Veracity

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Marketing for a real estate company. Our region has 60+ offices and 1000+ agents. I coordinate general branding efforts and provide marketing and advertising programs for our agents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Veracity?

We hired Veracity to coordinate media relations campaigns for several repeat annual company activities, as well as ongoing media outreach addressing what's happening in the current real estate market in communities within our company's footprint.

Veracity also assists with writing for our internal communications platform, which is designed to reach our company's agents and staff.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to:

1. Build brand awareness in the communities we serve
2. Generate participation in community service activities like our annual Share the Warmth campaign
3. Position our agents and company representatives, including our chief economist, as experts in the local real estate market and economy

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We connected with Veracity when the agency was coordinating media relations and social media efforts for one of our local real estate affiliates. Their familiarity with our company and industry made them a good fit.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

In Q4, we had several planning meetings with Veracity to discuss events and activities scheduled for the following year; this enabled them to put a media plan in place for the entire year.

As new issues or opportunities arise, Veracity adds them to the plan on an as-needed basis. Veracity's work includes:

• Gathering information from a variety of company sources for press releases 
• Writing and distributing press releases
• Pitching ideas to media contacts
• Responding to media inquiries
• Arranging interviews with appropriate company representatives
• Tracking media coverage
• Attending company events and developing internal communications materials based on these events
• Advising the company on how to respond to sensitive topics or crises

What was the team composition?

I work closely with the principles of the firm, as well as an account executive. Occasionally, the agency will send a freelance writer to gather information at company events.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Veracity's work has resulted in a variety of print and broadcast media coverage for our company, including coverage about company growth, reports featuring company representatives as market experts, and exposure for our company's philanthropic and community service efforts. Many media contacts reach out to Veracity directly and ask for insight from our company's chief economist.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We receive regular updates from the Veracity team regarding projects that are in process, as well as immediate notification when new opportunities arise.

Our Veracity team is great about communicating in a way that is most convenient for those involved in our projects, whether that is by phone, in person, by email, by text, etc.

They remind us as deadlines approach if they are still waiting for feedback or input from us. They also set up an easy-to-use cloud-based system for reviewing and proofing their work, and for tracking project progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Veracity's connections in the local media community, effective media outreach, and understanding of the real estate market have been most impressive and valuable to us. Veracity's cloud-based system for tracking complex projects that involve multiple company representatives is also notable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing immediately comes to mind. We have worked with Veracity for several years and have developed a relationship and process that works quite well!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Logical Position is a search engine marketing, search engine optimization, and website design agency.

What is your position?

I am the founder and co-CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Veracity?

I was trying to build visibility to our brand locally to get new clients and to recruit new employees.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They started by evaluating our goals and creating a roadmap to achieve those goals. After that, they would help us determine what was newsworthy and develop that into content to get publicized. Veracity has coached our employees on speaking to the press and working in events that are publicized. They helped us with developing strategy and writing copy for us. They also helped us get an INC 500 Fastest Growing Company Award and several local awards.

How did you come to work with Veracity?

I had seen Mike Rosenberg [CEO at Veracity] through various CEMPX events. I knew them, and I knew of their work, so I wanted to work with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I would say we've spent about $80,000 since we started. We typically pay them on a monthly basis.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for about four years. It's a retainer agreement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It's hard to quantify because they do our PR. I've had front-page stories about our company in the Oregonian, which is our major newspaper out here, and multiple small stories about things that we've done. How much our business has grown because of them is hard to quantify but, like I said, we've had several mentions and awards and events that have gone on, so I would say our business has gone up significantly since engaging with them.

How did Veracity perform from a project management standpoint?

They have done very well. They created the roadmap for us and make sure that we are following up where we need to follow up. I'd say that their execution of initiatives is very good, exceptional.

What distinguishes Veracity from other providers?

The coolest thing about Veracity is that they come in and find things that make us different and make us a newsworthy company, even though our industry is not necessarily that newsworthy. It's almost like when someone's saying what is special about you as a person, and they help pull out good things that you don't normally think about. It has helped us grow our identity and understand who we are. That wasn't even my intended purpose for working with them, but that was a nice byproduct of our collaboration.

Is there anything Veracity could have improved or done differently?

No. Nothing comes right to mind. Pretty much everything that I want them to do, they do as desired.