News

Press Relations Contact:
Parry Headrick
Phone: (415) 591-8402
e-mail: pheadrick@shiftcomm.com

Mirapoint CMO Bethany Mayer is a measurer. She tracks how she spends every dollar -- even on public relations services. That's a big reason why, she says, SHIFT Communications gets her business -- just as it did when Mayer served as Vernier Networks' VP of marketing.

SHIFT's LeadSensor service "helps me justify money for programs because if a program does well from a lead-conversion perspective, I get more budget for that program," Mayer says.

LeadSensor is "a consultative process" that "tweaks a company's web site capture form, call scripts, CRM and analytics packages," says SHIFT sales and marketing director Parry Headrick. This enables companies such as Mirapoint to gauge the origin of all sales leads -- including those from PR, Headrick says. Mayer analyzes her stats using pie charts created by Salesforce.com software.

According to SHIFT's web site, LeadSensor is deployed in a one-time consulting project that typically takes about 20 hours over two to three weeks. When completed, the templates can monitor the

•  Number of raw leads per marketing program

•  Number of qualified leads per marketing program

•  Number and revenue value of closed deals, per marketing program

•  Retention rate of existing customers, tagged by lead source

Says Mayer: "[SHIFT] figured this thing out, and I'm really pleased."

SHIFT is not the first PR agency to discover that PR can and should be measured as a source of sales leads. Horn Group CEO Sabrina Horn wrote this piece three years ago on the topic. Independent consultants such as Katie Paine have been linking PR with sales for a decade.

Yet, at most agencies, it's still all about the "hit". Check out this page from SparkSource Inc.'s web site. Then consider this from Schwartz PR: "Our clients ask us to do many things. Establish corporate positioning. Launch products. Develop executives into expert media sources. De-position competitors. Manage crisis communications. Raise issue awareness. And much more."

To most PR agencies, "measurement" refers to how much coverage they produce for the client. Hoping to tap this opportunity, PR Newswire this week launched MediaSense, a subscription-based service that helps agencies measure their coverage. Some of the larger agencies, such as Text 100, already offer in-house measurement services.

Historically, at least, making the cash register ring is generally considered the client's responsibility. Time will tell whether the Bethany Mayers of the world will raise the bar.

[SHIFT Communications and Horn Group are paid subscribers to SWMS.]

SAN FRANCISCO:: One of the tech industry's hottest events, the RSA Conference, is hoping to expand its reach beyond its annual San Francisco gathering.

Shift Communications has been brought on board to help the company promote various new events throughout the country. RSA Conference, run independently of technology firm RSA Security, previously worked with McGrath/Power and Padilla Speer Beardsley.

"We want to start developing events that go beyond that one show, events that will really sustain the energy year-round," said Sandra LaPedis, VP and GM of RSA Conference.

LaPedis cited Shift's innovative thinking and its embrace of new media such as blogs as reasons for selecting the firm. She also credited Shift's energy and chemistry with the RSA team.

"We want to make it easy for security professionals to keep these discussions alive," said LaPedis. "We're looking at not just events, but also a new web portal where we can also reach out to this community."

LaPedis declined to divulge the PR budget, but said it was a "more significant investment" than has been made in previous years.

Shift will manage the account out of its San Francisco office.

The corporate security world seems to be dominated by stories in the media about the pitfalls of ID theft. A study suggests the subject is the most popularly reported-on security concern.

An audit of major business media, IT trade and security-focused publications conducted by Shift Communications identifies 10 key areas of interest in security as reported by the media, with total coverage represented as a percentage: ID theft (21 percent); legislative (16 percent); malware (12 percent); wireless security (11 percent); phishing (10 percent); hacking (8 percent); compliance (7 percent); vulnerabilities (6 percent); general security (6 percent); and privacy (3 percent).

ID theft issues have been at the top of the news, stemming from the highly publicized icePoint breach, followed by incidents at Bank of America LexisNexis and Wells Fargo.

“It's important to note that much of the buzz surrounding the security breaches had as much to do with the changing regulations aimed at protecting private consumer information as it did to any dramatic increase in ID theft itself,” says Shift Communications principal Jim Joyal.

