This is a simulation of the mobile Heavenly Cafe trailers that will
turn coffee into cash to fight hunger and poverty worldwide and locally.
Gleason PR Plans Worldwide Relief Effort
Robin Weisberg, a successful Auburn businesswoman, contracted Gleason
PR to write the business plan for HeavenlyCafe.org, a worldwide relief
effort to fight poverty, sickness and social discrimination locally and
across the globe. Heavenly Cafe will utilize coffee trailers at Upstate
NY events to sell premium coffee, tea and cocoa products, as well as scrumptious
desserts worthy of the "heavenly" moniker. Gleason PR has provided
business planning services for a variety of clients and entrepreneurs
in the past.
"Kerry Gleason," wrote Ms. Weisberg, a former Wall Street executive,
"would be welcomed in the boardroom of any corporation in America."
She cited his creativity and get-it-done approach in calling him a genius.
"Each business seeks something different for financing or operating
its company," Kerry Gleason said. "We focus on more than just
marketing to assist businesses in seeing the big overall picture for their
start-up or expanding businesses. We know what banks and investors want
in terms of detail and planning."
Gleason said starting a business without a formal business plan is like
an antelope separated from the herd. "The lions are sure to devour
you."
Without spoiling Heavenly Cafe's launch announcements, he said the company
has the potential to become a household name in a short time with some
of the operational innovations and networking prospects Gleason PR have
recommended.
HeavenlyCafe.org is headquartered in Auburn. Stay tuned for news about
its launch!
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GPR Summer Ends at a Torrid Pace
New business energized third quarter revenues for Gleason
PR. Solid business prospects are encouraging for the agency's future,
said Kerry Gleason. Heading into October, the agency had a waiting list
for new project start-ups. Gleason said several large website projects
are in progress, and that new websites face a slight delay. He said by
nature, public relations projects, the core business of the company, are
more timely and need to be addressed with greater immediacy.
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GLEASON PR DESIGNS BILL GRAY'S ADS
Bill Gray's has hired Gleason PR to design some of its
fall ads for print and internet advertising. The agreement encompassed
original food photography and graphic design.
Gleason expressed hope that Bill Gray's will utilize the agency's media
relations prowess in addition to its design and photography skills for
future efforts. Bill Gray's is the area's largest locally based hamburger
chain, with 15 company-owned stores in Rochester, Batavia and Buffalo.
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Critics Restaurant, North Java Inn
Hire Gleason for Menu Design
Two of Upstate New York's longest-running restaurants
have contracted with Gleason PR for new menu designs. More and more, restaurants
are realizing their best marketing tool is their menu, and Gleason PR's
expertise in restaurant marketing and graphic design makes it a wise choice
for any restaurant.
Critics Restaurant was established in 1927 and is now a popular family
dining destination in the Mall at Greece RIdge Center.
The North Java Inn has served
down-home cooking at affordable prices to residents and visitors to Wyoming
County since 1848.
"These are two different menu projects for two different style restaurants,
but both will encompass original food photography and the use of our award-winning
graphic design capabilities," Gleason says. "We see this as
the beginning for a new specialized marketing foray that complements our
other food and beverage services."
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GLEASON PR GOES AROUND THE BLOCK AGAIN WITH TOP LOCAL CATERER
One of the most difficult prospects for small businesses is generating a buzz
after years in business. GPR is supervising a major identity change for
one of Rochester's leading catering businesses. After serving high-profile
fundraisers for gubernatorial hopeful Eliot Spitzer and U.S. Senator Hillary
Clinton, owner Kevin Murray felt it was time to crystallize his company's
place as a caterer who can create successful polished-silver events in
addition to casual events. GPR recommended the new identity, designed
the logo, revised the company's extensive 60-plus page website and has
also introduced four timely promotions for Tasteful Events.
This Spring, Tasteful Events provided a special graduation party menu
at $6.95 per person. Orders started piling in within 10 minutes of the
promotion being listed on the website (almost like in that ridiculous
commercial)!
A second promotion is the creation of a special "Business-Class"
catering, which provides premium catering considerations at a budget-conscious
price point.
The third promotion, designed to help draw traffic to the site, is a
Recipe Rewards Club, a sort of "Iron Chef" contest for the home
cook. Participants submit recipes each month using the Tasteful Ingredient
specified on the site.
Finally, the "Brownie Points" promotion rewards any person
referring a new client to Tasteful Events for corporate or private catering
receives a free tray of chocolate brownies or other dessert pastry. Every
referral deserves a reward!
"WORD OF MOUTH" SPECIALTY CAMPAIGNS MOVE THE MARKER FOR
LOCAL FIRMS
Ever on the prowl for cutting-edge opportunistic marketing, Gleason PR has
formulated a set of strategies aimed at spreading product promotions,
launches and ongoing publicity via Word of Mouthadvertising.
Commonly called "viral marketing," word-of-mouth advertising
has long been recognized as a more effective sales tool. Gleason says
his company has successfully implemented elements of the program for clients
in the past, but putting these tactics together in one cohesive strategy
combining internet, print and public relations strategies creates an unbeatable
mix. "It's not free, and it's not cheap, but it works on both a small-scale
and large-scale basis." Your friends will be telling you about our
clients soon, he predicts.
Your continued business
and referrals
are appreciated!
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ADVERTISE HERE!
You'll see we have two advertisers in our bi-monthly newsletter this issue.
Our extensive mailing list includes media and potential B2B or retail
consumers. Box ads are available starting at $50 per year.
