Thought Leaders

Sometimes it's that tenacious "need to know" about a topic that fuels our pursuit of thought leadership. Sometimes we just fall off the lucky truck. And then again, our clients give us the opportunity and fertile ground to develop depth in areas of expertise worthy of attention from media and opinion leaders. Here are a few examples:

You'll find her name connected to some of the latest research, books, articles, interviews, speeches and brands on the topics of marketing to women and mothers. Not content to take someone else's word for it (nor rely on her own real-world experiences as mother to an 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son), Bonnie and the Haystack team regularly mine for insights among females across the country who are part of the firm's robust database. Her insights can be found in white pages available on this website, as well as in interactive workshops (e.g. Activating Social Networks, Understanding the Mindset of Today's Moms) that are made available to companies at no cost.

Clearly a pioneer in the dynamic marketing-to-moms category, Bonnie is a frequent speaker and media commentator on the subjects of marketing to women and mothers. She was one of the top-ranked presenters at the prestigious Marketing2Moms conference in 2005 and 2006. She is co-author of "Trillion-Dollar Moms: Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers" and has been toiling away on a new book about female-friendly customer service. Her reputation in the area of mothering issues made her a natural choice as a 2007 and 2008 spokesperson for Kellogg's Rice Krispies "Childhood is Calling" program.

In 2006, Bonnie and the Haystack team launched www.momseasychair.com, a unique online magazine and virtual gathering place for women with children who are eager to learn and connect about non-Mommy topics and trends outside of their own homes and communities. Access to thousands of mothers with informed opinions and disposable dollars has proven to be an asset that Haystack Group clients covet.

The term "social networking" is commonplace in today's marketing circles, but many companies don't actually know how to successfully activate them for their brands. Everyone's eager to have a presence on Facebook, Craigslist, Twitter and FriendFeed, but social networking entails much more than that. Social networks took root long before the Internet -- neighborhood ice cream socials, PTAs, the regular gang at the nail salon and the guys playing Saturday afternoon pick-up basketball are all social networks. The key is to understand how to navigate, activate and integrate both Online and IRL "in real life" social networks and leverage their collective voice. Thankfully for Haystack clients, Holly Cline knows just how to do this.

Holly helps her clients establish relationships with influencers who are viewed as the "go-to" people among their own social networks. The ones who like to be the first to know about the latest trends and the newest products. The ones who create a buzz about something before anyone else knows it exists. What most brands don't understand is how to engage these influencers in two way communication. Holly works closely with the internal brand teams to develop appropriate product messaging, as well as the most appropriate timing and method for contact. She finds the gatekeepers, and they do the rest.

Holly engaged moms in Chicago to host dinner parties, preparing meals using canned food ingredients, to increase awareness of convenient, healthy and tasty meal alternatives for the Canned Food Alliance. The hosts included bloggers, meet-up group leaders and PTA presidents, and CANdelight Dinner Parties had more than 500 friends on MySpace. She started the conversation with marketing bloggers about Coca-Cola's WishCast, which resulted in 20 posts within five days, the week before Christmas. She also established a parent advisory council for a new children's DVD series including presidents of cultural organizations, mom bloggers, museum programming directors, owners of family activity centers and parents who home school. The council gives their feedback on products and recent trends. They also tell their friends, who tell their friends, who tell their social networks to buy these DVDs.

Her friends also include green living experts, professional bull riders, ESPN's Angler of the Century and Professor Bra. Why? You'll have to poke her on Facebook to get those answers. If you want to get to know her better before sending a friend request, read her white paper, "Social Networking Success: Finding the right person to tell two friends, who will then tell two friends."

If you'd like to learn more about Holly's social networking expertise, contact her to set up a time to walk through Haystack's interactive workshop, Activating Social Networks.

While anchoring his experience in the ocean of technology, Dave has worked on clients as diverse as RC Cola, WebMD and AT&T. But none of these clients worried whether the strategies developed were B2B or B2C. They just wanted results, and solid communications principals are relevant no matter the industry.

The real difference between the classifications is that sales cycles for B2B products are often longer and the purchase is not an “impulse” buy. Not that we don’t make large consumer purchases or buy off the shelf software for our businesses – but the process behind the sale is the better way to define B2B.

Helping to shape that process from a PR standpoint is where the phrase “Be there before the sale,” comes in. If the sales cycle is 6, 12 or even more than 24 months – how is PR helping you be there? PR needs to help the sales staff not only have a reason to talk to the prospect, but give them something of value to talk about.

As the VP of Communications for manufacturing marketplace MFG.com, Dave ran the gamut between educational programs for customers that ran machine shops to outlandish consumer thinking for lead investor Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. Dave’s current role has him providing senior level counsel to the provider technology unit of Fortune 18 company, McKesson. Dave is helping marry the speed of technology with the conservative and delicate nature of healthcare to help better fulfill the pipeline of hospitals, physicians and providers.

Dave has spoken on all types of PR topics at events with the PRSA and AMA in Atlanta and is currently on the board of directors for TechBridge, helping nonprofits better serve their community through technology.

You can't just dabble in internal communications – these are your employees who dedicate their waking-hours to making sure your business is a success. They are the first ones to buy your new product offering, brag about your company's services to friends and become a stakeholder in your company. Employees are emotionally invested in your organization, which is why a one-email communication effort does not suit all circumstances or employee groups.

Nicole Lillis knows internal communications because she's walked the line with shift workers, sat it on technical discussions with IS&T gurus and advised leaders how to best communicate an upcoming merger. She recognizes that internal communications is about making connections, being transparent and showing respect for the power of internal audiences.

Nicole has worked with clients for 13 years to define the business problem, identify the communications solution and then put the right media mix together to help them more effectively communicate with employees, board members, franchise owners and anyone else who has a stake in the organization's outcome.

She has used this process to provide strategic counsel, hands-on support and award-winning communications to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, earning them recognition as a national top employer through Working Mother magazine, the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for" list.

In her career, Nicole has provided strategic counsel and communications support for technology powerhouses, beverage companies, financial institutions, educational entities and franchise owners. As part of an integrated marketing campaign, she led the Olympic Torchbearer communications effort on behalf of Chevrolet during the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Torch Relay and was rewarded with the opportunity to carry the torch for one leg of the relay.

Don't take internal audiences for granted. If you are about to announce a merger, launch a new product or want to inspire your employees, Nicole can show you how to leverage your best asset.