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Tech Image April Newsletter now available

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:21:45 -0500

The latest issue of the PR Intelligence Report, Tech Image's online newsletter, is now available. In it, CEO Mike Nikolich questions whether the much-touted recession is real or not, and talks about how smart companies take advantage of down times in their industry to grab market share. Also included is an article by Natalie A. Remien, Esq. that provides five simple steps to leveraging intellectual property and creating real value, and a link to a New York Times article by David Pogue that asks the question "Are you taking advantage of Web 2.0?"

Tech Image and SmithBucklin featured in the Wall Street Journal

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:11:17 -0600

For anyone in the PR business, getting into The Wall Street Journal generally ranks at the top of the wish list. Recently Tech Image accomplished it for ourselves with a story talking about the 2007 sale of the company to SmithBucklin. There are some great quotes in there from both Mike Nikolich, Tech Image CEO, and Henry Givray, CEO of SmithBucklin. It also tells a nice story about our transition from single ownership to being part of a 100% employee-owned company.

This Looks Like the Beginning of a Beautiful Relationship

mike.nikolich@techimage.com — Fri, 4 Jan 2008 15:34:07 -0600

There’s a wonderful line at the end of “Casablanca,” when Humphrey Bogart says to Claude Rains, “Louis, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Although public relations is a relationship business, it’s funny how often companies forget that fact when they issue a request for proposal to an unqualified list of agencies, a process not unlike trying to buy a new car by traveling from dealer to dealer without a clue of what you want.

Who doesn’t relish the thought of spending an afternoon haggling with a sleazy car salesman for a vehicle that’s not the color you want or the price you can afford? And who doesn’t want to spend weeks trying to make sense out of a stack of boring RFPs?

The Internet revolutionized the car-buying process for me. Once I learned how to shop for cars using web sites like Cars.com and Edmunds.com, I actually began enjoying the experience. After all, a well-informed consumer really doesn’t need to haggle when they know what a car is worth – it’s simply a matter of finding the right dealer.

If your company is thinking of using an RFP to conduct an agency search, by spending a little time up front you can save months of wasted effort and find a much more compatible partner in the process.

(Click here to read the rest of this article)

Tech Image’s Boivin honored by State of Illinois for volunteer program

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:59:50 -0600

Tim Boivin, the director of media relations at Tech Image, accepted the Governor’s Home Town Award for Volunteerism Excellence on behalf of the village of Cary, IL, in a ceremony here today.

Boivin is the founder and director of Cary Pride Day, an annual beautification program in Cary, Ill. that attracts more than 200 volunteers and culminates with a luncheon honoring youth and adult volunteers with awards for their volunteer service to the community. Joining him at the ceremony were Steve Lamal, the Mayor of Cary, and Cameron Davis, the town’s Village Administrator. Cary is a suburb of 15,000 people located northwest of Chicago along the Fox River.

“Tech Image and SmithBucklin have been strong advocates of giving back to the community, and I am fortunate that they are so supportive of my volunteer efforts in Cary,” Boivin said. “It is especially gratifying, at a time when young people are often negatively portrayed in society, to have the opportunity to work with so many of them on this project year after year. I am proud that the State of Illinois has recognized their efforts and look forward to continuing to work with these fine young people in the future.”

Boivin started Cary Pride Day as a way of integrating the principles of CHARACTER COUNTS!, of which he is one of the founders, into the fabric of the community. CHARACTER COUNTS! is a community-wide character development program that emphasizes the Six Pillars of Character – Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. CHARACTER COUNTS is the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian coalition of schools, communities, and nonprofit organizations in the country to advance character education.

Earlier this year, Boivin was the first volunteer to be recognized by the Village of Cary with the Cary Pride Award, presented to the community’s outstanding volunteer. In addition to CHARACTER COUNTS! and Cary Pride Day, Boivin is a Boy Scout Leader with Troop 657 and the founder and president of the Cary-Grove Cross Country and Track and Field Association, a parents club at Cary-Grove High School that was instrumental in getting a new track built at the high school this year. Boivin also coached youth soccer teams in Cary for eight years and ran annual coaching clinics on “Pursing Victory with Honor,” a character development program for youth sports coaches.

The Governor’s Home Town Award, given by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, recognizes outstanding community volunteer projects that address local needs in a time of reduced public resources. A key criteria is that the project leverages the resources already available within the community so local volunteers are able to maintain or increase economic progress and the quality of life.

