FORBES: 16 Of The Most Popular Client Requests Agencies Are Receiving In 2023

In the ever-changing landscape of marketing, advertising and public relations, trends continually shape the way businesses engage with their customers. Certain marketing trends gain so much traction that they prompt a spike in requests for certain types of deliverables from both new and existing agency clients.

Whether it’s a specific tactic, a campaign inspired by a viral internet sensation or an emerging media platform, today’s agencies have noticed patterns in client inquiries that are driven by the desire to align with these burgeoning trends. Below, 16 Forbes Agency Council members dive into what their clients have requested the most over the past year, and why so many companies are eager to jump on the same bandwagons.

Continue reading the full article featuring Rachel Winer, executive vice president of paid and digital and a Forbes council member’s insights on paid, direct-to-publisher and bespoke events.

Whatever happens at the first Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday, whatever revelations emerge from the melee of eight (count ’em) contenders, whatever slings and arrows are thrown, and whoever is declared the winner, one thing is certain: There will be a viral moment or two; a riposte that becomes a meme. Campaign staff will be watching. And before you can say “in my prime” or “too honest,” it will end up on a T-shirt in a candidate’s store.

These days, retail politics has a whole new meaning. At a point in the electoral cycle when candidates are desperate to distinguish themselves and have only minutes onstage to do so, being able to deliver a zinger that will play on via swag is a key advantage.

Learn more and hear from ROKK’s Co-Founder and Partner Ron Bonjean in the full article in The New York Times.

Recent polls show limited enthusiasm among the public for the “anti-woke” culture war that GOP politicians have launched against corporations’ handling of environmental and social causes — including among many Republican primary voters.

The data comes as candidates who have anchored their campaigns in attacking big business — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — are struggling to gain significant traction against former President Donald Trump, who leads the field by a wide margin in the polls.

GOP pollsters say the recent data shows that many voters on the right, in line with the traditional conservative ideology, don’t want government meddling in business. These finding are consistent with our research.

Check out the full report released last year that found that majorities in both parties oppose government limits on ESG investments, and read the full article featuring insights from Ron Bonjean, Co-Founder and Partner, at ROKK Solutions.

ROKK Solutions is pleased to announce that we’ve been won a gold dotCOMM award in the virtual reality category. Produced by the ROKK Studio team led by Genevieve Wilkins, “A Clean Energy Future: Making the Case for Nuclear” virtual reality experience was developed in partnership with Southern Company.

ABOUT dotCOMM AWARDS

dotCOMM Awards is an international competition honoring excellence in web creativity and digital communication. The competition is unique in that it reflects the role of creatives in the dynamic web that is transforming how we market and communicate products and services. These awards are administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), one of the largest, oldest and most respected evaluators of creative work in the marketing and communication industry.

When it comes to your public affairs goals, it’s always easier to get by with a little help from your friends. Organizations start coalitions for a variety of reasons: to advance favorable legislation, unite against unfavorable proposals or simply to bring attention to a critical policy issue. But how do you start building a team and determining which allies are right at a given time? 

We’ve used these guidelines to assemble and manage coalitions that have made a years-long impact and are positioned to do so for years to come.  

Continue reading the article by John Brandt, Senior Vice President, on how ROKK Solutions approaches building public affairs coalitions featured in PRNEWS.

The former president will be in the dock in multiple trials next year while simultaneously trying to win a new term in the White House. Ron Bonjean, Co-Founder and Partner at ROKK Solutions, offered the following to the Financial Times, “Most voters do not want to relive the last presidential election, but this will be like the last presidential campaign on steroids, and nitroglycerine.” 

He also noted that Trump, “needs to be talking about the future of the country and how he will help Americans solve their problems while at the same time managing his own legal peril . . . and he historically does not like to stay on message,” says Bonjean. “The danger for him is that this could be a grievance campaign instead of one that shows a vision better than Biden’s.”
Read the full story here.

ANTI-ESG ANTIPATHY — Republican politicians who were hoping to be swept into the White House on a wave of “anti-woke” sentiment have run into unexpected headwinds in the form of voter disinterest. 

POLITICO noted that “signs of potential voter resistance have been around for awhile” and references our report released last year that found that majorities in both parties oppose government limits on ESG investments. 

Read the full article featuring insights from Ron Bonjean, Co-Founder and Partner, at ROKK Solutions.

Sen. Tim Scott’s supporters are bankrolling an eight-figure advertising blitz in key early voting states in an effort to build on his recent polling momentum in those states. Jeff Grappone, Executive Vice President, Chair of the Public Relations practice and former top communicator for the Senate GOP Conference shared his insights with ABC News on what this investment means for his campaign. 

Read the full story here.

More often than not, my technological knowledge as a young adult in PR feels expansive. I grew up in the age of social media, but my personal platform preferences have excluded tools my industry now requires knowledge of.

When I was recently thrust into a conversation about Threads, I exposed the embarrassing shallowness in my knowledge of X, formerly known as Twitter.

Continue reading the opinion piece by Cadence Gronski, Communications Assistant, on navigating evolving social media in PR in PR Week’s Gen Zeitgeist column.

In a simpler time, say a decade or two ago, the charisma-deficient leader of a large state tied for the nation’s highest credit rating, praised for his decisive response to a major hurricane and boasting lower-than-average unemployment and higher-than-average student test scores, could have staked his claim to the presidency on executive competence. 

Not Ron DeSantis. And most definitely not in 2024.

Continue reading from Senior Vice President James Nash on what might appeal to voters about Republican running candidates for the upcoming presidential race (hint: it is not federal bureaucracy management competence) in this opinion piece for The Messenger.