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We're Hiring: Account Executive / Senior Account Executive
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE / SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Yulu is looking to add a new Account Executive / Senior Account Executive to our team who possesses 2-4 years PR experience, preferably in the fields of consumer and/or social enterprise. As a senior/account executive, you would work with your own team of passionate PR pros and take ownership of client accounts: assisting with developing strategy, forging influential media contacts – basically, doing whatever it takes to drive meaningful PR outcomes for our clients and while doing it, using PR as a force for good by implementing Yulu's social mandate into all client engagements.
CANDIDATE POSSESSES:
Their wits about them; an awesome sense of humour, and confidence
Ability to use both sides of the brain: organized, systematic and creative!
2-4 years relevant communications experience
Strong writing and editing skills
Strong interpersonal skills
Proven track-record of securing media results for clients
Media relations / pitching
Develop media materials
Assist with developing & executing strategic and creative integrated PR initiatives
Media research & relationship building – keeping track of relevant reporters for each account; relevant topics & issues; carving out new relationships with media & maintaining existing
Experiential event management & execution (events, conferences, stunts etc.)
Delegate workflow and supervise team intern
Compensation range: Commensurate with experience
If you are interested in learning more, please send your cover letter and CV to the attention of Jenna and Melissa at grow@yulupr.com and we'll contact you for an interview if we feel you're a fit. We thank all applicants for their interest but due to time constraints, we can only respond to the strongest candidates.
Please also feel free to send any writing samples, past campaign reports, or other bragging rights. We look forward to hearing from you.
The Evolving Guide to Politically Correct Terms
It can be tough to keep tabs on the most up-to-date language and terminology in the purpose-driven space. Our guide to social impact words and phrases will ensure you're using the appropriate, politically correct terms when addressing matters of diversity, social justice and environmental issues.
Any questions or new terms to share with us? We'd love to hear from you.
Ableism: Discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities. Ableism characterizes persons as defined by their disabilities and as inferior to the non-disabled. (Source: Wikipedia)
Accessibility: Easily used or accessed by people with disabilities: adapted for use by people with disabilities. (Source: Merriam Webster)
Activism: The policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Advocacy: Public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy. Many conscious leaders see advocating for causes as an important role businesses can and should play in society. (Source: Conscious Company)
Ageism: Prejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and especially the elderly. (Source: Merriam Webster)
Armchair Activism: Description of a speaker or writer who professes radical aims without taking any action to realize them. (Source: Wikipedia)
Asexuality: An asexual person ("ace", for short) is someone who does not experience sexual attraction. Aces can be any sex or gender or age or ethnic background or body type, can be rich or poor, can wear any clothing style, and can be any religion or political affiliation. (Source: What Is Asexuality)
Bisexual: An umbrella term for people who experience sexual and/or emotional attraction to more than one gender. (Source: Trans Student Education Resources)
Brand activism: A company's public-facing opinion on a social, political, economic, or environmental issue. These public-facing opinions can be made into a campaign, shared on social media, or given by brand representatives, employees, or influencers through media opportunities and thought leadership. (Source: SNJ Today)
Brave space: Wherein students, teachers and citizens generally can come together to have hard conversations and hear each other out – even and especially when that is challenging. (Source: All Sides)
Cause Marketing: An increasingly popular marketing technique in which a brand aligns with a nonprofit or social cause to raise both money and awareness around an issue and to profit from the "halo effect" of being associated with said cause or issue. (Source: Conscious Company)
CEO activism: A phenomenon in which business leaders engage in political or social issues that do not relate directly to their companies. (Source: Harvard Business School)
Charity: An organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need. Related to a Non-governmental organization (NGO), Nonprofit organization, Not for profit organization. (Source: Sopact)
Circular Economy: A concept of companies integration in the objective of reusing the waste of a company as a resource for another one. This is different from Cradle to Cradle (C2C), a concept of total recycling through design. (Source: A Floresta Nova)
Cisgender: Term for someone who exclusively identifies as their sex assigned at birth.The term cisgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life. (Source: Trans Student Education Resources)
Climate emergency / climate crisis: Recommended term replacement for "Climate Change" to better communicate the seriousness of the issue. (Source: The Guardian)
Climate justice: Links human rights and development to achieve a human-centered approach, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable people and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its impacts equitably and fairly. Climate justice is informed by science, responds to science and acknowledges the need for equitable stewardship of the world's resources. (Source: Mary Robinson Foundation)
Conscious bias: Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Corporate Purpose: The main objective(s) that is (are) being pursued by a commercial organization, as typically listed in its articles of incorporation or memorandum of association. (Source: MBA Brief)
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A business' efforts to measure and control its effects on the greater environment and society in which it operates. The term generally refers to work that goes beyond what is legally required and traces its origins as a modern concept to roughly the 1950s. The main categories of CSR practices include environmental sustainability efforts, philanthropy, ethical labor practices, and volunteering. (Source: Conscious Company)
Cradle to Cradle (C2C): A concept of total recycling through design. This is different from Circular Economy, a concept of companies integration in the objective of reusing the waste of a company as a resource for another one. (Source: A Floresta Nova)
Dehumanization: The process of depriving a person or group of positive human qualities. When humans are treated like a resource, it can result in a loss of self-esteem, dignity, and character. (Source: Wikipedia)
Discrimination: An action or a decision that treats a person or a group badly for reasons such as their race, age or disability. (Source: Canadian Human Rights Commission)
Disadvantaged communities: A community that, compared to the whole, has a higher percentage of elderly and/or minority populations, populations with below average per capita income, and/or above average unemployment. (Source: Defined Term)
Disenfranchise: to deprive of a franchise, of a legal right, or of some privilege or immunity. (Source: Merriam Webster)
Disenfranchised communities/people: Citizens of a certain community who have had the right to vote, or a similar right taken away.
Divest: Deprive someone of power, rights, or possessions (Source: Merriam Webster)
Diversity: In business, this term usually refers to a heterogeneous mix of attributes within a workforce, including but not limited to gender, race, age, background, and education. Extensive research has documented that increased diversity drives innovation, creativity, and adaptability within a company. (Source: Conscious Company)
Environmental impact: An environmental impact is the result of environmental impacts on human health and welfare. (Source: Sopact)
Environmental justice: The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. (Source: Global Change)
Equality: The same status, rights, and responsibilities for all the members of a society, group, or family. (Source: Collins Dictionary)
Equity: Fairness and impartiality towards all concerned, based on the principles of even handed dealing. Equity implies giving as much advantage, consideration, or latitude to one party as it is given to another. (Source: Business Dictionary)
Environmental, social and governance (ESG): Environmental sustainability practices, social responsibility commitments, and governance policies are three factors socially conscious investors use to evaluate and screen investments for sustainability and ethical impact. Growing evidence suggests that companies with strong ESG indicators may perform better in the long term and have superior business models. (Source: Conscious Company)
Food deserts: Areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up a full and healthy diet. (Source: CDC)
Food security: When all people at all times have both physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. (Source: Global Change)
Foundation: An entity that supports charitable activities by making grants to unrelated organizations or institutions or to individuals for scientific, educational, cultural, religious, or other charitable purposes. (Source: Council on Foundations)
Global citizen: Someone who is aware of and understands the wider world – and their place it. They take an active role in their community and work with others to make our planet more equal, fair and sustainable. (Source: Oxfam)
Global heating: Recommended term replacement for "global warming" to better communicate the seriousness of the issue. (Source: The Guardian)
Heterosexism: The presumption that everyone is, and should be, heterosexual (Source: University of Massachusetts Lowell)
Human rights: Rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. (Source: UN)
Identity politics: A tendency for people of a particular religion, race, social background, etc, to form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics, can be a controversial term because of its connotations. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Impact assessment: The process of identifying the future consequences of a current or proposed action. Analyzing, monitoring and managing the social consequences of development. (Source: Sopact)
Impact consulting: Seeks to align messaging with values, and measures the effectiveness of impact approaches beyond traditional media metrics. (Source: Impact Relations)
Impact economy: Twin forces of supply and demand, impact investing and social entrepreneurship, that are driving systemic change in the US and around the world. (Source: Aspen Institute)
Impact investing: Placing capital into companies, organizations, or funds with the intention to harness the power of enterprise to generate positive social and environmental results alongside a financial return. (Source: Conscious Company)
Impact measurement: measuring and managing the process of creating social and environmental impact in order to maximize and optimize it. (Source: Impact Relations)
Impact outcome: The likely or achieved short-term and medium-term effects of a programme or policy's outputs, such as a change in vaccination levels or key behaviors. (Source: Unicef)
Impact output: The immediate effect of programme/policy activities, or the direct products or deliverable of programme/policy activities. For example, the number of vaccines administered. (Source: Unicef)
Impact Relations: A discipline of communications that influences positive social and environmental impact.
Impact report: Presentation of an organization's economic, social and environmental impact. (Source: Conscious Company)(Source: Impact Relations)
Impact storytelling: Energizing stakeholder communications through media relations, creative campaigns, social media, event activations, and more – all designed to educate, inspire and empower. (Source: Impact Relations)
Inclusion: In the context of workplace culture, inclusion means harnessing the power of diversity by creating a welcoming environment of connection, support, and respect where people of different backgrounds are able to contribute at their fullest. (Source: Conscious Company)
Intersectionality: The complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups. (Source: Merriam Webster)
Intrapreneur: An individual who behaves like an entrepreneur by taking initiative to innovate, but from within an existing organization. While the subject of the innovation can vary, the term is often used to describe changemakers who seek to drive a business toward more conscious practices. (Source: Conscious Company)
Least developed countries (LDCs): low-income countries confronting severe structural impediments to sustainable development. They are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks and have low levels of human assets. (Source: UN)
LGBTQ+: Initialism that means: Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning. (Source: Ok 2 B Me)
Marginalize: to relegate to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group. (Source: Merriam Webster)
Material footprint: the attribution of global material extraction to domestic final demand of a country. It is calculated as raw material equivalent of imports (RMEIM) plus domestic extraction (DE) minus raw material equivalents of exports (RMEEX). (Source: Sustainable Development Goals)
Micro finance: Also called microcredit, is a type of banking service that is provided to unemployed or low-income individuals or groups who otherwise would have no other access to financial services. (Source: Investopedia)
Mobilization: The action of organizing and encouraging a group of people to take collective action in pursuit of a particular objective. (Source: 'Mobilization of the working class against big business')
Non-Governmental Institution (NGO): A non-profit, citizen-based group that functions independently of government. NGOs, sometimes called civil societies, are organized on community, national and international levels to serve specific social or political purposes, and are cooperative, rather than commercial, in nature. (Source: Sopact)
Nonprofit: Also known as "not-for-profit," these organizations conduct business for the benefit of the general public, and legally must reinvest any profits beyond normal operating expenses into the cause or mission they serve. The legal structure does not allow for private owners or shareholders. Nonprofits are usually exempt from income taxes and able to accept tax-exempt donations. (Source: Conscious Company)
Nonbinary: People whose gender is not male or female use many different terms to describe themselves, with non-binary being one of the most common. Other terms include genderqueer, agender, bigender, and more. None of these terms mean exactly the same thing – but all speak to an experience of gender that is not simply male or female. (Source: National Center for Transgender Equality)
Official development assistance (ODA): Flows of official financing administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as the main objective, and which are concessional in character with a grant element of at least 25 percent (Source: Wikipedia)
Pansexuality: Capable of being attracted to many/any gender(s). (Source: Trans Student Education Resources)
Philanthropy: An act or gift done or made for humanitarian purposes. The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. (Source: Sopact)
Racism: Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Slacktivism: The practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or online petitions, characterized as involving very little effort or commitment. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Social enterprise: An organization that promotes economic, social and environmental impact alongside generating revenue. When the business grows, impact grows. (Source: Sopact)
Social entrepreneur: a person who pursues novel applications that have the potential to solve community-based problems. (Source: Investopedia)
Social finance: Social finance is an approach to mobilizing private capital that delivers a social dividend and an economic return to achieve social and environmental goals. Mobilizing private capital for social good creates opportunities for investors to finance projects that benefit society and for community organizations to access new sources of funds. (Source: Government of Canada)
Social good: Also known as 'cause marketing' and refers to corporate social responsibility that benefits others and not the brand—but in turn, by doing so, the brand receives new trust and respect from consumers. E.g. donating to charity, creating sustainable packaging, reducing one's carbon footprint, or employing campaigns directed at shifting the culture of the industry a brand resides in. (Source: SNJ Today)
Social impact: The effect of an activity on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families. (Source: Sopact)
Social innovation: A novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than existing solutions and for which the value created accrues primarily to society as a whole rather than private individuals (Source: Conscious Company)
Social justice: The political and philosophical concept which holds that all people should have equal access to wealth, health, well-being, justice and opportunity. (Source: Investopedia)
Socially responsible investing (SRI): Independent, nonprofit research center that works with clients to take the most advanced R&D from the laboratory to the marketplace. (Source: SRI.com)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 17 global goals, established by all 193 members of the United Nations in 2015, lay out a path to creating the world we want for the wellbeing of all by 2030, including ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and protecting the planet. The SDGs' non-binding targets provide a framework for all kinds of organizations, including businesses, to think about and begin addressing the most important challenges the world faces. (Source: Conscious Company)
Sustainability: To be able to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Source: Sopact)
TERF: A radical feminist who does not consider trans women to be women, and thinks they should not be included in 'female' spaces and organizations, originally a fringe internet term, but now recognized in mainstream (Source: Wiktionary)
Thriving communities: Arise out of the fundamental truth that all people, regardless of income or social status, deserve healthy, beautiful homes where they feel safe and that connection is the foundation of thriving. (Source: Thriving Communities)
Tipping point: The point at which a change in the climate triggers a significant environmental event, which may be permanent, such as widespread bleaching of corals or the melting of very large ice sheets. (Source: Global Change)
Tokenism: The practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from under-represented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial equality within a workforce. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Transgender: encompassing term of many gender identities of those who do not identify or exclusively identify with their sex assigned at birth. The term transgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life. (Source: Trans Student Education Resources)
Truth and reconciliation commission: Commission tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state actors also), in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. (Source: Wikipedia)
Two Spirit: A First Nations term for individuals who identify as both men and women, or fulfill a third-gender role their communities (Source: Wikipedia)
Unconscious bias: Social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. (Source: UCFS)
Value chain: a tool that analyzes all of the activities that a business employs in order to create a product or service. (Source: YouTube)
Volunteer: A person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task. (Source: Oxford Dictionaries)
Water stress: Water stress occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available volume during a certain period or when poor quality restricts its use. (Source: IOP Science)
Yulu PR joins the Business Coalition for a Clean Economy
We're pleased to announce Yulu PR has joined the Business Coalition for a Clean Economy, a coalition of companies championing strong climate action.
The coalition has been formed by the Pembina Institute, alongside founding members, Arc'teryx, Climate Smart, Vancity, IBC and Innergex. We're honored to stand alongside the following companies, and many others, in this mission to lead the way to a prosperous, clean future for all British Columbians.
CarbonCure Technologies
Earnest Ice Cream
Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
Modo Co-operative
Nature's Path Foods
Phillips Brewing
Salt Spring Coffee
Vancouver Film Studios
Goals of the Business Coalition for a Clean Economy:
CHAMPION: Advocate for bold climate action by government and industry
ENGAGE: Catalyze the making and implementation of effective and durable climate policies via discussions with government
INSPIRE: Learn from businesses taking climate action and investing in clean solutions, and share our stories with the public
Read more: 40 companies ask B.C. premier to capitalize on clean economic opportunity.
Yulu PR awarded GOLD at 2019 Stevie Awards for best global issues communications campaign
Last night, Yulu's founder, Melissa, and Senior Account Manager, Nora, accepted our gold honor for leading global issues communications campaign of the year by the 2019 Stevie American Business Awards® in New York City. We earned this award for our work with Carbon Engineering (CE), sharing their scalable carbon capture solution to address climate change. Kudos to the entire team!
Yesterday evening, Yulu Public Relations, an Impact Relations and strategic communications agency, was awarded the gold honor for leading "Global Issues PR Campaign of the Year" by the 2019 Stevie American Business Awards®. The pioneering team behind the science and technology that led to this award is Carbon Engineering (CE), a cleantech company based in Squamish, BC, now known for the development of a scalable carbon capture solution to address climate change.
Recognizing global warming as the greatest threat to face humanity, Yulu took on the challenge of amplifying CE's technology, understanding the immediate challenge would be to translate the complex and technological jargon behind "Direct Air Capture" into something the world could understand. Yulu's job was to raise global awareness of CE's clean technology innovation that pulls carbon dioxide from the air and turns it into fuel — slowing, and ultimately reversing, climate change.
