Robin Leedy & Associates Newsletter/Blog

Hard to believe it’s already October! Summer flew by as we geared up for several fall seasonal campaigns for various clients, as well as ramping up
for 2009 programs. An extremely busy few months (the reason there were no blog postings – sorry!) and difficult news period as the election nears
and news about Wall Street dominates just about all forms of media.

But in spite of the doom and gloom news environment, we have some very exciting RL&A news: we’ve had three babies born to RL&A staff in just two months!
Laurie Lindenbaum, Anne Carlantone and Chatter RL&A’s own John Whitcomb have all welcomed new additions to their families.
Can you guess which baby belongs to which PR staffer?  We’re just thrilled, but the rest of us have decided not to drink the water here anymore.

Alexa	Jacob Tyler	JR

As the RL&A family grows and it reiterates the importance of things outside of our daily work, we have decided to participate as a company in the
October 19th Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5 Mile Walk sponsored by the American Cancer Society. We’ll let you in on who finishes the walk
(and who we have to carry) in next month’s blog, so stay tuned.

Other Agency news: We’ve completed the expansion of our offices at our Mt. Kisco location – wiring will be completed next week and move-in day will
be done following that. So stop by for a tour and a chat – we’d love to have you visit! By the way, the fall foliage is absolutely gorgeous this time of year
in Westchester County, so don’t wait too long – before we know it, winter will be here! Also, check out our new “Clients in the News” section on our Web
site – we think you’ll love how it works and highlights the great placements we get for our clients. This month’s RL&A blog features some amazing
placements, including two of the largest-circulation consumer publications in the United States – AARP and Parade, and the #1 morning TV news program,
TODAY (yes, we are patting ourselves on the back for these three scores!) Have fun browsing!

Before we jump into some of the placements we have been quite proud of in recent months, we wanted to let everyone know that we are thrilled about our new Clients in the News section on the RL&A Web site. At the end of each month, we will be adding some key additional placements that we have gotten for our clients (including some of the ones mentioned here in our blog). So go ahead and check out the new section  and let us know what you think.

Now on to the placements…

AARP, one of the largest-circulation publications in the U.S. (readership 96 million), helps support the old adage that knowledge is power with an article that focuses on the newest “superbugs,” MRSA and C. difficile and recommends Florastor (Biocodex U.S.A.) as the best defense for fighting the C. diff bug – the only product mentioned by brand name.  Another huge hit for RL&A was the September 28th issue of Parade Magazine, which is distributed with more than 330 newspapers across the country to a readership of more than 128 million people.  It mentions S. boulardi probiotic (also known as Florastor) in a story on digestive health. RL&A held a media event in March of 2008 for Florastor and these are just two of the placements that resulted from this successful event.

Double duty results!  After a great product placement for Softlips in a recent issue of US Weekly, the TODAY SHOW  (NBC) had the beauty editor on for a segment on the same topic as the magazine article – “Pre-Workout Makeup” – that included Softlips conditioning lip balm messaging and visual to an audience of more than 5 million viewers! The host even said, “Softlips, I love that stuff!”

A good beauty tip is worth its weight in gold and the September edition of Women’s Health (readership 3.6 million) offered some for active women featuring Phisoderm Anti-Blemish Body Wash, which was recommended as a good companion for the post-workout shower, and Softlips conditioning lip balm, which was recommended for those who like to workout outdoors as a good choice for protecting lips from the sun

One of the newer products from client DSE Healthcare is finally starting to get its foot on the ground, so to speak, through RL&A pitching efforts aimed at major magazines. The July issue of Redbook (readership 9 million) featured new Certain Dri Feet Microsponge Foot Powder as a great way to keep feet dry, which should help them from becoming “stinky feet.” (Hey, their description, not ours!) 

Pregnancy and childbirth is already fraught with physical changes, but now there’s one new and expectant moms needn’t worry about anymore. American Baby pointed out to its readers that Certain Dri Feet Microsponge Powder will take care of embarrassing foot odor by creating a protective film that blocks the formation of the bacteria that produces the foul smell. Good bye smelly feet, hello 8 million American Baby readers!

RL&A garnered a great placement for the OTC urinary tract infection medicine Cystex, which was featured in Healthwise magazine (readership 1.2 million) in its June/July issue. The placement advised readers to not let UTIs “become a summer-time pain.” The article recommends the product as a preventative for those women who are susceptible to recurrent UTIs and features the Cystex expert, Dr. Elizabeth Kavaler.

ARE YOUR LIPS “PICTURE PERFECT?”  THREE YEARS RUNNING, SOFTLIPS® IS THE ULTIMATE JUDGE…AND OWNER OF THE CATEGORY

For the third consecutive year, Robin Leedy & Associates (RL&A) is kicking off the “Softlips®  Picture Perfect Lips Search” on behalf of The Mentholatum
Company, maker of the popular lip conditioning balm that comes in a “stick.”

