My final words of thank you to this wonderful class!

not everyone is in the picture, but you get it!

I began my blog writing about a wonderful group of stars that I had met! Would like to end this blog a few words that I dedicate to each and every one of you for this difficult, but amazing year! The best thing that comes out of any experience are the people! For me, I will always remember all of you! Each person in that classroom has a different experience, different background and expectations.

You will all be very successful in your lives, jobs, families, etc. Because of the great people you are!

 

Amanda F. – Amanda you are an awesome person to be around! Lots of laughter, fun and enjoyment (and booze!). This year’s efforts have paid off, you’re being recognized in the area you love and that magical island will come very soon!

Amanda P. – What an awesome friend you are, although could never hear a “relax”! Like everyone in the class, you have evolved so much in this year and many doors will open for you. I think you have found new professional passions as well as sports, which you will have tons of success in.

Arpita – I think the best definition for Arpita is “entered a girl, left a woman”, how this year has made you stronger and braver, you cannot measure. I remember the shy girl in the beginning, who now studies hard, works, organizes events, volunteers, takes care of Saman and many other things. This year has been transformational for you.

Candace – I think this year has brought new professional passions and interests for you! Focusing on women’s issues and diving deep into your culture will make you a communication reference in the future.

Carolyn – Like all of us, there were ups and downs, but a lot more ups and abs and whatever! You overcame so many challenges and leave this program stronger, ready to take on the market. Trust in yourself and the challenge that seems far away will come close to you.

Danielle – Hope to receive a message in a very close future for your election! Ottawa or any other city will benefit a lot from having you communicate to them and lead their way! I think you solidified your passions throughout the year. Vote Dani K.!

Margarita – The beautiful, soothing voice, now comes along with a professional, anxious to travel the world! Don’t overthink, embrace yourself in the challenges and I am 100% sure you’ll accomplish them all.

Marilyn – I know how hard it is to change your life 180 degrees, but you made it seem easy! Such motivation and discipline! We can just admire your hard work and dedication in all you do. And you do it with excellence.

Mercy-Anne – I am sure that you will be a reference for your community! The hard work you put in everything always pays off. I also feel you come out of the program with lots of leadership traits, that will help you in your path.

Mia – What to say about Mia! Overcoming a language barrier and still accomplishing everything while working is not for anybody! You need to have some “cojones”. Mia, you know that success in Canadian lands is just around the corner.

Nicole – It was great not getting only you as a friend, but your entire family! How you opened your house to me and my friends…I just have no words! I think this year was an entirely new experience for you (all these new swear words in different languages to memorize!). My house will always be open to receive you, Wade, Ciel, Bella and Noah.

Nivin – The first person ever to make me meditate! Nivin is just my favorite team player, always offering help, worried, like the great mother she is. Such a kind person and a huge heart, ready to say something nice. I am waiting you, Sem and the kids in Brazil.

Priscilla – Out of 204 million people from Brazil, I came to Winnipeg to find a sister! Every time I had no motivation I thought of you and how you had so many more things than I did, but still did it better. A family I love – Carlos, Priscilla, Benjamin & Lavinia.

Rod – I won’t even talk about your professional skills and hard work! If I ever get to be 50% as good of a dad as you, I will be very satisfied and happy with myself. How you teach life lessons to your kids is just amazing. You have a beautiful family and a new Warmtoes fan for life!

Ryan – If you hadn’t been in class this year, it would have sucked! Thanks for all the great moments in ALL your presentations! You are just a great guy with a huge sense of humor who make people feel good.

Saman – “Fake it till you make it”! But just promise me you will be careful!!!! I know you’re adventurous, want to take that internship in the North Pole, but relax! Whatever you do you will be fine, because you’re light hearted and up for any challenge.

Sarvasav – Patience will be key after this year Sarv! I know your struggles, but very soon they will pay off. Your mission here is not accomplished yet! Great things will come! Just be careful with the vodka bottles! LOL

Shannon – It was great knowing your life story and all that you’ve been through! You have a beautiful family, to which you dedicate yourself. Super hard worker and after this year, a much deserved rest is close, before you shine in whichever company is lucky to have you on board.

Travis – I told you, you were in love!!! Congrats on the soon to be wedding and creating a new family. Thanks for trusting us with all your challenges and with patience and dedication, you will overcome all of them. Keep up the good work! And race carefully.

Urvashi – My guess for CEO is still you! You’re not just very intelligent, but you have a huge heart and are a true friend! We talked so much that it seems I’ve known you for years and years. You left a big empty spot in our class, but destiny is great for those who dedicate themselves, like you!