"The honor for Yulu truly began just over a year ago when our agency partnered with Carbon Engineering to build out its strategic communications plan," said Melissa Orozco, founder and CEO of Yulu. "We knew from the start the significance of CE's technology so having the opportunity to drive the communications strategy that would reach billions within the first year, spotlighting a climate change solution that gives the world hope for our climate crisis, was a privilege."
After a comprehensive and strategic planning process, Yulu's media relations strategy resulted in 600+ top-tier media features within the first year, including a VICE HBO feature story, media site visits which led to feature stories from the NY Times, NPR, BBC, and more, and by popular vote, CE made the front page of Reddit (65k votes to be exact), a notable placement for science and technology enthusiasts.
Click here to see a full summary of secured earned media coverage for the global issues PR campaign.
"Bringing Yulu on to share CE's news and technology with the world, was one of the best decisions I have made in my time as CEO," said Steve Oldham, CEO of Carbon Engineering. "We needed to bring our story to the world's attention as our technology offers a solution, and hope, for climate change. The media results exceeded my expectations, with global interest from investors, customers and the general public. The key to successful PR is to make the message understandable, and then to have the energy and commitment to get that message out there. Yulu delivered both.
One of the judges for the 2019 Stevie® Awards noted in their approval comments, "Almost two billion people reached in 25 countries, in 20 different languages, exceeding the target for investor funding — this is a true global success."
About Yulu Public Relations Inc.:
Yulu Public Relations is a Vancouver social impact PR agency founded by Melissa Orozco in 2011, with a satellite office for New York public relations. It was the first PR agency nationally to become B Corp, certified – an agency dedicated to championing social innovation by sharing stories that matter. Yulu has been ranked among the top PR agencies for CSR and is the driving force behind Impact Relations, the discipline of sharing messages and stories that result in businesses having a positive social or environmental impact.
About Carbon Engineering:
Founded in 2009, CE is a Canadian-based clean energy company leading the commercialization of groundbreaking technology that captures CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, and a second technology that synthesizes it into clean, affordable transportation fuels. From a pilot plant in Squamish, B.C., CE has been removing CO₂ from the atmosphere since 2015 and converting it into fuels since 2017. Learn more: www.carbonengineering.com
About the Stevie® Awards:
Stevie® Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie® Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.
Standing Up for Workplace Equality
Yulu PR is proud to stand among 180 companies – including Bloomberg, MAC Cosmetics, H&M, Refinery 29 and Warby Parker – representing more than 108,000 workers, standing up for workplace equality and against policies that hinder people's health, independence and ability to fully succeed in the workplace.
The response to our New York Times statement was incredibly well received and has resulted in a number of new companies pledging to join this powerful coalition of organizations.
For more information, visit DontBanEquality.com or check out any of the following articles:
Why CEOs Never Talked About Abortion — Until Now, via Fortune
Jack Dorsey, Emily Weiss and more than 170 CEOs sign letter calling abortion bans 'bad for business, via CNBC
Restricting abortion is 'bad for business,' 180 business leaders say, via CNN Business
Abortion bans are bad for business, according to 180 CEOs, via Fast Company
Over 180 Top Executives Call Abortion Ban 'Bad for Business' in Full-Page New York Times Ad, via AdWeek
Don't Ban Equality
It's time for companies to stand up for reproductive healthcare
Equality in the workplace is one of the most important business issues of our time.
When everyone is empowered to succeed, our companies, our communities and our economy are better for it.
Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health, independence and economic stability of our employees and customers. Simply put, it goes against our values and is bad for business. It impairs our ability to build diverse and inclusive workforce pipelines, recruit top talent across the states, and protect the well-being of all the people who keep our businesses thriving day in and out.
The future of gender equality hangs in the balance, putting our families, communities, businesses and the economy at risk.
We represent more than 108,000 workers and stand against policies that hinder people's health, independence and ability to fully succeed in the workplace.
How to beat imposter syndrome
So you've finally landed your dream job and are in the early stages of life at the new office, but something doesn't feel quite right. Well, you're not alone. In recent times, the term 'imposter syndrome' has become increasingly common, and is almost normal or expected in any situation wherever excitement, anticipation, and expectation come together. The fear of the unknown, desire to impress, the pressure to show your employer they made the right decision, and the goal of being recognized as a valuable asset to the team can leave us hyper-aware of our skills gaps and perceived shortcomings, meaning we are more self-critical than we should be; our own worst enemies.
Imposter syndrome as it has come to be known is the feeling that you may be 'found out' as not quite capable for the role you're in. When those feelings of "no I can't" pop up, it's important to identify them as passing feelings and use the tools in your arsenal to overcome self-doubt. At Yulu, we're lucky to comprise a team of impressive professionals consistently advancing our skills and impact, but with that comes challenges. We've put together some of the tools that helped us stay on top of our imposter anxiety, in the hope that they help.
Remember why you were hired
Unless you grossly exaggerated your skills or experience in the application and interview process, chances are there are no major shortcomings or skills gaps to be 'found out'. In situations where you find yourself questioning your ability, try to remember why you got the job. In today's climate and economy, application and interview processes can be lengthy and through every step of the process, you came out on top. That speaks volumes and is something you should try to remember every day. Consider your new role as an opportunity to succeed, not a hurdle to trip on.
Celebrate the wins
In a busy work environment, it's all too easy to fly through the task-list, ticking of deliverables and only pausing when something unexpected stops you in your tracks. Usually, that something is a hiccup we didn't expect meaning that our only points of reflection are negative. Once a day, think about what you've achieved and celebrate the wins, however big or small. At Yulu we have a glamorous gong on the wall which we strike any time we or a colleague has something to celebrate. By vocalizing the wins and encouraging positive affirmations, you will have something positive to draw on when self-doubt creeps in.
Accept your 'flaws'
While we all have strengths, everyone is different and we each have areas we can improve on. No one's work will ever consistently be 100 per cent flawless, and by being aware and open about our own areas for improvement, not only will we upskill and improve professionally, but also avoid trying to hide our areas for improvement, fuelling the feeling of imposter syndrome. The sooner we accept that we're all constantly learning and improving, and stop comparing ourselves to others around us and their specific areas of expertise, the better off we'll be.
Know your strengths
Whether you're an expert at writing and creativity, client management, problem-solving or strategic thinking, you have something no one around you has, a unique outlook and skill set that others around you can learn from. While it may seem boastful to shout these from the rooftops, in a collaborative work environment, it's important to know where your strengths lie. As well as helping your team deliver great work, it's also a good way to reinforce your self-confidence when the symptoms of imposter syndrome pop up.
Play the part
Knowing you're most likely harder on yourself than anyone else is, try to stay objective. Rather than identifying only your failings and harshly critiquing your own every move, consider 'playing a part'. By reflecting on your abilities and achievements as if analysing those of a character in a book or playing the part of you in your own life, you're more likely to have a balanced viewpoint. Likewise, think about how you approach friends or colleagues when they're feeling unsure of themselves, and consider giving yourself one of those reassuring pep-talks from time to time.
You have the experience, you have the job, and hopefully, now you have some useful tips to help you boss your day and find more and more reasons to smash that gong.
What environmental communications specialists can learn from Greta Thunberg
In November 2018, Greta Thunberg took to the stage at TED Talks in Sweden to speak out about the climate crisis. Diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and selective mutism, Greta only talks when she needs to and declared on stage that 'now is one of those moments' that she feels compelled to speak. To her, 'almost everything is black or white' and to address climate crisis, we simply need to stop emitting CO2.
Greta had already begun gaining public attention for skipping school to protest against the climate crisis outside the Stockholm Parliament. Less than six months later, her 'Fridays for Future' protests were attended by 1.4 million students worldwide, calling for action against climate change to avoid an existential crisis. Greta has since been nominated by three Norwegian MPs for the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism.
In the last six months, Greta has featured in hundreds of media outlets globally, attracted nearly 600k followers on Twitter and Facebook, and 1.4 million on Instagram, and spoken in front of the British and European parliaments, and the World Economic Forum.
Many environmental communications campaigns seek to raise awareness of an issue or change consumer behaviour. But rarely do campaigns garner as much attention as Greta. What is it about Greta Thunberg that made the world listen?
Here's what environmental communications professionals can learn from her:
A clear call to action incites action. Greta's message is, in her words, 'black and white.' If we are to stop the climate crisis getting worse we need to stop emitting carbon dioxide. This clarity is something that people worldwide can understand and rally behind.
Simplicity is everything. Greta uses short, direct and emotive statements. Greta does not mince her words – for example, she intentionally says 'climate crisis' and not 'climate change.' Other examples of her direct, thought-provoking language are below:
"Our house is on fire"
"I don't want your hope. I want you to panic…and act."
Our future was stolen from us every time you said that 'the sky was the limit', and that 'you only live once'.
Authenticity is essential. Greta has no corporate agenda and she doesn't have to answer to shareholders. Her activism is authentic and mirrored by her personal actions. For example, she protests, she doesn't eat meat, she doesn't buy anything unless it's absolutely necessary, she doesn't fly, her home is solar powered, she only travels by bike or electric car, etc.
She embodies the next generation. It's rare to have a sixteen-year-old being the face of a campaign. Greta has become not just an advocate but a voice for a whole generation that will be impacted by the climate crisis. Hearing from those most affected first-hand is powerful.
She's unique. Those traits unique to Greta – her Asperger syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and selective mutism – make her actions and words all the more compelling. Having a voice that speaks only when there is something worth saying, makes the world sit up and take notice.
What else have you learned from watching the world finally take notice of the climate crisis because of the actions of Greta?
Yulu PR Awarded Gold at 2019 Stevie® Awards for Best Global Issues PR Campaign!
We have exciting news to share. Yulu was honored and elated last week when we learned our work with Carbon Engineering (CE) was recognized as the best Global Issues PR campaign by the 2019 International Stevie® Awards.
Yulu had the privilege of earning a Gold Stevie® in years' past for our work with Fuck Cancer, taking Gold for Best International Public Service campaign, which took Yulu to Seoul, South Korea in 2012 to accept the award. This year's Awards ceremony will take place in Yulu's familiar stomping ground, New York City.
Reading the positive commentary shared by the Stevie® Awards panel of judges, was the icing on the cake for both Yulu and CE. More details are included in our official announcement release below.
A special thanks to CE's CEO Steve Oldham for prioritizing communications and always making himself available for the key media opportunities, and to Geoff Holmes and Tara Bojdak on CE's marketing team for playing a significant role in raising CE's global awareness.
Yulu Takes Gold for Best Global Issues PR Campaign of the Year by the 2019 International Stevie Awards
Award for work with Carbon Engineering: the cleantech innovation that gave the world hope for the climate crisis
Vancouver, BC — (May 7, 2019) Yulu PR, an Impact Relations and strategic communications agency, is honored and humbled to announce it has been awarded the gold honor for leading "Global Issues PR Campaign of the Year" by the 2019 International Stevie® Awards. The pioneering team behind the science and technology that led to this award is Carbon Engineering (CE), a cleantech company based in Squamish, BC, now known for the development of a scalable carbon capture solution to address climate change.
Recognizing global warming as the greatest threat to face humanity, Yulu took on the challenge of amplifying CE's technology, understanding the immediate challenge would be to translate the complex and technological jargon behind "direct air capture" into something the world could understand. Yulu's job was to raise global awareness of CE's clean technology innovation that pulls carbon from the air and turns it into fuel — slowing, and ultimately reversing, climate change.
After a comprehensive and strategic planning process, Yulu's media relations strategy resulted in 600+ top-tier media features within the first year, including a VICE HBO feature story, media site visits which led to feature stories from the NY Times, NPR, BBC, and more, and by popular vote, CE made the front page of Reddit (65k votes to be exact), a notable placement for science and technology enthusiasts. Click here to see a full reel of secured earned media coverage for the global issues PR campaign.
Additional comments from the Stevie® Awards judges below. The full case study of Yulu's campaign for Carbon Engineering is here, with more media highlights found towards the bottom. You can learn more about CE in the preview below by VICE HBO.
About Yulu: Founded in 2011, Yulu is an award-winning PR & Impact Relations agency, and a proud B Corporation. Yulu partners with organizations in multiple sectors, including energy, finance, non-profit, retail, education, healthcare and lifestyle, to share stories that matter and drive systemic and meaningful change.
About Carbon Engineering: Founded in 2009, CE is a Canadian-based clean energy company leading the commercialization of groundbreaking technology that captures CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, and a second technology that synthesizes it into clean, affordable transportation fuels. From a pilot plant in Squamish, B.C., CE has been removing CO₂ from the atmosphere since 2015 and converting it into fuels since 2017. Learn more: www.carbonengineering.com
Measuring business impact
April 25 2019|
These days, you're hard-pressed to find a company that hasn't dipped a toe into the waters of cause marketing. More brands are realizing that investing in positive change isn't just good for the world – it's good for business. But brand activism will need to be more than socially-aware tote bags and flashy PR stunts to appeal to the next generation of consumers. Millennials and Gen Zers will choose to support companies that have demonstrated their benefit to society. And to prove impact we first have to find a way to measure it. Here are some considerations to keep in mind when measuring business impact.
Measuring the environmental and social impact of a branded initiative is a much-debated subject. Each campaign and initiative has its own goal and plan for execution, and the way its impact is measured should be unique too, based on the campaign objectives.
We've provided a framework to consider when building your company's measurement plan:
1. Set the framework: Consider what impact you are striving to achieve through your campaign when measuring business impact. Look beyond outputs to outcomes. Are you hoping to positively impact society, the environment, the governance of the company or working conditions?
2. Set the benchmark: Conduct an initial assessment of the organization's current impact. The impact of a campaign is much more powerful when the outcomes of the campaign have a starting point to benchmark against.
3. Set targets: The next step is to set targets and proxies. Ask yourself the following questions:
For socially or governance-focused campaigns: how many people do you hope to have their well-being improved, and how?
For environmentally-focused campaigns: what positive impact do you hope to make to the environment?
Can you measure this change, quantitatively or qualitatively?
Set a short-term proxy: where are we today and where would we like to be in one, three, and five years from now? This is easier to track than the long-term social impact of an initiative, and it's better to start somewhere, so begin with one year.
4. Track progress: Measure the impact each quarter. If you're hitting your targets with ease, do you need to set a stretch goal? Or if not, do you need to adjust the tactics to ensure you get there?
5. Articulate your Impact as Inputs versus Outputs: When setting metrics, it's better to talk about the outcomes of initiatives, rather than the effort put in. For example:
If the campaign is addressing the issue of hunger, it's more impactful to talk about helping 250,000 households become food secure, rather than simply promoting the $25,000 grant given to a food bank.
If the campaign is supporting education, it's better to talk about the 100 students that increased their grades by a level in STEM subjects, rather than focusing on the 2,000 hours employees spent mentoring students.
How to appeal to conscious consumers
Consumers are increasingly considering the social, environmental and political implications of their actions. This coincides with growing awareness of the pressing issues facing humanity, through programs such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), designed to rally collective action to address the world's greatest challenges. From climate change and ocean conservation, to poverty and education, the obstacles we face are daunting. The result? Conscious consumers.
The next generation of consumers is growing up in an era of free information, where the perspectives and insights of millions are just a hyperlink away. Today anyone with wifi access can learn about the issues that plague humanity. This is fuelling conscious consumerism, with 91 percent of millennials switching brands to benefit a cause they believe in. Fast on their heels, Generation Z is poised to become a massive source of revenue, in the realm of $150 billion, and if the recent surge in youth protests in the last year is any indication, they are just as socially and environmentally aware as the preceding generation – if not more so.
Conscious consumers know the marketing game, increased access to information means that they are knowledgeable about the tactics that are typically employed to manipulate the masses. In essence, consumers today, especially younger ones, have an enhanced BS detector, and with knowledge comes power. It is no longer brands telling people what they want or need, but consumer demand driving the market. So how do brands connect with this new breed of conscious consumers? They key is to lead with authenticity. We'll leave you with five rules to consider when defining (and living) your brand's purpose:
Be informed on the issues impacting your audiences, communities, and company stakeholders: Brands must have an authentic connection to an issue and be ready to react to them. Consumers will want to know why your company is trying to advance this issue and believe your connection to the cause is sincere.
Lead with your values and live by your purpose: Ensure all stakeholders are aware of and in alignment with your values and purpose
Know which causes are (and are not) appropriate to champion: It's critical that brands align with issues that make sense for their business. Companies getting involved in a cause must do their do diligence to represent it and advocate on its behalf from a place of respect and integrity
Articulate your impact inputs vs. outputs: track and measure your impact. Consider the impact you're hoping to achieve and set a starting point to benchmark against
Have fun with it: social impact comes in many shapes and sizes. Your company's values should be lived day in and day out
Brand purpose: Should brands have a purpose?
