Girls ….Go for It! (Lean In)

“Me, on a billboard? Never in a million years!”

That’s what I thought when I found out a promotional campaign I agreed to be part of would be more than just a testimonial on a website.

I had sent a letter of thanks to the local Cork Chamber of Commerce because I won some business after attending a Chamber event. When they called to recruit me for the promotion, I said, “Sure, of course, no bother”, thinking they’d ask me to write up some notes.

Then I found out that my face would be on a billboard!

Even though I work in public relations, I was always reluctant to put myself forward in photographs or other public displays. I thought they were opportunities that could go to clients instead.

Silly, I know; I think I was hiding behind my clients!

The Chamber assured me that eight other people would be on the billboard with me, but when I showed up for my photo shoot, I was all on my own. We were each being given our own billboard.

Roll on a month or so and the billboards went on display. We got great feedback from clients and business colleagues, although I couldn’t look at my picture. I was mortified at my face being as big as a bus, literally.

I met my contact in the Chamber of Commerce to give feedback on the experience.

I thought the campaign was great for my business, but it was a negative for the Chamber because I was the only woman out of nine members who were featured.

What she said next shocked me: “Deirdre, we asked loads of business women—you were the only one to say yes!”

Okay, I was a fairly reluctant participant, but it was a brilliant opportunity for our small business to feature in a billboard campaign in our city. I couldn’t say no, even though I wanted to, but it sure didn’t feel nice getting out of my comfort zone.

But what about all the successful, confident, intelligent businesswomen in my city who did say no?

We need to get over ourselves as women in business. We need to take more chances and seize every opportunity that comes our way, because if we don’t, someone else will.

We need to surround ourselves with positive people – men and women who will challenge and push us every day of our lives. We need to face the fear that stops us from achieving everything we are capable of and acknowledge that the biggest deterrent to reaching our full potential is often ourselves.

Girls ..Go for It!

Note: Deirdre wrote this piece for the Lean In website, which was started by Sheryl  Sandberg, COO of Facebook who wrote a book called Lean In.

Deirdre Waldron is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design agency with offices in Cork and Dublin.

Rewarding Loyalty

We love going there, the team know us, the manager knows us, there is always a great atmosphere and it is a real treat that we always look forward to.

The little touches are so important, finding you a good place to sit, recommending a special wine, suggesting a new beer, letting you have a sample on the house, asking your opinion about things they are doing…all in all a great place to eat, drink and relax.

The manager was telling us that they were thinking of introducing a “loyalty card” system to reward the regular customers – For every X number of meals you would get one free as well as some other benefits.

The truth is they don’t need a loyalty card system because they always reward our loyalty with their great service.

Instead of giving me one free meal for every ten we order and processing this through a card system, I’m pretty sure that I prefer being looked after in an informal, discretionary way…not because I have “earned” or qualified for my bonus meal.

Give me a drink on the house, a free dessert, a great seat, a warm welcome …it’s better than any card!

Places that don’t know you, might need a system to encourage repeat business and reward loyalty in an official way ….the great places never need a system!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

The Gardener

By the way ..not my garden!

I just knew it ..

When he came in the door with his notebook and pen and carefully took down the details I knew we were in trouble.

The garden was in a state, the grass was up to your kneecaps and it had been totally neglected since the end of last summer.

I reckoned our poor Flymo wasn’t up to the job, so the idea was that we would try to find someone who could come in, give the whole place a once over and leave it in a way that we could look after it ourselves for the rest of the year.

Bear in mind that we have a nice 4 bedroom detached house in a housing estate with very average sized gardens both front and back.

After he left us we saw him pacing the front garden – It looked like he was measuring the area. Not good I thought.

The following day his quote arrived by email – €1,560 !!

Oh my god – I thought it must have been a quote for the whole year but when I read it carefully I realised it was for just the initial tidy up!

If there was ever a moment to spur me into action, this was it ..the next half dry evening the Flymo came out and together we attacked the grass – it took two more evenings and a few hours on the bank holiday Saturday but we cracked it!

