Today, I am looking back at 2016 to pause and reflect. Many of us understand that the rapid pace and flow of business often hinders consideration of where we’ve been and lessons we’ve learned. For our current and potential clients, I believe it serves to review the comprehensive communications services we offer via representations of what we achieved in 2016.

Dale Scott & Company

It was a banner year in 2016 for voter-approved ballot measures providing crucial funding for California school districts. Dale Scott & Company, an independent financial advisor to California K-12 and community college districts, takes a win-win approach to improving schools while protecting taxpayers. We provided communications support to help inform residents of more than 15 districts about the bonds through extensive media coverage and public communications. The bonds were all overwhelmingly supported by voters.

Dunkin’ Donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts is world famous for its freshly brewed coffee and wide selection of food offerings, but, surprisingly, it had no presence in the Bay Area until last year. Brought on to introduce this blue-chip brand to Northern California, Fineman PR successfully hosted three grand openings to throngs of crowds and media, some of the latter just as excited as the guests. The ribbon-cutting ceremonies featured mayors, city council members and other local dignitaries to welcome the brand to each community. In ongoing work, we support holiday promotions, including National Coffee Day and National Donut Day with a strong social media presence.

eHarmony Español

Over the last 16 years, eHarmony has become the go-to site for singles looking for lasting and fulfilling relationships, but its general market strength did not extend to Latinos. Mosaico, Fineman PR’s multicultural division, developed a survey of Latinos’ dating behaviors and considerations to promote eHarmony Español, its Spanish-language site. The survey gained favorable broadcast and print coverage in top Latino markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Orlando and Chicago. We also leveraged a key finding of the survey to develop a satirical “psychic” character, Juanito Talismán, for social media, which resonated with the belief of one-in-five Latinos that superstitions can help them find true love, a playful contrast with eHarmony’s science-based approach.

Foster Farms

The agency launched a highly-targeted lifestyle and food influencer marketing program, on behalf of Foster Farms, dedicated to redefining comfort food for West Coast consumers. The New Comfort Food campaign inspired fresh recipe and visual content from culinary and lifestyle insiders and earned more than 148 million impressions. The program included a Pinterest data partnership, a consumer survey discussed in Parade Magazine and analytical measurement for targeted, focused marketing outreach.

• The brand’s organic and antibiotic-free fresh chicken products were highlighted as staple ingredients for family meals.
• The brand was reinforced as fresh, relevant and in-tune with today’s consumers and trends.
• The New Comfort Food theme resonated with West Coast food and lifestyle influencers in authentic blog and social media posts.
• Compelling imagery and fresh content continue to generate engagement with customized recipes championing Foster Farms values and product quality.
• We broke through to food news influencers who hadn’t previously engaged with Foster Farms.

Fineman PR also expanded Foster Farms’ CSR program and the company’s dedication to feeding local families through expanded partnerships with West Coast food banks.

Foster Farms, 2016 Processor of the Year

Fineman PR successfully advocated for a cover story recognizing Foster Farms as the U.S. meat and poultry industry’s 2016 Processor of the Year for its advances and leadership in water conservancy during California’s epic drought; for becoming the largest producer of organic and antibiotic-free poultry on the West Coast; for rapidly expanding distribution of its frozen and pre-cooked poultry into national markets; and for the consistent excellence of the company’s comprehensive food safety program.

Foster Farms Bowl

As an extension of our work for Foster Farms, our team highlighted the West Coast brand’s offerings to a national audience in the NCAA-official Post Season Foster Farms Bowl game. This year, the Indiana Hoosiers faced the Utes of University of Utah at Levi’s Stadium. To highlight the Northern-California roots of the brand, our team devised a national anthem competition in the weeks leading up to the big play. The 2016 Bowl game kicked off to the tune of a talented Northern California student and singer who won the second annual “Oh Say Can You Sing” contest. As part of the contest prize, Foster Farms donated holiday meals to a Bay Area hunger-relief organization in the winning singer’s name.

Girl Scouts of Northern California

The local council serves a diverse membership of 49,000 girls and more than 32,000 adult volunteers in a 19-county area from Gilroy to the Oregon border. In addition to promoting digital cookie 2.0 with news development and media sampling for cookie season, Fineman PR identified opportunities council-wide to advance the positive community and individual impact of the organization’s programs.  Regional broadcast, print and online feature coverage included stories and interviews for National Young Women of Distinction and Gold Award recipients, the 100-year proclamation in Sacramento with the state’s female legislatures, and the annual Golden Gate Bridging event.

HNTB

Peyton Manning’s career-capping championship at Super Bowl 50 drew significant media attention last February, but HNTB’s innovative design of Levi’s Stadium earned its share of the spotlight. Amid the ubiquitous Super Bowl buzz, Fineman PR tapped into the conversation from an architectural design perspective to secure widespread national media coverage for HNTB. Highlights included features in the Associated Press, USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Post, ESPN, and more, making it one of the most successful PR campaigns in HNTB’s 100+ year history.

Habitat Horticulture at the SFMOMA

The S.F.-based living wall design firm was commissioned as part of the SFMOMA’s grand redesign. In collaboration with the museum, Fineman PR worked to raise Habitat’s profile and distinguish designer David Brenner’s singular approach. The wall, with breathtaking artistic features, is the largest living wall in the United States. Feature coverage included The San Francisco Business Times, Fast Company, Curbed, Inhabitat, Architect Magazine, San Francisco Magazine and Silicon Valley Magazine, with additional branded exposure in the New York Times, Vogue, Forbes, Bloomberg and Wired.

