Giving Dreams Flight

At the end of last year we made the decision to support one charity with PR and Marketing in 2011 and really bring attention to their cause. The charity we chose is Paper Kite Children’s Foundation.

This charity was founded by a caring man named Tarik Khadri. On a visit to Bihar, India in 2008, Tarik was exposed to the horrors of life in an orphanage there. The children didn’t have a place to sleep, food to eat, or even a basic necessity like clean water. Like any other decent human being, he was moved to action. Tarik went out and purchased mattresses, food, and basic medical supplies for this orphanage with his own money. But he didn’t stop there, which is what most tourists visiting Bihar do, he continued in his fight for reform in these orphanages by starting Paper Kite Children’s Foundation.

Paper Kite’s mandate is simple; we believe children should have the opportunity to be children. In order for this to happen, they must get the basic necessities of life; shelter, food, water, education, and healthcare. Paper Kite is a 100% volunteer run charity, with a whole lot of heart. Even now, Tarik is in India distributing goods to 3 different orphanages that Paper Kite has chosen to support this year. To read more about his trip, please visit his field blog.

As a mother of two, getting involved with Paper Kite was an easy choice for me. It is hard to imagine children anywhere in the world, struggling just live each day, so I had to help out. This is my first experience at running a PR campaign for a non-profit, and I look forward to learning more about this unique industry. If you have any insights, tips, or comments, I’d love to hear what you have to say.

A Day In The Life….

I feel pretty blessed to have finally found the perfect career path for myself, public relations. I’ve tried my hand at many things, but two have always remained constant; my love of entrepreneurship, and my passion for communications. I love to talk, to hear people’s stories, and share exciting new ideas. So all in all, I’m pretty sure that I’m headed down the right path.

Since starting Kamikaze PR in May of last year, I’ve attended many networking events and have rarely run into another publicist. What I have come across is a lot of people wondering what a publicist actually does. Surprisingly, I often struggle with how to answer this question myself because our industry is going through some major transformations. For so many years the PR world has been very secretive, and selective about the information it shares and with whom. It was pretty much an exclusive club and if you didn’t know the password you couldn’t get in.

But not anymore. The Internet has taken away the mystery of public relations and made it public again. Now that we are all online and the new “buzz words” of PR and marketing are; honesty, authenticity, and personality, we are sharing like never before. So, in the spirit of sharing; I’ve started to blog about my life as a publicist. My new blog, Vancouver PR Girl is going to give readers a chance to get a glimpse at the inside world of PR, (trust me it’s not all glamorous). I’m also using it as a platform to share my personal views on the changing industry of PR.

Hope you will check it out!

Raj Thandhi

What Makes a Great Brand?

Whenever we begin a new campaign, we go out of our way to understand the clients brand story. Quite often when someone first comes to us they aren’t really sure what their brand is. Deciding on what your brand story is, is a very personal process. We encourage you to spend some time thinking about the reason you started your business, what you want to provide for your clients, and what the personality of your brand is before beginning any sort of PR or Marketing strategy.

Although each brand is going to be different (in fact, it really has to be to stand out), there are some common characteristics among great brands:

Great Brands are Consistent:

They are consistent in what they look like, feel like, and do. The same image must be represented across all touchpoints in their company.  In other words, you have to walk the talk.

Great Brands Take Time to Evolve:

It can take years of interaction with consumers for a great brand to evolve. So, you must be committed to developing and maintaining a brand for the long term, it is not about overnight success.

Great Brands Require Hands-On Management:

They require constant hands-on management to ensure the brand is delivering the benefits that are associated with it by consumers. This is what will ensure that consumers are talking about, and thinking about your brand on a regular basis.

Great Brands Provide More Advantages:

To be considered a great brand you must provide your customers with a significant number of advantages. Really think about this, what benefits do you provide to your clients?

Great Brands are Never Fads:

Prime example; good old Coke. Great brands are never fads; in fact, they are known for staying true to their roots and resisting fads.

