Hot Fashion Trends to Cool Down in This Spring

By Courtney Goldberg Senior Account Executive, Consumer

While reporters are focused on fall fashion after having just attended Fashion Week in New York and MAGIC in Las Vegas, consumers are eying their must haves for the spring/summer season. Temperatures are rising and it’s finally time to think about sandals, shorts, bright colors and showing some skin.

Spring and summer fashion trends have a relaxed, light, preppy feel. Bold colors and patterns grace collections and add depth to lines that tout light, airy fabrics offering movement. Mixing and matching is strongly encouraged. In fact, avoid over coordinating and stick with contrast. Also, comfort remains king with many designers introducing collections specifically focused on providing the perfect fitting, most comfortable tank and tee.

Following are a few prominent trends to look for this season:

• Nautical – You don't have to be manning your yacht in Bermuda to feel like you should be at sea. Blue and white, stripes and sailor-themed details and cuts are in this season.
  
  
• Bell bottom denim – High-waisted or regular, wide leg is back. Don’t throw out your skinny or straight leg denim; however, every brand is pushing their updated take on the bell bottom for springtime.
  
  
• Cargo – Cargo pants and shorts are huge this season in all lengths, fabrics and colors. However, you’ll notice many in the army color family, including olive, navy and khaki.
  
• Floral – The perfect accent piece this season, floral provides bold colors and dynamic patterns to spice up any “plain Jane” outfit.
  
• The nude shoe – If you've been shoe shopping of late you already know about this trend. Every brand (designer, regular or value) has a nude colored sandal or pump front and center for the season.
  
  
• Jellies are back – This spring’s version of the rubber rain boot, jellies are the go-to option this summer for an easy, no frills everyday option. Available in an array of styles and colors, these rubber favorites can be found in everything from the traditional flip flop to Grecian style to the wedge.

Also, collaborations continue to pop up between strongly-rooted brands and inventive designers looking to creation options that appeal to a new audience or help update a brand’s look. Older companies are using this strategy to reach a young consumer demographic and grab market share from competitors.

Overall, while fashion is still focused on value, we’re seeing designers and consumers put their creative minds together to present options that speak to broader and more unique style audiences.

What's Hot at SXSWi 2011?

  By Benedict Wong, Senior Account Supervisor, Edelman Digital Chicago

3942. According to the SXSW Go app, that's how many individual events there are in this year's SXSW Interactive! Let's have that sink in for a second.... 3942 events. So many options, so little time.

Which ones to choose? I find that in general the events under the Emerging category are usually a safe bet. With topics like Augmented Reality, Match.com and Foursquare, Building Fences in the sky, Emerging sessions are just fun to attend! It's a great way to find out what may be the next big idea and perhaps inspire you to take a current idea or concept to a new direction.

Keynote speakers can be hit or miss, the buzz this year is definitely on Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS Shoes. Blake will share the secret sauces to how he started TOMS Shoes, how he turned it into TOMS Movement, and how businesses can make money and do good simultaneously.

Trying to attend all the sessions can be daunting, so my advice is go with sessions where you know very little on the topic, and if you find that 10 minutes into the session you're dozing off from boredom, it's okay to leave and check out another session (really!).

One thing that SXSW has added this year for Interactive is "Meet Up" sessions. A wide variety of daytime Meet Ups are scheduled for this year. These are not panel sessions nor do they offer any kind fo formal presentation, they are just rooms for people with similar interests to meet up with other likeminded people. There are Anime Meet Up, Branded Entertainment Meet Up, iPhone Developer Meet Up, Music Industry Geeks Meet Up, News and Media Innovators Meet Up...etc. I hope lots of people check out these Meet Ups; they are great opportunities to network and learn!

That's all folks! Have a great time in SXSWi!

--Benedict Wong
@BenedictWong

The Business of Trust

By Teresa Henderson, Executive Vice President and General Manager

On January 25, Edelman’s 2011 Trust Barometer findings (http://www.edelman.com/trust/2011/)  were presented by CEO Richard Edelman at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And while trust in business, government, media and NGOs is up globally in comparison to 2010, trust in business in the U.S. is down. Surprised? Neither were we.

Also unsurprising are the industry sectors that are the least trusted in America. Banks and financial services companies ranked 15th and 16th out of 16 sectors measured in the study. Insurance companies fared only slightly better, and media companies ranked low, too. One oddity in the study: the relatively low trust Americans have in beer and liquor companies, which have typically fared well financially during recessionary times.

If it’s bad to be a broker, it’s good to be a geek: Technology once again ranked as the most trusted industry in the U.S. and, in fact, gained trust in the past 12 months. It’s also good again to “drive American” as successful rebounds by U.S. car companies fueled a jump by the automotive industry to number 2 on the most trusted list. My father, who spent most of his career at Chrysler Corp. and proudly wore a tie tack featuring the Chrysler pentastar, sometimes even on the weekend, would be proud.