To all the part-time students that were with us this year and collaborated so much to the class, group projects and also new introductions (we were bored of ourselves!). Special thanks to Carole and Airen, who were in our class almost all year! You both were very important to this class.

I could never say these things directly to any of you without getting emotional! All I can say is that it has been a tough, but great year! I am just lucky to always meet wonderful people and make friends!

LOVE YOU ALL!!! MISS YOU ALREADY!!! MONDAY WILL BE EMPTY

Breno.

Relationship & Respect – The crazy world of PR

Photo credit: everything-pr.com

In my opinion, the two best definitions for Public Relations come from the same source, but have different forms of complexity to them.

The first and more “fancy”, says:

Public Relations is… “the activity or job of providing information about a particular person or organization to the public so that people will regard that person or organization in a favorable way”.

The second, extremely direct and true, says:

Public Relations is… “the relationship between an organization and the public”.

Both definitions were extracted from the Merriam-Webster website (www.merriam-webster.com).

In the fast-paced, social media environment of today, maintaining a relationship with the company’s stakeholders is a difficult task to accomplish. Communications have changed and social media has given an unknown power to the public.

When we analyze the sales process of 20-30 years ago, where the philosophy was more of “make it and they will buy it” enhanced by massive marketing investments, we look at today’s process, that has shifted to a more “what would you like me to make for you” approach, enhanced by a lot more indicators, such as: Marketing, PR, Logistics, Social Media, Outsourcing, Finance, HR, to name a few, the role of PR has become crucial.

No company on the planet will please 100% of the existing audience.  Companies need to be less greedy and focus on their target audience and relate to them in a “human” way, understand their needs, wants, critiques, reviews, likes, shares, pins, tweets, posts, videos, etc. That is today’s formula of success!

Sticking to your mission, vision and goals, as well as understanding to which audience you want to communicate, will earn respect from all the stakeholders. The ability to “walk the talk” is so up to date with the existing public that the first PR strategy has to be internal. All the components of the company need to understand the direction to which the ship is sailing, after that all your passengers (public) will embark on the journey with you.

Thanks for reading!

Would love to hear your comments!

Breno Costa.

Buy Buy Facebook!

Photo Credit: seoclerk.com

So, are you aware of Facebook’s new “test button”? We all know about the “like” button, but a new is coming out very soon as a test and will probably become a major new feature of the world’s most popular Social network. It’s the “Buy” button, where Facebook will attempt to have their users purchase products directly through ads on their newsfeeds.

As you can see below, the “Buy” button is already being tested in the United States:

Photo credit: businessinsider.com

Without the need of going to the merchant’s website, you will be able to input your credit card information to Facebook, similar to what is done with an ITunes account. Facebook believes that this transaction directly from the newsfeed will shorten time for consumers, as well as a new source of revenue in several different ways.

How Facebook will make money with the “Buy” button?

•  If tests work out, Facebook can charge fees or share revenue for processing the payment;
•  By having proof of purchase and return on investment, Facebook will definitely sell more and bigger campaigns to marketers;
•  With all credit card data, it can generate profit from analytics.

Will you press “Buy”?

Do you see yourself purchasing anything directly from your newsfeed on Facebook? If you answered yes, are there specific products that you would be more tempted to purchase? Would there be products that you wouldn’t buy?

Very curious to know your opinion on this new feature, so please leave your comment and let’s wait to “FaceBuy”!

Thanks for reading.

Breno.

Does your company want to make more PROFIT? Hire more women!

Photo Credit: thenextwomen.com

According to a survey performed by consulting company McKinsey & Co., from last year, with a sample of 366 companies, said that companies who have balanced leadership roles between men and women, have a tendency of reporting higher profits than average.

“Men are printers, women are multifunction devices.”

This funny and interesting quote came from a client I worked with a few years ago, which turned out to be extremely true, because she was the Sales and Financial Director of a Brazilian multi-million dollar pharmaceutical distribution company, while finishing her second MBA in Brazil’s leading business school, Fundacao Dom Cabral (Obs: Her MBA was held in another city she had to travel to every other week!) and full-time mother of two. You might have gotten tired just from that description!

From my personal experience working with and for women, I think it’s a huge shame that companies are not fully prepared to embrace female leadership to it’s fullest. Companies need to understand that women are almost 100% more likely to take on more roles than men, when children and household are added to the equation. Still having all the cumulative work, they perform very well.