We bought weed killer, moss peat, some flowers, a yard brush and spent pretty much the rest of the Saturday at it.

I totally despise gardening and this for me was a real punishment day (and evenings) and there is still plenty more to do. I don’t care enough about the garden to have it perfect and I’m sure our expensive friend would definitely have had it spick and span but to me this was not worth it.

I guess at times we are like the “gardener”.

We do take careful notes, we spend time gathering as much information as we can, we try to fully understand the prospective client’s needs and issues and the challenges they face in their sector.

Armed with this information we go away, we do our own research and we write a Marketing and PR plan for them that will hopefully achieve their objectives. We then prepare a budget to execute the plan as economically as possible.

At times this is fine and everything proceeds but there are times when it is just too much for the prospective client and they must pass – sometimes they decide to cut their own grass!

Their garden will more than likely end up being like mine but sometimes with budgets being so tight that will just have to do.

The important thing is that we all do our best to drive forward and while that can be difficult with limited resources at least ..keep driving forward.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

What kind of cheese would you like?

If you are looking to buy cheese, not any cheese, but a rich, salty, tangy, creamy cheese, full of dark taste and craft, of pleasure and savour – where would you go to purchase such a food?

Would you stop and ask Sean behind Iago’s glass counter (a cheese monger located in the English Market in Cork city) about the vintage of the cheese, of the grass-fed nature of the cows? Would you ask for a sliver to taste? Would you consider how you would eat it if you bought it?

Or would you ask the random person behind the countless chocolate bars and in front of the naggins of vodka, cough sweets and parking disks in a convenience store about whether the cheddar manufacturer’s pasteurise their milk or leave it raw?

Well there are plenty of convenience stores around that sell like-for-like blocks of mediocre quality cheeses, with indefinite sell by dates and fantastic “Buy One Get One Free” offers that will taste, well, like cheese on a midweek plate of pasta, but ultimately deliver an unmemorable topping to an unmemorable meal.

I remember the first time I tried an incredible sheep’s cheese from Tipperary called Crozier, eating most of it in the car on the way home and vouching to buy double the quantity the next time as so to avoid the no-Crozier-left crisis that followed the car journey home.

And I remember the sting on my lips from Gabriel cheese, made by Bill and Sean in West Cork. I remember the conversation regarding the most oozing, perfectly ripe brie, as it almost poured as it was cut and how a certain someone (Hello Nuala!) would utterly enjoy such a cheese.

As a result I have become a wiser person – one better equipped to eat & talk (or write) about cheese, from dealing with Sean in Iago’s, over the past decade and a half.  I don’t know the name of a single person working in my local convenience store, and nor have I ever asked them for advice about their cheese offerings.

So you see, we go to experts, to savour, to experience, to enjoy and mostly to learn and benefit from them. We trust them that they know what they do is right, for them and for us. We go because when we ask they listen, and when they tell we learn.

And that’s why clients come to see and work with us. We have put long hours into developing and fine-tuning our crafts, and that our expert (we’ve been doing this stuff for a while!) opinions will enhance your brand, products and services in a professional fashion. Our opinions are worth listening to.

Trust us to guard what you have worked so hard to create and achieve.

What kind of cheese would you like?

Jonathan Leahy Maharaj is the Creative Director with Fuzion 

Fuzion offer a full range of graphic design services from our offices in Cork and Dublin

Are you leaving breadcrumbs?

“You are doing a lot of work in Dublin these days” she said to me.

“We are, but how did you know that?” I asked

“Oh ..I figured that out from your Facebook posts” she said

That conversation was about five years ago and it was at an event for a client in Dublin – for me it was what I call my “penny drop” moment about social media. At that time I was using Facebook, just like everyone else posting the odd thing about what I was doing and where I was going. In fact, I think I wasn’t that sure what I should have been posting and even how relevant social media might be for business.

It dawned on me that with every post you make people are watching, digesting and forming impressions about you and what you are all about. Often they won’t comment, reply or even “like” your posts, but they are listening and soaking up what you are saying.

