Category Archives: Lovell
A Great Night for Nashville PR
by Dana Coleman on April 24, 2012 | 2 comments
in Lovell, Nashville, Public Relations
Last week the Lovell team enjoyed an evening of industry camaraderie and peer recognition at the Parthenon Awards, sponsored by the Nashville Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The Parthenons take their name from Nashville’s Parthenon, a replica of the original in Athens, Greece, and an appropriate icon for our hometown, nicknamed the “Athens of the South.” (If you haven’t been to Tennessee to visit us yet, the Parthenon is a must on your sight-seeing list!)
We were thrilled this year to be recognized with 12 awards for work on behalf of nine clients and our own firm. In the category of community relations, Lovell received a Parthenon Award for our work on behalf of LifeCare Hospitals and its acquisition of five long term acute care hospitals in 2011. We also received two awards of merit for public relations and public affairs campaigns, including TeamHealth’s 2011 P.R. campaign and the Tennessee Rural Communications Cooperative Association’s Save Rural Telecom campaign.
In the category of internal communications, we received a Parthenon Award for Ardent Health Service’s CareBridge rollout and an award of merit for our work with Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals employee benefits communication. We also received a Parthenon Award for crisis communications for Troy Regional Medical Center’s patient data theft incident.
For writing, we were pleased to receive three awards, including a feature writing award of merit for “Heart of the Matter” for Crestwood Medical Center and an award of merit in bylined articles and a Parthenon Award for technical writing for the LifeCare Hospitals article “Reducing Preventable Hospital Admissions.”
In media relations, our media placement for Souls4Soles in Shape magazine was recognized with an award of merit as was our direct mail piece for Strength for Service. And last but certainly not least, Lovell was thrilled to be recognized with a New Media Parthenon Award for the work of our digital team in increasing online discovery of http://lovell.com/.
We shared this evening of recognition with our Nashville PR peers at Marathon Village, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its buildings, built between 1881 and 1912, were once home to Marathon Motor Works, which manufactured the Marathon automobile in Nashville from 1911 to 1914. Thanks to an ongoing historic restoration project, Marathon Village today is four-block complex of studios, offices and unique businesses like the American Pickers Store and two Tennessee distilleries.
You can probably tell we’re proud of our hometown, but we’re even more proud and honored to represent our valued clients, with operations in all 50 states. Thanks to each of our clients for the opportunity to do great work for you. Now, when are ya’ll coming to Nashville!?
Top 5 Travel Apps to Help You Stay Sane This Season
by Sam Sudano on October 13, 2011 | no comments
in Lovell, Productivity, Social Media
Ahhh, fall. Here at Lovell Communications, the change of the season is unmistakable, and not just from the pumpkin cheesecake hanging out in the kitchen (thanks, Sarah!) As talk of holiday marketing fills the air, I try to divert my attention away from the treats across the hall and let my mind drift to less calorific matters: holiday travel.
The very mention of those two words together could make you want to hide under your desk until Santa and his reindeer jet off to the tropics. But fear not!
Below you’ll find a list of this season’s hottest travel applications for your smart phone. Whether you are gearing up for business travel, visiting family for the holidays, or just trying not to lose your mind after your flight is re-routed for the third time, here are some of the best apps to help you keep your sanity during the busiest travel time of the year.
5. KeyPoint – On-the-go business travelers frequently rely on PowerPoint for client presentations or business proposals. But when a PowerPoint issue needs to be addressed on the fly, business travelers are often out of luck. With KeyPoint, you can create, edit and play presentations, turn them into PDF’s, and share on your website or blog.
4. OpenTable – Did you make a dinner reservation only to find out that your connecting flight was delayed? Find out last minute that you’re in charge of organizing an eight-person dinner party for a client? With OpenTable, you can find a restaurant, choose a table and book it online. Included are more than 20,000 restaurants in all 52 states and more than 15 countries.
3. Mint – Setting (and keeping) a budget during the holidays can be daunting. Recommended by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, Mint compiles all of your financial information in one place. You can see what’s happening with your checking, savings, investment and retirement accounts at any time, and track spending as you go. Funds are non-transferrable through the read-only app, but the app makes the list for being an efficient finance tracker for travelers.