Trust is proving to be money in the bank for today’s companies and has become a business imperative. When a company is trusted, 52 percent of people will believe positive information about the organization after hearing it only once or twice. Only 14 percent will accept negative information on the first or second go-round. Conversely, organizations that are not trusted get very little benefit of the doubt: 59 percent will believe negative information the first or second time it’s heard but only 9 percent will believe the first or second positive message.

So what should companies do if their organization or their industry at large is suffering from a deficit of trust? Here are four simple first steps to take – and stick to.

1. Align profit and purpose for social benefit. Today’s consumer is willing to pay more for goods and services offered by companies who are socially responsible. Today’s consumer is also willing to punish bad actors by not doing business with them. To paraphrase Spike Lee: do the right thing. Give back in a relevant way.

2. Speak up with multiple trusted voices. In addition to the CEO, call on credentialed academicians or subject matter experts to tell your story in a transparent fashion. And don’t rely on just a press release. Use video and online vehicles. Just use them appropriately.

3. Leaders must walk the walk and be accountable for their actions. This one is simple. Employees, boards of directors, shareholders and consumers expect those who are entrusted with running organizations to be fiscally, socially and morally responsible. There is no alternative.

4. Make trust deposits. Conserve water. Find ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Allow your employees to identify a non-profit organization that could benefit from their volunteer hours. Sponsor a health-awareness event in your community. These are just a few things that can be done in short order and it’s perfectly OK to talk about the steps your company is taking. (Get your employees involved and they will help you tell your stories without being asked.) You’ll be in a better position to weather any future storm.

Are You Engaged?

By Alison Cox, Vice President, Corporate

If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you’ll notice a recurring theme among otherwise diverse topics – engaging your audiences. It’s not just a matter of knowing who you want to talk to, but understanding their issues and being willing to enter into discussions about those shared concerns. This isn’t necessarily a groundbreaking idea. Public relations has always been about communicating with diverse audiences, not just broadcasting information at them.

At Edelman, we have an approach to public relations that we call Public Engagement. Public Engagement acknowledges and embraces the evolution of society, changes in stakeholder behavior and adapts to the technological innovations that are changing the ways that we communicate with one another. Specifically, Public Engagement is about advancing shared interests in world of cross-influence.

Having said that, it’s important to point out that Public Engagement is about having conversations – listening to what others have to say, considering their positions and providing thoughtful commentary that moves the overall discussion forward. It’s about finding common ground – the shared interest – with audiences who, on the surface, may not seem to have the same goals. It’s about finding solutions through partnerships and dialogue.

One key thing to note about Public Engagement programs – they are always evolving and adapting based on what they hear from stakeholder audiences. These programs are transparent about the company’s interests or agenda, but still allow others to share opposing views. This can be challenging in online environments, particularly when dissenting opinions are being aired on your Facebook page or in a branded forum.

A quick Google search will turn up numerous high profile examples of companies that responded to online criticism by disabling comments, deleting posts or banning participants. It doesn't have to be that way. For a global trade association, Edelman created an advisory council made up of prominent bloggers and podcasters in the association's industry. Participants included advocates, affiliated blogs – and the association’s two most vocal detractors. There were no parameters or restrictions on what participants could say, nor did the association attempt to use the council members as a broadcast channel for its own news and views. By encouraging open dialogue and discussion about shared interests and concerns, the association eventually won over the detractors, who not only became less critical of the association’s policies, but at times, became advocates in their own right.

If you are still building your 2011 communications plan – and particularly if you believe your plan is finished, I would challenge you to consider whether or not you’re engaging in two-way conversation with your stakeholder audiences. You’ve thought about what you want to tell them, but how will you listen to what they have to say? If you have a corporate presence on social networking sites or in online communities, have you empowered your community ambassadors to do more broadcast information?

Are you engaged?

A Passion for Baking Meets Online Networking

By Karen Marino, Marketing Specialist

Most people that know me know I have a passion…I love being in the kitchen, and specifically baking. Ask anyone in our office and they will tell you that I am the cupcake queen. In short…baking makes me happy.
I’m always amazed at the resources the Internet brings.

Back in 1996 I was surfing around on the Internet looking for recipes and stumbled across a live chat room for foodies on the website Epicurious.com, a Conde Nast site.

I joined the chat and, along with sharing recipes and talking about food and baking, over the years we’ve shared our lives too. Some of the members are married, some single, some are professional chefs and some are just learning how to cook. We celebrate births and new careers and provide support during tough times. Through online networking we’ve helped each other find jobs, get great travel deals and even find love a time or two.

