Back to Basics: Helping Supply Chain Services Tell Its Powerful Brand Story

Supply Chain Services (SCS), a company that provides customized purchasing and supply chain solutions to companies in the hospitality, food, retail and service industries, approached RockOrange with a challenge many companies face: does your brand tell a powerful story?

The best brand stories are those that are compelling, emotional, and proactive. Often, they just need to be simple so that the target audience can connect with it. SCS wasn’t telling its brand story in a way that helped them differentiate themselves from competitors or communicate the achievements of their seasoned team. As a result, they weren’t generating the buzz and awareness they wanted among their target market.

RockOrange worked closely with SCS to craft a more inspiring story that will humanize their brand and make it more consumer-friendly by simplifying their message. Their initial messaging utilized a lot of industry jargon that was confusing for the general audience.

We knew that their content had to change drastically so anyone could understand the work they do. But content was just the beginning. We needed to take an integrated approach to completely rebrand them in order to accomplish their goal.

First, we created a tagline for SCS that summarized the message they wanted their audience to walk away with: “Leave it to Us.” SCS’ main message to their clients is that they don’t have to worry about anything, because the company will work as an extension of their team through collaborative efforts. With a relationship with more than 300 suppliers, SCS helps companies develop the supply chain strategy that best fits their unique business goals, including purchasing, contract negotiation, distribution and logistics, and global sourcing and fulfillment solutions.

Second, we revamped the look and feel of their website and worked with our digital and creative team to make some magic. The website is the most important tool any brand can have. If it seems difficult to understand or navigate, then you’ve lost your audience, and you are most definitely losing out on business. Along with the website makeover, we also created a manual to help them manage it long-term.

As we gave the site a new look, we worked closely with SCS to schedule a photo shoot that would allow us to convey a more collaborative and consumer-friendly attitude through imagery. A picture really does say a thousand words, and we needed to make sure those words were fresh and aligned with the new messaging.

And finally, the hardest step: simplifying ALL of their content to make it rock solid. Let us tell you, that was one heck of a challenge but we LOVED it! We made it easy for anyone to understand their services: what they do and how they can help businesses. The best part? They now get to leverage the new foundation we have laid out for other projects, including digital and social media efforts.

We leave it up to you to judge our work. Check out SCS’ new website and let us know what you think!

Working with Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco Ahead of a Historic Moment

Richard Blanco, who became the first Latino to be chosen as presidential inaugural poet, is becoming a part of history once more. The poet has been selected to participate in the ceremony to formally re-designate the U.S. Interests Section in Havana as a U.S. Embassy, and RockOrange is working with him as he gets ready to head back to the country of his roots.

The historic ceremony, where Secretary of State John Kerry will raise the American flag over the embassy, will take place on August 14. It marks the first time an American secretary of state visits Cuba since 1945. Blanco will read a poem he has written especially for the occasion, evoking the stories of the people on both sides of the Florida Straits, separated by 90 miles of sea, yet connected by complex emotional ties.

“As a poet, and as a Cuban-American, I am proud and grateful for the opportunity to be part of this historic moment,” Blanco said. “It is a true honor to return to the country of my roots in this capacity, and commemorate this step in improving relations between the United States and Cuba.”

This poem is sure to be as emotive and poignant as “One Today,” the poem he recited at the second swearing-in ceremony for President Barack Obama in 2013. Blanco wrote “One Today” taking inspiration from his own life story, which now comes full circle. A Cuban-American raised in Miami, he has become a public voice since the presidential inauguration, and is now called upon once again to take the emotional pulse of the nation at this historic moment.

Blanco was born in Madrid to Cuban exiles, and shortly after his birth, his parents settled in New York. A few years later, their journey took them further south, and they finally settled in Miami, where Blanco grew up surrounded by Cuban culture, but not visiting the country of his parents until 1994.

Today, he has become an example of Hispanics reaching the American Dream, and taking it further than others have before.

Bringing Crisis Communication Expertise to PR News’ Digital PR Conference

RockOrange Managing Partner and Principal, Miguel Piedra, co-hosted an interactive clinic titled ‘How to Manage an Escalating Crisis in Real Time’ at the PR News’ Digital PR Conference. The conference brought more than 700 public relations professionals from across the country and different industries to South Beach, Miami in early June.

Miguel along with Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications for Royal Caribbean Cruises provided an overview of crisis situations they managed. News goes viral in a matter of minutes, and how a company handles a crisis may determine their long-term business survival.

Miguel has been handling crises for a variety of clients throughout his career, but even though these clients have differed in their fields, the same key ingredients have been at the core of managing each occurrence.

