Sounds Like a Plan: Yes, it’s that’s time of year. Let the 2011 programming and budgeting begin!

By Teresa Henderson, Executive Vice President, GM Dallas & Co-Manager Austin

Wikipedia gallantly defines planning as “… the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale.”

Most companies approach the planning and budgeting season with a less philosophical point of view and a more pragmatic frame of mind: what does our budget look like, what do we want to accomplish and how do we align dollars and goals to achieve success? And the managers inside those companies often grapple with a smaller question that looms large: where do we start?

Wikipedia also states that “(planning) is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior,” so this year why not activate the process in a smart way by analyzing the results of current programs versus the budget allotted to them? Which ones paid off in the form of leads, sales or increased brand awareness? Are there sacred cows in your marketing pasture such as legacy trade shows, sales meetings or other events that could free up budgets?

Can you identify smarter, more economical ways to maintain the nuts-and-bolts supporting programs that have to remain? Recently, we advised a client that her company could save – and redeploy – thousands of dollars each month by revising the use of wire service categories for press release distribution.

Are you in line with your online thinking? According to the 2010 Marketing Trends Survey, 47 percent of industrial marketers reported spending at least one-third of their marketing budget online in 2010. Three of the top four sources for leads for industrial companies were online channels, including the company website, email marketing and search engine optimization. Consider increasing your online programming if you want to connect with your audience in 2011.

Again from Wikipedia: “An important, albeit often ignored aspect of planning, (sic) is the relationship it holds with forecasting. Forecasting can be described as predicting what the future will look like, whereas planning predicts what the future should look like.” As you enter the planning and budgeting process for the upcoming year, keep in mind the milestones that are forecast for 2011. These could include product launches or product updates, new partnerships or mergers, expansion into new markets or entrée into new customer segments. Be sure to factor the support – logistic as well as budgetary – necessary to deliver success.

At the end of the day, smart planning and budgeting comes down to evaluating past initiatives, focusing on new objectives and choosing the right programs to achieve your goals. The process can be straightforward and less taxing if you stay organized, intelligently evaluate and plan against what’s forecast for the future.

So get to it, get it behind you and get ready to blow out the coming year!

Write What You Mean: The ABCs of Grammar and Spelling for Social Media

 By Mary Kate Smither, Social Media Practice Leader

In our business, clients rely on us every day to help reach their business objectives by communicating messages correctly and effectively. While I love social media, and all of the opportunities it offers us to engage with each other about those messages, I also believe that in some ways it has allowed us to compromise our skills for accurate grammar and spelling.

I admit that I’ve always been somewhat of a spelling and grammar snob, and I also acknowledge that we are all moving faster than ever to generate quality content and keep up with each other. But how many times have you read a tweet with so many letters missing you need a code to decipher it, or a blog post about a brand that includes grammatical errors, such as your instead of you’re, its instead of it’s or there instead of their? My guess is that if you’ve noticed some of these errors, your attention was diverted from the true message of the post.

Despite my acknowledged neuroses and the crazy speed of life, I still firmly believe that we all owe it to our clients and to ourselves to slow down long enough to ensure that we’re actually communicating what we mean to communicate. Twitter and Facebook posts, mobile messaging and blog entries are all an extension of ourselves and our brands, and isn’t the goal always to create a great first impression by putting your best foot forward?

As a public relations professional, not only do I want to make sure that my current clients are happy with my work and fans of our agency, but I also want to use my work as way to earn new business. How can I expect a potential client to have confidence in my ability to produce great work if I don’t know the proper usage of a word or its correct spelling?

While we live in a world where social media allows for a more informal conversation tone, and -- as humans mistakes certainly happen -- avoiding spelling and grammatical mistakes can be easy enough. The point is not to stop writing or tweeting, but to do it well. Following are a few resources to help make sure you put your best foot forward.

• Spell Check – While it doesn’t catch words that are spelled correctly but are grammatically incorrect, spell check is always a good first step in proofing a post, text or tweet. Most social media sites and many smartphones offer some form of spell check application.

• Find a Friend – Sometimes we’re so close to our own work, that we miss what’s right in front of our faces. Enlist a colleague or friend to help proof your blog posts, especially if you’re writing them from a professional standpoint or on behalf of someone else.

• Dictionary – Not sure how to spell a word? No problem. It's true that the dictionary is an obvious go-to resource, but now both the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster have made it easier than ever to check the spelling and meaning of a word with their online versions (Oxford English is a paid subscription, Merriam-Webster is free) at http://www.oed.com/ and http://www.merriam-webster.com/.