Brand purpose
We're living in tumultuous times. Extreme weather events demonstrate climate change is no longer a looming global threat, but one that's very much upon us. One in seven people around the world are hungry, yet a third of food is wasted. Seventy percent of the world's population holds only three percent of the global wealth.
It is getting harder to hide our heads in the sand, to be willfully ignorant of the negative effects of climate change, war, poverty, hunger, and social inequality. Spurred by the growing roar of public outcry, more and more public figures are putting aside ideologies and partisan differences to acknowledge the threats that humanity faces. Acknowledgement is important, but it is only the first step. Change necessitates action.
Realizing we can't rely solely on government, nonprofits, and NGOs to solve all of the issues impacting society and the environment, corporations are stepping up to play a critical role in building a more prosperous economy. Global brands like Ben & Jerry's, Tesla and REI, are among the thousands of companies placing "social" at the forefront of their enterprise – putting purpose alongside, or even ahead of profit.
Cutting checks and traditional philanthropy is no longer enough; it's about creating systemic and meaningful change. Corporations have more economic equity than ever — it's time they put it to good use.
Interested to learn more about building a brand purpose strategy? More here.
Inspiring Women | #InternationalWomensDay2019
Working in the impact space, we're fortunate to come across inspiring women championing meaningful causes each and every day. For #InternationalWomensDay, we asked our team to share the inspirational women who have impressed them through their actions inciting change and advocating for a better world.
Dionne Brand: Brand explores themes of gender, race, sexuality and feminism, white male domination, injustices and "the moral hypocrisies of Canada". Despite being often characterized as a Caribbean writer, Brand identifies as a "black Canadian". She has contributed to many anthologies opposing the violent killings of Black men and women, the massacre of 14 women in Montreal, and racism and inequality as experienced by Aboriginal women of Canada, particularly Helen Betty Osborne's death in the Pas.
Emma Watson: Watson has used her platform to champion gender equality. She's been impressively appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and led a campaign called #HeForShe, calling men to advocate for gender equality.
Mary Robinson: Robinson is the former Irish President, who has shined a spotlight on how women are impacted by climate change through storytelling.
Greta Thunberg: 16-year-old Thunberg is a Swedish political activist working to stop global warming and climate change.
Lauren Smith and Nicole Balliston: these women won an award from our client, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation for their innovation to remove microplastics from entering the water system
Monica Lewinsky: we were proud of Lewinsky's response when media dramatized the moment she (politely) walked off stage after a reporter continued to ask her questions around content that was previously agreed to be off-limits. Not to mention, she gave our client Greyston Bakery a nice little shout out this year as well.
Em Ford: Ford is a blogger who broke the internet when she shared her viral acne video, called 'You Look Disgusting,' detailing some of the comments she'd received about her appearance. The body-positive role model has since partnered with many major brands and continues to advocate for building confidence in young women.
Millie Bobby Brown: Brown is the Youngest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and uses her social platform to raise the price of girls' education, childhood cancer, children's rights, and gun control.
Tips for interns: 4 easy steps to make the most of your internship
Tips for interns: 4 easy steps to make the most of your internship experience
By Tierney Kelly-Baldwin, UBC Practicum Student
So you got your dream internship, now what? Interning is a crucial step in starting a career and landing your dream position, but it can be very daunting at times. Whether required for school or you have gone out to find one yourself, you will be interning with the hopes of earning a permanent position or, at the very least, a good reference and learning experience. Here are some tips for interns on how to make the most of your experience.
Do not be afraid to ask questions.
You are likely walking into a position that you do not have much experience with, which is why you took this internship. Your mentors are not expecting you to be a pro and have all the answers – they are expecting you will have questions and know you'll be learning on the job. Don't be afraid to ask questions as needed, but also remember that Google can be your new best friend. Before asking questions, take the initiative to try and figure it out yourself – your employer will certainly appreciate the effort. Remember that no question is a bad question, and curiosity shows you are engaged and willing to learn. If you are coming from a school program, your fellow classmates and teachers are great additional resources and will always be willing to help. It's a two-way street: they might need your help in the future, so don't hesitate to reach out to them.
Remember, you are not alone.
If you are ever feeling overwhelmed, take refuge in knowing that you are not alone. Starting any new position can be overwhelming, and it can be especially challenging getting real-time feedback on your work. Instead of seeing critiques as criticism, look at it as a valuable opportunity to grow. Don't be afraid to reach out to your supervisor/mentor if you are feeling overwhelmed with work, there is no shame in asking for support or voicing when your plate feels too full. Honesty goes a long way and communication is key. Talk to classmates, friends, and family as well, they will be your best support and a great source of advice.
Keep a positive attitude.
A positive attitude will go a long way and will prove to be your greatest asset. It may sound cheesy, but you get back what you put out in the world. If you show up for your internship with a positive attitude and willingness to learn, you will get the most out of the experience and your co-workers will try to give you work that excites you. Think of the bigger picture and value your internship experience provides. The people you are working with will be valuable networking connections and sources of industry information, so building these relationships is key.
Have realistic expectations.
It is essential to remember to take your position proudly. Before you walk in the door on your first day, take a second to remind yourself that you are walking into an established organization, there are systems in place you will not be aware of and be prepared for a learning experience. You will not be managing the biggest account and don't expect to be schmoozing clients over a luxurious lunch! You will most likely be taking on a supportive role and some tasks may seem "small". Don't see this as an insult, but as an opportunity to prove yourself. Your employer will be impressed to hear you ask for more responsibility once you have shown you can handle more challenging tasks.
Yulu PR wins CSR PR Agency of the Year
October 24 2018|
GRAND PRIZE: CSR PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Small but mighty Yulu PR focuses on building 'Impact Relations'
The discipline drives positive social or environmental impact through authentic communication.
PR Daily, October 24, 2018.
Yulu PR, which rejects 80 percent of the business that comes through the door, has been named "CSR PR Agency of the Year" in PR Daily's 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.
Yulu sees its job as communicating authentically and strategically to support social or environmental programs, a communication discipline called "Impact Relations" that is growing slowly around the world.
Yulu has established a framework for its projects that combines impact communication and social impact consulting—a framework the agency offers free to any communication practitioner as part of its effort to encourage an industrywide PR adoption of impact relations.
The campaigns Yulu does undertake, from organizations like the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, ArcticNet and World Housing, are inspiring. The certified B Corp developed public awareness for Lucky Iron Fish, a cooking tool created to address iron deficiency. In one year, Yulu achieved 50 media hits, reached a total audience of more than 173 million people, and helped the company's CEO earn EY's 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year Social Entrepreneur special citation.
The agency also helped lead a Pass the ERA campaign to draw attention to the fact that women have not yet achieved equality, and promoted a new Red Bull Amaphiko Academy, a Red Bull initiative that champions social entrepreneurs.
Yulu walks its talk, too, earning recognition as a "Best for Workers" award from B Labs and admission as a member to the Purpose Collaborative.
Congratulations to founder and creative director Melissa Orozco and managing director Clare Hamilton-Eddy.
Original article: Yulu PR wins grand prize in PR Daily's CSR PR Agency of the Year Awards, October 24, 2018.
How to master the art of media pitching
Now, more than ever, companies are investing in PR and communications, understanding the value of positive brand representation in the public eye. As a result, the media landscape is becoming increasingly crowded and PR professionals need to work harder to get cut through for clients. Here at Yulu PR, we believe communications professionals should be smart with their time and energy, and mastering the art of media pitching is the best way to do so. How to achieve the perfect pitch? That's simple; understand the media.
Step 1: The angle
As a communicator, you stand at the intersection between brands and the news agenda. While media pitching, a good communications professional will assess how these can work together to generate exceptional stories, rather than pushing out company news in to the ether. Consider how your angle will resonate.
News hijacking: Does your story tie in to current events or trends, can you hijack an existing topic and associate your brand in a positive way? Google trends is a great resource to monitor the news and public agenda.
Significance: Are you pitching the first / newest / biggest of something? If not, consider how you can craft your message to upweight the significance of your story, either with numbers or claims.
Impact: Think of the end reader. How will this affect people, and why should they care? By keeping this top of mind, you're helping the reporter to see the relevance of a potential piece.
Step 2: The target
As media outlets grow and evolve, reporters are becoming more specialized. This provides a great opportunity for brands to offer solutions, helping reporters to create impactful, interesting stories through media pitching. When researching target media, consider their:
Beat: Think about not only the industry, but also their specialized areas of interest, and any recent work they have published. Searching Twitter profiles is a simple, but effective way to get to know media's interests and recent work.
Region: What about this pitch is relevant to their location? If nothing obvious, how can you tweak the pitch to make it more relevant?
Type of outlet: Consider how your pitch needs to be tailored for TV, print or online and how it will translate across each. Don't be afraid to share these thoughts with the reporter, to help them envision the end piece.
Step 3: The tools
When we consider the volume of pitches media receive each day, carefully crafting yours is crucial in achieving results.
Subject line: Keep your subject line short. 50-60 characters is recommended to introduce the topic, without losing key words.
Pitch note: Straight and to the point, your email should provide detail about the story angle, not just the business. Avoid attachments (they clog up an inbox), instead including links to relevant sites for more information.Where applicable, reference previous work by the reporter that aligns with your angle, and crucially, end with a strong call to action to see their interest in the story.
Follow up: If at first you don't succeed, pick up the phone! Though some media avoid follow up calls, you can save yourself and reporters time with a quick call to gauge interest, remind them of the piece and why it is relevant to them, and answer any questions they may have.
No dead ends: Hopefully, you will have a positive response while media pitching. If not however, make sure to ask why it's not relevant, using these learning for future pitches. You may even get a referral to another reporter, in which case the process has been worthwhile.
Finally, everyone is looking for a solution to their daily challenges; clients want positive coverage, communicators want to deliver results, media want to craft powerful stories, and readers are looking for interesting news. By recognizing each of these stakeholders in the media pitching journey, and considering them alongside these easy tips, you can help to ensure your stories land, time and time again.
Client news: Greyston Bakery Launches Center for Open Hiring
What we love about working on the Greyston Bakery public relations team is that this truly innovative company is looking to advance their industry, not just their business.
Greyston Bakery is a pioneering social enterprise and world-class bakery that has been providing jobs and resources to individuals who face barriers to employment since 1982. Greyston helps transform lives and break the cycle of poverty and unemployment by welcoming all people into the workforce with zero judgment and full acceptance through its Open Hiring Model. The socially conscious B Corp recognizes it's now in a strong position to inspire and advance the widespread adoption of its Model, and build a more inclusive community movement through the launch of The Center for Open Hiring at Greyston.
Check out some of our latest media coverage to learn about how Greyston is scaling Open Hiring so other businesses can adopt the model:
Clearly, the response to Greyston's mission is resonating with the public: Greyston's feature trended for the entire weekend on FastCo's social media platforms, the FastCo article was retweeted twice by social media influencer and human activist, Monica Lewinsky, and the coverage saw Greyston inundated with inbound inquiries from the some of the world's largest and most socially progressive brands, HR consultants, plus other organizations eager to understand and explore more.
Client news: Carbon Engineering's climate change breakthrough
If you've opened a news browser in the last 24hrs, and scrolled the top headlines (from anywhere in the world), chances are, you've stumbled upon Carbon Engineering, the Squamish-based company that's removing carbon from the air to make fuel. It's no wonder this research is being regarded as a major cleantech breakthrough, making global headlines in everything from the NY Times, The Economist, Financial Post and National Geographic, to the front page of BBC Worldwide, and ranking no. 4 on Reddit (as Carbon Engineering's public relations agency, we know how significant these rankings are, so we were particularly excited about that one!)
And while most media outlets are doing an incredible job of taking a relatively complex topic (carbon capture) and sharing it in a digestible fashion (this one by Ars Technica, was particularly effective in communicating carbon capture), we thought we'd post the official news release here, for those interested in learning more, or in case a reporter would like to contact us for an interview, now you know where to find us.
Climate Change Breakthrough: Large-scale capture of atmospheric CO2 shown to be feasible and affordable
Carbon Engineering founder and Harvard Professor publishes the first viable solution for the commercialization of large-scale Direct Air Capture technology, producing clean fuels
SQUAMISH, B.C., June 7, 2018 – Announced today, Carbon Engineering (CE), a Canadian-based clean energy company, has published new research that proves CO2 can now be captured from the atmosphere for less than $100USD per ton. Released in a peer-reviewed paper, CE's breakthroughs in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology demonstrate, for the first time, a scalable and cost-effective solution for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
The implications of CE's proven DAC technology on climate strategy are twofold – it allows the removal of existing CO2 from the air to counteract emissions too challenging or costly to eliminate at source, and enables the production of clean fuels that can significantly reduce transportation emissions. These outcomes accelerate the shift to a "net zero" world that avoids the risks of climate change while affordably delivering clean energy.
The research was led by David Keith, a Harvard Professor and founder of CE, and published by Joule, a leading scientific journal dedicated to ground-breaking energy research. The findings are based on three years' research from CE's pilot plant located in Squamish, B.C.
Keith explains, "Until now, research suggested it would cost $600USD per ton to remove CO2 from the atmosphere using DAC technology, making it too expensive to be a feasible solution to removing legacy carbon at scale. At CE, we've been working on direct air capture since 2009, running our pilot plant since 2015, and we now have the data and engineering to prove that DAC can achieve costs below $100USD per ton. No prior research in the peer-reviewed literature provides a design and engineering cost for a complete DAC system– and this paper fills that gap."
CE is now commercializing DAC technology through integration with the company's AIR TO FUELS™ process, which uses water electrolysis and fuels synthesis to produce clean liquid hydrocarbon fuels that are drop-in compatible with existing transportation infrastructure. CE has proven both DAC and AIR TO FUELS™ technologies and has been capturing CO2 from the atmosphere since 2015 and converting it into fuels since December 2017.
"CE's vision is to reduce the effects of climate change by first cutting emissions, then by reducing atmospheric CO2," says Steve Oldham, CEO of CE. "Our clean fuel is fully compatible with existing engines, so it provides the transportation sector with a solution for significantly reducing emissions, either through blending or direct use. Our technology is scalable, flexible and demonstrated. Today, we're actively seeking partners who will work with CE to dramatically reduce emissions in the transportation sector and help us move to a carbon-neutral economy."
Noah Deich, Executive Director, Center for Carbon Removal, says: "Direct air capture technology offers a highly-scalable pathway to removing carbon from the atmosphere. This analysis demonstrates the potential for Carbon Engineering's technology to fall to a cost that would drive significant investment and corporate adoption in the near future."
The full manuscript, detailing the cost and process for capturing CO2 from the atmosphere, can be viewed here.
*The most influential prior estimate of DAC costs was provided by a 2011 American Physical Society (APS) study. The APS had costs of 780 $/t-CO2-avoided and 550 $/t- CO2-captured, where the emission from electricity supply outside the plant boundary.
About Carbon Engineering (CE):
CE has developed and demonstrated the most cost-effective, scalable technology for removing CO2 directly from the atmosphere.
CE creates clean fuel directly from the air. CE's AIR TO FUELS™ technology is designed to decarbonize the transportation sector and provide fuel sustainability within a circular economy. CE has a pilot plant in Squamish, British Columbia, which has been removing CO2 from the atmosphere since 2015.
About the research:
The manuscript, called "A process for capturing CO2 from the atmosphere," was launched in Joule Journal on June 7th and is available to view in full here. Carbon Engineering (CE) has published new research that proves CO2 can now be captured from the atmosphere for less than $100USD per ton using its proprietary Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology.
The paper's primary researcher was David Keith, Founder of CE. Most of the funding for the work came from funds CE raised from its investors. This research was also supported in part by the British Columbia Innovative Clean Energy Fund, Sustainable Development Technologies Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Industrial Research Assistance Program, Western Innovation Initiative, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Best social impact podcasts and newsletters
We're huge fans of podcasts and newsletters here at Yulu, so we figured, who better to pull together the ultimate social entrepreneur / purpose-driven innovators / impact-focused subscribers' guide? Below you'll find a few of the best social impact podcasts and newsletters.
We're always looking for new podcasts, newsletters, and blogs to add to our list of favorites – we'd love to hear yours!
Social impact podcasts
Global GoalsCast: Global GoalsCast is a podcast that inspires and empowers listeners to make the world a better place by sharing the stories individuals, companies, and organizations that are advancing and achieving a more sustainable world. The podcast attempts to make the UN's Sustainable Development Goals easier to understand, more relatable, and feel more attainable for every listener. Listen here.
