P2R Associates Presented with Two IABC Renaissance Awards

LIVONIA, Mich., June 23, 2009 – P2R Associates today announced it received two prestigious Renaissance Awards for its informative and engaging www.p2rassociates website redesign. The IABC Renaissance Awards are sponsored by the Detroit Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC/Detroit).



The Renaissance Awards program recognizes excellence in communication in all functional areas including strategic communications management, corporate communications, public and media relations, marketing, writing, design, advertising and multimedia. A wide variety of Southeast Michigan corporations and agencies participated in this year’s judging.

“We are honored to be recognized for our internet work,” said Gordon Cole, president, P2R Associates. “These awards are a further confirmation of our team’s creative talent, hard work and commitment to our clients and their strategic communication goals.”

This year’s P2R winning campaigns include:
- Award of Merit - Electronic and Digital Communication
“Perception to Reality” Web Site Redesign

- Award of Merit - Interactive Media Design
“Perception to Reality” Web Site Redesign

IABC Renaissance Award entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production
companies and freelancers. Winners were selected in 20 categories spanning three communications divisions including Communications Management, Communications Skills and Communications Creative.

The Renaissance Awards are in addition to one Automotive Public Relations Council - Excellence in Automotive PR Award, two Hermes Creative Awards for web design and eight MarCom Awards presented to P2R earlier this year for a range of integrated strategic public relations and marketing communications programs, crisis communication strategies and print and broadcast publicity achievements. P2R’s industry award total this year stands at 11.

“P2R is a small, aggressive agency that produces measureable results and these awards make that point,” said Cole. “Our trademarked e³ Process™ results in break-through communications that are aligned with business objectives and focused on sustaining success,” he added. “We build on a solid foundation – efficiently and with the right tools. I’m really proud of the work our team has done.”

About IABC/Detroit
IABC/Detroit is one of the largest chapters within the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). IABC is a global network of more than 15,000 communications professionals and the only multidisciplinary professional association dedicated to both internal and external communications. For more information about IABC/Detroit, visit Detroit.iabc.com.

About P2R Associates
P2R Associates is an award-winning, strategic public relations and brand communications firm serving a diverse mix of international, national and local companies in a range of industries. With special expertise in business-to-business communications, P2R has represented clients in the automotive OE, Tier 1 and aftermarket, high-tech manufacturing, construction, consulting, defense, retail, design, engineering and exhibit and event management. Headquartered in Livonia, Mich., P2R provides clients with strategy-driven tactics, superior service and measurable results.

For more information about P2R and its e³ Evaluate, Engage, Empower™ process,
visit http://www.p2rassociates.com/.

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Cerion LLC Selects P2R Associates as Marketing Communications Agency of Record

LIVONIA, Mich., June 1, 2009 – P2R Associates announced that it has been selected as agency of record for Cerion, LLC of Plymouth, Michigan.

P2R will provide Cerion with a range of integrated communications, corporate positioning and strategic public relations services in support of the company’s business development and marketing initiatives.

Cerion is a privately-held American manufacturing company focused on acquiring and operating small and medium-sized precision component manufacturing operations to serve automotive and other manufacturing industries in the U.S.

“We are delighted to add Cerion to our roster of clients,” said Gordon Cole, president of P2R Associates. “Cerion is quickly building a manufacturing-oriented business focused on providing customers with world-class products and services; we share this vision and are excited to become part of their team.”
Cerion was established in late 2008 with the acquisition of Metavation, and is growing rapidly through strategic acquisitions; the company recently acquired MPI International. Cerion serves a diverse customer base in the automotive, transportation, industrial, energy, consumer and medical markets. More information will soon be available at http://www.blogger.com/www.cerionllc.com.%20


About P2R Associates
P2R Associates is an award-winning, strategic public relations and brand communications firm serving a diverse mix of international, national and local companies in a range of industries. Headquartered in Livonia, Mich., P2R provides clients with strategy-driven tactics, superior service and measurable results. For more information, visit http://www.p2rassociates.com/.

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Lean Learning Center Selects P2R Associates as Public Relations Agency of Record

LIVONIA, Mich., May 13, 2009 – P2R Associates, an industry leader in strategic public relations and brand communications, announced today that it has been selected as agency of record for the Lean Learning Center, of Novi, Mich., one of the most recognized and premier providers of lean transformation services in the world.

