PMD PUBLIC RELATIONSA case study in B2B PR 2.0 Issues Management

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atlanta

THE PROBLEM

• PMD was moving to a franchise model from a licensee model and had problems on-boarding current licensees• Disgruntled licensees were on a popular franchising discussion board bashing the company• Other than that website, PMD didn’t have a presence online• A new website would not be launched for another month and an SEO strategy was not in place

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atlanta

• Manage PMD’s “Internet Profile” through reputation management• Inundate the Internet with positive news• Support franchise recruitment efforts• Manage issues• Fine tune and articulate finer messages to important audiences• Communicated from within, leveraging a mix on key influencers to carry the message

OUR SOLUTION

PMD PR GOALS

Address false claims by detractors Create confidence and trust among the

current licensing organization Protect new franchise owners and alleviate

any fears this may have onset Engage both groups in dialogue to ensure

that the company is “back to business” and have not been thwarted by this activity

THE PMD PR STRATEGY

Develop an aggressive internal communications plan.

Engage “equals” to convey the messages. Reach out to external audiences (including

those on social media properties) with appropriate messages and news. This will help start conversations with online franchise influencers who might carry positive news that they become aware of through the agency’s efforts.

KEY TACTICS

Strategy: Develop an aggressive internal communications plan.

Tactic 1: Distribute a letter from Jeff to licensees and franchisees to address the detractor issue, inform them that an action plan is being put into place, and provide an update on the franchise transition.

Tactic 2: For every external announcement, PMD releases an internal announcement with insights.

KEY TACTICS

Strategy: Engage “equals” to convey the messages.

Tactic 1: Leverage the testimonies of PMD Franchisees

Tactic 2 : Create a franchisee advisory panel Serve as brand ambassadors and spokespeople

on social media properties (i.e., Facebook and Twitter) and in other ways that make sense.

Comprised of influential licensees/franchisees Personable and enthusiastic and will receive

message training.

 

KEY TACTICS

Strategy: Reach out to external audiences Tactic 1: Develop an editorial calendar (and supporting

materials) to generate a steady stream of positive coverage to help combat and alleviate negative and untruthful coverage

Tactic 2: Become an active and contributing member of franchise social networks, communities, blogs and online platforms.

Tactic 3: Craft specific messages and Q&As that address the primary issues

Tactic 4: Commission happy dealers-turn-franchisees to post comments on www.PMDFurniture.com blogs and other sites that make sense.

Tactic 5: Leverage company and agency social media channels to disseminate news.

Tactic 6: Develop relationships with key franchise bloggers. Tactic 7: Engage SEO key words in all external releases; posts

and social media activities. 

The agency effectively helped tone down detractors of PMD and its leadership and began “drowning out the noise” with positive news and communicating with PMD franchisees and licensees leveraging key influencers. With a mix of internal communications tactics, PR 2.0 and social media outreach, the agency helped “push” negative search results down in Google search results within the first 30 days of the agency’s engagement with the brand. The first two pages of search results were all positive news regarding PMD.

RESULTS

© 2009, m strategies inc.dallas ׀ chicago ׀

atlanta

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