2. Expensify – If you’re traveling for business, you’ll want to keep a paper trail of your expenses for a travel report. You could do this the old-fashioned way, but why give yourself extra work? Your smart phone will gladly keep track for you – for free. Using your phone’s camera, you can snap pictures of your receipts to retain a digital record, in chronological order. The app allows you to log mileage, meal expenses and other business related travel costs.
And our number one recommended travel app is…
1. TripIt – Keeping track of your travel reservations can be as tedious as logging your expense report, especially when traveling between several cities. Winner of a 2011 Webby Award, TripIt takes your flight reservations and puts together an easy to read, detailed itinerary. The app tracks your miles, points and more. You can also sign up for push alerts, which will alert you if your flight is delayed or changed.
Do you have any favorite travel apps? Let us know!
Communicating When There Are No Words
by Paula Lovell on June 15, 2011 | no comments
in Lovell, Public Relations
As I frequently say, I got into the business of strategic public relations because I firmly believe that communicating is at the heart of absolutely everything that succeeds. Whether it’s the relationship with your spouse, your children, your boss, your customers … whatever … it is impossible to succeed without communicating. And the better you do it, the better the outcomes.
While our focus is essentially on boosting brands and improving reputations of businesses and other organizations, my message today has to do with the most painful kind of communication – talking to someone when they are seriously ill and, perhaps, fighting the battle of their lives.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve said, “My thoughts and prayers are with you.” Or I’ve earnestly but uselessly said, “Let me know if there is anything I can do for you.” What else is there to say when you know there is nothing you can do except wish and hope and pray?
Recently a N.Y. Times article struck a chord with me, and I’ve had it on my mind. The gist is that we really don’t need to “say” anything and that the best way to communicate may actually be to say nothing but, “I am sorry.” Then really do something. Stop by and take out the trash, wash the dishes, do a load of laundry. I was most struck by the point that if you ask someone to let you know if there is anything you can do to help, it puts the burden on them….exactly what they don’t need.
So the moral is, if you want to demonstrate your sincere concern for someone who is ill, don’t rely on words or pat sayings that can actually be disheartening to the person you’re trying to comfort. Just get up and do something to show you understand the exhausting challenge being faced everyday by your friend or family member. Because when someone is ill, doesn’t look good, and is facing the fight of their lives….there usually just aren’t the right words.
Wanted: PR Firm for New Reality TV Show
by Paula Lovell on May 17, 2011 | 1 comment
in Lovell, Marketing, Public Relations
Twice in the last few months I’ve been contacted by TV producers asking if our firm was interested in playing a role in what the person on the other end of the phone purported to be the next biggest reality TV series: The internal workings of a PR firm.
Frankly, I’ve always thought what goes on inside our firm on a daily basis would make good fodder for everything from a sit-com to a suspense thriller. And, with work that ranges from helping one client manage media coverage about dead bodies to assisting another in recovering from front page news about an employee being caught running down the street in “nothing but a thong,” I’m sure we could come up with plenty of “action” on any given day.
Tempting as it is, I’ve declined to participate, but have to wonder who else these people are calling and who might take them up on their offer.
Have you heard about these new shows? If you’re working at a public relations firm, have you been contacted? And how about a name for this show? “Flackville’s Believe It or Not?” What can you come up with?
Three Successful Start-Ups With Marketing Strategies That Will Make You Smile
by Paula Lovell on February 22, 2011 | 17 comments
in Lovell, Small Business
Starting and running a small business is exciting, challenging and rewarding. It can also be daunting, stressful and exhausting.
As the founder of a 23-year-old marketing and PR firm, I recently moderated a panel of three rock star women entrepreneurs and got a dose of inspiration. The audience at the business breakfast, hosted by The Bank of Nashville at an innovative office suite designed for start up or fledging businesses, loved these women’s unique and ambitious stories about how they started and marketed their successful businesses.
First, Beth Chase, a serial entrepreneur, explained how she ventured out of a lucrative job that required constant travel and enriched her pocketbook, but not her quality of life. She figured out there was plenty of local need for a consulting firm that can help grow businesses through technology…without a full-time technology department on staff. She funded C3 Consulting personally and quickly brought on several partners, who further fueled the cash flow of the operation. Beth used her Vanderbilt University and local business contacts to generate word-of-mouth buzz and hundreds of contracts for her multi-million dollar/45+ employees company.
