Written by tba | PR + Advertising
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Chris Turnbull has joined the becher agency (tba) as public relations account executive and principal of the firm.
Turnbull joins tba from the World Bank in Washington, D.C., where he served as a trusted advisor to leaders in response to international crises. He has worked in dozens of hot spots around the globe to develop, implement and improve crisis communications, organizational development and business continuity efforts for the world's preeminent multilateral development bank.
Together with the firm's president Thomas Becher, APR, and account executive Rich Ellis, Turnbull joins a public relations team with more combined experience than any other agency in the region.
It's the second time in Roanoke for Turnbull, who last worked in the market 10 years ago. Since then he has gained experience in dozens of nations around the world, including Afghanistan, Yemen, the Sudan, Indonesia, Serbia and Bolivia.
Turnbull is a graduate of Roanoke College and has a master's degree in management from the University of Maryland.
"We're delighted to welcome Chris back to the region and we're excited to offer our clients his expertise in strategic communications, public relations, crisis communications and best practices in organizational management," Becher said. "His background provides yet another layer of intellect and strategy to help our clients shine."
Written by tba | PR + Advertising
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thomas Becher, APR, has been named to serve on the national nominating committee of the Public Relations Society of America.
Becher, president of The Becher Agency (tba), will represent the Mid-Atlantic region to select the slate of officers for the 2013 PRSA national board. His appointment was made at the recent PRSA International Conference.
Becher is immediate past president of the Blue Ridge Chapter of PRSA.
Written by tba | PR + Advertising
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
ROANOKE, VA
Monica Fritz has joined the becher agency (tba) as graphic designer.
Fritz will contribute to the firm’s award-winning creative work with print and online design and strategies.
Fritz comes to tba from Neathawk, Dubuque and Packett. She’s also served as a graphic designer for Just the Fax and has operated her own freelance design and photography business, Monica Fritz Studios.
“Monica is one of the Roanoke market’s brightest young designers and we look forward to helping our clients grow with her creativity and passion,” said Thomas Becher, APR, president of the firm.
She is a 2005 graduate of Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia.
Written by tba | PR + Advertising
Monday, July 25, 2011
The Becher Agency (tba), a leading public relations and advertising agency, has been selected to help Roanoke County residents reduce energy consumption.
The Save a Ton campaign, now under development, will debut this fall. The multi-media campaign is being designed to help County residents and others throughout the Roanoke Valley understand the many little things people can do every day to save money while reducing the region’s energy consumption.
The Becher Agency was selected based on its ideas, creative capabilities and knowledge of the local market.
“In these days of high fuel prices and rising electric rates, energy conservation isn’t just good for the environment – it’s great for the pocketbook,” said Thomas Becher, APR, president of the firm. “We’re excited to work with Roanoke County to unveil a fun, informative campaign that will make a difference.”
Written by Aimee Drysdale
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
On March 8, 2011, the duo LMFAO posted “Party Rock Anthem’s” music video to its YouTube channel. It now has more than 191 million views. This speaks to how a contagious message can quickly spread and go viral through the use of online marketing and video.
The video starts out in an apocalyptic world where no one is around. After the singers put in Beats headphones by Dr. Dre (a great co-brand marketing tactic) and are told to “play along,” they quickly fit in with the robots, aliens and even a man dressed up as Jesus who all have the shuffling fever.
The song has become rapidly popular since it came out, and has been recently picked up by Kia Motors for a Kia’s Soul commercial, which features the three hamsters you may remember from last years Super Bowl commercials.
Any company can put out a message or an ad campaign, but without a holistic approach, which looks at both online and offline marketing, the company could very well be missing a big opportunity to see their brand grow exponentially.
Written by Ariel Clark
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Amid attempts by advertisers to make "that time of the month" something that defies cutesy sobriquets (or even quotation marks, for that matter), including talking hands-cum-vaginas and divers stopping mid-flip to discuss period woes, the latest Got Milk? campaign has set itself apart by being the most offensive and hackneyed campaign ever to reference a woman's period.
In its new campaign, billboards insinuated the victimization of men who have relationships with menstruating women by asking, "Are you a man living with PMS?" The talent was selected no doubt for their ability to look terrified and helpless while balancing an armload of dairy products while headlines like, "I'm sorry I listened to what you said, and not what you meant" drive home two solid points.
Number one, that women are terrifying, illogical monsters 5-11 days a month, every month, for their entire fertile lives. And number two, that men are oafish, submissive and fully incapable of being intelligent and/or sensitive enough to speak to an agitated person on their own. Apparently, the only solution to the frightening dilemma that is – dun dun dun – The Period is milk. (As an aside: Milk? Seriously? I'd much rather have pizza with my hormonal rampages.)
At this point, social media has run its course and the ensuing hubbub has pressured the California Milk Board to change the campaign's cleverly-crafted URL from EverythingIDoIsWrong.com to GotDiscussion.com. I guess we can all go back to rolling our eyes at cheap and ineffective imitations of the Got Milk? campaign now rather than the cheap and ineffective potshots taken by Got Milk? itself.
Written by Thomas Becher, APR
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
We’re a creative bunch. But sometimes it takes a little oomph to get the creative juices flowing. For some, it’s a walk around the block. For others it’s a shot of coffee or a short trip across town.
For me, it’s being outside in the woods. By myself or with family. It’s a time to reflect without electronic distractions.
One of my favorite visionaries is Richard Louv, author of the book Last Child in the Woods. He’s the one who coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” to describe the growing gap between nature and children.
