A recent study on marketer and consumer Twitter usage from 360i and published by eMarketer found that only 16 percent of tweets pushed out by brands engage followers, compared to 43 percent of tweets by consumers.

Are you a marketer for whom these statistics again raise the question, “Why are we on Twitter?”  If so, take heed:  The study narrowly defines engagement as “tweets using the ‘@’ symbol, a sign of back-and-forth engagement on the service.” That is, tweets that direct-message another Twitter user. Great for Dell-like brands, which sell hundreds of products at a variety of price points to a broad range of (presumably digitally savvy) consumers.

But consider, for example, a heavy equipment manufacturer selling multimillion-dollar pieces of equipment within very specific verticals. Does @procurement make or break the deal?

For most brands, it’s important to define social media engagement more broadly, and to ultimately measure success in the online social space based on overarching, agreed-upon campaign strategies and objectives, and within context of a brand’s overall marketing mix, including SEO/SEM, display, mobile and other online and offline initiatives that can affect the efficacy of social media initiatives.

So while there’s no arguing that true engagement in the online social space is valuable, some other qualitative and quantitative measures to consider are:

Qualified volume. Strive to increase number of Twitter followers, Facebook “likes” or visitors to your blog who you’re able to bucket into groups that matter. For example, customers, prospective clients, industry influencers, respected peers/references, etc.

Sentiment. While there are appropriate times and social spaces for sharing company-focused news and information, prioritize value-added content from reputable sources. Even if skimmed by a qualified follower, such content builds positive brand awareness and can lead to engagement.

Coverage. Is your content being shared, re-tweeted or linked to? This could be by friends, employees or other important and/or influential individuals or groups within your online social network. Is your content driving traffic to your company website and/or blog?

Internal competency. Today, an understanding of (and often presence within) online social spaces is considered cost of entry. Whether talking to current or prospective customers, employees and recruits, or networking at the annual industry event, the topic is likely to arise. Measuring your understanding of social media, and that of your peers, is often a precursor to sustained financial and human capital for social media initiatives.

And no matter how you approach social media measurement, always draw actionable conclusions from your findings that you can use to refine and evolve your approach. Measurement is research.

Oh, and give yourself a break. The world of social media – the platforms, the players, the rules and the measurement tools – are constantly changing. You aren’t the only one trying to wrestle this greased pig.

Questions about your brand’s social media efforts? Contact Laura Schmidt at lschmidt@rkconnect.com or 630-955-6618.

R+K registered an impressive showing at the Golden ARC Awards on July 27 in St. Paul, Minn. The awards, which are sponsored by the Agricultural Relations Council and honor the best work in agricultural public relations, were given out in conjunction with the  annual Agricultural Media Summit event.

For its work with client Bayer CropScience, R+K received eight first-place Golden ARCs in the following categories:

• Marketing Communications for Agricultural Audiences – “Harvest Road Show”
• PR Campaigns: Internal – “Success Comes From Within”
• Open Category: Campaigns – “Want Help with Aphids?”
• Media Relations – “Creating A New STAR at ASTA”
• Collateral/Literature – “How to Save $3 Billion”
• Feature Writing – “Teamwork Restores Hawaii Cole Crops”
• Special Events – “LinkUp and Lead the Way”
• Unique Tactics and Executions – “Take Your Best Shot”

This year’s competition was judged by members of the Public Relations Society of America, who proved to be tough in their assessments (in some categories, judges declined to give an award). Other organizations receiving awards include American Farm Bureau Federation, The National Pork Board, Weber Shandwick, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Golin Harris, Fleishman-Hillard, Bader-Rutter, Charleston/Orwig, Dow AgroSciences, Osborn & Barr, CHS, John Deere and more.

Deadlines for the 2011 Golden ARC Awards competition will be announced soon. For more information on the Awards, visit www.goldenarcawards.com.

Deron Johnson is vice president, director of public relations at R+K. He can be reached at djohnson@rkconnect.com.

Used to be summer was a time to hit the beach, a national park or at least the backyard. It was not the time most people thought about gathering around the TV (or laptop or handheld) for a new batch of outstanding programming. But this year certainly follows the trend of the last few and offers up a bevy of beauties.

Drama, comedy, reality – they’re all here to distract us from the beautiful weather, friends and family. But, no reason for a staycation, because with DVRs, single system TVs,  and phone and Internet packages—plus a little creative jockeying to tune in wherever you are, there are shows-aplenty to create a perfect 30- or 60-minute escape.