• AP Stylebook – Vital to those of us in the public relations profession, the AP Stylebook offers a guide to proper writing style, including grammar, punctuation , capitalization and is used by many media outlets as a standard. While many of us still use the print version of the book, AP now offers online subscriptions beginning at $25 (http://www.apstylebook.com/).

Helping Houston Count: The Dollars and Cents of Census 2010

By Lori Martin, Vollmer Houston

Recently, Vollmer completed its contract with the City of Houston and its Houston Counts / Census 2010 campaign. It was a whirlwind adventure to parts of Houston I’ve never seen or even heard of – big thank you to our wonderful partners, Glenda Joe, Sylvia Cavazos, Erica Fowler and Jerry Wood, who know these neighborhoods like the backs of their hands.

According to studies, Houston’s 2000 census count showed a large undercount, costing the local area governments a total loss of $234 million. We know that cities and corporations depend on Census data to establish access to healthcare, jobs, education and more. Securing a complete count for 2010 was imperative for our city, or we’d risk losing even more. As a native Houstonian and fairly new mom I was ecstatic to be able to help this team make a difference for generations to come.

Throughout the campaign, we complemented the Census Bureau’s overall outreach by developing localized messaging and “trans-creating” the messages into other languages. Vollmer’s messaging was used on t-shirts, stickers, bus cards, taxi cab ads, flyers, buttons, ads, editorial coverage and pamphlets which were distributed during the census campaign.

The big win for us came in June when we helped the City of Houston surpass the 2000 Houston response rate up to 67 percent (64 percent in 2000). Three percent may not sound like a lot, but that little three percent increase represents 66,000 people and access to an additional $1 billion during the next 10 years. $1 billion!!

For those of you wondering, how did we do it? Check out this video! 

Leave Your Brand Feeling Refreshed

 By Jimmy Egeland, Creative Services Manager


What do some of the best brands have in common? At some point or another, they’ve all refreshed their identity. Even the classics like Shell, Coke and Ford—staples that are considered to be some of the most recognizable and consistent brands of the past century—all modified their looks to keep up with contemporary style. It may have been hard to notice the changes from year-to-year, but when looking at their logos from decades ago, the nuanced differences for even the champions of brand consistency are noticeable.

In honor of the brands that have been doing it right for so long, here are Vollmer’s top-five rebranding pitfalls to avoid. With these tips and a little luck, maybe your brand will be among the elite fifty years from now.

Misdiagnosing Your Branding Situation – Your logo was designed by your thirteen-year-old son…with Microsoft Paint. It looks like it should be hanging on the refrigerator, not anchoring your company’s identity. In this instance, a minor tweak here and there is not going to cut it. It’s time to embrace a branding overhaul. Put sentiment aside and compare your identity to the big dogs in the industry. Looking like a Chihuahua? Potential customers are going to think the same thing.

Rushing it – It’s December 23rd and you’re thinking “wouldn’t it be great if we started out the new year with a new logo?” Unless Santa has an elf that’s a whiz with Adobe Illustrator, you might want to adjust your timeline. Give yourself plenty of time for research, concepts, design, review and edits. Yes, that means planning! You may not have your new logo by New Year’s, but you’ll be much happier with the final product come Valentine’s day.

Copy & Paste – Brand X is the best thing since sliced bread. Their look is so hot right now. Why not just refresh your brand and do exactly what Brand X is doing and cash in on their success? Besides the whole copyright infringement thing, it’s always important to remember this: the tribute band is never as good as the original. Nobody’s buying tickets for Fred Zeppelin when Led Zeppelin is playing down the street. Understanding and embracing design trends is one thing, but xeroxing the Xerox logo is a no-no. Make your identity your own.

Mistaken Identity – Nothing says peaceful retirement village quite like grunge texture and bolded, neon pink font. Well, if it’s a retirement village for punk rockers. When choosing things like typeface, treatments and imagery, it’s important to embrace your industry and your target. First impressions are important and you don’t want your peaceful elderly community to be portrayed as a nonstop rock fest.

Moonlighting – Let’s face it—you are good at what you do. Part of being good at what you do is delegating what you aren’t good at to people who are. The logo refreshing process is no different and should be left to the pros. Does your input matter? Absolutely. Should you weigh in on important decisions? You bet. But when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, trust the creative people around you.

So now you have the inspiration and the tips on what to avoid. You’re ready to refresh your brand and embark on a new era of success. If you have a hiccup along the way or need any guidance, I’m just a call or email away. Good luck and enjoy that refreshing feeling. Jimmy@vollmerpr.com – 972-488-4790.