Let's Give a Damn, the Podcast: with the hope of not sounding like a walking advertisement for this podcast ― if you're not tuning in to Nick Laparra's super sincere, dive-deep chats with 'ordinary people doing extraordinary things' you're passing up something free, healthy and delicious. It's like opting out of a handmade gelato on a hot, sunny day. Listen here. (Pst… here's a link to Yulu PR's founder, Melissa Orozco's episode).
NPR's How I Built This: 30-minute interviews with entrepreneurs and changemakers. A few of our favorite episodes: Eileen Fisher, Dave Gilboa & Neil Blumenthal of Warby Parker, and Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia. Listen here.
Stanford Social Innovation Review's podcast: a mini social innovation conference per episode. Previous episodes have covered topics such as tackling cyber-hate, the role of philanthropy in democracy, and building opportunity within disadvantaged communities. Listen here.
Social Entrepreneur: Tony Loyd is a for Fortune 500 exec turned podcast host. Social Entrepreneur podcast tells positive stories from underrepresented voices, focused on solutions. Listen here.
Changemaker: Changemaker is a podcast for people with big ideas, who want their work to be meaningful, and who want to make the world a better place. Each episode features inspiring entrepreneurs starting social and environmental ventures. Listen here.
Purpose-driven newsletters
The Daily GOOD: Brought to you by GOOD Inc., the Daily GOOD will help you start off your day feeling positive and inspired. Subscribe here.
The Movement by Mic: The Movement tackles social justice issues head on. Subscribe here.
Purposeful Connections: Brought to you by Carol Cone, Purposeful Connections is a bi-monthly newsletter delivering industry insights, cutting edge research, innovation reports, and Purpose Collaborative member highlights. Subscribe here.
The Agenda by Impact Relations: Okay, we may be a little biased… The Agenda by Impact Relations is our monthly collection of stories from around the web that show how impactful communications drives behavior. Subscribe here.
Mashable Social Good: This newsletter shares positive progress for the greater good, and ideas that are shaping the future want to live in. Subscribe here.
Cause Marketing, the newsletter: subscribe to this do-good/make-it-better weekly digest and there's no surprises as to what you'll find. That's not to say it's boring or predictable. On the contrary ― it's as timely as your commuter paper. The difference is, you'll feel positively optimistic after reading it, and if you work in PR or marketing, you might read something that will inspire your next campaign. Subscribe here.
Conscious Company Newsletter: This bi-weekly newsletter shares the latest on sustainable and conscious business practices, events and research. Subscribe here.
Do you agree with our list of the best social impact podcasts and newsletters? Tell us yours!
Creating systemic change: how to bring your cause (and case) to government
You might call it influencing, advocating or campaigning, but all these activities are about creating systemic change.
Campaigning and bringing your cause, and case, to government through a government relations campaign is about the mobilization of forces by an organization or individual to influence others to effect an identified and desired social, economic, environmental or political change.
Campaigning and advocacy fulfils all kinds of essential functions in a flourishing democracy, from holding politicians to account to empowering the marginalized. It can also be one of the most cost-effective ways of achieving impact on the issues you work on; holding out the prospect of delivering sustainable change to the benefit of people.
Below are some tips on how to get heard by government and campaign efficiently to effect systemic change.
Have a clear vision and identify who can help
Central to any communications campaign is a clear vision of what it is you are looking to achieve. Set out what the campaign is intending to gain or change, and develop communications objectives that will deliver this. Goals should be achievable; measurable; focused on outcomes, not outputs; and related to evolving attitudes and behavior.
Identify who it is in government that can help you achieve the change you are seeking. Research what that policymaker/politician's background and stance are on your issue, and formulate clear and realistic demands.
Make yourself visible
Modern day political advocacy doesn't only live in the corridors and backrooms of government buildings; it is alive on our streets, in our schools, and in our homes. There are some ways a group or individual can put their case to politicians to ensure maximum impact:
Put pen to paper
In the era of emails, texts, and social media, receiving a letter in the post is rare, but individual messages to politicians can be compelling.
The best way to influence through letter writing is to write to your local representative asking her or him to raise the issue with the relevant Minister – your local rep is your trojan horse here. That way your local representative becomes aware of the problems as well as the Minister. By convention, a letter forwarded by a local politician to a Minister must receive a Ministerial reply.
Letters should be to the point, solutions-focused, reference relevant research supporting your argument, and your ideas/project should link to government policy to effect systemic change.
Often a phone call can carry more weight than an email or a social post, and a phone ringing off the hook is harder for a lawmaker to ignore than a flooded inbox. When you're an individual or part of a larger group, the telephone is an accessible and authoritative medium for participatory democracy. Government telephone lines are often busy, but persistence will pay off in the long-run. If you're met continuously with busy lines, an app called Stance enables you to record messages for your elected representatives, then delivers it at night when phone lines aren't as active.
Get vocal online
Online civic engagement tools are on the rise, and digital participation has helped amplify the voices of millions of citizens across the globe. Social media, specifically, has changed the face of legislative lobbying and allows policy-makers to learn quickly what ordinary people want – it also makes decision-makers accessible to the average person.
And while social media advocacy is sharp-focused and capable of more controlled driving than any other form of lobbying, effective online advocacy does not exist in a vacuum. Groups can quickly generate enormous volume, support and standing through online petition, but the campaign should also have an offline component to ensure more activism than "slacktivism."
Petition and amplify via media
Petitions can take citizen participation to new levels by mobilizing supporters and inspiring real change. To politicians and lawmakers, petitions demonstrate either existing organizational strength or the ability to organize.
The most effective online organizations deliver their petitions in person with great fanfare and capture it on video and with photos to report back to supporters, to gain traction with the aim of going viral. This way, both the person(s) you're trying to influence will be under more pressure to take notice, and those who have supported the petition will see that their signatures weren't going into a black hole.
Change.org, a B Corp (like Yulu PR!), is a powerful and free e-petitioning website which can be used to form online petitions about the most pressing issues in people's lives and communities. High-volume petitions can also lead to media coverage and support from high-profile like-minded individuals too.
It's been a tumultuous couple of years with unparalleled global activism and the rise of new media contributing to how political advocacy is conducted and affecting policy. In the future, we can expect more and more individual citizens, organizations, non-profits, and private companies speaking out on social issues and engaging in various forms of advocacy, and in turn, creating systemic change.
Nora Eastwood, Account Manager at Yulu PR
4 ways to measure PR success
A question we often get asked is 'how do you measure PR success?'
The goal of media relations is generating column inches in print, or air time on the radio or TV. While counting media hits is one way of gauging a campaign's success, there are other quantitative ways of measuring audience reach and engagement, and the general ROI of public relations.
Yulu PR is an Impact Relations firm, meaning we believe that stories have the power to drive behavior. We challenge ourselves to measure how a campaign influenced consumer behavior, and how it moved the needle on social or environmental change.
Here's a few ways to measure PR success to consider:
Google Analytics: Today 93 per cent of Americans get their news online either by mobile or desktop. Include a link (if possible) to your company's website in any news story; this will allow you to track the number of readers that click through to your website via Google Analytics. As a PR agency, this data provides insights on which media outlet/story is most influential in terms of driving consumer behavior.
Read the comments: Did the article get comments, and were they supportive or constructive? Look at these comments closely; they could provide qualitative insights on whether the article sparked the debate you were hoping for, or led to consumer behavioral change.
Once an article is posted, keep an eye on the outlet's homepage to see whether it appears on the 'trending' list. Many outlets (e.g. Huffington Post and Vancouver Sun) have a trending column – if your article appears on this list, you know you've hit a hot topic & your story is getting good traction.
Go Social: 28 per cent of people claim to get their news from social media; and while traffic from homepages has dropped significantly across many news websites, social media's share of clicks to news sites has doubled. When a news site pushes out a story your company is mentioned in, monitor the post's traction. How many times is it Liked/ Shared/Retweeted or commented on? What qualitative insights can you gather from the comments?
Also remember to share the news site's social post on your own social feeds. This amplifies the reach among the online community you've already built up, and will drive more traffic to the news site (a win-win for your company & the news outlet).
Be impactful: How has your campaign led to behavioral change? This isn't easy to measure, but if your campaign is designed to be impactful (which is what we specialize in at Yulu) then ask yourself these key questions:
If your campaign was seeking to be socially impactful, how many people have had their well-being improved? Did the media coverage encourage more people to sign up, volunteer or act?
If your campaign was environmentally focused, what difference has been made to the world around us, and can it be quantified or qualified? Did the media coverage lead to action?
When assessing these metrics, consider the 'outcome' of initiatives rather than the efforts put in. For example, if the campaign is to encourage consumers to change their daily habits for the good of the environment, you could:
Create a 'Guide to being an Environmentally Conscious Consumer' (The Guide)
Track links from media coverage to the webpage where The Guide can be downloaded; note which media outlets drive the most downloads
Measure the number of times The Guide was downloaded
Follow up with consumers that downloaded The Guide to learn what tangible changes they made via an online survey
These metrics are far more meaningful than simply talking about the hours invested to create The Guide in the first place.
As the PR industry evolves, so too does the reporting tools available to us. That's why when it comes metrics, we continue to question, explore and discover new tactics to measure PR success. If you have other ways of measuring a campaign's impact, we'd love to hear.
Charlotte Gilmour, Director of Client Services
Why you should consider attaining B Corp certification
February 27 2018|
Did you know Yulu PR has been B Corp certified for going on four years? B Corp certification (regulated by the nonprofit B Lab) involves rigorous yearly assessments that measure social factors such as employee benefits, environmental footprint and transparency.
The second annual B Corp month is just about to wrap up, but there are plenty of reason to celebrate B Corps (and consider joining their ranks) well beyond February. Here are just a few:
B Corp certification makes CSR look antiquated
A friend from the Vancouver B Corp community once described CSR as the good companies have to do, compared to B Corp certification as the good they want to do. The philosophy surrounding CSR is that companies should consider the impact they're having on their broader community and do good in some way (often to offset the net-negative impact they have from putting profits above all else). CSR tends to involve check writing, whereas B Corp certification involves a sustained and ongoing look at a your company's impacts on people, the environment, and the global community.
We strive to make each other better
In addition to having to pass a rigorous assessment each year, becoming a B Corp gives you access to a both a global community and a close-knit local one. Most major cities have a B Local monthly meet up, where a different sustainability or social impact topic is discussed. Beyond the typical networking event (groan), B Local gives B Corps a chance to get to know their like-minded neighbors and form committees, help plan for events and challenges, and to educate one another.
One such challenge is the Inclusive Economy Challenge, which seeks to level the playing field for employees of all backgrounds and challenges. Some of the ways B Corps are stepping up: offering interest-free loans to employees for major purchases, increasing the diversity of their Board of Directors, incorporating diversity and inclusion into their hiring guidelines, and offering more family friendly policies such as caregiver leave and flexible working options. Companies that aren't hiring at the moment are taking the opportunity to get educated on Reconciliation, accessibility and inclusion.
We foresee a world where business is a force for good
Not too long ago, this statement would sound awfully Pollyanna-ish, but the public is demanding more from the companies it patronizes. There are more than 2,400 certified B Corps in 130 countries around the world. Those in the UK are growing at 28 times the national average. Amidst turbulent political times in the U.S., brands are increasingly weighing in on social issues like immigration and gun reform. Even major corporations like Unilever, for whom certification might seem incredibly complex and far off, has looked to B Lab to help assess its impact.
Interested in learning more about attaining and leveraging B Corp status? Drop us a line at hello@yulupr.com.
One Dangerous Year: A panel of threats to journalism in 2017
2017 was a difficult year for media. That's the primary takeaway of the Columbia Journalism Review's panel event: "One Dangerous Year, Threats to Journalism, from Burnout to Lawsuits." Held in Toronto at Reuters Canada, the event was sponsored by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Globe and Mail, and Reuters. A series of three panels, speakers outlined the topics covered in the most recent winter issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, aptly titled "The Fear Issue."
On February 12, I attended the panel on behalf of Yulu with the intent to understand the volatile environment that journalists are facing. As media experts and purpose-driven communications professionals, we are expected to be apprised of the other side of the equation so we can better understand how to practice impact relations alongside this industry.
The event was split into three panels:
panel 1 covered threats in the United States under the Trump presidency
panel 2 covered threats to journalists around the world
panel 3 was a discussion on the imprisonment of journalists around the world
Perhaps the most interesting takeaways came out of the first panel, as Alexandra Ellerbeck, Alexandria Neeson, and Paul Thomasch explored journalism under "Trumpism." With Trump having only been in the White House for a year, traditional journalism has faced a number of barriers — from the constant labelling of conventional news sources as 'fake news' to the growing threat of violence against journalists covering hostile political protests and events.
Alexandra Ellerbeck, the North America program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, introduced the crowd to the "US Press Freedom Tracker," a database of press freedom incidents in the United States — everything from arrests of journalists and the seizure of their equipment to interrogations at the U.S. border and physical attacks. The tracker is only in its first year, so there are no references to incidents of attacks against reporters before President Trump's time in office, but it's main purpose is to create a central repository for data on any incidents of harm against members of the press, or anything that prevents them from doing their jobs.
The US Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of physical violence, but it was Alexandria Neason's discussion of emotional violence that was most interesting. Neason, a senior staff writer for the Columbia Journalism Review, wrote an in-depth article on "reporter burnout." With the recent social issues that have come to light (race, gender, #metoo), it's easy for reporters to find covering topics close to home "incredibly demoralizing." Neason's report on journalist burnout can be found on the CJR website.
Finally, what about the actors outside of the journalism space? Here at Yulu we're no stranger to the #MeToo efforts or the engagement of public figures such as pro athletes and actresses in Hollywood. When asked about the involvement of Hollywood in the final panel (When Journalists are Jailed), Kathleen Carroll, chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists' board of directors, said that efforts made by public figures are only a distraction if the attention is focused on something other than the cause, whether it's freeing journalists from imprisonment in their home countries of Myanmar or China, or creating collective movement to improve sexual harassment policy in the entertainment industry. According to Carroll, this is rarely the case, and real genuine support is effective.
As a social impact PR agency, this is probably the biggest takeaway. We recognize that traditional media is constantly changing and that journalists are facing a number of risks that discredit their legitimacy amongst the public. We need public support now more than ever, for organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, and for disciplines like Impact Relations, to continue moving the needle so journalists can report honestly without fear.
Written By: Catherine Gao
How to build your online presence through digital marketing
How is your target audience finding you online? Digital marketing is a crucial arm of your communications efforts, and should always be factored in to your communications strategy.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing encompasses all online marketing efforts. This can include online advertising, email marketing, social media, influencer marketing and search engine optimization. Today we'll focus on a few simple tips every business can implement to boost their online presence.
Keep your blog up to date.
Blogging regularly is a key search engine optimization (SEO) enhancer. Create a blog content calendar and schedule to ensure you're frequently posting content that will appeal to your audience.
Yulu's cheat sheet:
Search for common trends and keywords to include through tools such as Google Trends, or even Twitter. This is a great way to jump in on timely conversations and ensure your post will be highly searchable
Think of questions your audience might be typing into Google. This can make for the perfect title for your post!
Scatter your top keywords throughout your post, specifically in the title, headings, subheadings, hyperlinked text, and tags
Optimize images by including keywords in the jpg file name and a keyword-rich description
Reference others with links – this is not only good etiquette, but may land you a link back!
Use social media to broaden the reach of your blog post
Garner online media coverage.
Online media coverage is an excellent way to organically boost your SEO. Say your restaurant lands on the Daily Hive's round-up of the 13 most romantic restaurants in Vancouver – you're now not only getting more traffic to your website via the readers who take action to visit your website, but you're more likely to rank in searches for "romantic restaurants in Vancouver". Your media relations and digital marketing teams should be aligned on your SEO PR strategy. The same goes for influencer marketing and social media marketing efforts.
Stay on-brand.
Treat digital marketing the way you would any of your communications efforts. You want to ensure your online presence is in-line with your broader communications strategy, and that all content (online ads, email marketing, blog and social media posts, etc.) is appropriately branded and true to your roots. Questions about building a communications strategy that is amplified through digital marketing? Get in touch.
We are better than this: The birth of Impact Relations
Written by Melissa Orozco
It was Gustave Flaubert who wrote, "there is no truth, only perception." When I first heard this quote, the sentiment rang true to me…perhaps it's my perception.
In the media, trust is paramount, and right now there is a dearth of it. For better or worse, the media landscape is unrecognizable from what it was a decade ago – faster and more diverse yet less regulated than ever before. We receive news in real-time story bites. "Fake news" and PR spin continue to weaken the credibility of what people see in the media today.