The Big C, Covert Affairs, The Good Guys, Memphis Beat and The Hard Times of RJ Berger mark some of the new shows to interrupt the normally packed schedule of reruns and summer reality shows (most that would never make it to air during the peak TV watching season). Returning shows Entourage, Burn Notice, White Collar, Mad Men and True Blood will be bringing audiences back to well-known characters and storylines that will define summer water-cooler or links-strolling conversation. And these are just a few. Jason Dietz, Features Editor at Metacritic provides reviews of 20 of his summer selections.

So there are great shows. Many with narrow themes and niche audiences—dare I say long tail here? So why then, in the case of shows that allow advertising, do we see those pesky TV spots and pre-roll video that don’t have anything to do with the content of the show? Are the digital and traditional folks at agencies not merged together yet? Have we not learned that contextual means contextual no matter where we are—in the airport, at the bus stop, on the Internet, on TV?

I remember 10 years ago while working at the ill-fated marchFIRST, there was a spoken promise of the day when we would never be served an ad that didn’t align with us personally. Nirvana, right? Well, we clearly haven’t gotten there on the box, begging the question, why are we so far away? There have been a few occasions over the past year when ads have come on and at least played to the content and context of the shows where they appeared. They surprise, not because they are necessarily 100 percent relevant to every person in the audience, but at least they recognize that a person is watching a certain type of programming.

Give us the rock star spot for Cover Girl or Sears when we’re watching American Idol or the American Music Awards. Or how about the sports-related spot for Ford or Johnsonville Brats when the baseball game is on? Sure, it means making far more spots (probably cheaper, faster and with a lot more creativity), but isn’t that what we’re already doing with contextual banners, buttons and boxes…even online searches? It is. Maybe if advertisers demonstrated they understood what we were watching, we’d take the time to understand their brand a little better.

Here’s to locking yourself away in the basement on a sunny Saturday to get a few of those new summer favorites off the DVR, and hopefully soon pulling your thumb off the button during commercials to take in something that just might feel like it belongs.

Robert D. Landa is Vice President, Executive Creative Director at R+K. For more information, contact rlanda@rkconnect.com.  

If you’re not familiar with the phenomenon The South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals, known to most by its acronym SXSW, you must check it out.

If you are, you’ll understand that it’s literally impossible to get a full night’s sleep after attending the weeklong, annual event, which claims “Tomorrow Happens Here.” Total sensory overload - and an amazing opportunity to get steeped in all-things next gen music, film and interactive.

Two R+Kers attended this year’s event in Austin - Grant Cassiday (Media Supervisor) and Jodi Carreon (Account Executive) - and the halls of R+K have been buzzing ever since. We thought we’d share a few of their favorite tidbits:

• Real-time web is a reality. Yes, it’s evolving – rapidly – and goes by many names, including intuitive search (seen a Bing ad lately?), but it’s the future of the Internet. Check out Google Wave.

• Content is king. OK, this isn’t a revelation, but it’s a reminder that effective conversations with today’s consumers require fresh, relevant content in formats and places that suit your audiences.

• Fight process with process. Jaime Punishill, SVP Social Media, Citibank, told an incredible story of launching a social media effort within a highly regulated company. A core tenet of his success was instituting processes to help internal audiences stay involved in every step of the effort. More here: http://bit.ly/99zKQh

• Beware talk of the “digital revolution.” If you’re charged with digital/social media efforts at any level within your organization, you know people’s understanding and acceptance of such things varies…greatly. Best to focus on how it works on a day-to-day basis and the short- and long-term benefits to your company. 

We hope you enjoyed these bites, at least for these few minutes before you surf the net, look for that cool new app, turn on the TV or login to Twitter when, of course, you’ll come across chatter of the next big thing.

Want more? Contact gcassiday@rkconnect.com or jcarreon@rkconnect.com. Follow us on Twitter @RheaKaiser.  

Maybe it’s the times, maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s because I’ve had more downtime the last few weekends, but I’ve recently become an avid re-reader.

By definition, reread is a verb that means “read anew; read again.” I like read anew because I’m finding that’s exactly what the action of re-reading creates: an opportunity to interpret information in a new form or matter, which often leads to a deeper understanding of the content.

And that’s what communicating today is all about, right? As professional communicators we must genuinely understand the messages we’re communicating, why we’re communicating them, to whom we’re communicating, how and when.