Incidents of phishing and identify theft continue to increase dramatically, according to an independent nationwide survey of consumers by First Data Corp.

The survey finds that 6.8 percent of adults have been victimized by identity theft and a striking 43.4 percent of adults have received a phishing contact. Furthermore, as many as 54 million Americans have been the victims of ID-related fraud.

Further analysis of the security media audit data indicates that ID theft was the top security area of interest covered by the business press, while vulnerabilities and emerging legislative issues were the security issues addressed by the security publications and IT press.

It may not rank up there with the first moon walk or man’s discovery of a polio vaccine, but if you ask SHIFT Communications, its new “LeadSensor” methodology is the equivalent of one giant leap for PR’s measurement-starved mankind.

For years, companies have been trying to quantify the return on investment (ROI) of PR, lamely reverting to the much-ballyhooed “Ad Value Equivalency” data system (see PR News, Jan. 19), which has been blown out of the water. But sign up for this new program, claims SHIFT principal Todd Defren, and you can pinpoint the exact contribution and number of sales leads generated by your employees.

“The best way to prove the validity of PR and other marketing initiatives is to develop a credible, replicable methodology for measuring marketing’s impact on inbound lead generation and revenue trends,” says Defren, adding that SHIFT has been working for the past two years to do just that.

Here’s how it works: The vice president of marketing will work with a SHIFT consultant to “remodel the touch-points associated with inbound sales leads” (e.g., Website contact forms, Web analytics) — assuming a company has some — “so that each new lead’s source data can be optimally captured, analyzed and displayed,” Defren says. The whole process takes about two weeks, during which the company “will be empowered with Real-Time Marketing ROI Dashboards” or online charts that offer up such data as:

• Number of raw leads per marketing program.

• Number of qualified leads per marketing program.

• Number and revenue value of closed deals per marketing source.

• Retention rate of existing customers.  

Thus far, only one current SHIFT client has used the process. Bethany Mayer, vice president of marketing at Vernier Networks, which offers companies access management solutions, raved about the service. “I don’t see how any vice president of marketing thinks they can keep their job without this level of data analysis,” she says.

SHIFT executives think that the market potential for its LeadSensor program is huge. “Instead of just giving them a fish to eat,” says Parry Headrick, director of sales and marketing at SHIFT, “we’re teaching them to fish. It’s a double edged sword, though. I’m not sure every PR agency wants this, because if you’re not getting leads from PR, it means, for the first time, that PR firms can be held truly accountable.”

At Atomz, a San Francisco company that makes website software, sales reps that don't put the source of a lead in their reports don't get paid for a sale, says Jeff Goodman, VP of sales.

"We definitely have gotten very quantifiable leads out of PR," says Goodman. He works with SHIFT Communications, a San Francisco agency. SHIFT has helped collect case studies that sales reps can use to close sales, Goodman says.

Customers are more likely to be open with PR about their thoughts on the company than they are with Atomz sales people. "PR has done a really good job of getting information out of customers we weren't getting before," Goodman says.

Says SHIFT principal Todd Defren, "The message we gave Atomz is that reputation drives sales. You have to focus on getting your client more revenue."

SUMMARY: Marketers -- if you want to really impress your sales department, perhaps the answer is adding more PR to the mix. Although this survey was conducted by a PR firm (who you might guess have some stake in the matter), we think the results are worth noting.
Turns out sales pros are much more likely than marketers to rate PR as being very helpful for shortening sales cycles, impressing prospects, and even generating new leads. Take a look at the data for yourself:

ARTICLE:
A recent survey conducted on behalf of SHIFT Communications by Launch Pad revealed a disconcerting schism between sales and marketing professionals. The bottom line: sales people believe PR has a positive impact on sales, but marketers for the most part don't recognize it.

And yet it's the job of the marketing department to hire the PR agency.

For example:

--49% of respondents (60% of sales professionals, 42% of marketers) believe PR has a positive impact on sales cycle length.

--53% (58% of sales professionals, 49% of marketers) of respondents believe PR has a positive impact on lead quality.

--49% of respondents believe that ...