Next, Sherry Deutshmann, founder of Letter Logic, discussed how she left a mail and fulfillment business because there wasn’t enough attention paid to the employees. Her company delivers three million pieces of mail a month and is on track to hit her target of $100 million in annual revenue by 2018. How has she marketed and grown this enterprise? By building a culture that focuses on employees first. In fact, Sherry tells all potential customers, “If you become a client, you must know that you will NOT be first priority to me.” I’m certain they are more than little surprised at that. “When I explain that I put the team members first — and that respected, appreciated and well-paid employees are happier and more dedicated to the customers’ needs — they get it. They totally get it.” Sherry pays 100 percent of employee insurance, shares profits and allows children and pets to come to work!
Finally, Gina Butler was born an entrepreneur. She had several micro-businesses as a child and at age 15 bought some mops and brooms and walked a mile to clean houses. She grew that business and sold it when she got a call from her brother who had stood in line in New York City for more than an hour to get a cupcake. “These aren’t as good as the ones you and Mom make,” he said, and her idea was born. She went to three banks, all of which laughed out loud when she told them she wanted to start a cupcake store. Eventually she got funded and three short years later Gigi’s Cupcakes has 35 franchisees. Her marketing strategy? “Well, after I got the money to open the store, I had $33.00 to my name,” she said. “I couldn’t advertise to let people know I was open, so I stood outside with a sign.” She says her best marketing strategy is to hire happy people. “It’s a happy thing to buy a cupcake, and I want people to have a delicious baked good as well as an upbeat, friendly experience.”
I started Lovell Communications 23 years ago and it’s been one of the great loves of my life. I wonder what makes a person have the mindset of an entrepreneur? Surely, a good idea. Most definitely, ambition and energy. What else? What’s in the DNA of an entrepreneur?
Is Nashville the Health Care Mecca?
by Andrea White on July 8, 2010 | no comments
in Healthcare, Lovell, Nashville
It turns out that Nashville’s health care industry contributes nearly $30 billion and 210,000 jobs to the local economy, securing Nashville’s position as a health care industry hub. This week the Nashville Health Care Council released an updated economic impact study that shines a spotlight on the role of the health care industry in Nashville.
Health care is the engine of growth for Nashville’s job base and directly accounts for one in eight jobs, with health care companies paying more than 20% of the local tax base and providing more than 20% of local personal income.
At Lovell, we have the privilege of being a part of this growth engine every day, working with dozens of health care companies (locally and across the country) from many different sectors of the industry.
We consider ourselves very fortunate to have been on the front lines as Nashville’s health care scene for more than two decades as it has built critical mass, bred its own successes, and inspired possibilities for Nashville’s future in projects like the Medical Trade Center.
95 percent of Council member CEOs indicated that a Nashville headquarters location is important to their company’s positive performance, and approximately half believe that health information technology is the most promising sector to enter today. Having seen our community and industry leaders in action, we know it is no coincidence that the anchor tenant for the Trade Center, the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), will very specifically attract vendors from the health I.T. sector and their customer base, which includes pretty much every company in America that remotely touches patient information.
Perhaps the moniker of America’s “Health Care Mecca” is not so far off, after all.
Lovell Staff Kicks Their Shoes Off for Barefoot Week
by Allison Russo on June 2, 2010 | no comments
in Lovell
At Lovell we have a closed-toe shoe policy, but today was the exception! Today the Lovell staff went barefoot around the office in honor of National Barefoot Week (June 1-6), sponsored by our client Soles4Souls!
This week, Soles4Souls is distributing more than 50,000 pairs of new shoes in the United States while also collecting much needed donations from shoe drives at schools, churches and community centers nationwide.
Lovell proudly supports Soles4Souls’ mission of “Changing the World One Pair at a Time,” and we hope you will too! Find a donation center near you at www.GiveShoes.org.
