Open Position: Account Executive-PR and Social Media
We are searching for a Public Relations and Social Media Account Executive to provide support to national and regional accounts. Will be responsible for helping to manage day-to-day public relations activities and social media efforts, as well as collaborate with other internal departments to execute fully integrated communications campaigns.
Experience executing social media programs for companies/organizations a must. Strong writing skills required — i.e. press releases, newsletter articles, press kit materials, bylined articles and blog posts. Attention to detail and knowledge of AP style is required. Experience in textiles, outdoor and/or the food industry is strongly preferred.
Must have previous experience in national media relations and corporate branding campaigns. Should be able to effectively multi-task, work in team environment, and communicate with clients, team members and vendors. Knowledge and experience with trade shows and event management is preferred. Candidate should be a creative thinker, independent worker and team player with strong organizational skills.
Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree, at least four years relevant PR/Social Media experience (post graduation)
Send resumes to: sstyons@merrellgroup.com
Searching for An Associate Account Executive
We are looking for a Public Relations/Social Media Associate Account Executive to join our great team. Responsibilities include managing day-to-day public relations and social media activities, and collaborating with other internal departments to execute fully integrated communications campaigns.
Strong writing skills required — i.e. press releases, newsletter articles, blog posts, press kit materials, bylined articles. Attention to detail and knowledge of AP style a must.
Must have previous experience running a media relations program, pitching national and mainstream media, supporting corporate branding campaigns and managing social profiles. Should be able to effectively multi-task, work in team environment, and communicate with clients, team members and vendors. Knowledge and experience with trade shows and outdoor industry is preferred. Candidate should be a creative thinker, independent worker and team player with strong organizational skills.
Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree, at least two years relevant PR / social media experience (post graduation)
Send resumes to: sstyons@merrellgroup.com
A PR Lesson Learned
We pride ourselves on trying to always do the right thing for our clients and for the agency. That means being smart, strategic and ethical. And, I am proud to say, we have nothing to be ashamed about.
With that said, it has been very interesting to read about how one of the largest and respected public relations agency’s in the world, Burson-Marsteller, made some very poor choices in an effort to meet its client’s goals and objectives of fighting Google. According to USA Today, Burson consultants “approached top-tier media companies and high-profile technologists, on behalf of an unnamed client, to seed largely unfounded allegations about privacy shortcomings in Google’s Social Circle service.”
But the word got out, and one blogger posted his email exchanges with Burson asking him to put his byline on an op-ed that the agency had ghost written.
And, most recently, Burson’s unnamed client was revealed — Facebook. Now spokespeople from Google, Facebook and Burson are in the news along with any one else connected to this PR effort gone bad.
There will be many discussions about this incident and what can be learned…as there should be. We will certainly talk about it here at our agency. What do you think?
Senior Account Supervisor Joins Agency PR Team
The public relations team at Howard, Merrell & Partners is excited to welcome a new Senior Account Supervisor, Mariana Pinner, to its growing public relations team. In this position, Pinner is responsible for developing, managing, and executing business-to-business campaigns for clients including Southwest Windpower, Dixie, iTech and Georgia-Pacific Professional. Specifically, she will focus on promoting thought leadership, executing product launches, media relations, corporate communications and social media for each client.
Read more about Mariana Pinner.
Anna Agnew Joins Public Relations Department
Account Executive Anna Agnew is the newest addition to our public relations team. In her new role as account executive, Agnew will be responsible for implementing public relations strategic plans, conducting research, social media monitoring and counseling clientele.
Prior to joining Howard, Merrell & Partners, Agnew was a project manager for Direct Impact, a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots communications firm. In that position, she was responsible for developing grassroots strategies to achieve the legislative, brand recognition and crisis communications goals of clients in the healthcare, automotive, agricultural, ethanol, and overnight-delivery industries.
President and CEO Jim Cobb Celebrates 30 Years at Agency
Our President and CEO Jim Cobb recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with the agency.
A farm boy from Vance County, N.C., Cobb pursued a job at Howard, Merrell & Partners because he could relate to agricultural clients like W. R. Grace and Company. Cobb got his start at Howard, Merrell & Partners in 1979 as an intern and joined the agency fulltime in 1981. The agency’s first employee with a Master of Business Administration, Cobb was hired as an account manager, with duties spanning everything from market research to account management. Cobb took the reins as president and CEO in 2004 after serving as an executive for more than 20 years.
New Client: Southwest Windpower
We have been named the agency of record for Southwest Windpower, the world’s leading supplier of distributed wind systems. Southwest Windpower’s CEO Dixon Thayer “handpicked” us because we are “more than a typical ad agency”. Our full-service capabilities are exactly what Southwest Windpower needs.
We have been tasked with providing Southwest Windpower with strategic, integrated brand support and tactical execution in advertising, tradeshow coordination, collateral development, media planning and buying, website development, public relations, event planning, social media marketing and market research.
We have started by helping Southwest Windpower understand buyer emotions, and helped establish the importance of wind energy to a growing homeowner segment that wants both clean energy and independence from rising utility rates.
Check out the release for more information Southwest Windpower Announcement
New Account Supervisor — Mariana Pinner
Welcome to Mariana Pinner — a new Account Supervisor in the PR department.
Mariana comes to us with both corporate and agency experience. She has worked in-house at SAS, as well as at a number of agencies in Massachusetts including PERKETTPR and PAN Communications. Mariana has conducted marketing and PR activities with clients and companies in the pharma, tech, and biotech industries.
In addition to having deep knowledge and experience managing and implementing core public relations tactics, she has also conducted crisis management efforts, worked with investor relations teams, executed community relations and guerilla marketing work, devised channel marketing and business development strategies, and touched social media.
A UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, Mariana is glad to be back home in North Carolina.
Congratulations to Elizabeth
Congrats to Elizabeth Romero — she has been promoted to Management Supervisor.
Elizabeth has been an instrumental part of the PR team since day one. She currently manages several accounts including: Butterball, CORDURA® fabric, Bank Independent, and the National Humanities Center. Elizabeth also provides Hispanic marketing, crisis support and strategic counsel other businesses as needed. Not only is Elizabeth a hard worker, but she is cool under pressure during crisis situations, knowledgeable about PR and her clients’ industries, great at juggling multiple projects and accounts, and determined to never let her clients or teams down. She is a great asset to the agency.
Here’s the announcement Romero Promotion.
Interested in Tapping into the U.S. Hispanic Market?
Why Market to Hispanics?
Have you ever looked at the U.S. Hispanic consumer base’s lifetime profit margin contribution? (That’s the impact U.S. Latino consumers can have on a company’s bottom line over the course of their lifetime.)
Because the median age of Hispanic consumers in this country is only 27 (vs. 40 for non-Hispanics) and they live to a median age of 83 (compared to 81 for non-Hispanics), the Latino consumer group contributes 56 years of spending, the longest of all consumer groups in the U.S.
And although they don’t yet spend the most, Hispanic consumers already spend longer and are therefore especially valuable.* More »
