Nationwide Consumer Media Coverage Drives Kolache Factory Brand Expansion.
Three things on every restaurant chain’s To-Do list: create big media buzz, build greater brand awareness and have increased customer engagement and sales. With 919 Marketing leading the way with the Create a New Kolache PR campaign, the Houston-based bakery chain The Kolache Factory was able to do all three. The Create a New Kolache contest asked customers to submit ingredients for a new kolache flavor (A kolache is a Czech pastry filled with meats, cheeses and fruit). The winning flavor was dubbed “Yes, Please” Mac-and-Cheese, a combo of mac-and-cheese, brisket and jalapeño peppers (YUM). Dawn Nielsen, Kolache Factory COO says, “We are thrilled with the results […]
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Social Media Marketing: Is It Really That Important?
All day long, I’m checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s part of the job here at 919 Marketing. I wish I could say I had time to check in with my wife and kids while surfing social media, but there’s usually no time. So, every evening on my drive home from the office I call my wife to check in. Our conversations range from a detailed report of how everyone’s day went to, “When you get home, the kids are your problem!” That’s usually followed by, “They’re finally quiet because I just let them use their iPhones so I could finally enjoy some […]
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Is Your Story Newsworthy?
There’s no denying that the media industry has changed in the last decade. The entire industry has been turned on its head, in many ways for the better. Today, newsrooms are smaller while the sea of news and content is overflowing. What hasn’t changed is what makes a story newsworthy. It’s interesting to me that through the years, the characteristics of what is “newsworthy” haven’t changed. In fact, they’ve only become more important. (In fact, when doing media training with clients, we haven’t even had to change this part of the sessions.) If you want coverage for yourself, company, product, […]
16 Ways to Handle Negative Reviews and Comments
Every business is at risk of getting negative online reviews or negative comments to a blog post. Naturally, dealing with those not-so-nice reviews and comments sends anyone into defense mode. After all, it’s our first reaction to defend ourselves (or business or product or service) when delivers a blow. But when it comes to handling negative reviews and comments, there is only choice: Kill ‘em with kindness. If your business, product or service gets a negative review Monitor for mentions of your brand name using Google Alerts or monitoring software like Trackur or Radian6. This way, you’re one of the first to know when there is […]
Blogging into the abyss? We think not.
I work with clients all the time who struggle to appreciate the value of a blog, especially when they think about the time that goes into keeping it up to date and then getting people to read it. We live in a world of instant gratification – microwaves, drive-through’s, mp3 downloads and movies on demand. So the thought of putting deep thought into each and every blog post when we’re not sure anyone is listening does sound daunting. But it will pay off in the end. I promise. So, I’ve broken down what I see as the two most important […]
3 Lessons We Learned in Client Management: Wizard of Oz Rejected Our Clients and Their Little Blog Too
We all jumped over the rainbow with joy when we thought we landed our clients on a huge national TV show, a TV daytime talk show starring one of Oprah’s favorite sons who grew up to be a doctor. A famous doctor named Oz. All was well and we were off to see the wizard until a producer had noticed that our lovely couple from Kansas had already been on another network TV show sharing their story and because of that – she nixed us from the show. Our hopes of landing our client on a big network show? MELTING, […]
by Sue Yannello