What Does AI Mean for PR Agencies? Where Hodges has Landed on this Much-Discussed Topic
We can’t answer what AI means for every PR pro, but we do have some thoughts on how our agency is using it.
Episode 29: The Intersection of Digital Marketing and PR with Brian Forrester
In this episode of Teaming Up, Casey Prentice sits down with Brian Forrester, CEO and co-founder of Workshop Digital, to explore the evolving landscape of digital marketing and its connection to public relations. The episode highlights the importance of integrating brand storytelling, strategic execution and data analysis to create successful digital marketing campaigns that resonate with target audiences and drive measurable result. Episode Highlights: What is digital marketing, and how does that vary based on your organization? How do you balance brand language with digital…
Why PR is an essential part of any tourism marketing plan
Tourism is big business. According to the US Travel Association, in 2023, travelers in the United States had a $2.8 trillion economic impact and supported more than 15 million American jobs. Whether it’s for leisure travel, a business meeting or sports event, we’re always on the move. For destinations vying for a share of those tourism dollars, an ongoing comprehensive destination marketing effort is essential. While owned and paid media plans are important pieces of the marketing pie, be sure to save a slice for…
RVA Industry Events Calendar: July 2024
Each month, we curate networking and educational events happening across the Richmond region. From opportunities to connect with industry professionals to learning more about existing organizations, July is jam-packed with events hosted by ChamberRVA, the Greater Richmond Association for Commercial Real Estate and others. See you at a July event soon! Young Professionals July Mentor Event Hosted by GRACRE Tuesday, July 9 from 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. at the Hourigan Office Learn more and register here. HYPE Cups of Connection Hosted by ChamberRVA Wednesday, July…
Episode 28: Knowing Your Audience with Melanin Monroe
In episode 28 of Teaming Up, Michaela Mishoe is joined by Melanin Monroe, drag entertainer and event host, to discuss similarities between drag performance and PR. Our Pride Month episode delves into commonalities in our work and echoes a point we’ve made time and time again about authenticity. This is an episode you won’t want to miss. Episode Highlights: Reading the Room — You can’t just expect to deliver the same message, the same way, every time and have it land the same way….
How to Write an Award-Winning PR Entry
If you’re reading this post and you work in the Richmond region, chances are you are highly familiar with the annual “PR Prom,” otherwise known as the Virginia PR Awards hosted by PRSA Richmond. This annual event has been around for decades, and it celebrates a wide swath of work – from independent practitioners to large agencies. Hodges was honored to take away 10 awards this year across our account teams, but we were even more thrilled to be celebrating our friends and peers who…
How you can be more inclusive in your storytelling
As a content creator, you might be instinctively inclined to produce content that sounds like you, looks like you and reflects your own personal identities. But the most effective storytelling is created through a spectrum of lenses, and broadening your point of view often begins with being aware of your bias. If you want to create content that resonates beyond audiences that look like you, take a step back to better discern the world around you – i.e. your audiences. My wonderful colleague built a…
Unexpected PR Lessons from a Cooking Substack
We love work / life balance here at Hodges, but sometimes in our daily lives, we can’t stop to think about the connections to PR as we’re reading content, listening to something or otherwise experiencing the world. Often, it’s something unexpected that inspires us. In this case, it was reading a cooking Substack that led to a podcast listen that had a Hodger thinking about PR and the way we approach things. Are you familiar with Substack? It’s an online platform— a subscription network —that…
RVA Industry Events Calendar: June 2024
There is a robust professional community in the Greater Richmond Region, providing like-minded professionals with opportunities to connect, learn and grow. And with collaboration and networking engrained in our culture, you’ll often catch a Hodger at a local event cultivating relationships and keeping up to date with the latest trends and best practices in PR, marketing and our clients’ industries. In that spirit, we’ll begin curating upcoming networking and educational events in the region hosted by many organizations our team members are a part of. …
What you need to know to successfully market to Gen Z on social media
Generation Z is a powerhouse of a demographic that all marketers should be paying attention to. Gen Z, for reference, are currently between the ages of 12 and 27 years old. They’re bridging from education into their early workforce years, but what makes them unique in relation to other generations is that they’re true digital natives. They’ve only known high-speed internet and social media platforms (the elder Gen Z population was born in 1997, making them the ripe old age of 10 when platforms like…
Episode 27: Cookies and Cookies with Lilie Malaeb
In episode 27 of Teaming Up, Paulyn Ocampo teams up with Lilie Malaeb to explore the intriguing world of cookies, both edible and digital. While munching on a variety of cookies from Crumbl, they delve into how digital cookies play a crucial role in advertising and the implications of upcoming changes in digital privacy. Episode Highlights: Understanding Digital Cookies: They discuss the function of first-party cookies in enhancing user experience and the extensive use of third-party cookies in tracking and advertising across the web. Impact…
Meet a Hodger: Erin Bagnell
Hodges recently welcomed Erin Bagnell to its lineup. Erin brings extensive PR experience in the travel, tourism and hospitality space where she’s told the stories of destinations for nearly two decades. It’s no wonder that Erin has had so much success in public relations; she’s easy to talk with, curious, smart and genuine. Her cheerful personality is palpable when she’s talking about something she enjoys. To say we’re thrilled to have her would be an understatement. Prior to transitioning to the agency world, Erin spent…