Founded in 2001 to address the gaps and barriers that are holding back companies from successful and sustainable lean transformation, the Center combines on-site consulting and coaching at client locations with an adult-learning-designed Instructional Design Studio and custom-developed curriculum to achieve maximum sustained performance for companies from the executive suite through the front lines.

P2R will provide the Lean Learning Center a range of integrated communications, positioning and strategic media relations services in support of the company’s business development and marketing initiatives, using the agency’s trademarked
e³ Process™ – Evaluate, Engage, Empower.

P2R activities will highlight the Lean Learning Center’s unique capabilities, approach and lean transformation expertise, while positioning the company’s principals as leading authorities on maximum sustained lean performance.

“We are delighted to add such an advanced, comprehensive and effective lean consulting company like the Lean Learning Center to our growing roster of premium clients,” said Gordon Cole, president of P2R Associates. “We look forward to broadening the understanding and national awareness of the Center and its unique form of adult learning.”

About the Lean Learning Center
The Lean Learning Center is one of the most recognized and premier lean consultants in the world. With on-site assessment and consulting at client locations, an adult-learning-designed Center in Michigan and custom curriculum developed through an Instructional Design Studio, the Center brings unique lean understanding in creative ways to executives, managers, supervisors, change agents and front-line employees at clients including Fortune 500 companies in a range of industries. The company combines a unique learning environment with teaching techniques that facilitate discovery to drive cultural and organizational transformation resulting in maximum sustained performance.

For more information visit: www.leanlearningcenter.com.


About P2R Associates
P2R Associates is an award-winning, strategic public relations and brand communications firm serving a diverse mix of international, national and local companies in a range of industries. With special expertise in business-to-business communications, P2R has represented clients in the automotive OE, Tier 1 and aftermarket, high-tech manufacturing, construction, consulting, defense, retail, design, engineering and exhibit and event management. Headquartered in Livonia, Mich., P2R provides clients with strategy-driven tactics, superior service and measurable results.

For more information about P2R and its e³ Evaluate, Engage, Empower™ process,
visit www.P2Rassociates.com.

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Ten Reasons to Hire a Public Relations Firm Now More than Ever

1. Ready and On-Deck – an extension of a your communication staff, ever ready to provide services that achieve agreed-upon goals, public relations firms provide a critical perspective for clients, keeping them abreast of issues and advising them on the best ways to respond.


2. Objective Expertise – integral and trusted partners, public relations firms provide critical outside perspective and strategic counsel across a full spectrum of communications programs.


3. Stakeholder Engagement and Influence – managing the diplomacy of interaction, public relations firms improve a client’s ability to engage stakeholders such as employees, customers, media, online influencers, community leaders, shareholders and public officials.


4. Voice of the Customer – the ability to persuade through clear explanation, public relations firms help client’s research data and garner third party credibility from targeted media.


5. Messages and Conduits – figuring out the most appropriate message to present to media. The public relations mindset is your natural integrator for developing a comprehensive communications strategy and identifying the best conduits to use. Public relations firms continually fine-tune outreach activities to enhance the relevance of every marketing effort, public relations campaign, and public affairs initiative and/or crisis response.


6. Digital Know-How – because they adapt readily and integrate different communications activities, public relations firms maximize social media platforms and corresponding networks. Public relations firms serve as a combination of communications counselor, navigator and interpreter.


7. Speed to Market – Public relations firms are poised for action, built for speed and conditioned to work in the 24/7 information age. They are results-oriented and focused. By comparison, internal staffs are often bogged down by executive “pet projects” and other internal issues.


8. Fiscally Responsible – hiring a public relations firm can be extremely cost effective relative to the cost of direct employees. Public relations firms can provide peak-load capacity, which can scale up or down as programs ebb and flow. In addition, there are value-added services the firm might subscribe to that greatly enhance any communications programs but would be both costly and problematic for many staffs.


9. Paralysis by Analysis – doing nothing during tough times is not an option for any serious business operation. Public relations firms work with the highest level of corporate executive down to the critical tactical work in the trenches, always making sure clients are prepared and visible and with a higher focus on ROI than many, a firm is better positioned to keep things moving.


10. Cross-Pollination – typically, public relations firms work across multiple industries, geographies and cultures, enabling them to cross-pollinate ideas, providing clients with more robust strategic thinking and more effective marketing communications offerings.