Women are much more detail oriented than men, have better customer service skills and, usually are better listeners. Companies need to make the corporate world less male oriented and more competency driven, despite gender! Female employees should be incentivized to rise to leadership roles and bring a different perspective to the corporate world.

Would love to listen to your opinions, both male and female!

Let’s make the corporate world equal!

Thanks for reading.

Breno.

COMMENTS!

Photo credit: iamerinbrown.com

brenovcc on March 23, 2015 at 1:33 pm said:

 Nicole, congratulations on the blog post! As always, you have a very creative style of writing, which reflects a lot on the high quality of the material, making it an easy read. In your opinion, what can be common mistakes that we should avoid in each step of the process? Do you think companies or professionals sometimes jump steps? Looking forward to reading your insights on the next two steps.

brenovcc

Urvashi, thank you for the comment! To answer your question relating to crafting key messages that will resonate with key audience, I would say that the Research phase is the most crucial for that, because you can only resonate to an audience by knowing and understanding them, how they react, behave, patterns, etc. Most companies who succeed in crafting messages that resonate, understand to whom they are talking to, through research and several existing tools that exist. We can never take into account the research step of the process. Hope I answered your question.

brenovcc

Thank you for the comment Nicole! I think it’s a mix of several things that PR professionals end up not taking into account, when drawing a plan. I would say time is a huge issue as well, because PR, different from Marketing, is a “silent” action, think of it as if nothing bad is happening, then your PR team is great! Also some companied do not value the work of the PR professionals, along with a tight budget, but I also agree with you when you mention that false positive assumptions are made and there is a constant disregard of the company’s weaknesses, making the environmental analysis, so important.

We’re halfway there!!!!

Photo Credit: keepcalmandcarryon.com

When thinking of a strategic public relations plan, a very interesting guideline/formula/acronym can be used to help going through the whole process. It is the R.A.C.E. formula, that when used wisely, can support the final PR plan in a helpful way. So far, we have learned half the process and its benefits, so check out below my thoughts on the “R” and the “A”.

R = RESEARCH

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of Research is:

“careful study that is done to find and report new knowledge about something”.

Research is the initial process of any PR plan, where as much information and data are gathered, through various forms, to understand and analyze the current situation or opportunities that appear to the company.

For example, let’s say a company wants to launch a new product! If there is not enough research to back up the reasons and understanding of important aspects, such as demographics, target audience and consumer behavior, the chances of failure towards that product are huge, because without research, it becomes a guess.

A = ASSESSMENT

Also according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, assessment is defined by:

“The act of making a judgement about something.”

This is the second step of the process, right after research, where information was gathered and from all this data, an actual plan will be drafted, taking into account if the evidence will successfully reach its audience with a powerful message and preparing grounds for the next two steps, where we will conclude the full circle of the plan.

Hopefully, you enjoyed the reading and learned a little more of the PR world!

I’ll love to hear comments and opinions, so please share your thoughts!

Thanks.

Breno Costa.

SAY YES TO DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME!!!

LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!!

Over the 100 years that Daylight Saving Time (DST), has been around, the whole reason behind it has changed quite a lot, from wars, to resources to health/safety issues, the point being, there are more positives than negatives towards it.

Every year, around this time, the whole topic comes to everyone’s attention and opinion, but I strongly reinforce you to look at the Big Picture!

ARE THERE REALLY PROBLEMS IN DST?

Research shows that the main problems of having DST is an increase in accidents only on the day after it starts, when people are still only getting used to it. The increase is not huge and maybe can be solved with Public Service Announcements or doctors orienting on how to deal with the change.

Other complaints are heard from farmers, regarding the schedule of milking cows, which changes, but with technological advancements, most cows are milked nowadays through robots which are programmed to work at certain hours, weakening the whole argument.

NOW LET’S CHECK THE GOOD SIDE OF DST! YOU WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND!

Several industries and countries benefit a lot from DST, especially towards resource saving! An extra hour of light during the time of DST can save millions by not needing that extra hour of resource based energy, be it electrical, hydro, nuclear etc.

An industry which suffers a huge positive impact of DST is the Tourism industry! Why, you might ask? The almost $7 TRILLION (Yes, TRILLION!) dollar annual global industry has a huge impact on the world’s economy directly, indirectly and induced. The Tourism industry benefits from DST by “giving” tourists an extra hour of sunlight, where consumption and spending rates are higher. For example, in Ireland, the industry has a $6.5 million dollar increase just because of DST, can you imagine globally?

TREAT YOUR TIME WISELY!