RL&A created the nationwide “lip model” search  in 2006 as an
ownable PR element that could generate buzz for the brand amongst the target audience beyond the topic of general lip care, while also giving the brand a uniquely fun, feminine identity in a crowded product category.  We partnered with Parts Models in New York City, the country’s only modeling agency that deals exclusively in beautiful body parts.  Parts Models’ president Dani Korwin acts as a key judge in the competition, and has fielded many interviews about the
contest and on the topic of parts modeling over the past two years. 

To launch the contest and start the buzz, RL&A held a kick-off media cocktail party and “Open Call” event (for future lip models) in Manhattan at Duvet restaurant and club that was attended by some 100 media and their guests who witnessed model-hopefuls lining up outside to have their lips photographed and enter the contest on the spot. We also conducted a mini-college campus tour with open calls and local media blitzes, as well as other events, including the ever-popular Shecky’s “Girls Night Out” parties. The results included 4,400 contest entries, over 60,000 samples being distributed and extensive local and national publicity for the contest.  The first-year success prompted TMC to make the contest an annual competition with new promotional features each year. 

So, in case you’re wondering, what makes lips picture perfect?  According to Korwin, the shape of the lips should include a defined “bow” on the top lip, but no sharp angles; neither the top nor bottom lip should be much larger or smaller than the other;  and lips should be full, but not overly exaggerated or “bee-stung.” Lips should also have a natural color along with a smooth, healthy texture with no flaking, cracks or chapping.

The two previous grand prize winners, Mireya Ramos, 18, of El Paso, TX, and Ashton Shane, 22, of Los Angeles, CA, represented the well-cared for, beautiful lips the
judges were looking for.  

The Softlips® Picture Perfect Lips search is open to legal female U.S. residents, age 13 or older. The 2008 winner will receive a cash prize of $2,500, the possibility to become a professional lip model and the prestige of having the prettiest pucker in America, which will be posted online for all to see at www.softlips.com.
For a full set of rules and photo guidelines, as well as an official entry form, visit www.softlips.com. 

Welcome to the fall edition of Weird but True where we highlight interesting surveys that we have done on behalf of our clients. This month we are using a survey from ROHTO eye drops about what makes people “see red” with regard to the holidays and dating.

We know is the holidays are supposed to be a happy time, but all the hustle and bustle, crowds at the stores and lack of parking spaces can be enough to send anyone over the edge. In fact, large crowds are the number one item during the holidays that causes people to “see red” with more than half of the respondents (53%), 60% of those in the  35-54 age bracket being the least tolerant of crowds.

Other items that ticked people off those embarrassing questions from Uncle Frank, (18%) knowing a gift was re-gifted, (17%) and of course holiday bills, travel and the dreaded time with the in-laws, which made about one in ten see red.  

One of the most interesting takeaways from the survey was that men, more than women (20% vs. 14%), dislike spending time away from their significant other. Since  John is the only guy in this office, perhaps  he can provide some insight into this weird-but-true statistic.

Dating, apparently, is also a time for “seeing red.” A date doing drugs was number one, with more than 62% of adults saying this would make them see red, followed by body odor and bad hygiene (55%),  being mean to a waiter/waitress is a turn-off for four in ten adults, and  getting “sloshed/drinking too much is a no-no for 43%.

We hope you enjoyed these fun stats from this edition and please check back next time to find out more wacky and weird-but-true facts.

The Mystery that is Twitter

There has been a lot of talk lately in the blogosphere and the Public Relations world about Twitter. Sounds like a small bird sound or maybe a piece of electronic equipment, but what is it really and is there any value to using it in marketing? Chatter will take a look at Twitter over the next two blogs to help make some sense out of this new buzzword.

This month we’ll  provide a brief overview of Twitter and how it came to be and, in our next blog posting, we will explore how Twitter can be used for business purposes.

Twitter is the most popular program of a new social media technique that has been coined micro-blogging. This is a term that basically translates to a mini blog. Instead of using full posts the way a blog does, Twitter allows the author to communicate thoughts in fewer than 140 characters – sort of like speed blogging, or, for those a bit less technical, like texting a running dialogue on your cell phone.

Twitter does have some similarities to many blogs because it does not restrict the type of content the author can put forth. It can be a personal narrative or it can be a link to a new Web site that was found that the author thinks would be useful to his/her audience. The premise of having followers is also similar to a blog. These followers will receive updates when the author posts a new entry (and those who follow you on Twitter opt-in for these updates).

Twitter, like most of the new Social Media tools, was originally built for internal communication purposes. It was a research project that was spearheaded by the company Obvious. It then was split off into its own separate entity and launched to the public.

For the most part, people started using Twitter the same way they would use an instant messaging platform. It’s also similar to the way that you can post status updates to Facebook and other social networks to let your friends know what you are doing at that very moment.

Twitter also has a platform-wide search engine that allows you to search for key terms that you may be interested in.

Twitter’s primary advantage over a traditional blog is its immediacy for information dissemination or gathering. If you have a dedicated group of followers, as soon as you send a “twit,” they instantly receive your update.  Its appeal is quickly spreading and next month we will look at some examples of how Twitter has been used in some marketing programs and how we will be incorporating into our client porfolios, as well.

Stay tuned…

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.

click image to enlarge

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?).