From that moment I realised the power of social media and the importance of having a clear idea about what picture of you and your business you want to portray.

Every status update, every tweet, every retweet, every like, every share, every favourite, every discussion, every hashtag and every blog post are all little breadcrumbs that you leave to bring the reader to a place you wanted to take them.

Are you leaving breadcrumbs?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion with offices in Cork and Dublin offer social media training and consultancy in Ireland.

Johnny Logan and knowing your audience!

I know what you like!

I was listening to the Ray D’Arcy Show on Today FM yesterday and they were interviewing one of this year’s nominees to be selected to represent Ireland in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Kasey Smith.

When discussing how unsuccessful Ireland have been over the last few years, co presenter Mairead Farrell made a very valid point saying that it’s Europe that will be voting on the night (not Ireland) and we should all remember this when choosing Ireland’s act. What Ireland prefers may not be what Europe would vote for!

This got me thinking about businesses and I wondered are they fitting in with this logic?

The market is changing rapidly and what may have worked before may no longer be relevant to your ‘current audience’ so businesses need to take a step back and see how they can improve their product/service in order to keep up with their competitors or even better, get ahead of them.

It’s obviously easier for bigger companies to get to know their audience as they can afford to do lots of detailed market research to identify their target audience and find out what they are thinking.

This shouldn’t stop smaller companies conducting their own research – you can carry out surveys using free services on-line such as Survey Monkey or Group-Surveys to help identify your product/service’s strengths and weaknesses in your customers’ eyes.

Even monitoring feedback received on social networks or review sites can be used to your advantage. Watch carefully what is being said and keep your mind open to new opportunities and needs! (This is one of our reasons for making sure you look after your own social media).

Once you know your audience you need to also know where to find them!

A brilliant advertising package may sound like an amazing offer but will it actually reach your own target market? – I remember a client of ours ringing us all excited because she had just secured a great deal – she secured a double page advert in Magill magazine for half price ..the services she offered were an alternative to cosmetic surgery!! The poor pet was out of business three months later.

Don’t just research the publication/radio station – Find out what issue/ radio show would be most relevant to your business.

It looks like we all need to be like Johnny Logan ..

Mary Quille is a PR Consultant with Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

Game Changing Interviews

Just before the New Year we decided to publicise a vacancy for a Senior PR post in our Dublin office.

We deliberately wanted to leave the job description open so that it would invite interest from  a wide range of people leaving us with the opportunity of shaping the role around the successful “right” candidate instead of letting everything be dictated by a very specific role ..it has been an interesting journey with some really good learnings!

1. The job vacancy posted on our website and the use of social media alone was enough to generate a huge number of responses and enough quality candidates
2. From the minute we tweeted and posted the link for the vacancy we could see huge traffic hitting our website
3. People are really happy to retweet and share news about job vacancies
4. So many people apply for jobs without reading what the job is about!! – I would say about 40% of the enquiries were totally irrelevant
5. The role attracted a lot of attention because of the way we described it – avoid cliches (dynamic person…)!
6. People in really good roles are now prepared to move to new jobs – is that recession fear easing off?
7. Some people are caught in “fur lined” mouse traps – they are getting no satisfaction from their jobs but are stuck because their packages are too good to leave. We met a few of these!
8. Many people have taken roles in the recession because they needed the money – most are really unfulfilled now, which is bad for them and their employers.
9. There are a lot of really talented, hard working people out there – the quality of the people we met was amazing
10. Employment agencies – I can’t see us ever having to use one..

After just one week of searching we found more than one ideal candidate for the role but we also met a number of quite diverse people all with something unique to offer who we know we will stay in touch with and work together in some way on various projects..

The game of recruiting is changing, the game of looking for a job is changing and hopefully this simple interview process could turn out to be a valuable “game changer” for us.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

Are you ready to Leapfrog?

According to Wikipedia “Leapfrog” is a children’s game in which players vault over each others stooped backs.

I’m not sure about you but I certainly played it loads of times as a kid!

In Fuzion, Leapfrog is a real business game where you try to identify something you can do or some move you can make that will help your business jump to another level or even better to a new place.

