make these eyes drops a “must have” beauty tool.

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Certain Dri® – a popular OTC product of long-standing client DSE Healthcare – was recently touted as “the best antiperspirant” in the “Ask the Girl Next Door” section of Men’s Health magazine (the June issue with Mark Wahlberg on the cover!). The article, both in print and online, and has a whopping 8.8 million readers (maybe even more pass-along readership to some of the ladies due to the, um, sexy guy on the cover?). 

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Well, as we said in an earlier newsletter, it’s the old story about the shoemaker’s kids having no shoes – same goes for us when it comes to doing PR for RL&A. But exceptions do arise, as with the case of the recent issue of InTown magazine, a “New York” type publication for residents of Westchester and Fairfield Counties, that features RL&A’s founder and president, Robin Russo, in an article about “turning points” that changed the course of the careers of six “career women.”  Russo is featured along with former president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America Dawn Hudson, as well as Carolyn Kepcher of the Original “Apprentice” show and three other area women from all types of fields. Even better than the company she’s in is that the article calls RL&A “the go-to PR firm for OTC health and beauty product brands.” 

Whose Blogging and Why Should You Care?

In the early days of any technology or new product, there are a certain few people who just plain “get it.” According to the famous bell curve, these people are called “early adopters.”

The early days of blogging were no different; in fact if you look at the history of blogs and social media in general, they all seem to follow the bell curve. The early adopters of blogs were mostly techies who already knew the technology behind the blogs and could now use them to promote themselves and their techie interest.

How times have changed! Today there are blogs for just about everything under the sun -- in fact, if you have a second, try this little obscure exercise: Go to Google Blog search or Technorati or another blog search engine and type in the most obscure topic you can think of. Did you find a blog about it…? In most cases the answer will be yes. According to a May 2008 report on the blogosphere put out by eMarketer,the number of people who are creating blogs will reach 34.7 million in the United States alone. That is over 16% of the population.

So who are all these people blogging about all these different topics? They are not just the techies anymore, that’s for sure. Today's bloggers are coming from all walks of life. They include new moms who are blogging about their experiences, menopausal women looking for safe solutions to sleep deprivation, loss of libido and hot flashes men discussing their favorite sports teams or gear and, yes, grooming products, and even editors from major magazines reviewing the newest products and expanding on topics they mention in print.

The statistics of those who read these blogs is even more staggering. According to the eMarketer report, more than 145 million people in this country will be reading blogs at least once per month. This is approximately 67% of the entire population.

This statistic should answer the second part of the original question, “Why should you care?” With this large of a number, it means it’s increasingly critical to get your company or brand name onto these blogs, which can ultimately equate to sales.

Consumers today are not only reading these blogs for information, but reviews by other users and recommendations on well known sites are becoming increasingly influential in determining purchasing decisions. In a study put out by Deloitte, 62% of consumers said they read online product reviews, and of those 82% said the reviews they read influenced their purchase decision.

There are also countless stories about how companies were brought to their knees because they either didn’t pay attention to online chatter about their brand or they heard the chatter and just ignored it.

This is simply not an option anymore!!

Now that you know who the bloggers are and also why you should care what they say, keep reading Chatter for more tips on blogging and also the latest news in social media.

With the present economy growing increasingly iffy every day, people tend to ask us “How’s business?  I guess you must be hurting like the rest of us.” But they are often surprised to hear that over the past 22 years, we tend to do better during tough economic times – those same times that ad revenues tend to shrink.  That’s because during recessionary periods, many companies, particularly those that are small to medium in size, tighten the reigns on higher-cost marketing tactics, such as advertising, and delegate more of their marketing budgets for PR, which delivers a better CPM and ROI.

This works for both traditional media outreach and social media efforts, which are becoming increasingly important. For us, it comes down to simple math….no matter what the budget spend, RL&A typically sees the CPM within the $.40 to $2 range. And our proprietary Publicity Value Analysis, which helps measure the quantity and quality of the PR placements against comparable ad spending, is typically double or more the actual PR budget, so each of our clients is – at the very least – getting $2 worth of marketing for every $1 spent (we have clients getting four times or more their spend!).

For social media, we cost-effectively reach target consumers right where they are talking about your category, brand or topic, so instead of spending against the masses to “see what sticks,” we pinpoint the places where key conversations about your products are happening online to get your brand into the discussion….without spending tons of dollars to do so.

As you look for ways to make the best use of every dollar spent to reach your existing or potential consumers, we hope that public relations becomes a part of your planning. Yes, we know it will never completely replace advertising, yet PR is an ideal, cost-effective method to help cut through the clutter and get your messages heard by those key to your success.

The rapid growth of the Internet has many marketers – and PR folks, alike – scratching their heads and wondering how in the world to keep up. Is traditional media on its way out, making way for social media, or, can the two co-exist? As a 22-year old PR firm, we are deeply attached to traditional media, yet we are opening our arms to social media and finding effective ways to merge the two mediums into successful PR campaigns. Presently, we have a number of client PR programs that are utilizing social media to communicate with target audiences through blogs and social networking, as well as SEO - Search Engine Optimization.

In the last issue of “Chit Chatter,” we discussed SEO. This month we delve into the world of social networking – what it is and how businesses can get their toes wet to reach target demographics. Also take a look at some recent PR placements for clients in the “Clients in the News” section and find out about some travel-related health concerns (Weird but True) as you begin planning your summer vacations.

If you are interested in learning more about any of the information mentioned in the RL&A Blog, please contact Robin Russo at rrusso@robinleedyassociates.com

Michelle Madhok of shefinds.com, one of the biggest beauty blogs, was recently on Better TV in a segment about how to get the most use out of shoes, including tips that featured a client's newest product, Certain Dri Feet, in a line that helps with excessive perspiration. Better TV is a premium online video Web site run by Better Homes and Gardens that features different channels such as style, beauty, home and garden etc. These segments also ran on various local TV stations (more than 15 nationwide).

Microplane Featured on iVillage

The Microplane Foot File XL-Pro was recently featured on iVillage, a top Web site that targets women. The Web site gets more than 17 million visitors a month. Our client's product was in a feature story on getting feet “sandal-ready” and reports that the Microplane XL-Pro “works wonders on rough, dry heels.”

Tips for Having Soft-lips

Prevention is one of the highest circulation consumer health magazines around. Our client Softlips is featured as one of the “smartest tips for beautiful lips” in the May 08 issue. Perfect timing with the approach of summer and the need for SPF lip balm.