Marketing Along the Gray Line

mike.nikolich@techimage.com — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:46:55 -0600

By Tech Image CEO Mike Nikolich

For shortwave radio listeners, few things are more exciting than a fantastic gray line opening. As the earth rotates around the sun, a gray line delineates the areas that are in sunlight and darkness. This line moves 24 hours a day from east to west and reception of shortwave signals is often best when the path traveled by the radio waves is entirely in darkness. When the sun is rising in Tanzania, the gray line periodically makes it possible to hear Radio Tanzania and other shortwave stations from southern Africa around 10 p.m. in Chicago. These stations will be audible for several weeks until the darkness path makes its way west and the stations disappear until the next time the earth and sun are in alignment.

While the gray line phenomenon doesn’t guarantee you’ll hear a particularly station, using this technique will definitely increase your odds.

The concept of the gray line also applies to marketing. Have you ever followed up with a long-time prospect only to learn they just purchased your services from a competitor?

Some might think luck plays a role in opening and closing the door to a successful sale, but I believe luck really is an opportunity that results from planning and hard work.

Although it’s impossible to predict when someone will buy your product and service there may be a time when they are very interested. Psychologists call this phenomenon “selective attenuation,” when you become open and responsive to a message because you are interested in its content. An example of selective attenuation is when you are picking up a friend at the train station. Even if the radio is blaring in your car, you will have no difficulty picking your friend out of the crowd. You will be searching the train station for all people who fit this criterion and quickly eliminate those who do not.

But selective attenuation only works when the information holds personal pertinence to the individual. Otherwise, the information is meaningless and quickly forgotten, like most of the junk email and telemarketing solicitations you receive. For example, although I thoroughly detest shopping, I become a regular shopaholic when I’m in the market for something I want.

In fact, if I’m shopping for automobiles, audio-video equipment, computers, golf clubs and shortwave radios, I’ll spend hundreds of hours researching these products on the web and receiving in-store demos.

Although I enjoy haggling for a good deal, I rarely base my buying decision on price. My goal is to buy from a trusted advisor who takes the time to establish a personal relationship with me. I want to believe I’ll be 100% satisfied and that any problems after the sale will be quickly and cheerfully resolved.

Once I’ve made my decision and purchased the product or service, I lose interest in the subject and move on to something else. From this point forward, it’s a waste of time for marketers to bombard me with advertisements and sales offers. My decision is final and the gray line to my consciousness on this subject probably won’t open for years. This process is not unique. So what can you do to maximize your chances of being on the short list when a prospect finally realizes they need the solution you offer?

As marketers, we instinctively realize it’s impossible to pinpoint when our prospects will be buying. That’s why it’s critical to not only keep in touch, but also make sure that your company is showing up in all of the right places when the prospect is selectively attenuated to your topic.

As I reported previously, according to VAR Business Magazine, 74% of enterprise-level executives and 51% of mid-market executives consult trade publications when they are search for information about service providers. Is your company showing up in the vendor round-ups? Are your products appearing in the “First Look” and product review sections of trade magazines? When was the last time your customers were profiled in Computerworld, Fast Company or InformationWeek? A targeted PR campaign can solve this problem for you. In addition, since most people use Google as a starting point for basic research, your company should consider using key word ads as a cost-effective technique for directing prospects to your web site.

Once an IT executive is winnowing down the short list of vendors, 67% will use referrals to screen out vendors and 51% will check out your web site. Does your web site feature customer testimonials? Is the site easy to navigate and does it reflect your company’s messaging and current product and service offerings?

While you can’t predict when a prospect may need your products and services, you can stack the odds in your favor. Being in the right place at the right place is what marketing along the gray line is all about.

Tech Image Named One of America’s Most Influential Technology PR Agencies

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:22:44 -0600

For the second year in a row, Tech Image has been cited as one of the most influential technology public relations agencies in America. The technology public relations agency was given this accolade by journalists responding to a survey conducted by PRSourceCode, a content service provider serving the information technology (IT) journalism, conference, industry accolade, and public relations (PR) communities.

In the second annual “Top Tech Communicators” survey of 300 IT journalists, Tech Image was named one of the top tech PR firms nationally in “overall performance by a small public relations agency.” In addition, three Tech Image staff members – Bob Dirkes, Dan Green, and Lawren Markle – were cited specifically by journalists for an “honorable mention” as PR practitioners who make life easier for tech journalists.

“We are proud of our people and our work, and I can’t even begin to describe how gratifying it is that tech journalists have validated what we do for clients,” said Mike Nikolich, CEO and founder of Tech Image. “Our clients look to us to help them become market leaders, and we do so with the pride and confidence that comes from adding value to all constituencies.”

