Engaging in the Moment Integrating PR + Social for Real-Time Events

Maggie Malek | Head of PR and Social | @MagsMac

MMI Agency | mmiagency.com | @mmiagency

One upon a time… • GeoCities • Sports marketing • Traditional PR

Now? Social media + Experience junkie

a few current clients…

Consumers today have a natural adblock

To break through, brands have to become a part of consumers’ lives

In whatever way that matters to YOUR specific consumer

Sometimes, that means leveraging live events to ignite a conversation.

But how do you maximize your punch?

You have to identify (or create) moments that matter.

framework for real-time engagement

start LISTEN identify STRATEGIZE igniteCONVERSE REPORT

Step 1: Evaluate and Listen

Do you have the right to play in this space?

• Will the audience care? • Is our brand relevant? • How do we truly engage?

Questions to ask yourself (honestly)

Use social listening to identify key conversation topics

Participate in the conversation year-round

Step 2: Write your event-day (or week ) strategy

Event time is hectic: plan in advance

Identify every opportunity to engage

• Push pre-created content live • Monitor real-time conversations

to feed ideas for live content • Generate images on the fly • For agencies, have your client in

the room for approvals

Social Media:

• Identify who you will be pitching • Finalize your visuals • Write your releases • Identify your spokespeople • Know exactly who the final

approval will be for on the fly media requests

Public Relations:

Leverage multiple channels

Plan for unbridled success!

Step 3: Ignite Conversations

Now it’s time to activate!

Have your tools ready to go.

Have your tools ready to go.

Assign a dedicated team

And know exactly who is responsible for what.

Always be ready to move.

And you will ignite conversations.

Step 4: Review and refresh

Assess your success

Step 1: Evaluate and Listen Step 2: Write your strategy Step 3: Hit the ground running Step 4: Review and refresh

Framework for Real-Time Social Event Engagement

Case studies!!

Houston: The City With No Limits

Start with reality.

Houston had a perception problem—negative stereotypes

of the city overshadowed the positive realities of living and

working in the fourth-largest city in the United States. The

Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), a leading economic

development organization, identified this as a problem and

enlisted the help of MMI Agency to change the perception

and attract millennial talent to the city’s growing economic

base. To fully understand the existing perception of the city

from both residents and outsiders, MMI engaged people

in conversations about Houston through surveys, focus

groups and interviews.

Identify what’s relevant.The results were clear; people ranked Houston high in both

economic and quality-of-life measures. Based on these insights,

MMI and GHP created “Houston: The City With No Limits”

campaign to share the positive realities of living in Houston and

start conversations.

Ignite Conversations.The “City With No Limits” ignited conversations everywhere—from developing

a visual brand to creating sharable moments using experiential elements like a

giant “H.”MMI created a highly shared video set to the popular song, “Best Day

of My Life,” built a robust social media presence, which generated more than

16.6 million impressions, and connected with individual people to start

meaningful conversations about the city of Houston.

Shell Houston Open

Start with reality.

The Shell Houston Open generates more than $2 million annually for

Greater Houston charities. Nine years ago, title sponsor Shell Oil

Company challenged MMI to develop a plan to increase brand

awareness and affinity for Shell and its community relations initiatives,

specifically those associated with the PGA TOUR event. With these goals

in mind, MMI conducted research and combined the resulting data with

strategic thinking to develop a comprehensive plan to satisfy Shell's

goals, adapting to incorporate market trends and technology advances.

MARCH 30 - MARCH 30 - APRIL 5APRIL 5

Identify what’s relevant.

63% more Facebook fans year over year 34% more Twitter followers year over year

Through relevant insights, MMI determined that fan engagement both

on social media and at the event was an opportunity the tournament

could expand on. MMI developed a high impact strategy that would

spark conversations about Shell and the children’s charities it supports

in media publications, across social media channels and at the

tournament itself.

Ignite conversations.

MMI's program included interactive fan engagement areas on-site, appealing creative

design elements, media relations activities to tell the charity story in a variety of ways,

and a social media strategy, including the development of best practices now

implemented by the PGA TOUR nationwide. Press coverage about Shell’s contribution

to local children’s charities generated more than 226 million impressions, elevating

Shell’s brand equity across the U.S. and keeping the conversation going off the golf

course.

Questions?