Transparency: Not Just a Buzz Word

Last Saturday, I met with Tampa city councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena at her home on Davis Island. A lifelong resident of Tampa, she lives in the house her grandparents built back in the 1930s. She showed me black and white photos of the red-brick home before there were any neighboring properties that was quite humbling.

Having been born and raised in there, her love for the Tampa Bay area was evident. She is passionate about preserving our environment and focusing on issues that are most pressing to Tampa Bay and Florida including green jobs, reclaimed water, education and others.

Inspired by those she sees around town that pull her to the side to ask about what's going on in the city council and to share issues that are important to them, Linda has engaged us to develop an informational site for her constituency. Key elements will be outward bound communications as well as inward bound. People will be able to directly submit their own thoughts on important issues and have them viewed by other users.

This is a politician that gets it. Transparency is not only expected and appreciated by constituents, but can also help accomplish goals and get the power of the people to help push through those incredibly important issues our area faces.

Holiday Message from RKC

Please click the play button to hear our holiday message and learn more about the charities mentioned by clicking the links below.

Please feel free to leave your comments.

Shameless Plug: Business Journal

The news of Rearden Killion's Facebook success made it to the print version of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. I'm happy to say we've received a lot of interest since news broke and even signed with a member of the US Congress. Who is it? Stay tuned.

New Work: Facebook Candidate Application

Facebook is the leading social networking site. Rearden Killion Communications’ Candidate Button Application maximizes the opportunity for political candidates to create awareness, start a fan base and, most importantly, build a constituency that will influence voters and fund raising.

How it works: Users add the application and become fans...
In the process, users invite other friends to add application and become fans...
Application appears in user's news feed that is seen by other people in their network...
Button appears prominently on user’s profile and can link to the candidate’s website or Facebook group page with latest news updates, videos and photos of campaign.
If you have a Facebook account, you can test drive the application here.

For inquiries, please contact Ocel Fabian at ocel@rkflatworld.com or 727-896-3435.

Shameless Plug: County commission candidate credits Facebook for primary win

A campaign using the advertising and social media tools on Facebook is getting credit for Kevin Beckner’s win in the District Six democratic primary for Hillsborough County Commission.

The Facebook campaign, kicked off in early August, was more targeted and cost-effective than traditional advertising, according to a release from Rearden Killion Communications, a St. Petersburg firm that handled the campaign with political consultant Larry Biddle.

The campaign, including content, video production, management and media buying, was valued at about $7,000, Rearden Killion said, although the company also said it charged a bit less to prove the effort could work.

Beckner, 37, a certified financial planner, won 45.6 percent of the vote and defeated Joe Redner and Denise Layne in the Tuesday primary.

Facebook advertising tools can target specific user variables such as age, gender, education, profession, employer, interests and hobbies, the release said. The ads themselves also can address specific issues.

In one example, Beckner used a Forbes article about the lack of opportunities for young adults in Tampa to call for more proactive business recruitment efforts on the part of the County Council. The video had nearly 700 views and online discussion, the release said.

Rearden Killion also created a Facebook application, allowing supporters to put a campaign button on their own pages and providing a link to Beckner’s page.

The overall effort increased Beckner’s Facebook group membership by 50 percent, the release said.

In November, Beckner will face incumbent Brian Blair, who won the republican primary with 65 percent of the vote, defeating Don Kruse.

Shameless Plug: "Facebook Helped Me Win," Claims Politician

ReadWriteWeb
Written by Sarah Perez / August 28, 2008 9:00 AM

In Tampa, Florida, one of the cities that comprises the megalopolis known as the Tampa Bay area, home to Busch Gardens, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and only minutes from beautiful beaches on the Gulf Coast of Florida (oh, and this author's stomping grounds, too), a local politician is giving credit to Facebook for his recent win in the primaries for the local County Commission.

On Facebook, the crowd is still very young, with an average age of 22.96 as of this February. Typically, the youth vote, although coveted, could not be counted on thanks to low turnout of young voters at the polls. However, this small time local election may prove to be one of the first examples of the huge impact Gen Y can have on the political process.