Apple is a great example of this with iTunes or the iPhone.

At times progress can be small and steady and sometimes hardly noticeable – maybe at your next management meeting think hard and spend time with your team looking for that thing that will help you Leapfrog your competition or take you somewhere totally new.

Is it time to start leapfrogging?

Greg Canty is a partner in Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

Those Days are well and truly gone?

Handy brand ?

“Those days are well and truly gone” she said with a nod that demonstrated clarity and conviction around the topic. Around the table everyone nodded their heads agreeing with the wise statement and more importantly the sentiment.

We were working on an event with some very high profile, weighty organisations. This was a planning meeting and the marketing representatives from each organisation were in attendance. The event was very progressive and was targeting attendees that were perfect for each of the participating organisations.

It sounded like a blast from the past when someone around the table suggested a “goodie bag” for the attendees. I hate that description – I immediately think of a branded plastic bag with some literature and a few bits. However I always saw the absolute sense in the “right” branded item that helps make your brand connect with the attendees.

If it is the right item and is useful and durable your brand could appear in all sorts of places being used over and over by your target audience – how bad?

The big danger is that we sit and discuss and because of the “economic climate” we too easily reject things that could make total sense without thinking properly about our objectives.

Why did we do this “stuff” before – was it because we had loads of money and we wanted to chuck it away or was it because it was simply a great idea ?

It”s pouring outside and I grab my really decent umbrella with that “logo” on it ….that brand has done a lot of travelling since the event I got it at!

A lot of what we did before made sense – those days may not be gone after all!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

Sometimes just saying no is best

Give him what he wants?

I have a five-year old boy.

I wish I’d had one at the start of my career – I’d have been so better equipped to deal with clients! ..Now, I’m not saying that all clients are like five year old boys, it’s just that sometimes dealing with one can be like dealing with the other…

My son sees something on TV, or in the hands of another child and he has to have it. “Please daddddddyyyyyyy. But I want it.“

And I say “no”, as a parent should. He doesn’t need it. It’s expensive. He’ll be bored of it in 5 minutes (unless it comes with packaging – then the whatever it is has no chance – my son loves playing with his packaging!).

Sometimes a client can put me in a similar spot. The client sees something, has an idea and he wants it. What the client wants, the client gets as they say, but I try to use my experience and knowledge to steer them clear of wasting their time or money.

The best example I ever came across of this was when I worked for a large agency in Dublin.

The client was a big, big account and they wanted their radio ads written in a certain way. Fair enough, but we all knew in the agency that this wasn’t what was in the the client’s best interest. We’d written and presented much more effective adverts for the client but he wasn’t interested, so the Account Director simply said let’s run what he wants.

And 99% of the time in that agency that’s what would have happened. But our Creative Director said no. Absolutely no. The better ads had to be sold. It wasn’t just the client’s reputation but also our own that was at stake.

So instead of trying to sell the preferred ads the Group Account Manager appeared and asked politely could we run the client’s ads -Again.. NO!

No ad could go into production without the Creative Director’s sign off so we were in stalemate. Finally the Agency Group Managing Director waded in and put the pressure on but still the answer was no.

The client was wheeled in then and after a very heated exchange our Creative Director got his way. But the account was on the line and people’s noses were well out of joint.

The ads ran..

The client sold more than ever before! We didn’t lose the account and we used the quality of the ads to win more business. It all ended happily ever after.

The big thing that I took out of this was that an ad, a design – anything we produce not only reflects on our client but on us. And that you’ve got to be able to stand up to the pressure and make the tough calls when it happens.

The other thing that changed is that our department took a lot more pride in what we did from then on – we were determined not to let ourselves down, nor the client.

I later asked our Creative Director how he had felt about all the pressure and the fact that the account was on the line.

He had a simple answer, “It’s always on the line so why not always fight to do work you are proud of?” It works for clients and so far on my five year old…

Kevin O’Shea is the Creative Director of Fuzion

Fuzion provide Design and Creative solutions across all media from our offices in Dublin and Cork