Cross posted from PRSA Boston.
This month, we spoke with Joan Schneider, President of Schneider Associates, one of the region's leading agencies. An alum of Boston University's College of Communications, Joan has worked with some of the most esteemed consumer brands, including Baskin-Robbins and Woolite, as well as NECCO, the agency's longest-standing client. Joan is also the author of New Product Launch: 10 Proven Strategies (2004) and is writing a second, The New Launch Plan: 101 Tips, Tactics and Trends from the Most Memorable New Products.
What has kept you in the public relations field all these years?
What I love about public relations is that every day I get paid to learn something new. Not only does the client work change every day, but the technologies and methodologies we are using as practitioners are also changing. And in our profession, we must either adapt to the latest ways to communicate or become extinct.
Schneider Associates has been honored for its growth amidst the downturn by publications including The Boston Business Journal and Inc. Magazine.
What has been the key to your success when several other agencies have been forced to shut down?
We have been in business for 29 years and this is our fourth recession. I have learned to focus on both the top line (sales) and the bottom line (profits). All of us at Schneider are very focused on developing creative ideas that bring measurable results. We work hard at understanding our clients' businesses so we can provide a return on their marketing communications dollars that keeps them profitable, even in challenging economic times. I come from a family of entrepreneurs and my parents taught me to never give up or take no for an answer -- two good business tenants to continually have in mind during tough times.
I also am fortunate to have two partners who are incredibly smart, executive vice presidents: Phil Pennellatore, with Schneider for nine years, heads up the Corporate and Public Affairs Group; and Julie Hall, with Schneider for seven years, leads our Consumer and Social Media Group. With their help, and that of our amazing staff, I feel confident Schneider Associates will be a factor in public relations and marketing for years to come.
What industries, in your opinion, provide for the most interesting campaigns?
The most interesting campaigns we create are for products that are revolutionary and for clients who are willing to invest in a launch that brings attention to these products. Over the years we've learned it takes more than a new product to capture the imagination of the media and consumers. Now you need research to prove why the product is effective, consumers who have tested the product and are willing to go on record saying the product has merit, experts who are willing to corroborate the science is real or the technology is effective, and trained corporate or professional spokespeople who can tell the company story in an interesting and credible way.
For me, it's not the industry that makes the product or campaign interesting. It's the creative strategy behind the campaign and the flawless execution that makes our campaigns successful. We've launched many interesting campaigns for relatively ho hum products that we made interesting by wrapping something "big" around the product to make it special and newsworthy.
As the head of one of the region's leading agencies, how do you envision the business model of the typical PR agency changing?
The public relations business is changing rapidly and dramatically. With newspapers literally going out of business, one major channel for distributing news is disappearing while many other new channels are appearing. Whether it's Facebook, Twitter, mommy blogs, YouTube, vlogs, online news services or "the next big thing," the agencies who are going to survive have to be able to transform themselves to accommodate new media distribution channels.
We've been offering integrated marketing for several years now and have our own graphic design department, social media department, and video production, web, advertising, promotion and media training partners so we can develop campaigns that draw on these many different disciplines.
What new (or existing) industries do you think will provide the biggest growth opportunities for PR practitioners in Boston over the next few years?
Looking ahead, there's no doubt that technology, health care, consumer products, real estate, financial services and general business will all recover from today's economic downturn. We need to be ready, willing and able to provide the kind of strategic advice for which people count on public relations counselors to deliver.
In my 29 years in business, the same axioms continue to hold true; it's just the way we deliver the messages that change. Smart, savvy, aggressive, well-educated and personable practitioners will always be in demand. We need to remember that public relations is the cornerstone of communications and no matter how we deliver the messages, the tenants of sound communications theory hold true.
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