Articles Written By:

Lindsay O'Bar

The Case for Prioritizing Internal Communications

Now more than ever, effective internal communications have become crucial for organizations seeking to foster a cohesive and engaged workforce. Companies that nurture an open and transparent communication culture within their workforce can not only mitigate internal challenges but also drive productivity and long-term success. Over the years, The Hodges Partnership has supported companies and organizations as they sought to strengthen employee engagement efforts. Through that work, and some intentional work of our own at the agency, we’ve learned a few things about why internal…

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Community relations: What brands want from a nonprofit partner

One of the most rewarding and fulfilling aspects of public relations lies in the realm of community relations. When brands and causes align, great things can happen. Whether it’s building playgrounds in underserved communities or committing to ending hunger, the benefits of a well-coordinated community relations strategy are far reaching. On the agency side of the equation, we often serve as the conduit between the brand and the cause. Depending upon where our clients are in their community relations journey, we either collaborate to determine…

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The future of our workplace

Warning: this is not a blog post that will tell you about five ways to return to the workplace successfully. And that’s because no one has the answer to that just yet. We’re all a WIP (work in progress) when it comes to figuring that out. Even if you’ve already returned, you should still be working on it. What you will find in this blog post is a genuine attempt to idea share and bare our souls about the process we’re undergoing to figure out…

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Hands shaking

The test of time: How we build long-term client relationships

Back in 2002, when Jon Newman and Josh Dare struck out to start their own communications firm, they were guided by the notion of doing good work for good people. They also wanted to lose some of the pretenses that can come with the client/agency partnership. From the beginning, Hodges focused on the human side of its clients, each with their own challenges, expectations, ambitions and personal lives. The approach evolved into what we now call the “Hodges Way,” a deep-rooted philosophy that allows us…

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Hands working on a laptop

Reboot & Reconnect: Redefining business as usual

Here’s an idea: Instead of obsessing over all the challenges we’ve been facing this year, we choose to focus on the many new opportunities available to us during this time. Think of it, this whole experience could be a timely opportunity for a reboot, a moment for you and your organization to seize something bigger, to come out stronger just by going through a bit of strategic stretching. Amid the new normal swirling around us, companies are creating new policies. Leaders are facing an endless…

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Want top performers? Prioritize the employee experience

When is the last time you took an assessment of your team’s engagement? Are you the type of manager that constantly thinks about this? Or have you not revisited this topic since the last employee engagement survey? There’s no wrong answer but there may be an opportunity for you to transform how you approach employee engagement. For starters, employee engagement is not about employees’ happiness levels as it’s possible to have a highly satisfied team that produces mediocre results. Think about it: what employee wouldn’t…

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Here are tips to make sure your CEO is set up for success in their next media interview.

Preparing CEOs for media interviews: Do’s and Don’ts

If you work in media relations, you’re familiar with the unabashed glee that comes when a reporter positively responds to your pitch, and before you know it, you’re scheduling an interview for your CEO. While your first instinct might be to prop your feet up on your desk and call it day, the reality is that your work is just getting started. Tight deadline or not, planning and preparation is key. With decades of experience preparing CEOs and other C-suite leaders for media interviews, we’re…

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Why I teach

Here we are. Another fall semester and it’s back to school for a few Hodgers – not as students but as instructors at area universities.  Greg, Kelsey and I have got our lesson plans ready to go. After a lifetime of never wanting to be a teacher, I got the teaching bug after a few guest speaking opportunities at VCU and Longwood. Likely because I found a career that I love, I am excited to show others where the profession can take you in your…

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Client partnerships: This is how we do it

As we recently marked the 15-year milestone in our agency’s life, we’ve been thinking a lot about the next 15 – about who we are and where we are going.  In taking stock of our expertise and values, what’s clear is that our commitment to customer service stands out, becoming a defining part of our identity and culture. In 2002, we made a conscious decision about our last name: Partnership.  It was not so much a reflection of the alliance between our two founding partners…

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Ringing up success with Kroger Richmond

We’ve talked a lot lately about the Owned part of the equation of the EOP model, but the E (earned) is still very much a part of our day-to-day here at Hodges, and we wanted to take a second to reflect on some of the recent media relations work happening at THP. For seven years, The Hodges Partnership has been Kroger Mid-Atlantic’s public relations agency for the Richmond and Hampton Roads markets. Hodges works with Kroger to tell its many stories, maintain its tone of…

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4 Questions to ask when identifying an internal spokesperson

A strong spokesperson should be a critical component of your brand’s communications plan.  Your spokesperson represents your company’s brand and is the only face that the media, your audience and customers are going to see. Needless to say, you’ll want to choose carefully when selecting the face of your business so as to avoid any potential reputation-damaging incidents. A strong spokesperson is always prepared for what he is going to say, knows his audience, uses real-world examples, can easily adapt when he notices his audience getting…

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Research on the cheap – Affordable ways to conduct research to inform comm strategies

Anyone who’s gone about earning their APR accreditation will tell you that the most enduring takeaway is the emphasis the process puts on research. And with good reason. Only by having an informed understanding of both your business and customers can you develop the right communications plan. But here’s the problem – market research can be expensive, depending on what methods you use. Massive phone surveys, for example, require a call center or a significant team that is typically paid by the hour to gather the…

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