Client Relies on PR Agency with Contact 3,000 Away

jo&co senior account planner saves the day by being at her desk, figuring out a solution for forgotten laptop

In the public relations and marketing world, securing an appointment for a client with an analyst firm is an important tactic. Analysts can be an integral part for many business strategies. Missing the appointment or even being late is just not a good idea.

Such was the case for jo&co client, Virtual Learn, an Oakland-based e-learning company. Mike Wilson, CEO of Virtual Learn, was on his way to a Palo Alto, Calif. for a first-time meeting with Katherine Jones of Aberdeen Group, an analyst firm that covers the information technology (IT) market, when he realized that his laptop was sitting at his office in Oakland. If he turned around to retrieve the computer with his PowerPoint presentation, he would definitely be late. If he showed up at the office with nothing to present to the Aberdeen Group, he would be embarrassed at the least, and possibly risk the ire of an analyst's negative comment.

Cell phone in hand, Wilson called jo&co senior account planner, Beth Graviet, for help. Interesting to note that while Wilson's corporate staff was just miles away from the end-destination, to solve this business-and-time-critical problem, Wilson turned to Graviet in her Richmond, Va.-based office, literally thousands of miles and three time zones away.

As a Virtual Agency, Johnson & Company's total cachet is its ability to work "anytime, anyplace, any way, at any pace ™." Graviet took this anthem to heart and began to remedy the situation. "I immediately called the Aberdeen Group and spoke with Jones' assistant," Graviet says. "Without giving any excuses or apologies, I asked if we could have a laptop available in the conference room with Internet access. Then I called back later to make sure that everything was in place."

It was really a simple request, but the Aberdeen Group didn't normally have a laptop available in the room where they were meeting. If Wilson arrived and had to set everything up, it would have delayed the meeting-not an ideal way to kick off an important analyst relationship.

"When Wilson got to the Aberdeen Group, the room was ready with the laptop computer and Internet access," she says. The presentation went over without a hitch. PR successes come in all shapes and sizes. With Johnson & Company's virtual work acumen, being serviced by an account executive who was 3,000 miles away proved just as successful as being in the same city for client Virtual Learn. Graviet was the liaison for a group of people that had never met. But it is actually much more than that. Wilson trusted Graviet to figure out a solution to the problem. He didn't call someone locally who actually had access to his laptop; he called jo&co, his PR agency that he could depend on to figure out a solution, even if the contact was on the other side of the country.

"I know that Jones is a no-nonsense kind of analyst, and she wouldn't have smiled upon wasted time," Graviet admits. "Because we were able to get everything set up in advance, Wilson and the Aberdeen Group transitioned immediately into a successful meeting."