News from The Castle Group, Inc.

We are a communications firm, so we love the media. But let's face it, online, offline, in print or on the airwaves, we are bombarded with dire reports: "Swine flu is creating a panic! We're in a recession!" If this wasn't enough, we keep hearing about the endangered local media, most notably, the imminent demise of The Boston Globe and how that is going to forever change the way we run our business and service our clients. Since we're in the business of making sure messages are accurately conveyed, this month, we're using this space to do some "fact-checking" of our own.

Myth #1: If The Globe shuts down, Boston PR firms are in trouble.
If The Boston Globe were to shut down--which thankfully seems less likely today--it will indeed be a sad day for the entire region. We grew up reading it, we love opening it each morning, it is an important institution and we have great friends at The Globe. As citizens and communications professionals, we want Boston to be a vibrant, two-paper city.

We hope and trust that The Globe will emerge from this difficult time refocused and refinanced, but regional media relations and press coverage is just one element of the work we do for our clients: social media, vertical marketing, brand management, enrollment marketing, national and international public relations, relationship marketing and event marketing are equally, if not more, important to what we do every day at Castle; our success stems from a deep understanding of trends and cycles, as well as our ability to anticipate change and maximize opportunities for our clients in emerging communications channels.

Myth #2: Business people are not traveling.
Contrary to the common misconception, we are finding that corporations are not significantly cutting back on their corporate event agendas: they are responding positively to President Obama's very public call for continued support of corporate events and business travel. What we do see, and what we support, is a trend away from extravagance and toward greater attention on corporate events as efficient vehicles for brand enhancement, strategic messaging and for incenting sales channels. This has always been our focus at Castle, and what has differentiated our approach from the beginning.

When we say that we are not "party planners," but rather a marketing and messaging company, we mean that our objective is designing and delivering multi-tiered corporate events, which effectively and efficiently position the brand and support strategic marketing objectives. In the past few months we have managed events in Boston, as well as in Italy, Costa Rica, Napa, Portugal and yes, Mexico (without incident). With clear messaging, specific goals and responsible budgeting, there is still no better way to directly reach your audience. Incentive travel programs, done properly, help companies achieve ROI and are measurable, quantifiable motivators for success.

We hope that the worst has passed, but if it hasn't, if recessionary factors linger longer, we remain committed to working hard everyday to bring tangible, measurable value to our clients.