Crisis management goes beyond issuing a statement and going on a major broadcast network. Miguel provided five key takeaways that are essential in a crisis management plan.

1.  Have the Right People, Right Setup

At the start of a crisis, the organization needs to create a dedicated crisis team comprised of a multi-disciplined taskforce — from operations, to social media, to communications — to address the problem from every angle. In this taskforce, you establish who the leader is and create separate workstreams.

2.  Be Transparent

When managing a crisis, it is important to give the company a face — for example, have the CEO take responsibility publicly. What stakeholders want at this time is accountability from the person who will solve it. Don’t blame others. You will also need to apologize — sometimes even more than you think you need to. And more importantly, you need to provide tangible actions and solutions.

3.  Be Authentic

It’s important to tell the brand story and provide experience to emphasize the brand messages. This builds equity and insulates you when crisis occurs.

In addition, you must provide faces and stories. Deal with the issue head-on. You need to be real and honest — no phrases, no bare figures.

4.  Be Fast

In crisis communications, it’s critical to decide on activities fast. You have to decide on activities quickly and put out statements within hours, not days. However, you can issue a holding statement until you know all the details and facts. Don’t hurry to issue a statement without all the information. The long-term success of your brand will be determined how well you fulfill promises you make.

5.  Address the Real Issue

You need to be brutally honest with yourself and define exactly what is the root of the problem and address it. It’s simple: don’t focus on who is to blame, focus on the solution. Acknowledging and proactively owning up to it is a step in the right direction.

Iconic brands have survived corporate crises and lived to tell the tale, but there are far too many brands that have failed to recover from these types of crises due to failures of leadership, communication, awareness, or all of the above. You have the right ingredients to handle the unthinkable — now it’s up to you to use them well and get your client to fight another day.

Shaping an Unprecedented Announcement for the Miami Children’s Health Foundation

What happens when a golf legend decides to pledge $60 million to South Florida’s leading children’s hospital? An unprecedented partnership.

In March, golfing legend Jack Nicklaus — the “Golden Bear” — and his wife Barbara made a $60 million pledge through their Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation to the Miami Children’s Health System. In recognition, the system’s flagship hospital changed its name to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, and its eight outpatient centers in South Florida took the Nicklaus name as well.

The move presented a few challenges for the Miami Children’s Health System, and the RockOrange team worked closely with our client, Miami Children’s Health Foundation, the system, and the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation to create an integrated communications plan. The plan included the announcement of the amazing pledge and the new hospital name, in addition to the unveiling of the new logo. As if this wasn’t enough, we also planned the official kick-off event for the Together for the Children Campaign, the fundraising campaign for Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.

As we tackled the various communications challenges at hand, we had to stay focused on our ultimate goal: to position the hospital and the Miami Children’s Health System as the ultimate global destination for pediatric care. Part of the challenge was to educate consumers and internal audiences, letting them know that the Nicklaus family wasn’t just pledging funds to the system. The “first family of golf” has been an integral part of the Miami Children’s family since 2010, when they joined the hospital for the creation of the Miami Children’s Hospital Nicklaus Care Center in western Palm Beach County.

It was also key to communicate that only the hospital and its outpatient centers would take the new name. Both the Miami Children’s Health System — as well as its fundraising arm, the Miami Children’s Health Foundation — would keep their name.

Once the new name was announced, we worked with the foundation to reveal that Jack and Barbara Nicklaus had become the chairs of Together For the Children Campaign, and would lead fundraising efforts with a goal to fundraise $150 million dollars through 2017. This announcement was crucial, as it proved that they were committed to the partnership for the long run.

The next move on the game plan included the unveiling of the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital logo in a press conference, just in time for the hospital’s 65th anniversary. It was followed by a VIP donor luncheon to officially kickoff the Together for the Children campaign.

At the same time, the campaign’s celebrity ambassadors were activated through social media. This included pop artist Romero Britto, “El Gordo y la Flaca’s” Raul de Molina and supermodel Nina Agdal. Social media activation of these high-profile individuals, coupled with traditional long- and short-lead media outreach, allowed us to generate media buzz and each served as a catalyst in informing our global community about the positive impacts of the new name and logo.

RockOrange, along with the Miami Children’s Health System team, secured coverage on top-tier media like CBS Miami, NBC 6, WPLG 10, El Nuevo Herald, South Florida Business Journal, CNN, Palm Beach Post, Univision, Telemundo, ESPN and many more.

With exposure in over 130 media outlets, we created over 150 million media impressions, delivering solid results for our client!

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