At R+K, that starts with developing personas, or comprehensive profiles of individuals who represent our clients’ distinct target audiences. We get to know our clients’ current and prospective customers, literally on a first-name basis. How do they perceive themselves? What inspires them? Who influences them? Where do they go for information – online and off? Why?

We then use this knowledge – particularly the nuances we confirm or discover – to create and execute tailored communications strategies and initiatives that resonate with and motivate customers, and produce bottom line results for our clients.

We understand that nuance isn’t icing anymore – it’s the cake. And our best client partners understand that too.

Laura Schmidt is just one member of the R+K team who loves nuance. Contact her at lschmidt@rkconnect.com. Learn more about R+K at rkconnect.com . Follow us on Twitter @RheaKaiser.

Agency overview

In this era of rapid change, we are reinventing core tenets of our business while fiercely guarding and enriching the assets that have propelled us forward for 32 years. In particular, the digital revolution has redefined the communications landscape and fundamentally altered how all of us consume information. It’s not just about print ads and news releases anymore.

Rhea + Kaiser opened its doors as an agricultural advertising agency on May 1, 1978. Today, we are a full-service marketing communications agency with expertise in agriculture, equipment, home and garden, animal health and nutrition, healthcare and education. We’re equally comfortable working in Milan, Tenn., or Milan, Italy – and everywhere in between.

New agency activities

The velocity of change we’re encountering – and must affect – is occurring at warp speed. It’s also driving two distinct initiatives at our agency.

First, we are expanding our digital competencies by creating a digital-centric culture. Digital is, literally, not a department at R+K. We operate under the premise that digital literacy must occur and be nurtured within everyone in the agency, regardless of level or job title, under the direction of a digital champion. Further, we recognize that not all digital is the same, which is why strategy and execution are assigned by areas of competency: Social media is managed through our public relations team, web development is driven by our creative department and search and digital display are the media team’s responsibility. We love silos as much as the next ag agency, but you won’t find any digital ones at R+K.

Second, R+K is conducting an agencywide process review designed to continue improving client service. Over a several-week period, each agency department mapped its current processes and identified obstacles to getting the work done. Now, we’re in the process of overlaying learnings to ultimately keep, kill or evolve steps to enhance the efficiency and quality of our work. We have challenged individuals to give up comfort for quality, if necessary. What we’re doing is the equivalent of a major manufacturer deconstructing its assembly line to determine how and where to gain efficiencies. We expect the outcomes to be equally as significant.

Future of agricultural communications

Before you can be optimistic about the future of agricultural communications, you have to be optimistic about the future of agribusiness. We are extremely bullish on agriculture – and think today is the most promising moment in the history of agriculture. A rapidly growing world population, a push to preserve natural resources and the imperative to get the most out of available farmland (whether from a crop or food animal perspective) all speak to what agriculture can deliver.

But it’s critical that agriculture make its case to people – elected officials, policymakers, media and general consumers – who collectively know the least about farming, yet hold huge sway over our future. That’s where agricultural communications comes in.

In the past few years, R+K has had the good fortune to hire young talent bursting with potential – people who will break new ground in understanding, motivating and communicating with the next generation of farmers. We’re looking to those same people to take the message all the way through to the consumer.

By Diane Martin, VP/Director, Business Development

At R+K, we think not. Yes, we celebrated the day on April 22, but we know that contributing to a healthy planet requires daily thought and effort. Thus, our agency-wide GreenWeek initiative designed to inspire our ranks to take a part-of-daily-life approach to going green.

GreenWeek, conceived and promoted by a group of earth-conscious R+Kers (aka The Green Team), consisted of daily e-newsletters, videos and other in-house efforts focused mostly on waste reduction and energy conservation. New recycle bins popped up in our kitchens. Signage appeared encouraging us to turn off our lights after meetings and before we go home. And we were encouraged to ask…do I really need to print that?

The week culminated with a party, of course, where teams – including URTH, Green Hornets, R+K Real Kermits and Old Poops – got inventive making sculptures out of trash. You’d be surprised by what a bunch of creative people can make out of garbage…see Exhibit A:

R+K GreenWeek. Fun, but important, stuff making an impact on how we as individuals and as a team contribute to keeping the earth healthy.

For more information, check out these interesting sites. And tell us more about how your teams are going green on the R+K Facebook page.

Home Energy Saver

U.S. Dept. of Energy

One of the benefits of weeklong industry conferences (besides free beverage tickets) is that your mind often has a chance to wander and observe, bigger picture, your colleagues, clients and competitors in action.