At the same time, the issues facing humanity – socially and environmentally – are becoming ever more pressing. Extreme weather events and rising sea levels demonstrate that climate change is no longer a looming global threat, but one that's very much upon us. One in seven people around the world are hungry, yet one-third of food is wasted. Seventy percent of the world's population hold only three percent of the global wealth.
The magnitude of global issues, especially when combined with the general public's growing distrust of media, can make it daunting to see how we as communicators can make a difference.
As a social impact PR agency, all of us at Yulu believe we have a role (and responsibility) to play in delivering facts and authentic stories to the media. In other words, we live and die by our "no spin" policy. We sincerely believe big change begins with small steps. If we want to see trust regained in society and media, authentic and honest communications must become the norm. So we're working with a community of other equally passionate communications professionals to set new industry standards, which hold communicators accountable for the stories they amplify.
This is why we are proud to be launching Impact Relations, with our first edition of our newsletter, The Agenda, circulating this week. Impact Relations is the discipline of sharing powerful stories that will inspire a positive social or environmental impact. No spin. No fluff. Just authentic and transparent communication that can influence positive, systemic social and environmental change.
We're building this community globally, from Vancouver to London to Singapore to New York, and it is a place for communicators to learn how to develop and execute impactful campaigns, and most importantly, how to measure the impact beyond media metrics.
This initiative is timely, not just because of the breadth of challenges ahead we face, but because we're in the midst of a great shift in power. Businesses have more economic equity than ever. Transparency movements like the Solutions Journalism Network and the Google Transparency Project are growing. And the communications industry is evolving alongside these movements with initiatives such as Georgetown University's Center for Social Impact Communication, and now the birth and growth of Impact Relations.
We are collectively exploring ways to help businesses be better, perform better, and communicate better to benefit the world and people around us. Together, we can make a significant change through the stories we share. We invite communicators from around the globe to join our community here.
A year in the life of a social impact PR agency: Our 2017 Impact Report is here!
Despite the challenges that come with pursuing positive change, we continue to be inspired and empowered by the role businesses and brands are playing in the good fight. Our client partners are no exception. One thing became incredibly clear to us this year: the greatest impact happens when forces combine. If you follow us on social media, you already know we're proud of the team we've built, the brands we represent, and the campaigns we've championed – from a viral advocacy campaign around women's equality, addressing global iron deficiency, helping give a voice to communities most affected by climate change, to coaching social entrepreneurs across the US.
How do you measure a year in the life of a social impact PR agency? We're hopeful you'll get an idea by looking through our 2017 Impact Report. In 2018, we will continue to think big and shoot for the moon, and encourage you to do the same!
Questions about last years' work? Get in touch.
You need space? We got space.
We're looking for a like-minded creative and/or purpose-driven team to share our awesome Gastown office.
If you're an individual or team of 2-3 on a mission to change the world and need a spot to do it, we'd love to hear from you. We're located on Water St. in the heart of Gastown and our building perks include a private boardroom, gym and pool table, and an insanely beautiful rooftop patio. We're looking for a vibrant team with whom we can share ideas and Friday happy hours.
If you're interested in learning more, please get in touch with Jenna at hello@yulupr.com.
CPRS Vancouver Profile | What's on the Horizon at Yulu PR?
December 05 2017|
Our managing director, Clare, had the opportunity to sit down with CPRS Vancouver to chat about what's on the horizon for us as we move into the New Year.
NEW FACES, BIG CHANGES, AND WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON AT YULU PUBLIC RELATIONS
Written by Victoria Fawkes, CPRS Vancouver
Clare Hamilton-Eddy, Yulu's Managing Director
Yulu Public Relations is an award-winning PR firm, with offices in both Vancouver and New York. They strive to create positive social and environmental changes through innovative campaigns and were recently named 'Agency of the Year' at Ragan's PR Daily's 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. We had a chat with Clare Hamilton-Eddy, Yulu's Managing Director, to discuss the recent challenges and changes the company has experienced, as well as what Yulu's goals for the future look like.
Could you speak to the latest changes at Yulu? What does it mean to the team at Yulu PR to be named 'Agency of the Year'?
This is a significant honour for us. Winning PR Daily's 'CSR Agency of the Year' award is helping us highlight what Yulu and other socially-mandated communications agencies and practitioners are doing to drive positive change in the work they do. Our hope is that it encourages others to do similar over time. This recognition shines a spotlight on an important element of PR and communications and demonstrates how it's evolving.
Charlotte Gilmour just joined the team. What does this new edition mean for Yulu and its evolution?
We're thrilled to have Charlotte join us as Yulu's Director of Client Services. Charlotte has over a decade of international experience in PR, having worked in both Vancouver and London. She brings a wealth of knowledge in media relations, crisis communications, event management, and internal communications, and I'd challenge anyone to find a stronger project manager. She also has a passion for our oceans, something that is proving highly beneficial to us, as we're able to apply her knowledge, expertise and interest in this area to our daily work.
Externally, we are leading the charge in building a new industry in communications: Impact Relations. We are working to bring new industry standards to communications through this movement – standards that ensure transparency, authenticity, mission-driven work and values are always prioritized. We're really beginning to see some momentum here and are receiving some encouraging support from a range of PR agencies and in-house practitioners.
How would you describe Yulu's evolution over the years?
Social impact has always been at the heart of what we do. In the beginning, it was challenging as there weren't a lot of believers, whereas now it's simply best practice—something that is reflected by the fact we're working with some of the world's largest brands as well as some really interesting and innovative companies. Over the years, as people have begun to see that doing good is good business, we've been able to evolve to the point where we only take on clients that fit into our social mandate—to contribute positively to society or the environment.
What are some future goals for Yulu PR and its team?
We're big believers in thoughtful growth and thoughtful worth and we take a lot of pride in this. We feel like we're in a good place: we have an international team, we have fantastic clients that are driving positive social and environmental change, and we're building our global network in various capacities. From an Impact Relations perspective, we want to see it being taught in schools across North America and, eventually, the world.
Meet the Team | Ashley Letts
Proud rescue dog mom. Grammar pro with skills superior even to Webster's dictionary. And it's not like she mentions this 5 times a day, but Yulu's very first publicist hired. Ashley Letts is a mentor for other members of the team on all things PR — from copywriting to client relations — and runs her team with both kindness and efficiency (except when you overuse exclamation marks. Don't do it.)
Name + role at Yulu
Ashley Letts, Senior Consultant
What are you most excited about when you wake up and you're about to go to work?
I get to tell stories that matter for a living, and I get to do it with a group of whip-smart women. I'm always excited to see which new reporters my pitches will resonate with.
Favourite campaign you've worked on at Yulu?
Tough to nail down a single campaign, but sharing stories of social entrepreneurs from Red Bull Amaphiko Academy is up there. I'm also enjoying pitching how the role of brands is changing in the chaos of the Trump era.
Favourite Yulu tradition?
Our yearly retreats where we reset, reconnect, and revisit our painted picture. Though our occasional mid-week happy hours are always a lot of fun, too.
Most rewarding experience so far in your time at Yulu?
Having the opportunity to mentor and be mentored by some amazing PR talent. It was an easy decision to come back to a place that's always felt like home.
Describe Yulu culture in 3 words.
Earnest, Purposeful, Powerful.
A social issue you are particularly passionate about?
Climate change is the single biggest threat facing us right now, and human activity is driving the sixth mass extinction (kind of a downer, I know). I'm aware that my generation may have to have difficult conversations with their kids about whether bringing more people into the world is a fair thing to do.
What drives you? What are you passionate about?
Compassion and the desire to do the right thing. Finding a way to use hope to motivate people.
An interesting fact we should know about you?
My mother tells me when I was a baby, Tony Bennett kissed me in Edmonton airport and said "What a doll." Given Mum's penchant for embellishment this may or may not be true.
Who is your role model?
Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York. His ability to see profoundness in the everyday is something I deeply admire. I've never read Harry Potter, but I also love JK Rowling's unflinching ability to call out injustice and take ignoramuses to task.
Meet the Team | Charlotte Gilmour
Ever wonder how we get stuff done so quickly around here? Meet our Director of Client Services, Charlotte Gilmour. Another London transplant, Charlotte is an environmentalist who loves the oceans and spends her weekends hiking or surfing. We managed to grab Charlotte for a few minutes between running meetings and brainstorms to ask her a few questions about being a publicist, her role models, yulu culture, and what gets her out of bed every morning.
Name + role at Yulu:
Coming to work alongside smart, driven people united in a common goal to use communications as a force for good. The culture at Yulu is unique and thoroughly refreshing.
The memory jar everyone has on their desks. When we do something we're proud of, we write a note and keep it in our jars, or sneak compliments into colleagues' jars. We celebrate these achievements at the end of the year.
Purpose driven. Inspiring. Collaborative.
What social issues are you passionate about?
I'm an environmentalist who is passionate about cleaning up our oceans. As a surfer, nothing upsets me more than seeing plastic in the waves. I want to continue to learn and implement change in my own life to protect the environment, as well as use communications to spark meaningful change through others.
I'm driven by two things; an eagerness to learn new stuff and a need to achieve impactful results.
I'm another British transplant (yep, with one of those accents), and spent the first half of my career working in two PR agencies in London.
I'm inspired by senior female leaders, especially those that have successfully balanced a family and career. Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook fame is on my list, alongside Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube. She's been a force in tech for years, and rightly defended female leaders in the tech sector after the infamous Google employee diversity memo got leaked to media: http://for.tn/2hpGCzg
#YuluCulture | Say it with Gratitude Jars
If Oprah loves it, it must be good. This year, Oprah includes "gratitude jars" in her 2017 gift guide, something that's been part of Yulu Culture since we began. Gratitude is a wonderful way to invoke positive emotions and happiness, and we keep our own jars full of good memories the entire year until we read them the morning after our annual Christmas party. Try telling us there's something better than waffles and good vibes.
"I'm grateful somebody came up with the Gratitude Glass Jar. It includes 365 cards so your family can take turns jotting down notes about things they truly appreciate. At the end of the year, everyone can gather for a celebration of whatever is on those cards."—Oprah
Landed a major media hit? Client awarded an impressive accolade? Yuluite brought in home-baked cookies? Put it in the gratitude jar!
Fast Company Innovation Festival 2017
Yulu attended the third annual Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York City.
Here's our founder Melissa seeing the world through the eyes of Charity: Water. The folks at Charity: Water bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries.
Social Impact Milestone: The Purpose Collaborative
Last year, Yulu came across the Purpose Collaborative, a coalition of agencies dedicated to guiding clients on their journey to ignite the purpose at their core and discover their aspirational reason for being, beyond profit. We were drawn to the integrity of this collaborative and wanted to be part of it — last week, we were invited to join them. Needless to say, we're elated to be joining a network of other like-minded companies committed to creating positive change.
The Purpose Collaborative is a network of 39 organizations and more than 400 professionals dedicated to using their business as a force for good. It operates in 14 cities around the world. Creator Carol Cone has been developing a collaborative consultancy focused on helping clients build purpose into their core business strategies for decades.
As members of the Purpose Collaborative, we agree that we exist beyond profit and have a responsibility to galvanize brands to include positive societal impact in their measures of success. We've long been committed to including people and the planet as business stakeholders, and with the launch of Impact Relations, the timing of our acceptance into the Purpose Collaborative couldn't be better.
Thank you to Carol Cone for inspiring us to push the limits in using business for purpose — we're excited to see what we can achieve with you and our fellow PC members.
B Corp Champion's Retreat 2017
We had an inspiring week at the B Corp Champions Retreat. Being surrounded and inspired by your tribe helps to drive home that the work you do is important and meaningful. We're looking forward to next year already!
Yulu wins "Agency of the Year" at Ragan PR Daily's CSR Awards
We're honored to announce that Yulu was awarded "Agency of the Year" in Ragan's PR Daily CSR Awards.
The CSR Awards are awarded to agencies who use storytelling as a creative tool to champion a cause. They seek to recognize campaigns and organizations that aim to make the world a smarter, safer, healthier, and more sustainable place.
Over the past year, we worked on a number of campaigns tackling issues such as environmental change, social entrepreneurship, and transgender rights. Our client, Genus Fossil Free, has not only been a breakthrough player in fossil-free investing, but also lent a hand to university divestment movements happening all over the country. The Red Bull Amaphiko Academy is an example of how major brands can move smoothly into the social impact space with the intent to uplift those who may not have the resources to do so themselves. And we always turn to the B Corp community when it comes to taking a stand for what's right.
We look to our clients to lead the charge in these areas and are proud to say that we're making a difference by sharing stories that matter.
For more information on our impact in 2016, check out our Impact Report.
Of course, the journey doesn't just end at an award. We asked the team what this award means for the social impact space and what differentiates Yulu from the other fish in the sea. Here's what they said:
"Our ability to think big, bold and strategically helps us develop the greatest impact for our clients. Our consultancy extends beyond the company or organization and looks at how a brand can advance an industry and inspire others to improve standards through authentic communications," says our Managing Director, Clare Hamilton-Eddy. "Winning this award will hopefully allow other communications and CSR practitioners understand what we're doing in the Impact Relations space, and look at how they can do similar – if they're not already. It helps shine a spotlight on an important element of communications and demonstrates how it's evolving. Yulu will continue lead the charge and champion this through our work and networks."
"Yulu is an agency that sees a higher purpose beyond prestige and column inches. It is a rare privilege in modern PR to be able to work with clients and colleagues who want to make a positive social and environmental impact on the world around them. Yulu is at the forefront of championing social innovation and it is great to be recognized by PR Daily in this space." Account Manager Nora Eastwood says.
"Social impact is in our blood," says Director of Client Relations Charlotte Gilmour. "Yulu hosts an Impact Council every two weeks, where we explore one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and in between, we all share 'need to know' news on global issues via our internal chat room. Encouraging the team to learn and keep up to date on these global issues, gives us an edge in our area of specialty – Impact Relations."
While this is a great honour, we know that there's still much to be done in the social impact space. Yulu looks forward to continuing our work with our partners who are committed to using their business as a force for good and sharing their stories. Thank you to Ragan PR Daily for this great honour, here's to another great year.
#2030Now
There are no coincidences. Today at the Mashable Social Good Summit, we learned about the intention and strategy behind the #WeThePeople campaign. We the people thank you, Amplifier, for enabling an entire nation to use art as a catalyst for social change.
Meet the Team | Clare Hamilton-Eddy
If you're looking for#TheMostInteresting(Wo)manInTheWorld, you've found her. Our Managing Director, Clare Hamilton-Eddy is not just a PR expert and strategist, she also has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, is a global traveller (she's been to over 40 countries), and is always seeking out her next adrenaline rush (she's done the world's highest bungee jump and has boarded down a volcano — and she competes frequently in triathlons). An avid member of the community who always remembers to give back, volunteering at both Saint James Music Academy and at Canuck Place, you can find this publicist at her corner desk, having two breakfasts in the morning or two glasses of wine in the evenings.
Clare Hamilton-Eddy, Managing Director
Progressive, purposeful, passionate.
Yulu does an Impact Council every two weeks where a member of the team provides a lunch and learn on an issue relating to one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). What are your SDGs?
Healthcare, zero hunger, and clean water and sanitation.
Why did you pick those SDGs?
I've represented clients in the healthcare PR space and have volunteered in this area for years. It's something that impacts us all personally and there are so many systemic issues that I believe there's a real potential to make a difference – even if it's small to start with.
Connection, community and purpose. Volunteering is a big part of my life. I teach violin on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside at Saint James' Music Academy and volunteer at Canuck Place. These places build community, facilitate connections, and give everyone involved a purpose. Being a small part of this is incredibly rewarding. You can't get much better than that in my opinion.
You can work with any journalist in the world! Who would it be, and why?
I used to be a big fan of John Simpson from the BBC. He was the world affair's editor so had some fascinating not to mention dangerous assignments. He brought such insight and integrity to his news reporting. Something that has become pretty rare these days.
World Housing | Yulu PR House
A while back, we had the privilege of working with World Housing on the first-ever, one-for-one real estate gifting model. For every home sold at one of their World Housing projects, another was constructed and gifted to a family in a developing country. Melissa took a trip to Cambodia to see the company's mandate being carried out on the ground. She was able to witness the positive change socially minded companies can bring to struggling communities.
World Housing is still finding ways to delight us – as a thank-you for helping them share their story with the world, they gifted a home in our honour – Yulu PR House! We're deeply moved. Be sure to check out this amazing organization and the work they're doing in Cambodia and the Philippines.
