Public relations is experiencing a paradigm shift, magnified by an intersection of heartfelt human connection and cutting-edge technology.

As we sail into 2024, I turned to luminaries like Darcy Cudmore, Johanna Hoffmann, and Simon Dannatt, each shedding light on the transformative changes afoot in the comms space.

Darcy Cudmore, the founder of Darcy Allen PR, shares the notion of a humanized approach that's anticipated to dominate PR this year. With the demand for authenticity on the rise, Cudmore has cultivated a strategy that intertwines SEO's analytical prowess with the genuine storytelling of traditional PR. "Approachability is key," he says, "we are building personal brands through the lens of SEO, ensuring a presence that’s both visible and palpable." In his practice, Cudmore emphasizes empathy and humor, threading these human elements through the web of digital interactions to resonate with audiences on a profound level.

The CEO at Oomph, Johanna Hoffmann, with her robust repertoire of orchestrating high-caliber brand launches, charts the importance of social media savviness. By crafting content that ignites conversations and shares insights, she reinforces the brand's position as thought leaders, earning a steadfast online presence. "The PR landscape is as much about being seen as it is about being felt," Hoffmann notes, pointing to her adept use of platforms like LinkedIn Live to project a firm's ethos authentically. It's through these intersections of traditional media outreach and modern social engagement that Hoffmann spins a narrative which breeds familiarity and trust.

Simon Dannatt, CEO at The Sound, champions the increasing application of data insights to guide comprehensive outreach strategies. According to Dannatt, the cornerstone of effective communications now rests on thorough data analysis, methodically driving campaigns that yield measurable and impactful results. "Strategic planning hinged on data can elevate our consultancy beyond traditional methods," Dannatt posits. His approach is perceptive and future-forward, utilizing an array of AI tools to craft compelling narratives and informed decisions that stand up to the rigors of evidence and critical analysis. With such a methodical approach, Dannatt navigates the expansive terrain of complex communications issues, ensuring each move is marked by intelligence and insight.

The thread that runs unbroken through the fabric of 2024's PR expectations is the complementarity of AI – a phenomenon Dannatt, Hoffmann, and Cudmore adeptly navigate. Each recognizes AI's role not as an overlord but as a trusted adjutant that enhances human creativity.

Incorporating technology smartly while keeping content relatable, and piloting strategies that stay true to the brand's authentic self is the modus operandi. Communications frontrunners like our expert trio emphasize the importance of updating one's toolkit with AI competency, ensuring they can decode and wield digital trends with finesse.

In this burgeoning era of PR, the consensus among Darcy, Johanna, and Simon points to an industry ripe for evolution, leaning into personal resonance, enabled by tech-savviness, and enriched by genuine narratives. Their advice? Embrace the changes, upskill invariably, and harness the human touch that remains at the communication core — ensuring a future where PR is not just savvy but soulful.

It’s always a rush to be recognized for your work, and we are thrilled to be listed in DesignRush’s global directory of marketing firms as one of the top 3 PR agencies in Toronto!

The fragmentation of the publishing and broadcasting industries has made it much harder than ever before to procure media coverage. Knowing how to position firms, projects or services as newsworthy, and firm principals as influential thought leaders takes skill and creativity. We’re experts at it and delighted to be recognized as such. Thank you DesignRush!

For more information please visit https://www.designrush.com/agency/public-relations/ca/toronto

The thrill of seeing your clients’ work on the cover of a publication never grows old… We always aim for the top and it’s great to see that we haven’t lost our touch: we’re delighted to have procured, with our partner David Lasker, the cover of the September 2022 issue of Retrofit Magazine for our clients +VG Architects’ Niagara Parks Power Station project.

There is a great deal of strategy involved in procuring top PR coverage: sometimes your project speaks for itself, but most often you have to be creative and resourceful in devising unique story angles and ideas, and in finding new and unexpected audiences for your story. And critically, understanding whom to pitch, in what sequence, and when, often means the difference between a story on page 27 and the cover. If you would like to know how best to place your work in front of the widest possible audience, give us a call!

