A couple months ago a friend of mine bought me one of those super-wicking, contour-gripping Under Armour jerseys.

For the record, I am a New Balance brand loyalist and have been for 20 years. My friend, on the other hand, is a big Under Armour guy and has consistently attributed a sort of Popeye and Spinach-esque transformational property to the brand.

Based on my friend's zealot-like devotion to Under Armour, I expected the moment I slipped the product over my head I would be instantly overcome by a feeling of can-do, physical assertiveness reminiscent of Season 1 of "The Shield" or Dwayne Johnson back when he was still The Rock. Temporarily borrowing his emotional connection to the brand, I was prepared to emerge from the locker room a newly accepted member of an elite club populated by professional athletes, military heroes, firefighters and guys with names like JD, Lem and Smash.

This sort of uber-connectivity plays an extremely significant role in successful branding. Just as several bucks worth of elasticized fabric makes my friend feel like he can hang with the guys on "Deadliest Catch," my New Balance running shoes make me feel like I can run farther and faster. My iPod still makes me feel 10 years younger and staying at the artsy SLS hotel in Beverly Hills infuses me with the right dose of left coast cool to walk comfortably into any studio meeting. The weights at David Barton's gym weigh the same as the ones at other gyms, but somehow leather jackets seem to hang better on Bartonized muscles.

Each of these brands connects emotionally with its target audience. Each of these brands hits aspirational triggers – I want to be cooler, younger, smarter, healthier, faster. These brands speak at least as much to our hopes and dreams as they do our practical need for the product. Emotional connectivity stems from an ability to touch the target customer's innermost desires.

This is where public relations comes in…

Every great brand that has truly established emotional connectivity with the consumer has used a smart, strategic public relations campaign as a primary driver to establish this connection. Visionaries like Ian Schrager, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs are masters when it comes to using public relations to establish or reinforce emotional connectivity.

Whether it is viral/digital, traditional, based on influencer seeding, sponsorship activation, a daily barrage of media coverage or one story in just the right place, public relations often touches consumers in an authentic way. When executed properly, this typically paves the way for subsequent broader-based advertising and marketing programs that serve to reinforce brand loyalty or customer trial.

Furthermore, when it comes to establishing emotional connectivity, public relations is typically most effective when it involves media coverage in atypical places – places where the consumer doesn't expect to see the product publicized, places that resonate very differently with the psyche of the customer than coverage by the standard beat media.

By using public relations to highlight innovations such as designer employee uniforms, W Hotels' unique customer service philosophy, and high profile food and beverage partners, DKC helped create tremendous awareness and anticipation for this new design-driven hotel brand. Even before the first property officially opened, there was great excitement about the brand as a result of the tremendous amount of media coverage. In fact, a record number of people showed up the first week of opening just to experience what they had read so much about. Coverage ranged from a feature gatefold spread in New York Magazine to a cover story in Time Out and a whimsical Jeannie Moos piece on CNN all about the famous letter, W. The W Hotels launch is regarded as the most successful brand launch in the history of the hospitality industry and changed the way hotel companies approach marketing.

Research on the success of the brand showed that despite multimillion dollar ad campaigns from competitive hotel companies, customers said they chose W Hotels because they had heard so much about the brand through a wide spectrum of media – and the coverage spoke to their lifestyle and what they aspired to be.

The recent opening of Citi Field in Flushing, Queens is another great example. Citi and the New York Mets have used strategic public relations to brilliantly combine the passion of baseball with the urban chic of New York as they bring to life a host of exciting and innovative offerings available at the new stadium. Thanks to coverage of Danny Meyer's food offerings, the panoramic views of the field from the Acela Lounge and the comfort of Delta's Sky360 Lounge across a broad-range of media – not just sports – consumer focus shifted from nostalgia to anticipation. Strategic public relations created tremendous excitement in advance of opening day that has made Citi Field a must-see destination, not only for baseball fans but for anyone who enjoys being "in the know."