How to Write a Press Release
What's a press release?
A press release is simply a written statement for the media to pull information and facts from when reporting their story. The terms press release, press release and media release all carry the same meaning and purpose: They are created and issued when a business, organization or individual wants to make an announcement to the media.
When is it appropriate to write and issue a press release
Press releases are created and issued when a company or individual wants to make a significant announcement or news. Examples of what might prompt and qualify the need for a press release include: announcing new products and services; a grand opening or scheduled events; sales accomplishments; changes in the personnel; recent awards; growth of an organization; etc.
How to write a press release:
Start with your news angle: Ask yourself what makes this announcement news worthy or why should anyone care about this? Is your news the first or largest of its kind? Is it an innovative new way of doing things? Is there something surprising or unexpected in your news? Once you have identified that, you have your headline.
State the Facts in the form of the 5 W's: Within the first paragraph, you will want to state the most important of details – what's happened, why it happened, who it happened to, when it happened and where it happened. The order of the five W's would vary based on the news/story.
Quote(s): You will want to include at least one quote from a high-profile member of your organization related to the announcement. In the case of a launch announcement, appropriate sources for quotes would be company founders or current notable customers. The first quote should generally be towards the top of the press release with other quotes towards the end.
Be a resource: At the end of your release, offer the media more details upon request, such as interviews, images, background materials, etc. Items such as images don't need to be included in your press release. Simply include a note stating everything is available upon request works well. When sending photos, give clear direction to the media for photo captions and photo credits.
Press Release Structure:
Headline: Header should be in bold font, centered in the middle of the page and concise.
¶1: Dateline and 5W's: The city and date are listed before the paragraph begins. Following the dateline will be the most important facts of your news, in the form of the 5 W's.
Example: Vancouver, BC – (April 25, 2017) – Starting today (WHEN), businesses, organizations and individuals (WHO) can own a .eco domain, the new dedicated environmental domain extension for people and brands committed to positive change for the planet (WHAT). The .eco domain comes to market (WHERE) following a nine-year collaborative effort from more than 50 environmental non-profits, all with a shared vision to bring a trusted symbol of environmental responsibility to the Internet (WHY – "why" is more optional than the other W's).
¶ 2: Quote: Paragraph two is usually a good place for a spokesperson quote. The quote should be reflective of the news and keep in mind that a quote is a good way for the organization to plug in less factual content and more self-promotional content. It's good to consider how the news makes the quoter feel. i.e."Consumers will recognize .eco as the new global identity for brands and organizations committed to positive environmental change," said Trevor Bowden, co-founder of .eco and Big Room Inc., a certified B Corporation located in Vancouver, BC. "Early .eco domain holders have already inspired a positive ripple effect, encouraging other brands to register and promoting transparency and a new level of accountability in how companies broadcast their social, environmental and CSR mandates."
¶ 3& 4: More background: How this came to be, why it's significant, who it impacts, why readers should care etc. Add background on the news contributor(s) or benefactor(s). In this case, we've added more detail about pricing and logistics, on the background of the .eco domain development, and early adopters.
¶5: Resource and Information Reference: At the end of your release, include a paragraph that offers the media more details upon request, such as interviews, images, background materials, etc.
¶ 6: Boilerplate: Include information on the school. This can be a link or a longer paragraph.
¶End: Media Contact Info: Include your name, title and contact information.
.ECO DOMAIN LAUNCHES WITH SUPPORT OF WWF, CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL, UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, AMONG OTHERS
A new dedicated environmental domain extension for businesses, organizations, and individuals committed to positive change for the planet
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(April 25, 2017) – Starting today, businesses, organizations, and individuals can own a .eco domain, the new dedicated environmental domain extension for people and brands committed to positive change for the planet. The .eco domain comes to market following a nine-year collaborative effort from more than 50 environmental non-profits, all with a shared vision to bring a trusted symbol of environmental responsibility to the Internet.
By registering a .eco web address, brands send a powerful message to consumers about their environmental responsibility and transparency. To activate a .eco domain, users must pledge to support positive change for the planet and list their commitments to environmental action on a public-facing .eco profile. Leading global brands like Tesla, Google and LG have bought .eco domain names, taken the .eco pledge and set up .eco profiles.
"Consumers will recognize .eco as the new global identity for brands and organizations committed to positive environmental change," said Trevor Bowden, co-founder of .eco and Big Room Inc., a certified B Corporation located in Vancouver, BC. "Early .eco domain holders have already inspired a positive ripple effect, encouraging other brands to register and promoting transparency and a new level of accountability in how companies broadcast their social, environmental and CSR mandates."
.eco domain pricing ranges from US $65-$100 annually and is available at more than 60 global domain retailers. To search for .eco domains, visit www.get.eco. Domains will be available today starting at 9am PST.
Over the course of a nine-year campaign to win the .eco domain, the co-founders built a coalition of support among leading environmental organizations that included Green Cross International, founded by former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Other groups applied for the right to operate the .eco domain, granted by ICANN, the global non-profit that coordinates all domain names on the Internet.
The approach of building global community support for .eco greatly contributed to Bowden and co-founder Jacob Malthouse beating out several rivals for the domain, including a group endorsed by Former Vice-President Al Gore. "The support and encouragement we received from the environmental community throughout our journey was humbling and inspiring. We couldn't have asked for better company in taking on the ambitious task of securing the .eco domain," said Malthouse.
Bowden and Malthouse were both staffers of the United Nations Environment Programme before they set out to secure the .eco domain in 2007, after learning many new top-level domains would soon become available.
"We are thrilled to be part of .eco," said Sid Das, Digital Director at WWF International, one of the organizations that endorsed Bowden and Malthouse's bid for .eco. "It's great to see this domain will be maintained by a community that is passionate about the environment."
Big Room Inc. plans to create an independent foundation that will allocate a portion of the sales of .eco domain names to help fund environmental initiatives. Environmental groups will play a key role in ensuring that .eco funds are responsibly distributed.
Sandra Capponi, co-founder of GoodOnYou.eco, an ethical fashion app that helps users find the ethical rating of clothing brands, remarked on the differentiation gained with a .eco domain, stating it "immediately demonstrates our commitment to environmental sustainability."
Other early adopters already using .eco domain names ahead of the global launch include:
Koala, a natural cleaning products company, rebranded to Koala.eco.
Sea Semester, an off-campus environmental studies program, created a landing page for their environmental study initiative at StudyAbroad.eco.
Greenpeace Argentina is using Oceanos.eco as a short, memorable URL to drive attention to a petition from social media and advertising.
Vancity, Canada's largest credit union, is using Vancity.eco as a shortcut to their sustainability section of their website.
Producers of River Blue, a documentary about the fashion industry's impact on the environment, are using RiverBlueTheMovie.eco as their home online.
More information on .eco profiles, .eco champions, and how to purchase a domain, can be found at www.get.eco.
About .eco:
.eco is a new web address ending-known as a top-level domain-for those committed to positive change for the planet. Web addresses using the .eco domain are available to any business, government body, non-profit or individual working toward a sustainable future. The .eco domain is backed by more than 50 environmental organizations including WWF, Conservation International, United Nations Global Compact, NRDC and World Business Council for Sustainable Development and is a trusted symbol for the environmental community. Learn more at www.get.eco.
Yulu Public Relations Inc.
Melissa Orozco
doteco@yulupr.com
Meet the Team | Jenna Kuchinsky
Who's the behind-the-scenes hero at the heart of Yulu? Meet our Operations Manager, Jenna Kuchinsky, who is also head of our Culture Committee and the Queen of Happy Hour. If you've got any questions about the way Yulu is run, Jenna has the answers! Jenna shares with us why she loves Yulu, the issues she's passionate about, and why Oprah is tops in her book.
Jenna Kuchinsky, Operations Manager
Describe Yulu culture in three words.
Collaborative, supportive, forward-thinking.
There have been many, it's difficult to choose! I loved working with GoFundMe, as I was given the opportunity to connect with campaigners around Canada and help them share their stories. It was rewarding to know how appreciative they were of our support. More recently, I'm loving working with Lucky Iron Fish, helping them achieve their mission to reduce iron deficiency worldwide by putting a "Fish in every pot."
Friday Happy Hours. And Christmas tree decorating!
Most rewarding thing so far in your time at Yulu?
Watching Yulu evolve into the purpose-driven agency it is today. It's been an awesome experience learning to identify and own our strength as impact-focused communicators.
What's your impact council SDG?
I have three: No Poverty, Quality Education, and Decent Work & Economic Growth.
"No Poverty" has always been of interest to me, especially since I've started working in Yulu's Gastown office. Every single day I see so many people in need of support and feel helpless, wanting to make a positive impact on their lives. I believe "Quality Education" is an important step to achieving this goal, and therefore was a natural fit. I chose "Decent Work & Economic Growth" because as Yulu's Ops Manager, part of my role is ensuring our HR systems remain in check and meet our high standards as a B Corp company. I enjoy searching for different ways to go above and beyond in this regard, and hope that one day most companies will be driven by these same standards.
Oprah Winfrey! She's amazing and I'd love the chance to even meet her, let alone work with her. My goal is to land a client coverage in O Magazine so I can be one step closer.
Can I say Oprah again? She's overcome a lot to become the huge success she is today. She's authentic, consistent, and everything she does serves a purpose.
Genus Capital becomes a B Corp
We couldn't be prouder of our client Genus Capital, for becoming a certified B Corporation. Welcome aboard! #BTheChange #ForceForGood
National Post | PR as a force for good
Our founder, Melissa had the opportunity to sit down with Tony Wanless of the Financial Post to speak about what it means to use PR as a force for good.
Business as a force for good
PR agency looks at the ethics of the impact
Tony Waneless, Financial Post | 31 Jul 2017
Social enterprise — a socially responsible business — is a growing sector in Canada, as entrepreneurs launch ventures that not only finance operations and provide a profit but also make a social impact.
The trend is growing in all corners of Canada but seems especially popular in British Columbia. According to a study by UBC released in 2015, the province had 1,891 social ventures employing almost 13,000 people, with annual sector earnings of more than $ 500 million. And that was two years ago, when the movement didn't have the oomph it has now.
Of course, it's easy for any company to term itself a social enterprise by simply adding a giving component to its normal profit- making business. But just naming yourself one doesn't make it so. It's more than skin deep.
According to the Monitor Institute, which is part of the global strategy firm Deloitte, a social venture "is an undertaking by a firm or organization established by a social entrepreneur that seeks to provide systemic solutions to achieve a sustainable, social objective." Often they are part-profit undertakings.
Social ventures may be structured in many forms, including sole proprietors, for- profit and not- for- profit firms, non-governmental organizations, youth groups, community organizations and more. A form of social venture company called the B- corporation provides a legal structure for for- profit corporations that have been certified by the Pennsylvania-based B Lab, a non-profit organization itself that encourages the use of business as a force for good.
Social venture numbers are increasing as younger entrepreneurs start businesses that reflect their own values while helping them earn a living, says Melissa Orozco, 33, founder of Yulu Public Relations, an agency based i n Vancouver and New York that works in both countries. It applied for Bcorp certification two years ago.
Like other public relations firms that have turned in varying degrees to supporting social causes, Yulu is moving away from traditional marketing strategies.
Social impact PR is increasingly taking more of presence at Yulu, Orozco says. At her six-year-old company, she says, the category is at "60-40 and growing."
"We felt PR needed some PR," she says. "This evolution of the industry is mandated to transparency, authenticity and no spin. As far as services go, we still do all the things a traditional PR agency does, but we also consult our clients on strategies to increase their social or environmental impact and when possible, we seek to measure our campaigns in metrics that aren't just circulation."
WE FELT PR NEEDED SOME PR.
Orozco discovered she liked helping social enterprises after working with some non-profits. They were, she says, more interesting.
"Social enterprise is hotter now, but when we started ( three years ago), there wasn't much interest in it in boardrooms," she says, adding that although most social enterprise still involves smaller companies, the concept is increasingly filtering i nto bigger c ompanies' thinking.
The Yulu impact relations team is attuned to the concept of socially responsible investing, especially after helping several companies that were early to the field, Orozco says.
Typically, social investors look for companies involved in social justice, environmental sustainability and alternative energy or clean technology. Investments are usually made through socially conscious mutual funds or exchange-traded funds.
enso's #RightToLiteracy Summit
They say it takes a village. Earlier this week at our client enso's #RightToLiteracy summit, all participants had the privilege of learning and brainstorming solutions to push for the constitutional right to literacy.
At the welcome dinner, attendants were only able to read their menu after combining it with the menu of someone else in the community. Such a beautifully executed (and super creative) way to provoke empathy among dinner guests.
Melissa Orozco on Social Impact PR | Let's Give A Damn
Our friend Nick Laparra hosts a social impact podcast called Let's Give A Damn, where he speaks with people doing things because they saw a need and gave a damn about it. Check out Chapter 14 to listen to Yulu founder Melissa Orozco's episode on social impact PR.
Sustainable Brands Detroit 2017
Here's Melissa with the woman of the hour: Koann, the founder of the Sustainable Brands conference. After 10 years, her two sons are in the audience for the first time in her career.
A new dedicated environmental domain extension for businesses, organizations and individuals committed to positive change for the planet
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – April 25, 2017) – Starting today, businesses, organizations and individuals can own a .eco domain, the new dedicated environmental domain extension for people and brands committed to positive change for the planet. The .eco domain comes to market following a nine-year collaborative effort from more than 50 environmental non-profits, all with a shared vision to bring a trusted symbol of environmental responsibility to the Internet.
Media Relations Contacts:
Ryland Haggis / Melissa Orozco
Yuluites attend Women's March in Vancouver
To think that something this big came out of a Facebook event created by one person trying to make a difference. There's always time to share a story – or maybe 15,000.
Today, Yuluites attended the Women's March in Vancouver, a peaceful protest organized across the world in support of the Women's March on Washington in reaction to President Trump's perceived views on female, minority, and LGBTQ rights and threats to defund planned parenthood.
Yulu launches Impact Council
In true Yulu fashion, we started at the top and went to the United Nations for inspiration. Yulu's Impact Council had its first meeting today, where each team member selected a Sustainable Development Goal they would like to champion through research & knowledge sharing.
Yulu's Impact Report 2016
Happy new year, everyone! Social impact PR agency
Yulu has been laser-focused this year on becoming a social impact PR agency inside and out, making sure we're as authentic to our vision, mission and mandate as possible. As a result, we've worked on some pretty amazing campaigns, found kindred spirits among the B Corp community, and reaffirmed that the opportunity to make a difference in this space is always there, and always growing.
Instead of a Christmas card, we sent out a 2016 Impact Report to our Yulu friends and family, containing our highlights from the year. In 2017, we have big plans for making an even bigger impact (which translates to big plans for growth)! We're looking forward to meeting and helping even more brands share the stories that matter this year.
BREAKING NEWS: Christmas on schedule for 2015
Santa and elves vow to persevere despite year of hardship
NORTH POLE  – After a year of upheaval in the North Pole, Santa Claus today announced, in a news conference organized by Yulu PR, that Christmas will indeed go ahead as planned.
The decision comes after a series of setbacks, including a strike by elf workers on the toy line in April during a gluten-free cookie shortage that paralyzed Santa's Workshop. A close source (Prancer) later disclosed that the elves weren't in fact allergic to gluten, but were all late converts to the Wheat Belly philosophy and were trying to stay trim for New Year's Eve.
The unexpected sinking of part of Claus' workshop due to the adverse effects of climate change on its ice-based foundation also put Christmas in jeopardy — the organization is hopeful world leaders at COP21 will take meaningful steps to combat climate change so it doesn't have to relocate to Michigan.
Adding insult to injury, The North Pole suffered a major loss of brand equity in November when Starbucks removed almost all traces of Christmas from its coffee cups.
"Despite a slew of challenges this year, Santa is coming to town," insisted Claus. "We know it's been an especially tough year for the children of the world. They shouldn't have to just settle for festive spirit and goodwill to all  they deserve presents as well!"
Though tabloid pictures of North West's mommy kissing Santa Claus surfaced on TMZ, Claus asserted that all is still merry under the marital mistletoe with his wife of 900 years, Mrs. Martha H. Claus.
"There won't be a Kermit and Miss Piggy debacle happening with us," Claus insisted, adding that the Clauses were not interested in meeting Kermit's new girlfriend just yet.
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper was spotted at the North Pole in late October, purportedly lobbying on behalf of the coal industry for the expansion of the Naughty List. Santa refuted that he had been successful, but did let slip that Kim Davis and Donald Trump would be receiving particularly large lumps of the stuff for their divisive, fear-mongering ways.