Great Brands Reinvent the Way we Think:

Think about what Starbucks did for the regular cup of coffee, or Subway for the simple sandwich. A great brand reinvents the way we think about a business, product, service, person, or even entire industry.

Happy Birthday Byzhub

January 29th marked 1 year of Byzhub.com meetups in Vancouver, and Byzhub founder Owen Clark did not disappoint with the celebrations. The meetup master organized two meetups on January 29th. In the afternoon we heard Michael Gerber (author of the E-Myth) speak about creating a dream, vision, mission, and purpose for your business (thank you Gary Bizzo and Vera Unwin!), and later that evening we watched the live twitter feed on big screens at The Charles Bar, as #byzhub became a trending topic in Canada!

 

Byzhub is an online community linking businesses looking for a product or service with businesses offering the same. The concept is simple; post a quote request on byzhub.com, receive qualified response’s from vendors, complete the transaction, rate the vendor. If you haven’t already checked it out, head over to http://www.byzhub.com today.

On a side note…if you missed Michael Gerber on Friday, don’t miss your chance to take part in the Dreaming Room workshops starting in February. Details here: http://www.dreamingroomvancouver.com/dreamingroom.htm

A Fresh Outlook

We have been going through some major changes here at Kamikaze headquarters over the last few months. New clients, new programs, and most importantly new digs. That’s right, we moved over the holiday season.

Glad to report that we are now back with a bang, and excited as anything about the new programs we will be rolling out over the next few months. 2010 was a learning year for us, and the most important lesson that came from it is; we do our best work when having fun! So in 2011 we are shifting our focus to campaigns that are fun, interactive, sociable, and fresh. Out with the boring, and in with the bold!

The 2010 audit also showed us that consumers, and media want to see information presented in new ways. Our most successful campaigns involved interactive marketing, special events, and social media programs that told a story. Nobody wants to read a boring press release or 3 fold brochure anymore. The wired world is moving at such a fast pace that the idea you just thought of, it was old yesterday.  So keeping that in mind one of our company goals for this year is; we will recycle everything but ideas. Just like we push our clients to create fresh, new, and relevant content, we will push our creative minds to the edge this year.

Here’s hoping that we will inspire you to look at your business with fresh eyes in 2011!

Why Your Small Business Should Have a Blog

The Internet has made it possible for small businesses to compete on the same platform as large corporations like never before. One of the greatest tools small business owners have today is a blog.

If you aren’t sure about blogging, here are some reasons you should start:

It Show’s Off Your Expertise:

By sharing your thoughts and opinions through a blog, you show authority and differentiate yourself from competitors.

It Show’s You Are Passionate:

Taking the time to write a blog (as long as it is regularly updated) shows that you really care about your product or service.

It Let’s You Share Your Best Work:

Testimonials, case studies, awards, and other recognition  let you show off  your best work to existing and potential clients.

It Builds a Following for Your Brand:

A well-written blog will build a subscriber list, encourage repeat visits to your website, and even help grow your email list.

It’s Great for Search Engine Marketing:

Even if you aren’t completely sold on the touch-feely, community building goodness of a blog, you probably still want to increase your website traffic. Blog entries will help you capture more search traffic.

If you are just starting to blog, take some time to study your audience, find out what they are interested in, and develop your voice. And remember, a blog is a commitment just like any other marketing tool, don’t expect overnight success.

Case Study: Ash Kumar North America Launch

The Brief:

The client Ash Kumar Global, are a well-recognized and admired brand in the UK, the Middle East, and India. They are now ready to launch their product line and Beauty Academy in North America.

The Challenge:

Ash Kumar is a henna icon in the UK because he has created a new industry within Asian beauty. In North America the following is limited and the brand is not yet recognized. We are working to introduce both the product line and superior training opportunities provided by the Ash Kumar group to a market which hasn’t had this level of options before.