During one of these moments at the 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference in Kansas City, I noticed that mobility isn’t just the next new thing…it’s how EVERYONE is doing business (or looking like they are).  While sitting in a session watching 80 percent of the people use their PDAs, I recalled the countless conversations I’ve had about teens constantly texting. You know the commentary…

But how different is today’s professional from today’s teenager? During keynote sessions, on the trade show floor, in line at the Starbucks, during networking meetings in the lobby, waiting on the cab for dinner, even during dinner…EVERYONE was on their smart phone.

It begs the question, what are we doing? Checking and responding to email? Downloading that uber-important document? Re-tweeting a great blog post? Getting the latest from Huffington Post? Just looking busy?

What I didn’t see was a lot of genuine listening. That eye-to-eye contact, close body language and copious note taking symbolic of a really juicy think session.

Now I’m not oblivious to the anomaly that is the “industry conference.” We all do our thing at these things, but at R+K, we’re constantly talking with our clients about the importance of listening, especially with the advent of social media and the insights such online platforms can provide into target audiences. We listen to each other, our clients, our clients’ influencers and competitors, and our prospects. And yes, we use 21st century devices to do so, but we also listen to real people and we know when turning off our PDAs helps us turn on our ears and brains.

At the end of the day, we believe great idea making takes listening. It’s how we truly understand what we’re trying to communicate, why and to whom. So how about turning off your phone the next time you’re supposed to be listening. Your ideas might surprise you…oh, and they’ll give you something to text about.

Laura Schmidt is a member of the R+K public relations group. She loves listening to music, birds chirping in the springtime and to people – on and offline. Contact Laura at lschmidt@rkconnect.com.

What’s the longest recorded flight of a chicken?  How many muscles does the average, garden-variety caterpillar have in its head?  What’s a flink?

If you’re attending the 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference in Kansas City next month, you’ll be able to answer questions like these when you PLAY R+K Q+A, a text-based fundraising promotion sponsored by Rhea + Kaiser.  For every text received during the conference, R+K will make a donation to the Agri-Business Educational Foundation.  You won’t even have to be right for your text to count!  And you’ll be entered to win a super-duper prize.

Need some conditioning prior to the conference?

What’s the longest recorded flight of a chicken?  13 seconds

How many muscles does the average, garden-variety caterpillar have in its head?  248

What’s a flink?  12 or more cows

Answers provided by the USDA National Agricultural Library

On Friday, the Washington Post sent out an early morning news alert to report Toyota has formed a committee to examine problems that led to two safety recalls relating to accelerator pedals on some Toyota models.

Huh?

Other news reports said much the same. After a two-week silence, a public battering by the media, and a recall that affects 8.1 million vehicles worldwide and could cost the company $2 billion in repairs and lost sales, Akio Toyoda (grandson of the company’s founder) said, “I feel we are in stormy weather… (we) must regain customer trust.”

My first thought was along the lines of, “No, ----, Sherlock.”

My second: “Where is his public relations counsel?”

Of course, not even the best PR counsel can reverse time and undo the damage caused by inaction or the head-in-sand, hope-it-will-go-away syndrome. But what good PR advice can do is help a company navigate tricky communications channels to lessen the severity and length of negative publicity and, in some cases, keep an issue from becoming a crisis.

So, what’s the difference between an issue and a crisis? Timing.

There are almost always warning signs that companies have an issue. Inspections show standards aren’t being met, weak spots in protocols are ignored, problems aren’t decisively addressed. For example, the Blakely, Ga., plant of the now-bankrupt Peanut Corp of America, responsible for a 2008 salmonella outbreak in peanut butter that sickened 700 people and was linked to nine deaths, had a history of rodents, roaches, and sanitation issues according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution story.

Worst of all, records show the company had found salmonella in its products, but still sold them “a dozen times over two years.”

Similar scenarios may or may not have played out in other recalls, including Toyota’s, but many post-crisis reports or investigations reveal issues that were ignored or purposefully dismissed.

A communications crisis happens when issues become publicly known either because of accidents or outbreaks. When that happens, a company must address the internal problems and face the scrutiny of media, governments, consumers and employees. In an age of instant communications, a company often has hours—not days or weeks—to take decisive action and communicate that action if it hopes to minimize damage to its reputation and bottom line.

Preventive and proactive actions are your best course of action. Address issues as they arise, and if the worst happens, have a plan in place so you can respond in hours—not weeks.

This advice may seem obvious, but if a global company such as Toyota lacked a proactive plan, which others do, too?