Yes, you might have to wake up one hour earlier than you’re used to on one day, but you do get used to it pretty fast! My suggestion to you is enjoy it! Gather the people you love, friends, family and enjoy the extra time you have. Do you have a business? Look into how you can profit from an extra hour of sunshine or how much you are saving on your bills. Everything has a positive side, you just need to know how to look at it.

Hope you enjoyed the reading! If you agree, disagree, love me or hate me, will love to hear from you, so leave a comment!

BRENO.

 

Don’t JUDGE – Just HELP!!

So, I’m not the proudest person in the world by saying that I have never done any volunteer work, but by studying, talking and by simply coexisting with some great people, since I’ve moved to Canada, it seems that I am becoming a better person!

Unfortunately, it isn’t as common in my country, Brazil, as in Canada, to take part in volunteer work, which is huge nonsense, because there are so many people who need help! Maybe, my time has come!

I have finally come to sense with myself and enrolled for my first volunteer job at the Immigration Center in Winnipeg, which is a place for newcomers to get help in many ways. These guys do an excellent job and you should check them out!

Here is their website: www.icmanitoba.com

I have officially become a translator of Portuguese/English – English/Portuguese for them, as a volunteer, which I am very happy about, but I want to do more!

What I would like from you is information on how I can become better at volunteering, tell me about local charities in Winnipeg, online charities, indications, how to contact them and what kind of help they need.

Hope to hear from you very soon!!

Thanks,

Breno.

“The best way to pursue happiness is to help other people. Nothing else will make you happier”.

George Lucas.

Good at Math? I’ll pay you coffee!

So, here I am, late at night, blogging! During this week, an equation has been stuck to the back of my head, not exactly a mathematical equation, but a social media equation (does that even exist?):

Community + Experience + Stories = Success Rachelle “prairie yogi” Taylor

I’ll will be very happy to pay you a coffee, if, and only if, you can help me solve the equation! Read it until the end and check out how you can participate!

Now, you can understand my situation! Looking for interesting content to help me answer the equation and become very aware of the social media “backstage”. In these last few days, I have been trying to look at the trends surrounding social media and what I understood were 4 interesting trends:

1. Collaborative Economy – Airbnb has become the world’s 5th largest hotel chain! This economic model, where sharing is very important, only grows.

2. Social Intelligence – Social Intelligence does not refer only to social media, but towards the application of communication in our everyday lives.

3. Moments are Important – Paying attention to people’s daily lives and interacting. Gather advocates for your brand.

4. Data is relevant – The correct analysis of the collected data is very important, because from that, the brand will survive and interact with their customers.

A better understanding of what we have talked about, can avoid this:

Before I forget, the 3 best responses to my concerns towards social media, will receive a Starbucks Gift Card, so HELP ME!

Thanks for reading and sharing!

Breno.

Embracing Social Media

With so many transitions in my life going on, in such a small amount of time, such as: moving from Brazil to Canada, going back to school after 10 years, not working after 12 years, has made me really focused on my goals for the future.

Up to now, classes and colleagues are great, but one class, in particular, has had a different impact on myself – Digital & Social Media – but why, you might ask. I’ll try to show that below.

The huge difference from simple user of social media, to analyzing it as a professional tool and it’s impact through a Public Relations & Marketing perspective, should be mind-blowing itself, and it is, but some other aspects caught my attention as well.

To quote our Digital & Social Media professor, Joseph Ranseth: “Social Media should enhance, not control our lives”, that sentence glued to my head, where, as a professional I will have the opportunity of using an extremely powerful tool, professionally and personally, but at the same time striving for work-life balance.

Understanding the concepts and goals of social media, which would probably be best described as “engage and interact”, where people expect to be part of a community and to have real time conversations with others and companies, different from the past, where communications had a different perspective, especially in relation of speed and content. With the evolution of social media, the new trend is contribution, where every single individual can be a communicator or at least a sharer of his thoughts and ideas.

With so many options of social medias, what to do?

If you understand the guiding principles of Social Media, it should help having a broader understanding of its uses, they are:

BUILDING AUDIENCE –  Understanding to whom you are communicating to and caring for your public, so that they start enjoying, liking and/or admiring what you or your company have to say.

ENGAGEMENT – The ability of understanding that the use of social media is a dialogue with the people you are trying to reach and “transforming” them into your advocates.

SHARING – How are people sharing the information you contributed even without being present.

To resume all the information above, what we can understand from being successful in the social media environment, is when it transcends from the online to the offline world, and you actually get people to do what you or your company have as a goal.