Congratulations to our clients +VG Architects and to The Niagara Parks Commission on the opening of The Tunnel, Niagara Park's newest attraction! The Tunnel's completion is the final stage in the adaptive reuse of the Niagara Parks Power Station, into an educational and entertainment destination that brings the magic of electricity and its history alive. Plus VG Architects was the project's Architect of Record and contract administrator.

Constructed between 1901 and 1905, the NPPS occupies a unique position in the history of the electrical and industrial revolutions, for it is here that George Westinghouse and his business partner Nikola Tesla used their generators and alternating current (AC) to supply electricity on an unprecedented scale.

We are grateful to our strategic partner, David Lasker for inviting Oomph to joint venture on the PR campaign for the architectural project, providing global pitch strategy, media kit content development and media relations.

Images 1 & 7 : Johanna Hoffmann
Image 2: Image 2 shows the station on the upper right hand corner, just before the Horseshoe Fall. An elevator descends 180 feet to the tunnel that travels 2200 feet to emerge past the waterfall. The tunnel opening is visible on the lower right of the image. Image courtesy Niagara Parks Department.
Images 3, 4, 5 and 6: Courtesy David Lasker

#niagarafalls #niagaraparks #niagaraparkspowerstation #heritagearchitecture #renewableenergy #industrialrevolution #engineering

After two years in quarantine, going Banff to present a workshop at the Alberta Association of Architects’ annual conference, was truly the best way to ‘rejoin the world’, and I couldn’t have chosen a more spectacular place to do it.

We always tailor our programs for each specific event and location. To understand market conditions in Alberta, we polled AAA members and interviewed leaders at several firms. What we found was both distressing - and very encouranging. The 2015 drop in oil prices greatly affected the Alberta economy, particularly the commercial real estate sector in Calgary, where a flight of oil companies left the downtown core with more than 14 million sqare feet of empty office space, and many towers up to 90% empty.

To stay afloat, Alberta architects have become extremely effective at identifying the best opportunties and markets for work, and at finding prospects and pursuing work. They prove that strategic, focused and linked marketing and business development drive results.

We showed how to build on the marketinb and business development foundation they have established with strategies for differentiating their firm and positionoing against competitors.

Today we hear more than ever about rampant undercutting to win pursuits and gain market share. But it's a time honoured tradition, as this letter from 1897 shows General Electric complaining bitterly about being undercut by Westinghouse for the contract to supply AC generators for the new Niagara Power station in Niagara Falls. What is novel here is that General Electric saw fit to send a formal letter of complaint, going as far as acusing the client of being unfair. While it's wrenching to lose a bid for a project we were really hoping to win, specially when we think the loss was unfair, we'd never advice complaining to the client. A killer workout, a stiff scotch, or even a good punch to the wall are less damaging... Tell us: how have you dealt with a particularly bitter project loss?

For the past decade, Oomph CEO Johanna Hoffmann has delivered workshops on design marketing across Canada and the United States - but always to owners and leaders of design firms. Presenting to fellow design marketers is a career first for Johanna and creating content for an audience of professional marketers has been a fascinating experience. We are thrilled at the opportunity and I'm really looking forward to next Tuesday, January 18!

The program focuses on the need for a comprehensive strategy that integrates marketing and business development. Deta

Marketing design services have come a long way since the early 2000s when printed brochures were the standard sales tool, public relations the most common promotional tool, and marketing teams were practically unknown. Since then, economic shocks, globalization, and the rise of publicly traded corporate super firms have intensified the competitive climate, forcing everyone to upgrade their marketing and business development practices.

Today, sophisticated websites, animated presentations, social media, public relations, and magazine-like pursuits are standard. But most firms still lack a complete marketing strategy with established activities, tactics, schedule, and budget – all linked to business development!

The AEC industry is entering a period of economic disruption, driven by digital tools and the need for faster and cheaper means of construction. Having a cohesive marketing strategy is essential to maintaining a resilient practice and sustaining growth. This session will address:

• Why you need a comprehensive marketing plan.