The Plan:

Introduce the brand to 3 distinct audiences:

• Professionals within the henna and Asian beauty industry who may be interested in training courses and products
• Consumers who will use the product line
• Fashion, beauty, and lifestyle media

Execution:

During the first North America visit and training course by Mr. Ash Kumar, a variety of events and media opportunities were created to reach all three audiences, including:

• Product launch and media open at Bombay Brow Bar
• Meet and greet event with industry and trade professionals
• Interactive evening with consumers at Almari Boutique
• Interviews with two local news programs, and one arts and entertainment show to highlight previous experience, and training course opportunities

The Results:

• 15 media mentions over the weekend, including 3 television segments
• Second henna training course booked for Vancouver in May
• Organic growth of the Ash Kumar North America Facebook Fan page
• Increased interest for training in other North American cities

Celebrity Outreach for Fashion Designers

If you are new designer you may be thinking of starting a celebrity outreach program to get your clothes noticed by celebs and the media. The first thing to remember is, it’s going to take time and patience to get celebrities to notice your garments, and even longer to get someone to wear them!

Celebrities, like journalists, receive hundreds of emails, product samples, etc, every month. Actually, it’s possible that celebrities receive more swag than journalists. All of these submissions are usually reviewed by their assistant or publicist before they even have the potential of reaching your target. When a product does reach the celebrity it was intended for, it is most likely to be worn if; the celebrity genuinely likes it, or if it relates to a cause they believe in and support (vegetarianism, organic cotton, world peace etc.)

Some things to consider before starting a celebrity outreach program:

Who do you want to target and why?

Just because you like someone’s latest movie or reality show it’s not enough to get them to wear your designs. You’ll have to research magazine articles, website images, etc., to get an idea of the celebrities that fit your target demographics. Is she always dressed to the nines? Jeans and t-shirts kind of girl? The research must be done to make sure you are reaching out to the right celebrities.

Reach out to up and coming celebrities

Be realistic in your expectations. Rather than starting at the top, reach out to up and coming celebrities. Pay attention to new t.v. shows, singers, and upcoming films. If someone involved in the project fits your target demographic get in touch.

Stay in the loop and on the lookout for pics

One of the most important parts of your celebrity outreach campaign will be monitoring the media after sending the garments out. You can try to follow up with the publicist for pics, search paparazzi websites for images of your items on celebs, or if you are really lucky catch one of your designs in print. Although a photo opp isn’t guaranteed, it would be a shame to miss it!

Getting in touch with celebrities

You can start be going to your target celebrity’s official webpage and finding contact info for their management or pr team. Alternatively, you can try the IDMB (Internet Movie Database) or the Screen Actors Guild.

Introducing the iVATAR Squad

We are excited to introduce one of our newest clients, iVATAR.

iVATAR is a turn-key personal branding system that allows you to set yourself apart from your competitors and be remembered. Over the next two weeks we will be unveiling the iVATAR Squad, be sure to follow along on the Facebook page

CCMA Gift Lounge – Gift Bag Submissions

Celebrity gifting is fast emerging as one of the hottest advertising options for small to medium-sized businesses. This is the most likely way to get your product into the hands of A-list celebrities, and gain media exposure as a result.

In fact, celebrity gift bags are so popular that many large companies are creating advertising divisions to focus specifically on celebrity placements. The key to success in celebrity gifting is to get your product into the hands of the celebrities themselves, not their publicist or assistant. That is why, participation in an “official gift lounge” is the best possible exposure for your product.

When your product is included in an official gift lounge, the producers go to great lengths to make sure all of the A-listers come through the venue, professional lounge assistants are there to guide the celebs on their selections, and totes (or suitcases, or purses) are provided to make transportation of the gifts easy.

We are currently working with the producers of the Official Backstage Gift Lounge for the Canadian Country Music Awards which are being held in September. At this time, we are accepting submissions for the gift bags, and are hoping to review all the products submitted by the end of this week. If you have a product which is unique, giftable (small and totable), trendy, and is ready for market, please contact kamikazemedia@gmail.com, or 778-628-4189 to chat.

Looking forward to all of the great submissions!