We are located all over the country, really all over the world actually. Our group gets together in a various cities (from Cincinnati to Toronto to Texas and beyond ) to meet face-to-face, socialize and most of all, share our love of all things culinary. What could be better than chatting with someone in Greece and sharing a recipe for chicken fried steak…and receiving his or her favorite baklava recipe in return?

Several years ago Epicurious.com removed the live chat feature. We attempted to maintain contact with each other through email, but with so many of us, it was difficult. Then we found Facebook. Several friends took the initiative and started a special group page. We emailed and encouraged each other to join. We don’t chat live, but we still continue to build our group, share recipes, tips and what’s happening in our lives.

If you have a passion for something, you’re bound to find a group online that shares that same interest. Do a Google search and start looking. Get to know people and interact. I’ve made some great friends and although I don’t see them face to face very often and most of our interactions are through social media, they’re some of the best friends I will ever have.

Client Management: How to Prepare for Any Client Meeting

By Jay Andrew, Vice President, Corporate

We all know that client meetings are a great opportunity for productive and meaningful face time. They’re even better when you’re able to score attendance from a CEO or others on the leadership team. But these opportunities also present their own unique set of challenges and require a different type of preparation.

When a CEO agrees to attend your meeting, you need to recalibrate and move away from the approach you might use with your everyday client contact, such as providing project updates or discussing plan deliverables, timelines etc. While a CEO might find some of these things interesting, they will likely not care to be caught up in such detail.

I faced this situation a few weeks ago and had no feedback from the client on what the focus of the meeting would or should be. I knew that I really needed to prepare for this opportunity, but the question was how? I want to share with you a link to a PDF newsletter published by Andrew Sobel, a leading authority on client and business relationships, entitled Client Loyalty: Strategies for Building Inner Circle Relationships.

This particular issue of the newsletter couldn’t have been more timely or on point: How to Prepare for Any Client Meeting. Mr. Sobel isn’t kidding. While these tips are certainly common sense, there’s always value in going back to the basics, even for the most seasoned PR pro.

By the way, the meeting was a hit, extending well beyond the fifteen min utes we were promised. I credit Tips 8, 9 and 10 for this. Take a look.

8) Do you fully understand the perspectives of the various constituencies that surround your client? (e.g., senior management, subordinates, customers, capital markets, as well as different functions and organizational units?)
9) Will you present yourself and your views in a way that reinforces your standing as a deep generalist --someone with outstanding expertise but also possessing a broad, top management perspective and an understanding of the entire business “ecosystem” that surrounds your client?
10) In your meeting, will you exhibit a mindset of “independent wealth”? (i.e., you are totally focused on your client’s agenda, you demonstrate a love for your work, and you treat your client as an equal).

March Madness: It's not just business as usual

  By Jennifer Little, Senior Vice President, Consumer

As an avid college sports fan, the excitement and anticipation of March Madness is already being felt these last few days of February. I’m ready to find out who is “on the bubble”, see who is crowned this year’s “Cinderella team” and try to predict the “upsets”. With the Final Four (men’s) in Houston, it will be great to have basketball fans descend to Texas again weeks after North Texas hosted the Super Bowl (anyone know the odds of a weather disaster in Houston in April?).

Over the years, I’ve worked conference basketball tournaments as well as NCAA regional events. The atmosphere behind the scenes in the media room is just as thrilling and disappointing as seen on television. The players want to win and are crushed after a tournament loss. The coaches are skilled at encouraging the competition yet take the blame for not performing. From a media relations standpoint, there are many opportunities to observe different spokespersons and interview styles among these coaches and players.

In the world outside of hoops, March is also an exciting month, but everything in my opinion revolves around basketball. Daylight Savings Time starts on March 13, which is also Selection Show Sunday so it stays lighter longer for game watching and patio socializing. The weather also begins to get nicer even in some of the coldest spots in the country which doesn’t affect the conditions on the court, but helps travel weather. St. Patrick’s Day is March 17, adding extra celebration to Second Round games and providing ultimate craziness for the teams with green school colors. Many students across the country enjoy Spring Break in March adding to the travel fun of the tournament among college students in particular. Companies operating on a calendar year may be paying out bonuses to employees in March so fanatical basketball fans can blow their bank on Final Four tickets.

Regardless of your interests, March Madness will probably be felt until the Championship game on April 4. I’ll admit that at times it will be business as usual. Many organizations send emails to employees “banning” them from streaming games on their computers as not to crash the system. With afternoon games on work days, it’s the ideal time to venture out of the office for lunch to the restaurant with the best flatscreen TVs. For some, it might be time to take a sick day. I’m just thankful that the portable television (that we helped introduce for a client) in my office gets the network broadcasting all the tournament games. If I decide to get a little crazy, I might even take it off mute!