Gleason PR Internet Smarts Prove Invaluable for Website
Rescue
Gleason PR is the "go-to" agency for many companies
who find themselves on the short end for their website development. In
the past few years, Gleason PR has designed or re-designed at least a
half dozen websites for businesses who have been abandoned or cheated
by unreliable or disputable web designers.
A Los Angeles caterer, Robert Scutero, a.k.a. The Busy
Gourmet, was caught in the act of stealing our proprietary Catering Calculator™
scripts. He has been issued written notice to cease and desist in the
development of his own online estimate system using scripts stolen from
our site. The outted caterer's representative claimed the scripts were
merely being evaluated, but the company never sought authorization to
download the scripts, and was certainly not authorized to adapt them with
its own graphics or text. Gleason PR documented proof that the company
had altered the text in the script for its own online use.
"These scripts are so sophisticated, they have built-in safeguards
that allow us to track them wherever they might appear," Gleason
said. "Based on their performance since 1999, we estimate that Catering
Calculators can double, and possibly triple, catering revenues in a medium
or large market. I am implementing additional safeguards." Gleason
said legal action will be pursued if the caterer goes live with the copyright-protected
program. "For now, we are content to post the name of the thieves
online, and hope that the good people of LA will seek ethical catering
professionals.."
The cost to purchase the code is $1,295, including installation.
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GOOD PRESS: RBJ
Mike Dickinson of the Rochester Business Journal featured
Gleason PR in his Aug. 25 column.
"You can't say Kerry won't take a chance on a different client
or a different approach. The PR guy has been the vehicle over the years
for a ton of publicity for the Cone Buddy Corp. ..."
-Rochester Business Journal
We appreciate the good press
for ourselves, especially unsolicited recognition by our media brethren.
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NO SHORTAGE OF AWARDS
We recently were informed by a client that they hired
a competing publicity outfit because they were "nationally recognized
experts." Okay...
Perhaps we've done a poor job of conveying our PR expertise because we
do not flaunt our awards. Rest assured that AdWorks' staff is highly decorated
with the industry's top awards, including the PRSA's Silver Anvil (The
Academy Award® for PR), product launch recognition from the International
Association of Business Communicators and individual awards for corporate
and consumer relations.
Since he started his agency in 1994, he has only submitted projects for
awards when clients requested that. But he acknowledged that industry
recognition is more important to some clients than effective strategies
and results, so the Gleason PR website now features photos of its awards.
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Turnover at Rochester PR Firms
Makes GPR Experience an Asset
Due to attrition and cutbacks at other Rochester-area ad and PR agencies, Gleason
PR possesses greater longevity and experience than nearly all of them.
"Several ad agencies now have depleted PR staffs and are relying
on junior executives to carry the load, " Gleason said. "Other
agencies claim their average PR department age is 24 or 27, and we question
whether companies can afford executives-in-training running their accounts."
Storied Past
MY
STORIED PAST
With more than 25 years of professional PR
experience, many for Fortune 500 companies, I've produced incredible ROI
for some interesting clients. My past may surprise you!
- Kerry
NY Newswire's First 10 Years-- Quick, Efficient PR
NY Newswire celebrates its 10-year anniversary this month. AdWorks has
put the site in mothballs for the present time to assess its feasibility
as a profit center. AdWorks president Kerry Gleason said he hopes to bring
the site back, but only if it is utilized by the New York business community.
He is also assessing the news community's receptiveness to internet-based
news pitches so that NY Newswire can adjust to be as effective as possible.
"NY Newswire was an answer to Rochester media's reliance on one
news source to provide the bulk of the news coverage for the area,"
Gleason said. "Few radio stations have news gathering capabilities,
and until recently, the TV stations were not working real hard to break
news stories or provide creative coverage of local businesses. Bluntly
stated, if you didn't get your news item in the Democrat and Chronicle
or the Buffalo News, you were out of luck. NY Newswire created an effective
alternative medium on the internet for people to learn what their local
businesses were doing."
The impetus for NY Newswire was the folding of the Gannett-owned Rochester
afternoon newspaper, the Times-Union. Gleason explained that the paper's
demise homogenized the Rochester news.
The first version of NY Newswire contained links to all local news outlets
and press releases. But it also carried a ledger of upcoming news events
and press conferences for upstate New York businesses. Gleason said that
effort was time-intensive and was rarely used by the media, it's intended
audience. The calendar was discontinued. NY Newswire was promoted to local
PR agencies and boutique ad shops as a resource for promoting its clients'
products and services.
Gleason says NY Newswire was a huge success for the clients who used
it. Because of AdWorks' prowess in online promotion, NY Newswire releases
frequently appeared at the top of search engine lists, and drove thousands
of visitors to website links noted in every press release.
Highlights for the PR tool were:
- When a fatal shooting occurred in Downtown Rochester, media initially
reported that it happened at a place of business. Within an hour, NY Newswire
wrote and issued a statement exhonerating the business, and all subsequent
news stories reported the incident accurately.
- New product launches. As the Rochester Business Journal reported this
month, Gleason PR generated a ton of publicity for The Buddy System and
other new products like Casual Tastes' Catering Calculators and numerous
business-to-business items.
- Events. NY Newswire put events like the BCB's Home Fair Expo and Houses
on Parade, ModelTech's Pet Model Search and BTU Special Events and Restaurant
Associates' call for employees to work hospitality at the 2003 PGA Championship
(they needed 500, NY Newswire delivered 1,100 applicants!).
Gleason PR and NY Newswire maintain a database featuring e-mail and fax
addresses for about 500 media outlets and news reporters throughout Upstate
New York and NY City. Company President Kerry Gleason has 25 years of
practical PR experience, and is able to provide wise counsel for all NY
Newswire customers, as needed.
