1. PMD public relations A case study in B2B PR 2.0 Issues Management © 2008, m strategies inc. dallas׀chicago׀atlanta

3. Disgruntled licensees were on a popular franchising discussion board bashing the company

4. Other than that website, PMD didn’t have a presence online

5. A new website would not be launched for another month and an SEO strategy was not in place© 2008, m strategies inc. dallas׀chicago׀atlanta

7. Inundate the Internet with positive news

8. Support franchise recruitment efforts

9. Manage issues

10. Fine tune and articulate finer messages to important audiences

12. The PMD PR Strategy Develop an aggressive internal communications plan. Engage “equals” to convey the messages. Reach out to external audiences (including those on social media properties) with appropriate messages and news. This will help start conversations with online franchise influencers who might carry positive news that they become aware of through the agency’s efforts.

13. Key Tactics Strategy: Develop an aggressive internal communications plan. Tactic 1: Distribute a letter from Jeff to licensees and franchisees to address the detractor issue, inform them that an action plan is being put into place, and provide an update on the franchise transition. Tactic 2: For every external announcement, PMD releases an internal announcement with insights.

14. Key Tactics Strategy: Engage “equals” to convey the messages. Tactic 1: Leverage the testimonies of PMD Franchisees Tactic 2 : Create a franchisee advisory panel Serve as brand ambassadors and spokespeople on social media properties (i.e., Facebook and Twitter) and in other ways that make sense. Comprised of influential licensees/franchisees Personable and enthusiastic and will receive message training.

15. Key Tactics Strategy: Reach out to external audiences Tactic 1: Develop an editorial calendar (and supporting materials) to generate a steady stream of positive coverage to help combat and alleviate negative and untruthful coverage Tactic 2: Become an active and contributing member of franchise social networks, communities, blogs and online platforms. Tactic 3: Craft specific messages and Q&As that address the primary issues Tactic 4: Commission happy dealers-turn-franchisees to post comments on www.PMDFurniture.com blogs and other sites that make sense. Tactic 5: Leverage company and agency social media channels to disseminate news. Tactic 6: Develop relationships with key franchise bloggers. Tactic 7: Engage SEO key words in all external releases; posts and social media activities.

16. RESULTS The agency effectively helped tone down detractors of PMD and its leadership and began “drowning out the noise” with positive news and communicating with PMD franchisees and licensees leveraging key influencers. With a mix of internal communications tactics, PR 2.0 and social media outreach, the agency helped “push” negative search results down in Google search results within the first 30 days of the agency’s engagement with the brand. The first two pages of search results were all positive news regarding PMD.

17. contact us MSI Dallas HQs 208 N. Market St. Suite 375 Dallas, Texas 75202 214.741.2100 MSI Atlanta 400 Perimeter Terrace Northeast Suite 900 Atlanta, Georgia 30346 770.392.4241 On the Interwebs Skype: mstrategiesinc Twitter: @mstrategiesinc Blog: mstrategiesinc.typepad.com YouTube: youtube.com/mstrategiesinc Netvibes: netvibes.com/mstrategiesinc © 2009, m strategies inc. dallas׀chicago׀atlanta