Charlie Brown’s pal Linus once told us, “There are three things that I’ve learned never discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”

We’re not so sure about the Great Pumpkin, but we know the religion and politics piece no longer rings true. Especially with the anonymity of social media, people are not afraid to publicly voice their opinions on political and social issues.

So, how do brands take a stand?

Well, the answer might be – they shouldn’t.

Pepsi is under attack for launching an ad that tried to tackle social injustice and racial inequality. The company faced such strong backlash against the ad that it was pulled shortly after its release. However, the damage was already done.

No, Pepsi wasn’t trying to be insensitive. But perhaps they were trying too hard to relate to younger generations and the issues they care about the most.

Cause marketing can be beneficial for brands when done correctly. However, it is important to approach the subject with great sensitivity.

Continue reading to learn how your brand can successfully utilize cause marketing.

Topics: audience, branding, advertising vs public relations, advertising, Garden Media Group, Garden Media

For this week's Spring Speaker Series, we sat down with CEO and founder of Garden Media Group, Suzi McCoy. Suzi has run Garden Media for 27 years – an accomplishment worth noting.

After working with a range of clients in her early career, Suzi quickly discovered it was happy “ladies and gentleman” of the gardening industry that made every day enjoyable.

Continue to read more about Suzi’s career as an industry pro – from successes to lessons learned.

Topics: Public relations, branding, advertising vs public relations, advertising, Garden Media Group, content marketing, Speaker Series

In life, there are things that we recognize as necessary evils - paying taxes and doing dishes. But, we know we need to for our government and homes to run properly.

In the world of gardening public relations, the measurement metric, advertising value equivalency (AVE) has been getting a lot of flak lately.

Keep reading to learn the pros and cons of advertising value equivalency in the gardening public relations world.

Topics: PR Measurement, lawn and garden public relations, PR Strategy, advertising vs public relations, garden industry public relations

When it comes to PR measurement, there isn't one, definite blueprint - everyone does it a bit differently. From conversation rates to the quality and quantity of media hits, there are a ton of variables to examine.

While getting to pick and choose what matters most to your garden business, it's difficult to standardize a method of measurement that works across the board.

No matter what measurement system you're using, make sure to avoid these 3 common mistakes to help your garden business grow!

Topics: PR Measurement, PR Strategy, advertising vs public relations, garden business, social media

The longer social media thrives, the bigger the role it will play in companies.

Today, 81% of businesses both small and large are using social media. Out of those, 94% use it to communicate marketing messages.

But, this year, social media should be more than just an outlet for your gardening business' marketing messages.

Read on to learn 3 new ways your garden business can use social media in new ways.

Topics: PR Strategy, marketing communications, advertising vs public relations, Public Relations Trends, garden industry public relations, social media

If your gardening business wants to get more customers and build your brand, should you invest in public relations or advertising?

We get asked this question a lot at Garden Media Group since our clients come to us when they want to get people talking and asking for their product or service by name.

Read on to discover which will win in the battle of public relations vs. advertising for garden industry businesses.

Topics: lawn and garden public relations, advertising vs public relations, Garden Media Group, garden industry public relations

Content marketing is the future of the industry.

Instead of telling you what to do and what to know, content marketing inspires you to listen by providing your target audience with information they're craving in an arary of formats.

Content marketing connects instead of isolating. Typical advertising and marketing can actually have an adverse effect on your target audience. By bombarding them with irrelevant information, you isolate them from your brand while content marketing connects by answering key questions on their own time.

Below discover why content marketing, also known as inbound marketing, is the future of the industry as we know it. 

Topics: garden marketing, audience, marketing communications, advertising vs public relations, Public Relations Trends, horticultural marketing communications, garden industry public relations, content marketing

By now, you should have a solid understanding of the basics of a public relations campaign as well as how to define your goals and objectives.

However, you really can't begin to craft your key messages and target media outlets until you determine your key audience.

Today, we're going to focus on the key questions you need to ask about your target demographic and how to translate that to media outlets in your region and on a national level.

Topics: PR Campaign, audience, PR Strategy, advertising vs public relations, case study, garden industry public relations

For any business, it's really easy to get caught up in the day to day, but stepping back and taking a look where your garden business needs to be is the key to success. 

Big or small, no business is guaranteed a fruitful financial year. In fact, maintaining your popularity with customers is hard work--and you always need to be ten steps ahead.

A new study, released this week, surveyed professionals about the next 10 years of marketing.

Read on to discover what your garden business needs to remain thriving (and relevant) in ten years.

Topics: PR Strategy, advertising vs public relations, image building, garden business, content marketing

As promised, GROW! will continue to focus on one case study a month. Plus, at the end of the month, we'll host a Google Hangout for our ebook club. 

Every Wednesday in June, we will be posting about the elements of a successful public relations campaign.

To begin, we're going to detail what a PR campaign is and how it's different than an advertising campaign 

Topics: PR Campaign, advertising vs public relations, case study, public relations media plan, ebook club