Santa and his crew will set off to deliver gifts, Christmas cheer, even a few lumps of coal on December 24.
Happy holidays from the Yulu crew. Let your friends know you saw it here first – Christmas is on schedule this year!
How to Use Periscope: Beyond the FAQ
Periscope, a new-ish social media platform recently acquired by Twitter, is really fun to use. It started making waves when people Periscoped the Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match (bypassing the $100 pay-per-view fee), as well as scenes from the Baltimore riots.
Livestreaming is nothing new, but most of us, Yulu included, are still figuring out how to use Periscope and Meerkat. Our social media team has been getting excited over Periscope the past couple of weeks. We watched as Pope Francis arrived in Philly, narrated by a USA Today journalist, and talks at Deepak Chopra Centre in California.
There are a lot of things you don't find out about Periscope until you take if for a spin. Luckily, it's a fairly forgiving social media platform: your broadcasts stay on the platform for 24 hours, it's up to you if you want to archive it on YouTube for longer, and you can always re-broadcast and attract a new following.
Yulu piloted Periscope in two completely different settings: a design conference and a David Suzuki keynote on the environment and economy. Here's what we learned in our first two broadcasts.
Plan for a short stream – no longer than half an hour
Periscope lends itself to short streams, about half an hour or so. Definitely not for a three-hour event, unless you have explicit permission for your exact setup from the venue's security, your phone is plugged into the wall and you have your full five bars of WiFi.
While we were allowed to film at the event, you weren't allowed to put anything on the balcony, where we had set up the camera's "tripod" (a water bottle that supported the phone upright). We switched to holding the phone up, which got fairly tiring. However, we had a good number of viewers on the stream, so we wanted to keep them happy.
After threatening for a few minutes during the beginning of the event, the spotty WiFi finally cut off our broadcast. And it's just as well, because the phone we were using had gone from 100% to 20% battery life in an hour. We wouldn't have made it through the entire event.
Use descriptive, conversational names for your broadcast
When we Periscoped at IDSWest to support Kabuni's app release, Romila and Esther filmed their booth's activation. We titled it "Holographic tech at IDSWest!" hoping the catchiness would get more bites. We did get a few viewers throughout our half an hour.
Kabuni had a Holus display at their booth, as well as Natalie Langston filming a promotional video for Kabuni. When we did a later walkthrough of the conference after touching base at the booth, Romila and Esther switched over to Yulu PR's account and took viewers through one of Canada's largest design showcases – "Touring IDSWest interior design conference" That one did a little better and we had more engaged viewers that sent over compliments and questions.
Because your broadcast name is also tweeted wholesale and pushed to your Twitter timeline, it's better to be descriptive with keywords rather than coming up with something artistic or cool — think the style of AirBnB listings or reddit threads.
Read your settings carefully
Once you start your broadcast, you can't change the settings mid-way through. So when you're naming your broadcast, take note of the three icons underneath it as they're not set up in the most intuitive way.
Tapping on the first icon shares the location of your stream more precisely. The second one, if turned on (icon is white), limits the people who can chat with you live. If turned off (icon is grey), then everyone can send in their questions.
We watched a stream of three friends drinking and taking questions from their audience for truth or dare. Even though they had 20 live viewers at the time, they'd forgotten to set their broadcast to take questions from everyone, not just their followers, and it was a frustrating few minutes (for them and us) wondering why no one was asking anything.
"We can't play truth or dare if you don't ask anything, guys! This isn't fun," one of them said, face right up in the camera. Yeah, it wasn't fun, so they lost our eyeballs.
Conclsion: there is demand
For someone who doesn't watch livestreams, it's very difficult to imagine why anyone else would. The video and audio quality is bad, you don't always get entertained, you're not necessarily watching someone you know and you're subject to the mistakes of someone learning as they go.
Yet, there seems to be something about that shared experience of "It's happening for all of us right now" that appeals to people. There's huge demand for livestreaming. When we announced we would be streaming Rethinking Economics on its Facebook event and Twitter, we had 95 people tune in over the course of an hour.
While we won't be officially offering Periscope services, we love learning how to wield new social media tools and new ways of sharing stories. How have you used Periscope? Do you have a livestream coming up soon? Let us know if we should tune in and get in touch with our social media team: esther@yulupr.com.
Our Unsexy Story
Our founder Melissa Orozco, will be speaking at SociaLIGHT this Saturday on how Yulu found success through being a cause-based agency and a B Corporation, and a big idea she's seen work: "Impact Relations." To add to the celebration, we have 5 tickets to give away to SociaLIGHT. For a chance to win, tag us in a post with your story or perspective on what it means to leave this world better than you found it
Here's a shot of Melissa sharing our unsexy story in her sexy voice (aka she lost her voice) at SociaLIGHT. All jokes aside, she gave a passionate speech on why companies/CEOs don't need an enticing, sexy story attached to their impact in order to gain attention. Just keep it real, be authentic, and do what you feel is right, not what sounds cool.
White Wash: a Diner en Blanc Dressing Down
Guest blog by Dan Reitman (@thewordshow).
Pictured are Dan's custom-made shoes for Diner en Blanc.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are those of our copywriter and do not reflect the opinions of YULU PR, except for the part about his looking good in white – hot damn, does he ever look good in white.)
I am a romantic at heart and, when the Netflix queue is empty and nobody wants to go drinking with me, I will float the idea to my girlfriend that we "head out" and "do something." Those bold moves are why she keeps me around, and also how we recently came to attend our first Diner En Blanc.
Really, it was my sweet girlfriend's idea, not mine; having bought the tickets and organized everything, but the point is we were both keen and had cleaned up real nice-like, looking forward to a classy evening.
I didn't know much about Diner En Blanc, only that it was an annual event and that I'd seen groups of Vancouverites wearing all-white around this time of year before, and I was certainly curious what was up with that. I also like trying new things and how I look in white linen (like a stud) so I'll happily use any excuse to rock it.
My French is rusty but I think "Diner En Blanc" loosely translates to "Dinner With Fedoras," or possibly "Aryan Picnic." What I learned for certain is it is indeed an annual soiree, with an all-white dress code, and where invitees converge on an outdoor meeting spot to dine and revel al fresco, all while kicking back to old-timey French jams.
The idea is to commune with your friends and strangers alike, taking in the good vibes and visual feast of an all-white P.Diddy Hamptons garden party or I guess a Klan rally, but more likely something in between. The whole thing is essentially a big fancy picnic, only you are asked to pay retail for alcohol and to wear white, and you are not necessarily in a green space but, as in our case this year, a concrete superstructure. So maybe a much worse version of a picnic in the park then — but hang on, that's maybe unfair; maybe read on and decide for yourself.
Everything at DEB is BYO: food, chairs, tables, even your floral table centrepieces, if you want to class things up, as we did. I'm going to go ahead and write that again: you are required to bring your own tables and centrepieces to a dinner that you paid for.
That may not seem absurd, necessarily, until you find yourself on the Skytrain, dressed like the Glad Man's idiot half-brother, hauling your fancy cold cuts and garden furniture through crowds of commuters, who've had long days at work and just want to get home and, jesus, who's the sweaty creep-o in the white 3-piece suit, blocking our exit with a picnic table?
But the upside, you would figure, is at least the event is free, because everything is BYO and getting there is a chore, and you would of course be mistaken. Tickets were $75/couple, and if that seems excessive for a BYO outdoor event for hopelessly vain, creatively vacant lemmings (myself included), then I would say you need a more positive attitude, buddy, because that's just your opinion and probably mine as well.
Actually, there was one thing that was not BYO: booze. It had to be purchased on site, which was unfortunate, because the DEB wine queue was so absurdly long that you could have effectively "fallen off the wagon" and gotten back on again several times, awaiting your chance to purchase your own $40 bottle of Stumbling Meerkat or whatever.
Speaking of long waits, the event really began before we'd even arrived at the secret venue. We first needed to assemble at one of the pre-venue meeting points – understandably a part of the logistics of trying to corral some 4000 attendees into any one location – which, in our case, was the Broadway/Cambie Skytrain parking lot.
We were in that lot for over an hour, waiting for the organizers to give us the venue information. There we were, some three hundred of us, dressed to the nines, confused and sweltering in the August heat. I know what you're wondering and the answer is, yes, we did look like 300 losers who'd come to the collective realization they'd been stood up by their prom dates.
At least my date and I had cheese and smuggled cocktails to take the edge off and I'll be honest, they did do the perfect job of passing the time. Taking down a Brie wheel and some homemade firewater, perched on a parking median, was definitely the classiest loitering and open container-ing we'd done in a while, and it was, truthfully, a lot of fun — no thanks to Diner En Blanc.
When we finally received our instructions, we re-boarded the Skytrain and made our way to the mystery venue, Canada Place or, more accurately, the two levels of exterior balconies of Canada Place. You are probably thinking that is a really dumb place for a big picnic and, of course, you would be right. Canada Place is a convention centre in Coal Harbour and, functionally and architecturally, it resembles a cruise ship. That means the balconies are really just long, narrow walkways.
The whole idea of having a white-themed party, I would think, is having everyone in one big mass of white, reveling together in a big open space – maybe a nice green park or meadow, where the verdant splendour perfectly complements one's sartorial finery, or in my case one's linen shirt and tennis shorts.
No, instead, the groups were segregated into small sections of narrow, multi-storey walkways. It made little sense. It took us a half hour to find our designated set-up spaces for our tables. Once we sat down, set up our table and were amongst our group, it was nice; all white roses, you might say. The dinner my girlfriend had prepared was lovely, and were with our friends. It was like we had oh, I don't know, organized our own dinner.
But we just couldn't figure it out – where had our money gone? What had we paid for, exactly, besides the opportunity to tell others we had attended Diner En Blanc?
Sure, there were some hints of entertainment that were included in the price: there was jazz music piping through the speakers near our table. There was a stilt-walker and unicyclist duo that greeted us at the entrance.
There was also, believe it or not, a couple who had their wedding ceremony at the event. That was an odd choice. I sincerely wish the bride and groom all the happiness in the world. But I also felt bad for them, because it surely must have been an anti-climactic setting.
At one point, the wedding officiant, who was also the event's MC, name-checked Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in his speech, because why the fuck not, right? The whole thing was terribly cheesy and ill-conceived; it was, to be fair, consistent with the whole evening.
We were also handed out sparklers at one point, for some temporary ambience I guess, and there was an opportunity to take selfies with this poor bastard:
Probably-not-magical promo-corn for selfies? Sure, fuck it, why not.
Alright, alright. So it was an ill-conceived, poorly executed event. And yet, burning, like so many of those WTF Dollar Store sparklers, lay the question: where's the actual problem here? What am I really complaining about? Am I actually that much of an entitled, narcissistic prick to be complaining about the most First World of all First World problems; an entitled yuppie didn't like his night out? Boo-fucking-hoo, right?
Well, no. I mean, yes, I am a bit of a prick but, no, for starters, we did have a nice time in spite of DEB, so that wasn't the problem. The part that was left up to DEB was a rip-off – and that is my point, friends, because my concern is no one else who attended will have the guts to admit it was a failure of an event and a dumb way to blow $75. Because nobody likes admitting they did something stupid.
But I'll say it: I was stupid. I do stupid stuff all the time, and this was another one of those times. I had FOMO and I thought we needed to go and we really, really did not need to go.
No, the reason I've written this is because Diner En Blanc will no doubt be back next year, trying to convince at least 4000 of us to part with our cash; convincing us that they're offering up a magical experience, and that is simply not what was on offer. There is nothing magical about contrived BYO ambience or that poor slave-pony pooping on non-magical woodchips ten feet away from your dinner table.
No, the only magic was in the organizers' powers of persuasion, but hopefully I've convinced you that that particular white-robed emperor has no clothes. You'd be far better served giving your money away to charity, or hosting your own swanky picnic, or indulging yourself with an alarmingly brief Kit & Ace shopping spree — whatever, just please don't enable a repeat of this sideshow.
And yet, I've got no hard feelings for Diner En Blanc. They are, at the end of the day, a private enterprise and they managed to convince us they were worth it. I'm a free-market kind of guy, and I might even say there's something to be admired in how the organizers managed to persuade us to blow $40-a-head on a BYO-everything event; have us believe we participated in something meaningful. To paraphrase Ron Burgundy, upon discovering his dog had eaten a whole wheel of cheese (as we did in the parking lot); "we're not even mad at Diner En Blanc – they're amazing."
So caveat emptor, or perhaps caveat pooping fake unicorn; learn from our mistake. Diner En Blanc fooled us, but here's hoping they won't fool you.
Dan Reitman is a copywriter living in Vancouver and creator of the Word Show. He likes trying new stuff, speaks passable French, and will polish off a Brie wheel in under an hour. Have something to say? Reach him at danreitman@gmail.com.
Networking events don't have to exclude introverts.
Talking to strangers can be hard work. Yulu's community cultivator Esther crowdsourced a few tips from friends and colleagues on how we could organize socials to be more accessible for introverts, or even anyone who might have limited energy to strike up a connection after a long day at work. On Wednesday we had an opportunity to see some of these practices and tips in motion when we gathered local B Corps on our rooftop for the B Corp summer social. Have a read and let us know what you think, or better yet, please share with us any tips or practices you might find helpful in these situations. Here it is in our latest blog post. (For anyone who's wondering, Ashley's name tag reads "Ask me about Drake.")
Yulu's B Social Report + Networking Events Don't Have to Exclude Introverts…How and Why?
On Wednesday, we gathered local B Corps and friends, then took to the rooftop of our building for sangria and snacks. In lieu of the usual monthly morning meet that B Lab hosts, we took over with a summer social for August.
The night before B Social, Esther posed a question to her Facebook friends: "how can I design the space and time of events to be more accessible for people who don't have a lot of social energy to spare?" Originally, she just said 'introverts', but she also wanted to think beyond personality. She wants to organize events for Yulu, and all her passion projects, that are emotionally accessible for people who have social anxiety; extroverts who might shine in group conversation but struggle to make real connections with strangers; or people who are plain tired by their work week but attend out of some small obligation to themselves or others.
Here are some thoughts our community cultivator (Esther) on things we ought to consider when planning our next event, social, gala, dinner party, etc. The goal ultimately is to create a welcoming environment for anyone.
"Books and articles about attending events for introverts often revolve around self-care for the introverts in question. While we're well-equipped to identify the problems, there's still a lack of solutions. While I'm no stranger to organizing events, from small meetups to micro-festivals, they're always planned with my personality archetype in mind. But if I'm designing events for one half of the personality spectrum, then I'm not fulfilling my role as an organizer. So here's some crowdsourced answers from questions I posed on Facebook this week: "how can I design the space and time of events to be more accessible for people who don't have a lot of social energy to spare?"
From G, introvert: Introductions. I either talk to people I already know, or leave if I don't know anyone. My friend was a pro at introducing people to people and it helped so much. Figure out an easy way to introduce people to people and introverts will be thankful.
From J, introvert: If I can stand and listen to people talk without looking like a creepy weirdo, I'm in my happy place. Drinks are good for that (alcoholic or not, really – it's a thing to put in your hand); knowing anyone else there helps; something to look at is a HUGE help. Things on screens that are not cell phone screens are great, because they make screen-watching social, and can be muted!
And Y, an extrovert: Put little stickers to write their name, and another sticker to write their topic of interest, or what they're good at, or what they're looking for, to visually identify if someone's a waste of time and energy (or not). "Ah what a unique name. Hey I happen to be a cat-lover as well, I have 17 at home."
While I couldn't find a screen on such short notice, I consciously introduced new guests to my colleagues and warmed them up to speak on camera, which went over well. I also added an "Ask me about _____" part to our nametags (which the Vinetta Showcase later that night also did – validation!). The suggestion from Y, the extrovert, had some interesting mixed results. It seemed to produce a bit of anxiety over it, from changing their name tags multiple times to the slightly odd way of question-asking that it produces. "So, cheeseburgers, eh?"
We asked people on-camera what being part of a B Corp meant to them. I said it meant seeing the value in values, and finding like-minded folks – the first step to any good five year plan for world domination."
We'll post the results from the footage soon. In the meantime, here's a few more snapshots from the day.
We've really jumped in headfirst with building the B Corporation community in Vancouver. We hosted Flipside Creative, a young, quirky, creative agency that's scrapped offices for a year and work remotely most of the time. They'll converge on a different spot in the city every Wednesday, and a few weeks ago, it was at our offices. Veronica and Sadie brought us doughnuts from Cartem's and told us about Createathon, which they're doing this year.
Please feel free to leave a comment or email me or Esther with your thoughts: melissa@yulupr.com / esther@yulupr.com.
