Tonic team blog

Posted by Caren Begun – Tonic Philadelphia, US

As a media relations specialist in the business of public relations for more than 15 years, I have truly seen and experienced a shift in how pitching media has evolved over the last nearly two decades.

In the mid-90s, pitching media primarily involved getting on the phones and having conversations with reporters, editors and producers. While email was wildly popular and gaining momentum in communicating with press, the phone and in-person meet-and-greets were many times the greatest approaches to securing interest and placements for clients. Fax machines were also a very heavily used resource for disseminating press materials and promotional copy to generate interest and coverage.

Fast forward nearly two decades it is incredible to see the significant shift in how engagement with media is done in the new millennium, mostly online, especially with the rise of social media vehicles such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, and sometimes directly through websites.

For example, in 2011 one of my clients wanted greatly to be featured on QualityHealth.com, a prominent health website on which they were also advertising. However, the outlet did not have an actual editorial staff to pitch, and I later learned they relied heavily on freelancer writers for content development.  Thus, I took to the Internet and found a forum on their site in which they were seeking patients with empowering and compelling stories to profile. This was the key. After submitting a patient story for another client…I was in. While the phone will always be an important tool in pitching press and will remain a preferred medium for some, success can also be found in communication through social media platforms.

Even when it comes to interviews with spokespeople there has also been a transformation.  Interviews can happen now in multiple fashions: by phone, email, Skype and in-person.

Therefore, in order to stay in the game and on pulse with the evolution of media communication it is important to be involved in these social networks moving forward to further establish dialogue and remain connected especially as media contacts may change over time.

The Internet continues to be a strong networking source that provides us as PR and media relations professionals a significant forum in which to engage with media, consumers and key target audiences for our clients and their brands. Getting involved in social media channels will help us to continue to remain connected with key critical media targets and evolve with them as technology continues to advance over time.

Posted by Molly Wilson – Tonic Philadelphia, US

I am in the process of learning that the anticipation of something is often far worse than the reality. This is a big lesson for me, as I am a chronic worrier. I worry about big things like global warming.  I worry about small things, like if I touch the door handle in the office bathroom will I catch pink eye. Yet, recently I have found that all this worrying really does me no good and (for the most part) is unwarranted.

I recently returned to work after being on maternity leave, which was glorious, as I spent three months devoted to my deliciously adorable baby girl. Yet, as my re-entry into work drew closer, I found myself planning a sit-in in my very own living room. How was I going to leave my daughter every morning? How was I going to manage life, motherhood, and working? How was I going to find enough clothes that fit for the first few weeks? It started to consume every inch of my being, and each day the worry grew stronger.

My first day back I got up in the morning, put on the outfit I had carefully selected a few days before, kissed my daughter good-bye and hopped on the train to work. Fast forward thirteen hours, and after putting my daughter to bed, I found myself thinking- what a great day I just had.

This is not to say that the anticipation of pink eye is worse than the reality or that I have figured out how to balance life, work and motherhood, but I do look back and wish I hadn’t spent so much time worrying about going back to work and spent that energy just enjoying my time at home. While I can’t do anything about that, I will certainly pause before I start worrying about small things… like whether or not my colleagues are going to think I am losing it for worrying about touching the bathroom door handle.

Interesting infographic which maps out what happens on the internet every 24 hours… one word – WOW! So a few stats which stood out to me… 294 billion e-mails are sent… 4.7 billion minutes are spent on Facebook… and more iPhones are sold than babies born — well at least there won’t be a shortage on that front then, phew!!

Nice infographic here though, but does make me wonder –  with the sun shinning outside, do we need to detach from more computers, tablets and smartphones, a bit more??

Posted by Monica

Clever campaign from Mercedes…. the invisible car! But how will they ever sell any cars if they are invisible you may ask….?? WELL! It’s actually all in aid of their new car which apparently has 0.0 emissions, so it’s ‘invisible’ to the environment. Shame they only toured the car in Germany for a week though as I would have been intrigued to have ’seen’ the invisible car myself…

Posted by: Monica