To read the whole article: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.cfm?currentID=2898

For years, Todd Defren, principal of 18-month-old SHIFT Communications, had been aware of a huge discrepancy in the way sales and marketing professionals regard the importance of public relations’ ability to generate sales leads. He thought PR could impact sales far more than it actually did. “While we talked a good game, no one showed how our results impacted the bottom line,” he says.

So he took matters into his own hands by surveying some 160 executives—including those from Fortune 500 companies as well as from startups. And the results pointed to a huge perception gap between sales and marketing regarding the impact of PR.

He adds, “The PR industry... has relied on wrong-headed thinking about how to measure
PR success, such as buzz phrases like 'Share of Voice' or 'Ad Value Equivalency.' Everyone’s trying to measure PR the way other people measure other marketing programs, and it’s not working.”

 A SHIFT Communications survey found that more sales personnel value the lead-generating power of public relations than marketing professionals do.  While 63% of sales professionals said that the best leads come from PR, only 51% of marketing personnel agreed. SHIFT interviewed more than 100 sales and marketing professionals from businesses ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

SHIFT principal Todd Defren said he was neither surprised nor disappointed with the fact that marketing had a lower perception of PR. "It confirmed what I had been feeling," Defren said. "The PR industry has done itself a disservice because it hasn't helped its clients measure its results," Defren said. "Forget about the existing measurement practices that persist today, but focus on how you can have a greater impact on sales."

Only 10% said the company did not need PR to succeed, and 74% of all respondents felt PR and word-of-mouth are more effective at generating sales leads than advertising. Fifty-eight percent said that the best leads come from PR.

To read the whole article: http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=232261&site=3

"Todd Defren, a principal at SHIFT, argues that successful ROI programs depend on marketing and sales teams working together. And the onus is on PR, he asserts, to motivate sales to make sure it accurately reports where sales leads come from. PR's job is to generate leads, but not close them. That is why sales and marketing need to be much more in sync. ROI programs won't last if they don't help move the needle closer to generating sales leads and supporting the bottom line, asserts Defren, adding that the agency is investing in technology and talent to make sure SHIFT has the capabilities to present measurement programs that do work."

To read the whole article: http://www.prweek.com/thisweek/index.cfm?ID=218828&site=3

SHIFT Communications has formally launched a new media training program for its growing customer roster. The program is designed to help senior officers and spokespersons become highly effective communicators when conveying key corporate messages to reporters and analysts.

“Everyone likes to think they have their stories down cold, but we’ve seen very bright people stumble and lose story opportunities under the weight of tough interview questions,” says SHIFT principal Jim Joyal. “Our media-savvy experts have taught many executives how to not only crystallize and succinctly convey their key messages, but also to avoid the potentially disastrous pitfalls and trap doors associated with difficult questioning.”

SHIFT executives have been involved in preparing novice and experienced spokespersons to discuss issues as controversial as cigarette smoking and gun control; as far reaching as preparing C-level executives for media and investor IPO tours; and as technical as focusing messaging and Q&A’s regarding complex technology rollouts.

From: The Holmes Report, January 03, 2004

SHIFT Communications has added several clients to it's client roster. SHIFT will serve as the agency of record for Atomz, Bluespec, QAS, Ensenda, and Image Therm Engineering, and will work on specific projects for HBO and BioCell Technology.

SHIFT Communications, the technology public relations firm launched earlier this year by former Sterling Hager executives, has added seven more clients to its roster, including such names as Atomz, Ensenda, HBO, Bluespec and BioCell Technology. HBO retained SHIFT to promote its Angels in America feature film throughout the Boston metropolitan area, an assignment agency principal Jim Joyal says underscores growing recognition of SHIFT’s expertise in supporting high-profile special events.

Other new clients include Atomz, a provider of website management software; Bluespec, a provider of electronic design automation tools; QAS, developer of the QuickAddress range of address management systems; Ensenda, a provider of local delivery services to both retailers and industrial suppliers; BioCell Technology, a nutriceutical firm; and Image Therm Engineering, a provider of optical spray characterization and automated spray actuation systems for pharmaceutical and industrial applications.