Now that many members of Gen Y are of voting age, their sheer numbers can no longer be ignored by politicians. The biggest generation since the baby boomers, Gen Y has been poorly characterized by some as lazy, unfocused, and self-centered - a generation that would just as soon stay home with mom and dad than go out and climb the corporate ladder. While it may be true that Gen Y has the good financial sense to maximize their time in rent-free accommodations, they are certainly proving themselves the opposite of lazy when it comes to involvement, be it social involvement, community involvement, or political involvement. Considering this recent "Facebook-powered" win, it could be that this generation is all talk and all action, too.

According to Rearden Killion Communications, the St. Petersburg advertising firm that handled the campaign of Kevin Beckner in the District Six democratic primary for the Hillsborough County Commission, the Facebook effort comprised of content, video production, and media buying valued at around $7000. There was also a Facebook app which let supporters put a campaign button on their own pages and provided a link to Beckner's page. The overall effort increased Beckner's Facebook group membership by 50 percent.

In this local election of this County Commissioner, you have to wonder if this is a hint of things to come in the upcoming presidential election here in the U.S. The Obama campaign has defined themselves by the way they have embraced technology. From blogs to social networks to even SMS text messages announcing the VP, the campaign is "a revolutionary shift in our country's political media ecology," says Andrew Rasiej over on techPresident. Although it has yet to be seen whether or not the use of technology will propel Obama into the Oval Office, the results of this local election prove that there is merit to targeting the online crowd and asking for their vote.

Check Delivery Eye Popping Experience

We’ve followed it all along. And so has the media. Our client, the Merlin Law Group handed out checks to forty-eight Central Florida families, finally providing them with the funds they so desperately needed from their insurer years ago.

(email viewers click here for video)

Follow Up: Residents Owed Approximately $20,000 Per Household

Last October, we worked with St. Petersburg Times reporter Tom Zucco on this story on behalf of our client, the Merlin Law Group. It chronicled the hardships of 48 low-income families in Central Florida that were hit by Hurricane Charley, and then subsequently low balled by their insurer United Casualty, a division of Unitrin.

After the suits were filed, United made a successful bid to have the cases put into appraisal. A process whereby an independent source would determine how much, if anything, the insured were underpaid by. Perhaps it wasn’t the best decision on their part.

As reported, again by the St. Petersburg Times, the total underpaid amount for all residents was determined to be just under $1 Million at $944,056. Looking at the underpayment for each policyholder revealed an average underpayment of about $20,000 per household.

With a branded glass tower at 1 Wacker Drive in Chicago and over $3 billion in revenues (that’s billion with a B), that’s not even a quarter of the $6.5 million Unitrin CEO Richard C. Vie made, according to Forbes.

Merlin Law Group attorney David Pettinato and resident Betty Cooper were also asked to share their story and perspective on the situation on the Ft. Myers CBS affiliate.

(email viewers click here for video)

New Work: Metrobank Video

While relatively new in the States, in-store point-of-purchase video has been in use for quite some time across all of Asia. There are 14 million people living in the 17-city area that makes up Metro-Manila alone. Of course with a population like that, traffic jams on the streets often make their way to the grocery store lines.

With an aggressive approach toward customization, Metrobank is now allowing consumers the opportunity to log online and create personalized credit cards with the photo of their choice.

The program will soon be given a boost via this video Rearden Killion produced that will appear on point-of-purchase screens across the Metro-Manila area and may also become our first television commercial.

Being pleased with the production, the Bank is considering using the video as a prime time commercial spot. Now that would just be grand!

(email viewers can click here to view video online)

Almost Made It: Qué gi

John Kerry almost became president, Eddie Murphy almost won an Academy Award and The Chicago Cubs… well. The world is full of “almost made its”, and we’re no exception.

Not wanting to see great ideas go to complete waste, we’ve decided to start this occasional blog topic for those RK works that didn’t quite make it, but are worth sharing anyway.

Qué gi was the brainchild of one of the greatest beauty product minds in history. His various product line inventions grace the shelves at top day spas and high-end department stores across the country and the world. Unfortunately, as much as I like to drop names, I cannot do so here—so you’ll have to trust me.

While not dead in the water, the originally well-funded Qué gi 5-in-one firming emulsion line suffered at the hands of a slowing economy and has been shelved for the time being, and not in the way it was meant to be. But thanks to the internet, we can share the idea with you anyway.

When it comes to successful package design, getting prime real estate in a crowded marketplace (eye level on the shelf) takes unique art or design that retailers think will draw interest and thus, increase sales. It also helps with how much the store will attempt to market the product through its sales people.