PRSourceCode’s second annual “Top Tech Communicators” study findings are based on an online survey of the editorial staffs of more than 300 of the leading IT publications, requesting nominations for the PR agency and corporate PR department that add the most value to their editorial processes, in terms of responsiveness, reliability, and overall recognition of editorial needs.

Respondents spanned the IT editorial community – from horizontal IT books such as Computerworld and eWEEK, to vertical IT books such as Healthcare IT News and Healthcare Informatics, as well as IT reporters at consumer-oriented news outlets such as USA Today and U.S. News and World Report.

“The amazing thing to me was that there was no entry process for agencies,” Nikolich said. “Feedback was based solely on the experiences journalists had working with Tech Image from those organizations, and that says a lot.”

This is the second repeat of a national honor for Tech Image during 2007. In April, the company once again was named “Best Boutique Agency to Work For” by the Holmes Report, a PR industry publication that focuses on helping public relations agencies achieve a high level of performance. Earlier this year, Tech Image also was recognized for client performance a total of six times by the Publicity Club of Chicago, a new personal high for the company.

About Tech Image

Founded in 1993, Tech Image is a Chicago-area public relations firm with a proven reputation for positioning growing technology companies as market leaders. Tech Image provides media and analyst relations, messaging services, media coaching and sales acceleration programs for business-to-business organizations. Representative clients include Firefly Energy, GlobalSpec, Initiate Systems, NEC Display Solutions, RedPrairie, and the Society for Information Management (SIM). Tech Image is owned by SmithBucklin, the world’s largest association management and professional services company with more than 750 employees. SmithBucklin is 100% employee-owned. Learn more at www.techimage.com or call 1-888-4-TECH-PR (1-888-483-2477).

Global Supply Chain Leader RedPrairie Names Tech Image Public Relations Agency of Record

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:22:48 -0600

Technology PR agency selected for its extensive supply chain experience and proven ability to help organizations accelerate sales.

Tech Image, one of the country’s most influential technology PR firms, announced today that it has been named the public relations agency of record for RedPrairie Corporation, a world-leading consumer-driven optimization company.

Based in suburban Milwaukee, RedPrairie synchronizes the movement of people and products across the supply chain for end-to-end visibility and control. At the point of sale, this means consumers have access to desired products and that the store is staffed with the right people to help them make their purchases. In the production cycle, it means suppliers and manufacturers synchronize shipments and production based on demand signals from the retailer. And in the back room of the store, it means having the least amount of inventory, solving the “last yard” problem of the retail supply chain.

“After a rigorous PR agency evaluation process, we selected Tech Image for its supply chain domain expertise, senior-level talent and proven results,” said James Hoefflin, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at RedPrairie. “We consider Tech Image a trusted public relations partner for helping us achieve both our business and communications goals.”

Among its chief responsibilities, Tech Image will provide corporate positioning, media relations execution and messaging to help RedPrairie integrate recent business acquisitions and disseminate the company’s E2e product strategy of synchronizing people and products throughout the supply chain, from the retail shelf back to manufacturing.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to work with RedPrairie, an acknowledged leader in the supply chain arena,” said Mike Nikolich, CEO of Tech Image. “RedPrairie is a welcome addition to our client portfolio, and we look forward to positioning the company for growth and elevating its profile.”

About RedPrairie Corporation RedPrairie is a world-leading consumer-driven optimization company. Built on an advanced Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) developed over the past 10 years, the RedPrairie integrated suite of solutions offers on-demand capabilities to over 25,000 sites worldwide for many of the world’s largest companies. For more information, please visit www.redprairie.com.

About Tech Image

Founded in 1993, Tech Image is a Chicago-area public relations firm with a proven reputation for positioning growing technology companies as market leaders. Tech Image provides media and analyst relations, messaging services, media coaching and sales acceleration programs for business-to-business organizations. Representative clients include Firefly Energy, GlobalSpec, ProtusIP Solutions, NEC Display Solutions, RedPrairie, and the Society for Information Management (SIM). In 2007 the company was named “Best Boutique PR Agency to Work For” for the second consecutive year by the Holmes Report, and one of the Top Tech Communicators in a survey of technology journalists by PRSourceCode. Tech Image is owned by SmithBucklin, the world’s largest association management and professional services company with more than 750 employees. SmithBucklin is 100% employee-owned. Learn more at www.techimage.com or call 1-888-4-TECH-PR (1-888-483-2477).