From: The Holmes Report, January 03, 2004

SHIFT and cross town rival The Castle Group took the unusual step of banding together to win a client account. The two public relations agencies are working with Chevy Chase, Md.-based nonprofit organization Sister to Sister: Everyone Has a Heart Foundation, which focuses on screening women for heart disease. SHIFT and Castle will jointly organize the Woman's Heart Day Health Fair in Boston in February.

After learning that the organization was seeking public relations help, SHIFT principal Joyal realized it needed event-management expertise to compete. Since the Castle Group specializes in event management, the SHIFT team approached their friendly competitor for help.

Although Joyal acknowledged that conventional wisdom dictates that sharing clients with competitive organizations is not always wise, he said the circumstances influenced the union.

"We decided it made sense to team up and win it," Joyal said. "We went against stiff competition in the city."

Castle principal and founder Sandy Lish said the agency often works in tandem with advertising agencies and design firms, but teaming up with another public relations agency was a new strategy.

"It's different when you jointly pitch with someone where elements of your business compete with one another," Lish said.

Although the Woman's Heart Day is taking place in six cities, the Castle and SHIFT team is working only on the Boston event. Besides event management and media relations, the two agencies will also act as community relations liaisons between the foundation and local organizations.

From: Boston Business Journal, Nov. 10, 2003

The New England Business and Technology Association (NEBATA), the leading e-business association on the East Coast for business professionals, has appointed the fast-growing SHIFT Communications (www.shiftcomm.com) as its public relations agency of record.

SHIFT - which serves more than 50 emerging and established companies in a variety of industries and markets - will apply its high performance public relations approach in support of NEBATA's programs, featuring the leaders and leadership issues of New England's business and technology communities.

"NEBATA is the region's leading forum for the serious exchange of information, ideas, and innovation by business and technologies leaders. To reach this important and dynamic community, there is no more strategic public relations partner to turn to than SHIFT Communications," said Tom Hopcroft, president of the non-profit NEBATA.

From: NewsAlert.com, Oct. 28, 2003

Here's one marketing idea you may not want to try -- doing pro bono work. Boston-based SHIFT Communications LLC will provide pro bono public-relations counseling to a women-in-technology group.

But does offering to work for free ever make sense?

In the case of SHIFT Communications, the recipient is a well-targeted group. And it also is a group of interest to the firm's own employees, as women hold most of the jobs in the public-relations industry.

One successful consultant says she does pro bono work only when business is down, but says it does lead to new revenue-producing business... sometimes.

From the column: Are Giveaways Ever A Smart Way to Go?, Oct. 14, 2003

Hi-tech security company SonicWall has selected SHIFT Communications as its agency of record. SonicWall develops integrated internet security technology offering access and transaction security, as well as other security services. SHIFT's San Francisco office will help drive the company's PR and corporate visibility initiatives.

From the article: SonicWall selects SHIFT Communications, Sept. 29, 2003.

"Data-protection company Quantum has chosen SHIFT Communications as its AOR in an effort to help the market better understand where the company has been and where it is going. '

We've gone through a fair amount of changes,' explained Brad Cohen, director of corporate communications. 'We've increased our focus on promoting our leadership in data protection. We brought on a new CEO, (former Microsoft president Rick Belluzzo). There are a lot of exciting things happening. And our job, along with SHIFT, is to make sure external audiences understand what we have done, what we are doing in the future, and what we are doing now to meet customers' needs.'

SHIFT principal Todd Defren said his firm will help with corporate communications, as well as communications for Quantum's DLTtape group. PR efforts will include media relations, strategic consulting, and executive positioning. 'The data storage-and-protection space is big, and it's getting bigger,' said Defren. 'This company delivers the best strategy in America. But from an innovation standpoint, they've kept their heads down because of all the changes they've gone through. But now they're ready to start telling their story to the business and technology communities.'"

From the article: Quantum Hires SHIFT After Major Changes, Aug. 22, 2003

“Three months after its founding, SHIFT Communications has added two new clients to its roster.

The Boston public relations practice picked up work for Milford Manufacturing Services and TurboWorx.