With that in mind, we came to the table with some highly visual designs that also played on the products natural elements and environmental friendliness.

Executives at the company finally decided on the grass and blue sky. Hopefully someday, you’ll see it while shopping at Neiman Marcus.

May not be Coke, but RK Brands are Global!

On a recent trip to Asia, we came across the DreamTime Publishing Open Your Heart series of books on sale at National Bookstore.

We’ve been with DreamTime since the beginning-- Before printings, distributors, reps and trade shows, we were with founder Meg Bertini as she realized her dream as a publisher and budding motivational speaker.

Today, Bertini has her own take on motivational speaking, Vegas style as Madame Meg, teaching folks how to Find Their Sexy.

Looking back, we’ve come a long way and seeing our product half way round the world was pretty cool.

Metrobank designmycard

We were enlisted by Metrobank Card Corporation, a joint venture between Australia-based ANZ Bank and Philippines' Metrobank, to create a set of designs for their recently launched designmycard product feature. While commonplace in the US and Europe, the concept of personalized cards is relatively new in most of Asia.

Shameless Plug: DMNews

Merlin Law Group: Online ads tout legal help

Approach: In September, Rearden Killion Communications and Merlin Law Group launched an online ad campaign targeting insurance policyholders who lost their homes during Hurricane Katrina and hadn't yet received an offer they thought was fair. The ads, which pointed out that the statute of limitations to file a lawsuit will soon run out, appeared on the Biloxi Sun-Herald Web site from September 18-October 16, 2007. A click connected viewers to the firm's educational Web site.

Results: The firm signed 23 new insurance policyholders who had been undecided about where to obtain legal help.
-Nathan Golia

See it online here

CFO Sink’s Office Opens Inquiry after Front Page Feature

Rearden Killion Communications placed this front-page feature that ran in last Sunday’s issue of the St. Petersburg Times—The State’s largest circulation newspaper.

The feature documented some of the hardships experienced by 43 low-income south-central Florida families hit by Hurricane Charlie and subsequently grossly underpaid by their insurer, United Casualty, a division of Unitrin. The story (click here to read it online) documents how some lived in their cars while others continue to live in damaged, unhealthy homes. Policyholder Roosevelt Brady, who continues to pay Unitrin for partial coverage, lost his wife to pneumonia as a result of living in mold-infested conditions.

Based in Chicago, Unitrin has a branded glass tower at the prestigious address of One Wacker Drive. With each policy at a max of $30,000 to $50,000, the company, which had $3 billion in revenues in 2006, would have been looking at a total payout of less than $250,000. Yet, the company decided to shortchange policyholders it saw as not having the means to fight.

Enter the Merlin Law Group, which is taking the case minus its usual contingency fee as, according to attorney David Pettinato, “They need all these monies to rebuild their lives.”

Thanks to the good reporting of journalist Tom Zucco, the State’s Department of Financial Services has began an inquiry into the Company’s practices (as noted in this follow up story) and is finding several discrepancies—including an attempt to cancel policies at the beginning of the 2007 hurricane season—an illegal act according to Florida law.

Stay tuned. This is going to get interesting.

Case Study: Heron House Assisted Living

We have been lucky to see our relationship with Heron House grow from one project into a long-term relationship. While the assisted living company recently sold four of its five Florida locations, we've managed a few accomplishments over the past two years worth talking about.

The company originally approached Rearden Killion to find an alternative to a brochure format that had grown stale and expensive to produce. We were able to revise and condense copy while adopting an elegant brochure/folder format that all locations share while only inserts featured specific location information and could easily be reprinted if prices change or updates are made. The new format lowered costs by over $2 per unit and is regarded as one of the best marketing pieces among the local industry.

With over $17 million in annual revenues, Heron House wanted to rein in the brand cohesion it has seen decline during a rapid expansion. A mystery-shopping program revealed proof of missed opportunity due to lack of procedure. A subsequent monitoring program was implemented at minimal cost that actually improved morale while eliminating any missed opportunity and improving overall customer relations.

A branding and grass roots campaign touted Heron House’s newest location and its tie to a community Church. The result was a 30% occupancy rate prior to opening—a near unheard of achievement among senior rental communities.




