| Wisconsin State Fair Trivia |
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We hope you had a chance to get out and enjoy the fair this year! Whether you made it or not, these trivia questions will put you in a "fair mood." Answers can be found below.
1. How many cream puffs were sold at the 2008 Wisconsin State Fair?
a) 185,921
b) 239,778
c) 381,926
2. What year in history did Wisconsin celebrate its first state fair?
a) 1846
b) 1851
3. What Madison location was scheduled to host the fair in 1861, but in the wake of the Civil War, instead became a training ground for soldiers, and has since been utilized by UW-Madison?
a) Bascom Hall
b) University Square
c) Camp Randall
4. What is the single-day record for trips taken down the Giant Slide?
a) 15,000
b) 24,000
c) 11,000
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| Trivia Answers |
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1. c
2. b
3. c
4. a
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| Greetings!
With the economic outlook rising along with August's warmer temperatures, Vollrath Associates hopes you're relaxing and enjoying the late-summer season!
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Thought Leadership is a Company Attitude
Thought leadership may be a new buzz word in the world of
business, but the concept behind it has been successful since the days when
Betty Crocker's first cookbooks positioned General Mills as a trusted baking
resource.
Companies today are positioning themselves as thought leaders
using new strategies and technologies, but the core concepts and abundant benefits
of thought leadership (TL) remain the same.
An effective TL campaign demonstrates expertise, attracts passionate clients
who create word-of-mouth buzz, preempts competitive marketing efforts, exposes
your company's values to future prospects and draws attention beyond traditional
marketing activities.
What is essential when applying a thought leadership strategy
is the attitude that there's a lot more to talk about than just products or
services. Thought leadership is about
advocating new, inspiring ideas, providing advice, analyzing new trends in the
industry or exchanging solutions to current obstacles in the field. The driving forces behind its efforts must be
based on a willingness to share knowledge freely, engage the market and
challenge the status quo.
Generating TL must come from within. Management attitudes about engaging with
their market, sharing their vision, debating issues and discussing trends all
enables a company to project itself without resorting to simply promoting
products or services. TL can run
parallel to product promotion but with the more strategic objectives of
creating a new or differing company reputation while helping the organization
stand out versus competitors.
If you would like to learn more ways to incorporate thought
leadership techniques into your public relations campaign, please contact us at
mross@vollrathpr.com.
Adapted from the article "Thought
Leadership is a Company Attitude" by Ford Kanzler in the Business Marketing
Institute's Tuesday Marketing Notes Number 182, July 14, 2009.
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Corporate Branding in an Untrusting Consumer Environment
Question: What happens when a company places more
emphasis on its logo and marketing efforts than on its core cultural values -
or on the values of the people it serves as customers and clients? Enter
today's widespread financial services industry collapse!
Case-in-point - consider Merrill Lynch's bold,
aggressive-looking bull logo: now a symbol gone-bust after company leaders
battled rampant internal scandals and financial failures, only to loose the
investor trust they had spent countless years and billions of dollars branding.
Creating, earning and keeping brand trust is a formidable
task that begins when leaders understand that their long-term sustainability is
not rooted in glitzy marketing, but rather in the time-honored trust that the
public places in their good names. What should you be looking for in your company's culture that signals the
trust you can pass on in good faith to investors, customers and employees?
- Quality leadership: Leaders at all levels of an
organization must be committed to serving as role models and promoting
positive values within their workforce.
- Accountable and ethical behavior: Decision makers must act with
resounding awareness of this era's increased accountability and
scrutiny.
- Living up to the commitment: A logo means nothing if a
company cannot deliver the promise behind it.
Adapted from the article "No More
Bull" by Larry Checco in IRUpdate, June, 2009 edition.
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Vollrath Associates Graduates from Social Media University
Vollrath Associates recently honed
its new media and technology skills when account coordinator Michaela Ross attended the first-ever Social Media
University Milwaukee
training seminar. The forum brought
together nearly 400 communication professionals from area corporations,
nonprofit organizations and communication firms to share ideas and techniques
about this ever-evolving field.
Woven throughout the event was the
conviction that businesses need to incorporate social media as a strategic tool in their marketing,
advertising and public relations campaigns.
Dozens of different social media sites can be used to target a company's
various audiences, increase leads, drive Web site traffic, enhance search
engine optimization (SEO) and promote an organization's expertise in a certain
field or topic. But these are just one
set of tools in the marketing tool box.
The key is whether or not this tool reaches the target audience and how
it can be used effectively.
Representatives from both local and
national companies used the event as an opportunity to share ways their
organizations are successfully using social media to increase profits and build
a positive reputation. The day
culminated in a keynote speech by Blinds.com CEO and 2006 Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur of the Year Jay Steinfeld on how to use social media to turn
customers into brand ambassadors.
If your company would like to
discuss how social media can be integrated into your marketing and public
relations strategy, please feel free to contact us at mross@vollrathpr.com.
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Quote of the Month
"Labor
Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the
next day. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was
already taken."
~Bill Dodds
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