For Milford Manufacturing, SHIFT will conduct a variety of PR chores, including media and analyst relations, on- and offline product launches, search engine optimization, and e-newsletters and Web site development. Based in Milford, Mass., the company develops manufacturing software.

For New Haven, Conn.-based software concern TurboWorx, the agency will create a media relations and e-marketing campaign. The wins allow the new agency to move beyond traditional media relations services. SHIFT was formed in April by president Jim Joyal, managing director Todd Defren and chief operating officer Ed Weiler, formerly of PR firm Sterling Hager in Watertown, Mass.; most of SHIFT's 40-person staff came from Sterling…”

From the article: SHIFT Signs 2 PR Accounts, July 30, 2003

“…SHIFT (www.shiftcomm.com), headquartered in Boston, launched with 40 employees and just as many clients, according to agency officials.

"Today, SHIFT is buzzing with the vitality and energy of a newly minted venture," says co-founder Jim Joyal, in a statement, "with high ambitions for its existing and future clients…"

Click to read the entire article: Sterling Hager Gives Way To Ambitious Agency SHIFT, May 26, 2003

“ Agencies come and go, but last month, when Sterling Hager decided to shut down the PR agency that bore his name, it turned out to be a new beginning, not an ending…

"After Sterling Hager closed, SHIFT Communications was born within a day," says Defren. "Now, we're planning to do some of the things we have talked about for years."

"We think there's an opportunity here to do more than the traditional PR services, to offer a mix of new services and technologies that are measureable and trackable," Defren adds. For example, SHIFT will work with clients on search engine optimization and rich media demos that can track who opened or forwarded them.

Asked about client retention, Defren says "you don't need to have attrition when there's a big move like this, not if you've been doing a good job. SHIFT Communications' first client is a billion-dollar, publicly-held company that we just closed on."”

Click to read the entire article: A SHIFT for Former Sterling Hager Staff, May 15, 2003.

“ Three former Sterling Hager Inc. leaders have shifted gears since that shop closed quietly last month, taking most of the staff and clients to open a new agency -- Shift Communications LLC in Charlestown…

Mathworks' director of public relations, Dave Smith, said he had worked with Sterling for about a year and he moved to Shift because he had confidence in the team. "The most prominent reason I stayed with them is the strategic value and the return on investment they provide to us," Smith said…“

Click to read the entire article: Sterling Hager closes; 3 principals move, May 12, 2003.

“ SHIFT Communications LLC Launched With the Former Senior Leadership, Staff of Sterling Hager, Inc. -- Pledges Innovative Philosophy, High Performance Delivery of Public Relations.

SHIFT Communications LLC has launched as "a new independent agency dedicated to the practice of high performance public relations." Led by the former senior leadership team of Sterling Hager, Inc., and employing substantially all of that firm's former professional staff, SHIFT Communications provides services to more than 40 clients, representing emerging and established companies in a variety of industries and markets.

SHIFT Communications (www.shiftcomm.com), was founded by former Sterling Hager divisional president Jim Joyal, managing director Todd Defren, and COO Ed Weiler. The three colleagues, who have worked closely together for the past decade, launched SHIFT Communications following the closing of Sterling Hager, Inc…”

From the announcement: SHIFT Communications LLC Launched With the Former Senior Leadership, Staff of Sterling Hager, Inc., May 13, 2003.

“ Jim Joyal, former president of Sterling Hager’s public relations operations, has joined forces with several other senior executives of the technology PR firm to create Shift Communications, described by its founders as “a new independent agency dedicated to the practice of high performance public relations.”

The new firm-which launches with 40 clients and "substantially all" of the employees of the former Sterling Hager, closed after the decision of founder Sterling Hager to pursue other interests-is headquartered in Boston, with an additional office in San Francisco.

Joyal will be joined by managing director Todd Defren, and COO Ed Weiler.
“ Generating media coverage is clearly not enough,” says Defren. “Our high performance-focused approach to public relations, coupled with the depth of our experience, unflagging determination, and innovative communications programs, delivers measurable results that directly generate revenues, build channels, attract investments, and move markets—objectives that are directly relevant to the client’s bottom line.””

Click to read the entire article: Former Sterling Hager Execs Launch Shift Communications, May 12, 2003.