RediClinic Helps Fight Flu Season

by Reid Schwartz, Vollmer Austin

It’s that time of year again: we’re on the brink of flu season, a time when people across the country rush to protect themselves and their families from the potentially deadly virus. We at Vollmer are particularly aware of flu season since we represent RediClinic, high-quality, affordable healthcare clinics located in H-E-B grocery stores in Texas to spread the word about health-related issues affecting the community.

This year, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns that the flu bug already has reared its ugly head in states across the U.S., and is strongly recommending that all men, women – including pregnant women – and children older than six months receive the seasonal flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available.

Our friends at RediClinic offer the following tips as we enter the flu season:

PREVENT IT!

The best way to prevent the flu is to get vaccinated. There are two types of vaccines this flu season.

The traditional flu shot is the most common and well known vaccine available, and involves an injection given into the muscle. The flu shot will be available soon, so check with your local clinic or doctor’s office for availability.

Have a problem with needles? The FluMist® is a needle-free, nasal-spray flu vaccine that is approved for children and adults 2-49 years of age. This vaccine is administered with a gentle, quick spray in each nostril – one of the places where the flu virus enters the body. FYI, FluMist® is now available at RediClinic, so drop on by!

Remember the 2009 H1N1 virus, better known as the swine flu? This year, the CDC expects the H1N1 virus to cause illness again along with a number of other influenza viruses. Luckily, this year’s flu vaccine (both the injectable and the flu mist) will protect against the 2009 H1N1 and two other influenza viruses as well, so you’ll only need to get one vaccine to protect yourself from all of those strains.

TREAT IT!

Sometimes, try as you might, you get bit by the flu bug. Should this happen, walk-in to your local clinic (no appointments are necessary at RediClinic!) and a clinician can perform a diagnostic test for your symptoms, then provide effective treatment options to get you better faster.

Remember, many people, including the elderly, young children and people with certain health conditions are at a higher risk for serious flu complications. The flu also can make chronic health problems worse. The best way to protect yourself, your family and the people you come into contact with from the flu virus is to get the flu vaccine each year as soon as it is available.

With all that said, if you do get the flu this year, please stay home and take care of yourself. You’ll be doing us all a huge favor!

Stay healthy!

Making the Most of a Media Tour

by Kate Sutherland, Vollmer Media Team

As a member of Vollmer’s Media Relations Team, I am regularly challenged with introducing our clients to a variety of media, from national morning show and producers to local print reporters and social media influencers. Whether the client is a travel expert for Travelocity or the CEO of Helix Energy Solutions, all clients want to know how to become the media’s “go-to source”.

While the media continues to evolve and change, there is one tried and true tactic for building strong media relationships – meet them! In a world connected by blackberries and “friending”, many people forget the basic fundamentals of getting to know someone.

Sitting down for an in-person meeting not only helps you learn more about the media, but it helps them learn more about you. Actually putting a “face to a name” is a great first step to helping the media view you as a trusted resource, and conducting a media tour over one or two days is the easiest way to meet a lot of media, in a short amount of time.

Regardless of industry, the best place to start a media tour is New York City. While it seems easy enough to plan some meetings, there are a few tricks to coordinating a successful tour, especially in the Big Apple! Here are some of Vollmer’s top tips on how we help clients prepare for media tours.

• Check the Local Calendar – While it doesn’t seem likely that New York City’s fashion week would impact a major construction group, such as Skanska, it could. Most media outlets (even the Wall Street Journal!) will be understaffed and unwilling to make time for meetings during this busy week. Always keep an eye out for major events and industry/competitor tradeshows, and avoid visits during those times.

• Avoid Mondays/Fridays – These are notoriously bad days to set up meetings for obvious reasons, so always stick to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

• Think Outside the Box – If you are having trouble securing a meeting with the editor for the New York Times, consider bloggers that cover your industry and freelancers in the area. This is a great way to build credibility with media who may be just as influential with your target audiences and often also write for more than one news outlet.

• Fit In Other Business – While the focus of these tours are typically to meet with media, consider setting up a time to meet potential partners in the city you are visiting, including vendors, potential clients or long-distance networking contacts you may have developed.

• Create Itinerary & Verify Locations – Input all locations, times, contacts and their phone/email addresses into one easy to access document. Always double check the address of the meeting with your contact, or call their receptionist. It’s helpful to ask for exact cross streets, and if there are special check-in instructions (for example, if ID is required, or to enter through a side street)

• Confirm 24 Hours in Advance - Send each person a confirmation email 24 hours in advance of your appointment, reconfirming time and location.

• Check the Weather – Seems silly, but if you are relying on public transportation to get you to and from meetings, realize that there will be delays if it rains! This is especially true in Manhattan. It will be hard to rely on cabs in bad weather so consider renting a car or booking a car service to ensure you make it to every appointment on time. If you will be driving, add in a few more minutes than usual.

