Spike your Brand ROI: How to Maximize Reputation and Get Results

Break Through the Content Marketing Noise and Build Brand Reputation the Right Way

"Perhaps the most useful book a marketer or communications professional will read in this decade. Full of great advice, brilliant ideas, and solutions for a world that has turned upside down."
Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO of KDPaine & Partners and The Delahaye Group and author of Measuring Public Relations and Measuring the Networked Nonprofit: Using Data to Change the World

"Distraction breeds mediocrity. SPIKE Your Brand ROI, shows readers how to focus on outcomes that matter. Excellent advice!"
Robb Lee, chief marketing and communications officer, ASAE

"Adele Cehrs is the expert on SPIKE, which is a shortcut to becoming an outstanding organization. Being a master of SPIKE for your customers or the media is a lot like being a great friend. You have to know yourself and know them well enough to give them what they need right when they need it."
Brian Carter, author of The Like Economy

"Adele Cehrs′ twenty years of exceptional PR experience is demonstrated in her revolutionary SPIKE methodology. Readers will learn how to flip their PR and marketing on its head and make the most out of their communications efforts."
Renee Lewis, president, Pensare Group

"When a big moment comes, will your company be ready for it? Will you take advantage of the chance to catapult your brand into superstardom or bemoan a missed opportunity? Adele Cehrs gives you the keys to SPIKE your way into brand notoriety by removing content clutter and achieving real engagement."
Erin Pressley, vice president, NACS Media Group

"As communications professionals, we strive to create dramatic campaigns that get people and keep people talking about our brand. But as a group, we fall flat in measuring, and subsequently proving, ROI. Adele Cehrs′ SPIKE Your Brand ROI will change that. Her timing–based, results–driven approach to marketing and PR will revolutionize the way we do business. If you′re looking for a winning strategy that maximizes results and poises your organization for long–term success, this book is for you."
Keith Little, senior manager, media relations, Lockheed Martin

"Every business executive has a wish list: eliminate waste, increase efficiencies, reduce expenses, maximize returns, retain talent. SPIKE Your Brand ROI not only introduces a progressive approach to improving communication, but also it poises businesses to experience success because it can be used to groom sophisticated staff teams who can lap competitors in their sleep. Adele Cehrs′ brilliant insight into the future of the public relations world is a refreshing departure from the ideas that have been presented in the past."
Sheri Jacobs, FASAE, CAE, president and CEO, Avenue M Group

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

About the Author xiii

1 What s Real Brand Engagement? 1

2 Why Your Brand Doesn t Stand Out 7

3 Brand Narcissism 13

4 SPIKE Assessment 21

5 Be Nimble, Assemble the Right Team, and Get Buy–In for the SPIKE Method 25

6 Picking the Perfect Audiences and Crafting Compelling Messages 33

7 Manufacturing a SPIKE: Provide First–of–Their–Kind Pitches, Stories, and Messages 41

8 When Is Your Brand Truly Relevant? Turn Your Editorial Calendar into a Relevance Calendar 51

9 Brand Patience: Why You Need It 61

10 SPIKE Spotting 69

11 The Upshot of a Positive SPIKE 79

12 Finding the Lost Principle of Influence 87

13 Create a Contrarian Brand Platform to Stand Out 97

14 The Fairness Fallacy and How to Call a Time–Out When Things Go Bad 105

15 Have a Crisis Plan in Place to Handle Negative SPIKEs 115

16 The Real Benefits of Responding to or Ignoring Negative SPIKEs 119

17 Maximize (or Minimize) 15 Minutes (or Days) of Fame or Shame 125

18 Why Wait? Anticipate Negative SPIKEs 133

19 Don t Spin Out of Control, Manage the Viral Spiral 141

20 Dark Websites See the Light of Day 151

21 The Underdog versus Top Dog Effect: How Some Brands Pick Themselves Up and Come Back Stronger 161

22 The Pedestal Principle 169

23 Internal SPIKEs 177

24 Measuring the ROI of a SPIKE 185

SPIKE Spotting: Worksheets 193

Bibliography 207

Index 217

ADELE CEHRS, the owner of Epic PR Group, has served as PR strategist for clients like DirectTV, Johnson and Johnson, DuPont, Lockheed Martin, and Verizon. She frequently serves as a media expert for Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, and has trained numerous CEOs in the art of media management. Using her SPIKE method, Adele has transformed virtually unknown businesses, including 1–800–Flowers.com and Georgetown Cupcake, into multimillion–dollar household names.