Buzz worthy community events have appealed to baby boomer family member decision makers while garnering the attention of the professional referral community. An example is our senior speed dating events that have been featured on Bay News 9, Fox 13 and as a Valentine’s Day cover story in the St. Petersburg Times.

Client News: Making the Case for Justice

The number of peoples' lives that remain in limbo due to past hurricane seasons is just mind-boggling. And I’m not just talking about those who were hit by Katrina, but our very own Tampa Bay area neighbors.

Take the story we brought to the Tampa Tribune on behalf of our client. The Merlin Law Group is representing a group of retirees whose community was all but destroyed by all three hurricanes of the 2004 season.

Almost three years later and they remain homeless with their situation unresolved. Thanks to the good reporting of Billy Townsend, you can read their page A1 story here .

Client News: Tampa Tribune Editorial

We worked with our client, Merlin Law Group , to draft and place this editorial with the Tampa Tribune.



It'll Fall Apart In A 'Katrina Minute'

By WILLIAM "CHIP" MERLIN

Published: Jan 24, 2007

So, now we have it. Property insurance legislation demonstrating how well our lawmakers can perform under pressure. Unfortunately, it resembles a Band-Aid when the job really called for stitches.

While legislators should be commended for addressing the "crisis" speedily, a closer look will reveal a crapshoot that places far too much risk on Florida's economy and residents.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that reducing sinkhole or windstorm coverage will result in reduced premiums. But forget reductions. The problem with putting Floridians in the insurance business is that it pits classes of insured against each other and pure economics comes into play.

As this proposal allows those with low risk to opt out of coverage, it means higher rates, not lower, for those who need to be fully insured.

If inland dwellers opt for higher deductibles because of less wind risk in their area, the remaining coastal pool has higher losses per risk and, therefore, the coverage for wind is far more expensive. And in areas of high wind and sinkhole risk, such as here in Tampa Bay, full coverage may become unobtainable for most under this structure.

The whole concept of insurance is to spread the risk of loss among all of those insured. This legislation is the equivalent of health insurance companies allowing 20- and 30-year-olds to opt out of prescription coverage simply because they are less likely to need medication. Thus, rates increase for seniors who are far more dependent on the coverage.

History is repeating itself through such shortsighted public policy.

Legislators will remove ill-conceived laws passed last year, in part, to address this "crisis" and replace them with equally bad law in the form of capping increases and reducing coverage.

The bottom line is this new legislation allows insurance companies to get out of the business of risk while putting the state's residents into it. So while immediate pocketbook concerns have been addressed, long-term financial implications were ignored. Much of it is a gamble presented with too much special interest involvement and not enough thought to how the next "big one" would play out if and when it happens.

Higher property rates on some along with significant losses to those without coverage could turn Florida's economy upside down, create a mass exodus and everything we've worked for could be gone in a Katrina minute.

William "Chip" Merlin is managing partner of the Merlin Law Group, which specializes in insurance law and is based in Tampa.

Client News: It’s Raining Men?

While we knew it would be a challenge to get seniors to the table for such an unfamiliar activity, the idea was to create buzz in a growingly competitive landscape for assisted living communities.

Our goal is to be recognized by seniors and their family members while also engaging the professional community that is so critical to referrals. Firstly, the speed dating idea allowed us to get beyond the bulleted list of amenities most assisted living communities rely on in their advertising to be recognized as a cutting edge facility where there is always something fun to do. Secondly, as we had hoped, the media seemed to agree.

Since this clip looped all day Sunday on Bay News 9, we’ve received a significant response from consumers and professionals. Not only that, but the Heron House brand was mentioned in the clip three times in addition to a visual of the community.

Taking the risk paid off and with an increased grass roots effort, we’ll have critical mass for an event that may have the Bay area talking.

Client News: Planning Works You Know

PlanningWorks

A recent web launch for our partner in the Alex Sink campaign. The brainchild of Larry Biddle, once named by Wired Magazine as the "Arbitrator of the New Hotness", PlanningWorks helps organizations maximize their potential for building audiences and grass roots efforts online.

YEAH BABY!

I remember that first meeting months ago to discuss the web strategy and brand for an outside hopeful named Alex Sink. Against all odds, she will now become Florida's next CFO.

"You don't play 'R' or 'D' with $70 billion of your tax dollars."

Go get 'em girl!