• Don’t Forget the News! – And the number one tip is....Bring news! If they agree to meet with you, the media will want to know what is going on with you or your company now, how it’s related to what’s happening in the rest of the world and how it will affect your target audiences – their readers.

If you are interested in learning more about Vollmer’s media relationships and coordinating a media tour, contact a member of our team – Kate Sutherland, kate@vollmerpr.com or Mary Kate Smither (marykate@vollmerpr.com).

Car trouble now? Just wait.

by Amanda Modglin, Vollmer Houston
Here in the United States, we love our cars. We detail them. We pimp them out. We have car clubs.

How would you feel if you had to change your tire every other week, or if you spent most of your gas sitting in traffic? Well that’s where we’re headed in the U.S.

Why are our cars in danger?

Simply put, there’s less money for road construction and maintenance. A-LOT-LESS. Meaning - your car will suffer a lot more.

So what’s the answer to this conundrum? You!

While this problem is nationwide, here’s the scoop in Texas:

TxDOT’s recently released transportation funding projection for the next 25 years is worse than officials expected. For example, the Houston region in now projected to only receive a little over half of the long-range transportation plan’s budget that was approved in 2007 for the next 25 years. Instead of $156 billion, they anticipate to receive only $85 billion. (For you non-mathematicians, we’re looking at $71 billion less to play with.)

This means the highway you commute to work on won’t be widened and the streets you turn off on to go home will be riddled with potholes. Wish your patience and tires good luck.

Why the huge shortfall?

The problem is related to a few issues, but most notable are the recent recession and the ever decreasing motor fuels tax revenue.

The recession is a relatively recent part of the problem and isn’t the biggest concern, as eventually the economy will bounce back.

The key issue and something you should be aware of (and maybe concerned about too) is finding a new source of revenue for transportation project funding, because the current motor fuels tax revenue is dying off rapidly.

The motor fuels tax has not been increased since the early 1990s, so over time, as inflation rises, we lose money for roads. Throw in a new wave of developing hybrid vehicles that has evolved much faster than anyone expected – and now the bottom is falling out.

What does that mean for roads?

As populations are on the rise, this funding shortfall becomes a concern to the infrastructure of many cities, because there’s a lot less money to keep up with the booming population. So either stop having babies… or lets find a solution.

Great, there’s no money. Where do we go from here?

Well, here’s where you come in. The first thing to realize is that roads are never “free.” Many of us say “no toll roads, build free roads,” well those “free roads” used to be paid for by the revenues generated. If fewer revenues are collected, the state has to find other ways to fund transportation projects.

We must come to grip with the reality that what we’re doing right now no longer supports us. Our habits as a population are evolving (fuel-efficient cars, etc.); therefore our government must evolve in collecting revenues so that we are able to have money for things we now feel entitled to, such as nice roads.

Our Texas government will someday need to consider addressing this change, and when they do, here are a few of the options on the table:

• Inflation Indexing of Motor Fuels Tax– Each gallon of gasoline includes 38.4 cents of tax: 18.4 cents federal tax, set in 1993; and 20 cents state tax, set in 1991. (Diesel is 22.4 cents federal and 20 cents state). Because these rates have not been indexed to inflation, the purchasing power of the revenues has declined over the years. If the state gasoline tax had been indexed to inflation since 1993, then 2009 revenues would have been $800 million higher.
• Increase Motor Fuels Tax – At its peak in 2008, Texas sold 15.5 billion gallons of motor fuel (11.7 B gallons of gas and 3.8 B gallons of diesel). Fund 6 revenues for transportation totaled $2.3 billion. Each one-cent increase in motor fuels tax adds $142 million to transportation funding, a potential gain to our region of $28-32 million. However, future returns are expected to diminish as less fuel is consumed due to higher fleet fuel economy.
• Fund 6 Diversion – Beyond the 25% of motor fuel revenues devoted to fund education in the state, diversions to other state programs have grown to 13% of Fund 6 revenue. In 2009, the diversion totaled $766 million, amounting to a $150-170 million loss to our region.
• Vehicle Registration Fee – Currently, the typical vehicle registration fee is $50. A $25 increase in registration fees would generate nearly $600 million per year over the next decade.
• Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) Fee – VMT fee potentially has the greatest effect on future revenues because it will not diminish due to increased fleet fuel efficiencies. A penny per mile could generate almost $5.8 billion for the Houston region over the next decade. 

So what can you do? Get involved. Write your local state representative and tell them how you would fix the problem. Remember, there are a lot of people and more are coming, so the issue cannot continue to be ignored. Let’s bite the bullet and fix the problem.