Helping a PR Firm Create Buzz

A case study of Kaplow, a full-service public relations agency

May 9, 2007

With the SnapStream Enterprise TV Server, Kaplow improved their ability to take advantage of high-profile public relations opportunities for their clients.

The Situation

Few industries are more concerned with media awareness than public relations. PR experts like Manhattan-based Kaplow need to have constant contact with their clients’ presence in a variety of different media, including television.

One of Kaplow’s primary responsibilities is to improve the exposure of their clients’ products by, for example, seeding client news and products with media personalities. Such placement requires an awareness of the needs of these personalities — an awareness that has to exist in advance so that Kaplow can then meet those wants on behalf of their clients. By carefully monitoring TV content - including talk shows, reality shows, and even some news programs, Kaplow can keep a finger on the media pulse and quickly jump on opportunities.

Kaplow’s Media Strategies Group (MSG) manages monitoring activities for the entire agency. In the past, members of the group did independent monitoring and then recorded TV using individual DVR setups (a digital cable box, a TV, and a personal DVR unit), requiring multiple hardware units. As Kaplow grew, so did the monitoring needs and soon, monitoring became a very large agency expenditure. Agency growth also required expansion of the office space, and due to construction, the group itself was physically split in half. Rather than face the prospect of rerouting multiple cable drops to maintain its DVR workstations in a new environment, Kaplow began looking for a more convenient solution.

The Solution

The SnapStream 6-tuner Enterprise TV Server provides Kaplow with a self-contained TV recording appliance that eliminates the need for individual TV workstations. This turnkey solution consolidates Kaplow’s DVR fulfillment in a single location and serves recordings over the existing internal network, expanding their group of users without the need for painful rewiring. The SnapStream server uses a single cable feed and all DVR capability is included with the appliance.

By allowing the consolidation of recording and viewing, SnapStream’s DVR technology streamlines Kaplow’s use of television recording in a number of ways:

Scheduling recordings: Recording schedules are now handled by a single appliance that automatically captures all necessary programs. Previously, recordings had to be scheduled on each individual workstation.
Multi-tasking: Users can monitor recorded material in the background while working on other tasks.
Sharing: In the past, only one user could view each individual recording; now, any user can now view any recording, and group members can consult easily without leaving their desks.
Coverage: Kaplow managers can track which recordings have been viewed for improved coverage of all potential opportunities.

The end result is a less expensive and dramatically more convenient process for monitoring television for promotional opportunities.

Kaplow Success Story

“Being able to watch TV closely and frequently helps tailor our pitches to specific media outlets and increases our success rate,” says Chris Livingston of Kaplow. “We can speak to producers at The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, Rachael Ray and more with a true knowledge of the topics that are relevant to their viewers and the stories they’ve already covered.” The SnapStream server keeps Kaplow’s pitching efforts informed, and by monitoring the news cycle live, Kaplow is able to insert clients quickly when relevant.

A great example: Kaplow heard Ann Curry, news anchor at The TODAY Show, describe her personal interest in the plight of Darfur on air one morning. At the time, Kaplow client eBay was hosting an auction of designer dresses inspired by Africa with the benefits going to the Darfur Coalition. According to Livingston, “The SnapStream server helped enable us to immediately send a pitch and relevant information to TODAY, which led to an exclusive fashion show on The Today Show featuring several looks from the auction and hosted by eBay Style Director Constance White.”

Kaplow SnapStream Configuration

Kaplow runs a split digital/analog cable signal into the Enterprise Server. Since Kaplow’s server room does not have a cable line, the SnapStream Server resides in and is administered from the office’s media room. The Server is connected to the office LAN, allowing any networked computer with the SnapStream Link client software to stream live TV and stream or download previously recorded TV from the server. MSG users can save segments, which can then be edited, burned to DVD locally, or shared with other group members or potential clients.

About Kaplow

Founded in 1991, Kaplow is an award-winning full-service public relations company with extensive expertise in consumer marketing. Today Kaplow is known as one of New York’s most influential opinion architects.

Figures

Figure 1: Media strategists can scan recorded TV in a window directly from their desktop PCs, without the need for a TV set or DVR box.

Figure 2: The SnapStream Enterprise TV Server (lower right) is compact enough to reside nearly anywhere in the office.

Figure 3: Kaplow Communications' conference room