"It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it matters only that you love" — John Lennon
Happy Pride Day, Vancouver!
Big Bros Barbershop | Yulu Cares
"Beyond the binary": Jessie and his partner recreate the 1993 Vanity Fair cover with K.D Lang and Cindy Crawford for WestEnder's Pride cover. Jessie is the owner of Big Bros Barbershop and one of our #yulucares clients. We thought Jessie was holding a smartphone, but it's actually a mirror. Oh, 2015.
We're glad to have helped trans people be represented in the media during Pride week. We are reminded that trans women fought back at Stonewall in 1969 too, without which there might not be Pride parades around the world this year.
You can support his GoFundMe campaign at gofundme.com/bigbrosbarbershop as well.
More coverage here:
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/07/transgender-barbershop-vancouver/
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2015/07/08/vancouver-barber-eyes-transgender-friendly-shop
http://www.westender.com/lifestyles/pride-2015/beyond-the-binary-1.2015789
"The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire."
― Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point
Its Easy To Be Different But Difficult To Be Better
Category : Multi Purpose , Uncategorized
Event Planning / Media Relations for INTERFACE 2013 Digital Health Summit
Great media response for this year's INTERFACE 2013 Digital Health Summit. #DHS2013 #YuluGold #conferencePR
Creative minds in digital health gather for the second annual INTERFACE 2013 Summit
Strong speaker line-up discuss health IT, digital health and the future of medicine
VANCOUVER, BC (October 3, 2013) – Starting October 9, 2013, Sanotron will hold its second annual INTERFACE 2013 International Digital Health Summit at the Vancouver Convention Centre. The three-day conference is designed to engage creative minds in digital health from around the world. INTERFACE 2013 will be comprised of registrants who have an interest in health IT, digital health and the future of medicine. The summit will feature keynote speeches, breakout sessions and other presentations by international thought leaders in these fields. This year's theme is the future of health: Smartphones, wearable health technology, sensors and big data.
"This year's conference will offer an incredible speaker line-up, a fresh and innovative agenda, and networking opportunities for the health and technology sectors that didn't previously exist," said executive producer Michael Bidu. "My vision is to make INTERFACE a global event and to transform Vancouver into Canada's capital of digital health innovation. We truly believe that with this impressive gathering of the minds, we can make healthcare better."
INTERFACE 2013 will feature more than 40 speakers and panelists, along with 20 of the most innovative digital health and wellness companies in North America. Notable speakers include Dr. Douglas Clement from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, Dr. Steven Steinhubl from Scripps Translational Science Institute, and Don Jones from Qualcomm Life.
Attendees can look forward to keynote speeches on exciting topics such as a nano pill that travels through the bloodstream transmitting signals via mobile app; video games that make healthcare both fun and functional for sick children; a digital table designed to engage seniors in technology, which also monitoring their health; and tele-health for remote populations, among others.
INTERFACE 2013 will also include a World Innovation DEMO Day, a Venture Investment Forum, a Networking Marketplace, an Awards Show and many more opportunities to connect with some of the brightest minds in digital health.
Other speakers and companies attending the summit include: Arna Ionescu with Proteus Digital Health; Michael Fergusson with Ayogo Health; Jack Young with Qualcomm Life Health Fund; Sonny Vu with Misfit Wearables; Nadeem Kassam with Basis Science and BioBeets; Geof Auchinlek with Claris Technologies; and Terry McBride with Yyoga.
To learn more about the event or to register, please visit: www.interfacesummit.com
INTERFACE 2013 is produced by SANOTRON, Canada's first technology accelerator focused entirely on digital health solutions that can dramatically reduce costs, significantly improve user experience and quality of life, create new jobs and opportunities, and build a sustainable healthcare system in Canada and worldwide. This is Sanotron's second annual summit.
Media Contact: Melissa Orozco; Melissa@yulupr.com; M 778-320-9265; O 604-558-1656
Happy Birthday, Ashley!
HBD Jenna!!
Yulu Takes Claris Companion Tech Startup on NYC & TO Media Tour
Claris Companion, a digital tablet designed specifically for seniors who aren't comfortable with technology, recruited Yulu to launch its technology to the press. The new device helps busy families and caregivers keep in touch with seniors and monitor their wellbeing in a non-invasive way, regardless of the distance.
Yulu planned a full PR launch strategy (case study here), which included an action packed media deskside tour. Tour highlights and photos below!
Yulu's media relations efforts resulted in an audience reach of 30 million in 30 days. Within two months of beginning outreach, we secured coverage in WIRED, The New York Times, Fast Company, CNET, The Huffington Post, New York Daily News, Reader's Digest, and the majority of all major Canadian outlets.
Digital Tablet Curbs Social Isolation for Seniors who are Skeptical of Technology
Claris Healthcare launches technology designed to connect families with their aging parents while promoting wellness and aging in place
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Vancouver, BC – May 7, 2013 – Today, Claris Healthcare announced the launch of Claris Companion, a digital tablet designed specifically for seniors who aren't comfortable with technology. The new device helps busy families and caregivers keep in touch with seniors and monitor their wellbeing in a non-invasive way, regardless of the distance.
"We're living in an age when most families use some form of digital technology to communicate, whether it's email, text, video chat or social media," said Geof Auchinleck, co-founder and CEO of Claris Healthcare. "Unfortunately many seniors are left out of the conversations because they're not comfortable with or unable to use technology. This can lead to social isolation."
Auchinleck created the Companion keeping in mind his 92-year-old mother who struggles with her television remote control. He designed it so family members or caregivers could control how the device works through a secure, easy-to-use website. Features and alerts can be set remotely by selecting from a few simple options. Once personalized, the Companion automatically displays new family photos, email and texts, as well as medication reminders, wellness surveys and exercise videos. Family members can also receive check-in and "call me" notifications – keeping them apprised of their loved one's daily activity and wellbeing.
Unlike other computers, tablets or devices, Claris Companion was designed specifically for seniors who may not be comfortable with technology by combining the familiar aesthetics of both a 1950's TV and bamboo picture frame. Functionally, seniors find it easy to use because of the large buttons and text, amplified speakers, and hassle-free charging dock. The Companion comes pre-programed so there is no need for the user to do any configuration or setup upon receiving the device.
"For older adults, failing to adhere to medication and treatment protocols is one of the leading causes of avoidable visits to the emergency room," said Paul Sharman, co-founder and COO of Claris Healthcare. "We believe the Companion has the ability to not only engage seniors socially but provide them with a healthcare platform that helps improve medication compliance, prolonging their independence and allowing them to age in place."
Studies have shown social isolation among seniors is associated with increased rates of depression and can lead to a shorter lifespan. In fact, those over the age of 65 consistently rank relationships with family and friends second only to health as the most important area of life. Claris Companion aims to address both of these issues by connecting generations and improving the wellbeing of seniors by promoting self-managed care. For more information visit: www.clariscompanion.com.
About Claris Healthcare: Claris Healthcare was founded with the goal of enabling seniors to increase connectivity with loved ones while limiting unnecessary hospital admissions. In order to achieve this goal, Claris Healthcare designs technology that shifts the typical care pathway for seniors living on their own from an ambulance ride destined for an emergency room to a preventative and interactive healthcare approach centered on overall patient wellbeing. After extensive consultation with health care workers, home care providers, retirement home operators, hospital physicians, community physicians, seniors and family members to discover what could be done to ensure seniors are able to live independently, we developed Claris Companion™, an innovative communication appliance that helps promote self-managed care for seniors in their homes and enable a more appropriate escalation of care including visual consultations via video conferencing to ensure they are not unnecessarily admitted to hospital.
Media Relations Contact:
melissa@yulupr.com
Yulu Launches ClearlyContacts.ca Retail Location on Robson Street
Canadian e-retailer ClearlyContacts.ca is slated to open its first Canadian retail location on Robson Street, Vancouver's premium shopping district. The move comes in response to a shift by online retailers toward a hybrid model – continuing to maintain a strong online presence while opening brick-and-mortar locations where customers can interact with both company and product.
Through traditional PR and influencer relations plan, Yulu planned the successful event and secured top-tier press for store opening events in both markets including: CBC, Global National, Entertainment Tonight Canada, The Marilyn Denis Show, Breakfast Television Vancouver, The Beat 94.5, Marketing Magazine, PROFIT, BC Business, Chatelaine, FASHION, Canadian Press, Sun Media, the Vancouver Sun, Yahoo! Canada, The Huffington Post, Notable.ca, Retail Insider and Vancity Buzz. The store opening campaigns reached more than 30 million people Canada wide.
Summary: The Globe and Mail offers the most authoritative news in Canada, featuring national and international news.
UMV: 3,900,000Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/clearlycontacts-sets-its-sight-on-bricks-and-mortar-retail/article14505474/Clearlycontacts sets its sight on bricks and mortar retail
Roger Hardy isn't afraid to be a disruptive retailer
When Roger Hardy looks at the next big opportunity for Coastal Contacts Inc., the online eyewear retailer, he looks at real estate—physical stores with front doors, signs and cash registers, the sort of overhead that e-commerce once eschewed. Coastal Contacts, which operates as ClearlyContacts.ca in Canada, opened its first domestic store—on Robson Street in Vancouver—earlier this year as little more than an experiment. It proved so successful that Hardy, the company's founder and CEO, has now set his sights on opening one or two stores in every major retail centre across Canada.
"Initially we thought we would open a store as a lab," or a way to learn about our customers, he says. "But one of our big beliefs is that retailers are really going to need to serve customers wherever they want to be served"—via computers or smartphones or in traditional stores.
If the expansion from e-commerce to old-school commerce looks like a step back—online retailing is set to rise by 13% this year, according to Forrester Research, while traditional retailing struggles—consider that the move taps in to a rising trend. Apple opened its first retail outlets more than a decade ago, as a way to deal directly with customers, and now has more than 400 stores around the world. More recently, online jewellery retailer BaubleBar, online clothing retailers Piperlime and Bonobos, and eyewear retailer Warby Parker have opened stores, either to sell or showcase their wares. For Coastal Contacts, the expansion is driven by similar motives, but with a potentially far sweeter upside.
It has been selling corrective eyewear online since 2000—around the time when Pets.com raised more than $80 million (U.S.) in an initial public offering, defining the excesses of the dotcom bubble when it failed soon after its public debut. Hardy's business plan was far more realistic: He saw huge markups on contact lenses and could see that the Internet offered a leaner way to serve a market that was bound to thrive with an aging population.
So far, so good. With its eyewear selling at a discount of 20% to 70% compared with regular retailers, the company says it is the source of one of every five contact lens sales in Canada and one in 10 pairs of eyeglasses. Worldwide revenue—Coastal also sells to customers in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan—is expected to hit $225 million this year, up from $196 million in 2012. Although contact lenses represent about 76% of sales, eyeglass sales are growing faster.
Ongoing success means trying something new, though. Orders shipped by Coastal Contacts grew less than 5% in 2012, to 2.3 million, suggesting that consumers still gravitate toward independent operations and small chains for their eyewear needs. Hardy hopes that his Canadian store rollout—adding to locations already opened in Sweden—will disrupt that behaviour: Stores not only provide direct feedback from existing customers but will also give the company access to new customers who are nervous about entering detailed prescription data in the order form or want to try on frames. The company's scale of operations, with huge sales, in-house brands and its own automated manufacturing equipment in Canada, Sweden and the U.S., means that even traditional stores can replicate online discounts.
"We have a large-scale advantage over those mom-and-pop shops," Hardy says. While might sell three-to-five pairs of eyeglasses a day, Coastal has the capacity to manufacture 12,000 pairs a day. Typically, the company handles 4,000 orders for contact lenses a day. While prices are lower, Coastal generates gross north of 40% (although steep marketing costs are leading to annual losses).
Its store in Vancouver has been generating sales above $2,000 per square foot of retail space—in line with yoga-wear retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. But the goal isn't to transform Coastal Contacts into a traditional retailer. Hardy calls the store concept a "communication vehicle": Big sales suggest that the word is getting out.
Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC) event at Red Mountain
Great media turnout at Red Mountain Resort for the Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC) event! #ShredTheLove
RED Mountain to launch B4BC Shred for Love
Women's ski and ride benefit set for February 2, 2013
Rossland, BC, November 15, 2012 – RED Mountain and Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC) are pleased to announce Shred For Love, a ski and snowboard benefit event at RED Mountain Resort in Rossland, BC.
The event is an inclusive ski and ride day where RED Mountain Resort will donate 50 per cent of its day ticket revenue to help raise funds for several of B4BC's initiatives, including scholarships through the Survivorship Fund to ReTreat Yourself, a yoga, ski and snowboard retreat for women who have been affected by breast cancer. Activities at RED that day will include ski and snowboard demos as well as breast cancer screening information booths. Top skiers and snowboarders including Megan Pischke, Kendra Starr and professional skier Kasha Rigby will be in attendance. The day will end with an après ski party at Rafter's bar with a national recording artist performing.
Shred for Love is open to all who want to help raise funds for breast cancer by skiing at RED that day. The event will also include raffles of top ski and snowboard gear and drink specials in the bar that will help raise funds for B4BC.
Boarding for Breast Cancer will spend a percentage of the funds in the Rossland/Trail community, where they were raised. RED hopes to make Shred for Love an annual event. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
Shred for Love is one of several Women's Week (insert dates here) activities at RED Mountain Resort. Women's ski and snowboard camps from top women's snow sports athletes will also be taking place.
About Boarding for Breast Cancer: B4BC is a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing education, prevention and support programs for young people and the action sports community at large. Through grassroots events, year-round educational outreach and the Survivorship Fund, B4BC is able to further its mission of promoting early detection, plus a healthy, active lifestyle as the best means of breast cancer prevention. B4BC aims to eliminate breast cancer deaths in present and future generations by arming young people with the tools necessary to reduce their risks and lead longer, healthier lives.About RED Mountain: RED Mountain is located in Rossland, BC, a scenic mining town dating back to 1897. It is the oldest ski area in Western Canada and the last great, undiscovered resort in North America. With five peaks to explore, 1685 skiable acres inbounds, and over 25 ft of snowfall per year, RED Mountain Resort is the ultimate ski destination on BC's famous powder highway. Forbes named Red Mountain a top 10 resort, while The New York Times rated RED as one of the top three mountains for advanced skiers.
Media Contact: Please direct media inquiries to Melissa Orozco at melissa@yulupr.com | 604-558-1656
Sending out our media drops for Happy Planet this week
What are your thoughts about the new branding?
Happy birthday Yulu, it's been a pleasure watching you grow!
Yulu turns 1 today!
Eco Fashion Week Vancouver – Part 1
To launch our week-long blog series on Eco Fashion Week Vancouver, we spoke to California designer Linda Wong, co-founder of The Battalion. Wong creates modern, edgy, comfort driven clothes, crafted for the woman who is never satisfied with being mainstream, a true bohemian with an eternal quest for personal style. All of the products she designs are made with a perceptive eye, relentless taste and a mission: to make our world a better place.
Yulu: In your opinion, what qualifies as eco-fashion?
LW: Eco fashion is a movement. I like to see it as a creative and exciting way to persuade citizens to take action on issues of ecological concerns. For example, The Battalion has two main causes. One is the use of pesticides in soil. Two, is animal cruelty in fur trade. We vow to create the most beautiful garments in bamboo/pro-modal fabrics, dead stock/recycled fabric, and faux fur. With company donations to related environmental groups and blog post that encourage votes on green policies on our Facebook page, we hope to inspire our customers to do the right thing.
Yulu: Who are some of your favorite eco-friendly designers?
LW: Christopher Raeburn – He is superbly creatively. He uses army surplus materials to craft his collection. Stella McCartney is our hero. She only uses faux leather and faux fur in her ultra luxurious line.
Yulu: Can we expect to see big fashion houses incorporating eco-friendly fabrics and practices into their operations in the near future?
LW: I think many luxury fashion houses already do. Ultimately, fashion only works if the goods that are offered are on trend. The only exceptions would be the companies that sell low cost, disposable fashion. Eco friendly materials are too expensive and not ample enough to be cost effective. Moreover, the idea of disposable fashion is simply not eco friendly!
Yulu: What are some tips for consumers on how to shop eco-friendly?
LW: Check out eco blogs, and read up the brand's website. We already make our best purchasing decisions by comparing prices on the Internet, why not use the same method to find quality products.
Yulu: What part of Vancouver's Eco-Fashion Week are you most excited about this year?
LW: The Battalion fashion show on Feb 24. We are thrilled be part of Vancouver Eco-Fashion Week.
Be sure to catch The Battalion fashion show at the Salt Building, at 7 pm, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011.
For more info visit: http://www.ecofashion-week.com/schedule/