HealthRIGHT 360

Fineman PR continued to support the marketing and development team for one of California’s largest community healthcare providers, originating from the merger of the historic Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic and Walden House.  Executing on media strategy, expert positioning/thought leadership, event promotion, and collateral development, we secured regional and national features on critical programs and mergers underscoring the organization’s expanding influence. We also continued to promote its breakthrough Capital Campaign project.

IPREX Annual World Meeting Host

Last May, Fineman PR hosted our industry partners at the annual IPREX conference in San Francisco. IPREX is an international network of independent Public Relations firms with 1,800 staff and 115 offices worldwide working across the spectrum of industry sectors and practice disciplines. The conference had a record turnout of members from all over the world – Australia, Finland, Ireland, Prague, Berlin, Mexico City, Belgium, Dubai, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Paris, and, of course, from leading agencies throughout the U.S.

Materra Ɩ Cunat Family Vineyards

Materra Ɩ Cunat Family Vineyards has one of the newest winemaking and hospitality facilities in Napa Valley and engaged Fineman PR to build brand awareness and drive guest traffic. The agency brought a steady stream of wine media to the property and is developing the brand’s 10^th anniversary event.

Quintessa in Napa Valley

In our fourth year with Quintessa, we continued to generate top-tier wine coverage, highlighting the outstanding estate wine and unforgettable guest experience. Coverage included Conde Nast Traveler, Travel Channel, the San Francisco Chronicle’s best-of-wine country guide and an Associated Press exclusive harvest story that ran in dozens of major metropolitan newspapers and electronic news sites.

Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey

Though Feld Entertainment recently discontinued its universally known circus franchise after a 100-year run due to high operating costs and a changing entertainment model, the company turned to Fineman PR in 2016 for breakout publicity in the Bay Area, a traditionally difficult market for the national touring brand. The Bay Area venue reimagined the circus experience for the 21^st century with its “Out of This World” show. In turn, Fineman PR exceeded expectations for feature coverage and brand-positive tone. It was exciting, and they will be missed.

Ritter Center

Fineman PR was called upon to help address a threat to the continuing operation of a Marin County mainstay and nonprofit organization, one that provided critical resources for homeless and low-income residents. We moved quickly to garner support through a grassroots digital campaign and editorial message development to advocate for what resulted in a successful outcome for the organization.

San Francisco Marathon

The 2016 race hosted the largest number of participants in the Marathon’s history, attracting runners from 67 countries and all 50 states. In our third year of working with the Marathon, we continued to generate momentum for its development via international media attention. Our Spanish-speaking staff worked closely with the ESPN Latin America crew to develop a feature on a local Latina runner. Our analytics team also worked closely with the S.F. Chronicle’s interactive division to develop a special report with data visualization.

Sonoma County Vintners

The agency assisted the Sonoma County Vintners with a community outreach program, called Community Connection, to address the challenges of increasing numbers of visitors to the region. Member wineries pledged cooperation to controls set by use and event permits, a compliance officer position was created to monitor events at the winery venues, and the SCV expanded its best practices member education.

Wine Institute

Wine Institute, an advocate for California wine and more than 1,000 wineries and affiliated businesses, engaged Fineman PR for a crisis preparedness and issues management initiative. As the project continues, we are equipping the organization to prepare for crisis risks to the California wine industry and expanding the Institute’s expert resource pool to address challenging and highly technical industry issues.

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To do this, brands need look no further than to the past: political cartoons have been telling complex and powerful stories visually for hundreds of years.

Here are four lessons from political cartoons that any brand can adopt to strengthen its content.

Lesson 1) Keep it simple.

This cartoon was created by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 to urge New England colonists to support what would become the American Revolution. The image has remained an American icon for over 200 years. Franklin took a difficult, complicated and emotional political decision and broke it down into three words and a snake. The image, originally seen in newspapers, soon adorned battle flags and helped define the narrative of that conflict.

Lesson 2) Tap into emotion – it’s more powerful than a complex message.   

This classic cartoon was created by Herb Block of the Washington Post just days after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The cartoon illustrates a profound moment in American history where legislation and a social movement overturned generations of disenfranchisement. The image is striking and resonant. With minimal text, the reader truly feels the success of the Civil Rights Movement, the strength and perseverance of African-Americans, and the power of democracy. In mere moments, the reader can absorb the message the author is sending.

Lesson 3) Topical content reaches a broader audience – connect with current events, trends and issues.

This cartoon, published a little over a week after the 2014 General Election, hits on a topical theme – voter disapproval of Congress. The statement could have been made at almost any time in recent memory, but coming so soon after the mid-term election had proven such mass disapproval, as well as comically tying voter disapproval with recent automotive recalls, the cartoon ensures that its message will strike a chord with readers. Any opportunity to put your message into a broader context only improves the chance your audience will connect with your brand.

Lesson 4) Be relevant … and appropriate. 

This cartoon was created by Dave Granlund to reverently mark the anniversary of the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. The image is of a wreath of stars, similar to the wreaths and flowers that survivors and others annually throw into the waters of Pearl Harbor. As with the other examples, its text is short, its image is powerful, it comes at the correct time and it is relevant to its American audience.

Contrast the image above with a somewhat similar image in dubious taste tweeted by SpaghettiOs on December 7, 2013. While the food company’s intention may have been the same as Granlund’s, its irreverent image was inappropriate to a fault.

Telling your story visually is a great way to get noticed in the crowded Internet marketplace. And while new social platforms and trends continually change how we communicate online, it’s worth looking back at cartooning to see how a simple image, delivered in just the right way, can be a powerful communication tool.

The post Four Lessons Brands Should Learn From Political Cartoons appeared first on Fineman PR.