P2R Associates Continues Award-Winning Ways With Platinum and Gold Hermes Creative Awards for Web Site Design

P2R Associates Continues Award-Winning Ways With Platinum and Gold Hermes Creative Awards for Web Site Design

For Business, Public Relations is Becoming an Increasingly Vital Tool

How can we, as public relations practitioners, get a message across to our clients, and potential clients, that speed-to-market, reach, market intelligence stakeholder engagement and objective expertise are the essence of our DNA and more importantly, essential for business success?

Interestingly, in January Advertising Age magazine predicted that public relations/crisis communications would be among the bright spots in 2009. B2B magazine also claimed that business-to-business marketers were increasingly turning to public relations for support even as overall budgets are being reduced. Without seeing the data – we think this makes sense.

In 2005, Proctor & Gamble conducted a landmark study involving a marketing mix model for six of their brands over a one to three year period. P&G found the following:

- PR drives sales, often on a par with advertising
- PR delivers stellar ROI (275%), much greater than advertising
- PR provides a halo effect over other marketing tactics

These findings coincide with P2R’s experience, especially with respect to public relations delivering a better return on investment and providing a halo effect. Our guess is that public relations’ greater credibility is the reason. For consumers and an ever-more news hungry population, credibility seems increasingly to be the tool-of-choice for breaking through what has become a cacophony of marketing messages. Research bears this out in yet another example.

A 2006 survey of marketers conducted by The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), ranked public relations number one in terms of its overall value to the enterprise. Additionally, The Economist magazine stated, “For business, public relations is an increasingly vital marketing tool – especially as traditional forms of advertising struggle to catch consumers’ attention.”

At P2R Associates – we’re delighted to see that what many have known for a long time is becoming a growing awareness. Three major industry publications and a marketing giant all believe that public relations holds the key to helping businesses compete and succeed in these trying economic times.

It is important that agencies trust their judgment, get back to the basics, focus on their strengths, then identify what works and move forward. We need to communicate results and show both existing and prospective clients how public relations impacts business and contributes to bottom line success – however difficult it might appear to be to do so.

Is PUBLIC RELATIONS a Bad Word?

With so much newspeak in use for the term marketing communications, I am beginning to wonder is the term public relations is actually a “bad word.” Does it scare people off? Do people really know what public relations practitioners do? Do they care? Should they care?

Does strategic communications straddle the line between public relations and marketing? How about– integrated brand communications – closer still?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately and it occurs to me that a most people don’t know the difference between public relations and many other marketing terms we hear regularly. The interchangeability of terms used in today’s market is blurring the distinction, especially in the growing social media and blogging arenas.

Here is how I look at it, marketing equals sales strategy and support. Public relations equals positioning plus public relations plus professional writing plus media relations plus corporate communications plus events… virtually everything that comes between a company and its myriad audiences. Public relations then, is the integrator of the company, its brand and how that brand is communicated.

Public relations is the most credible communication vehicle to positively influence buyers and inform target constituents. It consistently provides the best return-on-investment of all communication methods. Public relations – or specifically, media relations in this example - is believable and highly credible because information is published in third party media and is written by journalists who research solid news to report. Now that is different from marketing in my book.

Back to my original question. Does the term public relations scare people off? Most people are frightened by things they don’t understand. Public relations is an unknown item, a scary term -- and scary is bad. So how do today’s public relations practitioners rectify this situation?

Well, as the phrase implies, practice. Put into practice the natural integration that effective public relations drives. Don’t be content with simply a seat at the table – bring a voice that integrates and coordinates all elements of a company’s strategic and tactical communication. Remember: public relations at its best, educates, informs and persuades. So practice, practice, practice.

Be informed - practice the art of researching pertinent information. Be articulate - practice the art of professional writing. Be knowledgeable -- know your many audiences, practice the art of good old-fashioned media relations and build effective relationships with all audiences. Be strategic – practice a strategic outlook and maintain a wholistic eye on your organization’s or client’s activities. Finally – recognize your strength. Effective public relations is integrated. It weighs all viewpoints, considers options and outcomes against long-term objectives and ensures the organization “speaks with one voice.”

Public relations alone is the natural integrator in any organization because it alone must weigh and carefully balance a company’s reputation, brand and perception across all audiences in order to move the “perception needle.”

Public relations then, is the conductor to the orchestra of a company’s total communications effort.