Bob DiBiasio

“It’s spring which means, flowers, warmer weather and baseball,” according to Bob DiBiasio, vice president of public relations for the Cleveland Indians.

DiBiasio will discuss the marketing and communications strategies of the Cleveland Indians at the Lake Communicators luncheon May 14 at Lake Metroparks Pine Ridge Country Club, 30601 Ridge Road (State Route 84), from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.

DiBiasio will explain the team’s new marketing strategies as the Indians begin another Major League Baseball season – under a new ballpark name, and with a championship-caliber team.

“Every season is unique in its challenges, promotions and media opportunities,” DiBiasio said. “There is no ‘most challenging’ part of the season because every day is a new and different challenge.”

DiBiasio is entering his 30th season with Major League Baseball, his 29th with the Indians. A Lakewood native, DiBiasio started in 1979 as assistant public relations director and was named director of public relations the next year.

His lone season away from the Tribe was in 1987 when he served as public relations director for the Atlanta Braves.

In 1989, DiBiasio was named the public relations director to Sports Illustrated’s Dream Team. He was honored with the Mel Harder Distinguished

Service Award for Community Involvement in 1986 and is the recipient of the prestigious Robert O. Fischel Award for Public Relations Excellence in Major League Baseball in 1999.

DiBiasio serves as the president of Cleveland Indians Charities and is an honorary member of the executive board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland.

Reservations are required by May 9. To make reservations, or for more information, call Diana Lewis at 440-255-8932 or send an e-mail to wolfeshirley@yahoo.com. Guests are always welcome. Cost is $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers.

To find Pine Ridge, take I-90 to the Route 91 exit and turn right; go north for two-tenths of a mile. Turn left on Maplegrove. Turn left (west) onto Ridge Road (Route 84). Pine Ridge is located about a half-mile down on the right (north) side. Click here for online directions.

Many nonprofit agencies have special events, large mailings, fund raisers, etc., that require an extra set of volunteers they don’t normally need. The Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Lake County has created a special category of volunteers just to fit this need.

This group of volunteers is called Team RSVP. They even come with orange shirts that say Team RSVP. As a member agency you are able to tap into this resource by following these guidelines:

Call the RSVP office three months to two weeks prior to the event to register your request. The earlier the request comes in, the easier it is for RSVP to successfully secure volunteers.

RSVP sends out a calendar of events every quarter to Team RSVP volunteers. This enables the volunteers to pick and choose which events they would like to participate in, in advance.

Be prepared to fax or e-mail RSVP a detailed list of how many volunteers, the shifts available, the different tasks needed to fulfill, parking details, check-in process, what to wear, etc. The more

details RSVP has to work with the more likely volunteers will participate.

Understand that RSVP will collect names of interested volunteers. RSVP will set a deadline for volunteer response. Once that deadline has passed, RSVP will forward you the name and phone number of each volunteer interested.

It is the responsibility of the organization requesting volunteers to follow up with each individual volunteer to confirm their attendance and communicate further details. RSVP is the volunteer “broker” if you will. You are still responsible for the volunteer confirmation process.

It is the responsibility of the volunteer site to collect the Team RSVP hours and fax or e-mail them to RSVP within five days following the event.

RSVP can assist with volunteer needs and hopes to be a useful resource for area organizations. Check out the Team RSVP Roster on the RSVP Web site at www.rsvplc.org. For more information, call 440-269-3015.

Custom publishing…custom media…branded content…content marketing…pick your favorite buzz phrase. Whatever you call it, you better take a hard look at incorporating it into your b2b marketing plans - if you haven’t already.

Of these phrases, custom publishing is the most commonly used term, and according to the Custom Publishing Council (CPC), it is defined as “the marriage of the marketing ambitions of a company with the information needs of its target audience. This occurs through the delivery of editorial content – via print, Internet and other media – so intrinsically valuable that it moves the recipient’s behavior in a desired direction.” As technology evolved, thereby creating new delivery vehicles other than traditional print publications, the term to describe custom publishing also evolved to become custom media. But industry experts are still trying to pick a catch phrase that accurately describes what it is we do. At this point, there is no consensus on the new phraseology, but for the purposes of this article, we will call it custom media.

What constitutes custom media?

Branded Publications, newsletters, white papers, eNewsletters, webcasts, digital magazines, online communities, round tables, roadshows and any other method by which a company brands itself as an industry thought leader through the delivery of valuable, educational information are considered custom media. Each of these marketing tools achieve various levels of desired results that include:

• Lead generation
• Brand awareness
• Customer education
• Thought leadership
• Perception modification
• Customer retention
• Sales support

Does it work?

Who better to ask than leading marketing practitioners? The CPC recently released the results of a study conducted in November 2006 that polled 100 Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) on their attitudes toward custom publishing. The results speak for themselves. Here are just a few highlights:

• Seven in 10 CMOs believe that custom publications would have a positive effect on people’s attitudes, leaving them feeling more favorable toward the sponsoring company.

• Almost 80 percent of the CMOs said they believe that people who receive custom publications will be more likely to buy from the sponsoring company again.
  
  
• Nearly nine in 10 cite using Web content and Web sites in their marketing plans.
  
  
• More than two-thirds also use customized print newsletters and eNewsletters.
  
  
• While the so-called “newer media,” such as blogs, webinars, webcasts and podcasts, are currently less utilized, CMOs cite these as areas of growth in the near future.
  
  
• More than 40 percent of CMOs polled report having shifted marketing funds away from traditional media and toward custom media in the last year.
  
  
• Custom media represents the future of marketing: Almost eight of 10 CMO’s (79 percent) believe that custom media should be an integral part of the marketing mix for any business, and 78 percent agree that custom media represents the future of marketing.

While top marketing executives unquestionably believe in the power of custom publishing, they do have concerns. According to the CPC poll, almost 90 percent of CMOs said they would use custom media more if there were an effective way to measure ROI, and two-thirds say they would use it more if it were less expensive. Finally, a majority of these CMOs said it is extremely important for their custom publishing partners to exhibit a high level of understanding of the target market.

These statistics illustrate the importance of ROI measurability and cost in determining which, if any, custom media tools that today’s top marketers use. While marketers understand that ROI can be difficult to measure, they still want/need tools or strategies to measure and report ROI on these marketing initiatives, specifically as they relate to sales increases.

As the custom publishing industry advances, you can bet that custom publishers will develop new tools to effectively measure ROI and relate it to the bottom line. Savvy marketers will be those who actually incorporate these tactics into their marketing plans, measure their effectiveness and reap the rewards.

May 14
Join Lake Communicators for lunch and a visit from Bob DiBiasio, vice president of public relations for the Cleveland Indians.

RSVP Deadline: May 9