It's just a little after 10 A.M. on a weekday morning when I join a top TV executive for a coffee meeting under the looming backdrop of the Sony studios in Culver City, CA. We grab two cups from the busy counter where other executives mull about and talk quietly with friends. I duck behind one of the small tables on the cramped outdoor patio. We find a spot in the back corner and both pitch in to clear dishes before taking a seat. As we get settled, I give an update on my latest start-up, 9, which creates transmedia franchise projects, several of which have received significant industry attention early out of the gate. While entertainment executives are familiar with the transmedia concept, it's only just starting to appear in conversations in mass business.
"It was a bit of a challenge to explain what we do," I say as I sip an Americano. "But now more people are starting to hear about transmedia, so it's getting easier."
It's a scenario I've been in before. In 2005, it took great pains to explain "community" when talking about my then-startup, Stylediary. It wasn't until MySpace coined the term "social networking" that this became easier. Today, as platforms to deliver your company's message expand, it's even more important to have a tight focus on what you want to say, to who and where.
"Messages should be meaningful, provide value to the end user, and they should always be tailored and targeted," said Deirdre Breakenridge, co-author of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, President of PFW Marketwyse and blogger at PR 2.0 Strategies. Deirdre's one of the top consultants in how to take a message out in today's fragmented market.
"Through social media, we have the opportunity to tell a customized story to many different influencers and stakeholders, including our customers," she adds.
Power Girls get it. Today's women entrepreneurs and executives are mixing old school messaging strategies with new ways to deliver it. Most of all, they see the value in every aspect.
"When I take on the prescribed, but often postponed tasks of business definition," shared Anne Giles Clelland, founder of Handshake Media. "I discover that I understand my own company's message more deeply. That in turn, deepens my ability to deliver that message.