• Selling up: getting buy-in from the firm’s leadership

• The importance of linking marketing with business development.

• Understanding the buying journey

• Selling design is about telling stories

• Establishing themes and content management

• Promoting the firm: tactics for establishing awareness

• Promoting the firm: tactics for establishing relationships

• Creating a comprehensive marketing plan, schedule, and budget

When: Tuesday, January 18, 2022, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

To register: SMPS Program

The last year and a half, COVID-19 halted development of new projects and all networking activities. This has had a lasting impact on the way many architects find new work, as it has disturbed the flow of pursuits and referrals —the traditional sources of work for many architectural practices. And while these interruptions will pass, more change is on the horizon, as the AEC industry enters a period of economic disruption, driven by digital tools and the need for faster and cheaper means of construction. Now more than ever, having a deliberate, focused marketing and business development strategy is essential in helping maintain a resilient practice and sustain its growth.

We are delighted to be invited by the Toronto Society of Architects to lead a one hour webinar for their members, where we will discuss:

• Why a “practice programme” is important for even the smallest of firms.

• The principal elements of a marketing and business development plan.

• How to distinguish your firm from competitors.

• Tactics for enhancing awareness of your firm and generating leads for work from private [B2C], and for corporate and institutional clients [B2B].

• An effective system for responding to pursuits, and for conducting Go/No-Go and Win/Loss assessments.

• How to become more competitive and stay ahead of the game.

Attendance is free for TSA Members, and the program qualifies for CEU units.

To register:

TSA Technical Series | Building a Resilient Practice Tickets, Tue, 5 Oct 2021 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite

Canadian Interiors interviews Johanna Hoffmann for its Bevel Podcast:

Although we have been in the COVID trenches for what seems like an incessantly long period of time, there now appears to be light at the end of this tunnel. With vaccination rates on a speedy incline and phased re-openings across the provinces, things are slowly returning to normal.

But we’re not out of the woods yet, and even when the pandemic is officially declared over its effects will be long-lasting. Canadian Interiors invited us to discuss the pandemic’s effects on design firms , and designers’ space planning, project management and procurement skills are urgently needed now.

Tune in to hear steps you can take to get your firm through the crisis by finding creative ways to generate revenue and other stop-gap solutions that while not necessarily permanent, will help you not only stay on your feet but continue marching on even after normalcy returns.

Listen to the episode on Canadian Interiors’ website here: https://www.canadianinteriors.com/podcast/episode-10-why-designers-must-pivot-w-johanna-hoffmann/

Or, on your favourite streaming service:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/66UmyDYHyhXCbjSAezS2Db

• Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/bevel-canadian-interiors-conversations

• Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xYzg5M2I3NC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bevel-canadian-interiors-conversations/id1542303870?uo=4

• Anchor: https://anchor.fm/peter-sobchak

• Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/h42zufoz

• RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/bevel-canadian-interiors-conversa-Woxryy

We are thrilled to be presenting at Buildex Vancouver, and honoured to be the second session following the key note address on September 27th! Our presentation is timely and has been written to help firms manage and maintain a healthy practice, through market ups and downs, with specific strategies for dealing with COVID-19.

All programs are available online. To register visit: BUILDEX Amplified 2021 (informaengage.com)

Building and Maintaining a Resilient Practice

Session Code: M02

Monday, 27 September 2021 10:30am - 11:30am

PST/PDT (Pacific Daylight, GMT-7)

An agile, resilient practice is one that adapts, evolves and grows through long-term industry trends and changes and has the systems and flexibility to withstand sudden emergencies, business interruptions and economic downturns. Being able to target and proactively procure work is the foundation of an agile practice. In this session you will learn five strategies to strengthen your firm, and getting the work you want - through good times and bad.  

1. Your brand: know who you are, what you are selling and to whom to better tailor your services and stand out from competitors.

2. The tools and systems you need to respond quickly to RFPs and new clients requests.

3. How to enhance your ability to compete and how to pivot if necessary

4. How to build a network to drive work

5. How to enhance your visibility to support BD activities