If you are looking for another way to give back, change your Twitter Avatar or Facebook Profile to a picture of your bare feet. You will be helping to bring about awareness that more than 300 million children and 1.5 billion adults worldwide do not have footwear. Be sure to post a caption about why you are showcasing your bare feet!
To learn more about Barefoot Week and join in the activities, click here.
Small Business Owners Need Big Supporters
by Paula Lovell on April 8, 2010 | 2 comments
in Lovell, Small Business
Yesterday I got a good reminder about roles and responsibilities of a small business owner. It was: Practice What You Preach.
I am frequently asked to speak about how to market small business; in fact today I am speaking at a Nashville Chamber of Commerce event called CEO Storytellers. I plan to discuss how I started Lovell Communications: our company history, our growth, challenges we’ve faced, managing cash flow and other tidbits I think small business owners worry about.
One of the tips I will likely relate is that every small business owner needs a mentor, coach, friend, confidante and/or advisory board. A friend might give you the courage and confidence to make the leap of faith when you want to start your business; a coach might help you decide if you have the personality or characteristics to be a entrepreneur; a mentor might help you think through your business plan and an advisory board might guide you to the financing you’ll need.
Frequently small business owners can get so busy, so focused and so crazed that they don’t have time to sit quietly and listen to outside advice. I admit it; I’m sometimes guilty of keeping my nose to the grindstone so much that I don’t come up for perspective or planning.
So yesterday I finally got around to taking a half a day “off” to meet with a business consultant. We went through short term plans, long term dreams, real life challenges and worrisome road blocks. We didn’t have time to develop all the answers, of course. But it did put me back on track, give me some focus and “fire me up” to do some long-term planning and make some strategic adjustments.
I’d forgotten how isolated a small business owner can become, and I’m glad I took my own advice to bring in a consultant who specializes in one area and can provide expert guidance, insight and perspective. It’s well worth the investment.
Lovell on NashvillePost.com
by Paula Lovell on July 27, 2009 | no comments
in Lovell, Nashville
A news brief about our eight new clients ran today on NashvillePost.com. See it here:
A Fine First Half for Lovell by Geert De Lombaerde
Thanks for the mention!
Blogging for Southwest Airlines
by Jessica Turner on May 12, 2009 | 2 comments
in Lovell
Last month, I blogged about how my scrapbooking hobby influences my creative work at Lovell Communications. Well, another one of my hobbies has trickled into influencing my work as well – blogging. I started blogging several years ago about you guessed it, scrapbooking, but it has evolved to a hybrid mommy-scrapbooking blog since I had my son, Elias, 10 months ago today.
I am pleased to share that I have been asked by Southwest Airlines to be its official mommy blogger. What does this mean? Southwest runs one of the most popular company blogs in the world. Occasionally, I will write guest blog posts for it about all things related to children and traveling. (To clarify, this is not a paid position and is something I do outside of work.)
My first blog post on infant travel tips can be read here.
So if this is not something I am doing at work, why am I blogging about it on my work blog? Well, because this opportunity definitely will influence my work at Lovell Communications.
For starters, I can personally testify about the influence a blogger can have on a large corporate brand like Southwest. Oftentimes, I think corporate clients are scared of blogging, but this doesn’t have to be the case – especially if a well thought out campaign is launched in conjunction with the blog.
For example, I worked with Southwest Airlines on the development of a campaign called “My Peanut and I Fly Southwest” to kick off my mommy-blogger gig. Southwest created “My Peanut and I Fly Southwest” buttons for moms (and dads/grandparents/etc.) to post to their blogs, Facebook profiles, etc. To sweeten the deal, if participants post a button on their site of choice between now and May 31, then leave a comment on this post, they will be entered to win a family four-pack of tickets to fly anywhere Southwest flies! By motivating people to post these buttons on their sites, Southwest is getting hundreds of additional links to their blog all over the Internet – and word is spreading virally affirming that Southwest is a family-friendly airline.
When the contest was announced, I started twittering about it. So did Southwest. And then a bunch of people “re-tweeted” our tweets. The contest news spread like wildfire and since Friday, more than 300 people have entered.
That, my friends, is viral marketing at its finest, and my favorite strategy to employ on behalf of my clients. It isn’t a fit for everyone, but when it is, the results can be powerful.