Like many of us, I grew up not wanting to be inside. There was always something – playing tag, pick-up sports, hiking, creeking, skating – to keep me interested. Not so these days, what with 50-inch flatscreens, Wiis, and DSis.
I’m not falling into that trap. I’ve taken my two boys, now 4 and 9, into the woods since they were newborns. Hopefully, that sense of wonder about nature, our environment and the science of life has been instilled.
I just returned from a two-night camping trip with my boys. (The Roanoke Region has an amazing array of choices to get outdoors.)
They helped me pitch the tent, cook outside and, of course, create Smores in the fire pit. While they enjoyed the glow of the flames, my brain cleared up and ideas started popping in my head, much like the crackling of embers.
Louv argues that nature-deficit disorder isn’t just for kids – it affects adults as well. After all, even in small doses, exposure to nature can measurably improve our psychological and physical health.
So, do yourself a favor this summer. Get out there. Do something you’ve never done before. Hike a trail. Take a rafting trip. Learn to mountain-bike. Just leave the smart phone behind.
You may just come back more creative.
Written by Aimee Drysdale
Monday, June 20, 2011
Carolyn Kiser, one of my fellow co-workers, introduced me to the wonderful world of Pinterest.
Pinterest is one of my newest online addictions. If you are not familiar with this site, it is basically several online inspiration boards for whatever you want to keep track of. This easy-to-use, visually appealing site allows you to name your “boards” and “pin” websites that inspire you with ideas, favorite quotes, fashion, recipes, DIY projects and so on.
Here’s mine:
So why is Pinterest so great and what’s the big deal?
If you are a visual person like me, you know what I’m talking about. This site enables you to weed through all of the nonsense on the Internet and provides a way to see only the best of the best and choose what you want to track.
It is a great way to help make decisions, plan events and generate ideas. Of course, the iPhone app is pretty cool too!
Businesses and individuals alike should take an interest in Pinterest. In particular, if you are a retail business. If you have an online shopping cart or online products page on your website, you are able to put a “pin-it” button, which is a great way to promote buzz about your company and products. Pinterest also allows you to monitor what others are posting from your company site.
If you are interested in getting an invite to Pinterest or learning more about how to get others talking about your company, contact us and we will be happy to discuss this further.
Written by Carolyn Kiser
Friday, June 10, 2011
Many of you may have seen (or heard) about WDBJ7’s news anchor, Holly Pietrzak’s, slip of the f-bomb on June 8. I happened to see it thanks to a friend who shared it. It was obviously an unintentional stumble of words in which the f-bomb was not even intended to be used. It was said instead of “luck.” And it was funny and worth a repeat view.
When I asked my husband if he had seen it, he told me it was no longer available on YouTube. Sure enough the station yanked it as seen here. But at some point before it was pulled, the video had reached 15,000+ views. For a station that rarely sees 1000 views to its videos, that’s pretty significant. (And for those who did not see it, don’t worry – it’s still on Gawker.)
Which begs the question, in a market where stations are competing for viewers and eyeballs – why would you want to remove a viral video? This is what people love and advertisers yearn for – the chance for a video to go viral. And it did – so go with it. After 15,000+ views, there’s no sense pretending it didn’t happen. Leverage those extra eyeballs and web traffic and use it to your benefit.
And by the way, why pull that video when you clearly appreciate similar stories – like the video shown of Biden making a similar blooper. Our advice, effing go with it!
Written by Ariel Clark
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
It's closing in on lunchtime, and I'm starting to get peckish. I visualize various meal ideas while doing some work for a client: Thelma's chili mac and cheese, tomato and blue cheese pizza from On The Rise, last night's leftovers in the fridge at home. By the time I'm ready to head out, I'm gripped by indecision. What am I in the mood for? Which of my choices will leave me most satisfied?
So, I call a few restaurants, and to each I made the following request:
I am hungry, and I need to eat lunch. I do not know what I want yet, but I like bread, meat and vegetables. Please kindly make me something with those specifications, and I will come by your establishment to check it out. If I like what I see, I may purchase your lunch. However, I might have some suggestions on how to improve it before I buy. I might also wind up buying something at another restaurant altogether. Of course I will pay for this meal, and I will even tweet you if I like what I eat. If this works for you, I'll see you around 12:30!
Surprisingly, no restaurants I contacted were open to this method of selection. Perhaps these owners are not familiar with the concept of crowdsourcing, wherein a company outsources a project to a large group of people to amass a collection of ideas, in order to choose one for implementation.
As a designer, I understand the restaurant owners' hesitancy to spend their time and resources on a meal that may or may not be purchased. They must know that taste is subjective, and in essence they would be agreeing to a meal lottery, their ticket paid for with their product. I understand this concept because crowdsourcing is employed by a great number of people who need design services. There are a multitude of business on sites like 99designs and crowdSPRING, looking for a cheap alternative to partnering with agencies and freelance creatives on their advertising needs. And just like a restaurant owner who won't make a lunch on spec, I don't believe in doing design work that way.
I prefer the approach employed by most other creative entities. The business model built on understanding the client and their audience, and fostering a relationship by asking the right questions and doing some research – all before I ever turn on my computer. Yes, it takes more time, and perhaps it costs more money, but the result is a product which is tailor-made to the needs and tastes of the client's audience.
Which, of course, tends to make it more successful and therefore more satisfying – just like a thoughtfully ordered meal. (By the way, I went with leftovers.)