As budgets remain tight in 2009, I expect public relations to play an increasingly prominent role in the establishment of brand connection and loyalty. As for my friend in the stretchy, wicking gear, last time we spoke he was muttering something about a paintball weekend in Detroit.

Introduction:
DKC worked with two complementary nonprofit organizations, The Fund for Veterans' Education and The Campaign for New GI Bill, to raise public awareness of the need for greatly enhanced educational benefits for veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Fund for Veterans' Education provides private scholarships for men and women who have served overseas since September 11, 2001 to offset the tremendous difference between their GI Bill benefits and actual educational costs. As a result of the awareness that DKC generated for the needs of veterans in its work for The Fund for Veterans' Education, an offshoot organization, The Campaign for a New GI Bill, was established to create a national discussion surrounding the need for a new GI Bill for the 21^st Century.

World War II veteran Jerome Kohlberg, a beneficiary of the original GI Bill in 1944, founded both of these organizations, feeling an obligation to aid his fellow veterans as he and eight million others had benefitted. Kohlberg sought to create national outrage that returning troops from Iraq and Afghanistan were being shortchanged and in many cases foreclosed from a college education because the benefits of the current version of the GI Bill fell far short of the actual costs of such an education.

Timeframe:
September 2007-July 2008

Strategy:
The public awareness campaign sought to illuminate the real life stories of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to key constituencies including Members of Congress and other elected and government officials with a passion for the issue, veterans groups, celebrities with personal ties to the cause, and opinion shapers in the media. By putting a human face on the issue and the struggles faced by the veterans rather than just pushing statistics and rhetoric, we were able to depoliticize the issue and establish a national dialogue focused on our collective responsibility to our soldiers.

The group of veterans willing to tell their story served as the catalyst for the campaign. These men and women, referred to the campaign by numerous veterans groups (most notably the IAVA, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and FVE administrative partner Scholarship America), brought significant exposure to the issue by speaking at rallies, meeting with Members of Congress, being interviewed by the media, and signing op-eds that were published in influential newspapers. They were also honored at hometown hero events to which media, elected officials, and other influencers were invited.

Tactics:
A number of headline-grabbing events were held in support of the goal of a new GI Bill. In addition to various hometown hero events across the country, we conceptualized the idea for a huge rally held on the steps of the Capitol in Washington D.C., attended by hundreds and featuring speeches by eight veterans who were recipients of FVE scholarships. Eight Congressional leaders also spoke at the event, notably Senators Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel, who introduced the new GI Bill legislation. We coordinated the rally with Sen. Webb's office, which secured the participation of the other Members of Congress. At an event at the City College of New York, former Secretary of State Colin Powell made his own call for passage of the bill, the first time he had publicly spoken out on the issue. A third major event was held in Los Angeles, at which veterans and elected officials were joined by celebrities including Robin Williams, Sally Field, Swoosie Kurtz, and Lisa Kudrow, as well as Senator Webb.

Accompanying these events was an intensive media relations campaign that included news and feature stories, editorials, op-eds, and columnist essays in the major outlets such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Associated Press, Bloomberg, magazines such as Newsweek, Fortune, and People, and specialty publications such as Stars and Stripes, Variety, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. The campaign also received national broadcast coverage on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, MSNBC, CNN, and MTV, local broadcast stations across the country, and radio, including NPR, as well as numerous web outlets.

To support execution of this campaign, DKC developed all press materials, wrote speeches, drafted op-eds, and helped craft language for the official brochure, campaign video, and public service announcement.

Results:
The campaign was a definitive success, given the fact that on July 4, 2008, President Bush signed legislation that increased educational benefits outlined in the Webb/Hagel GI Bill for the 21st Century, as part of a supplemental war spending bill.

This achievement was made all the more remarkable by the fact that when the campaign began, Congress did not have the necessary votes in either the Senate or the House of Representatives to pass the bill. By May 2008, there was such overwhelming bipartisan support in both branches of Congress that the bill became veto-proof.

Conventional wisdom would have you believe that companies unlucky enough – or foolish enough – to launch during a recession stand little chance of surviving more than a few years.

Startups function in a Darwinian environment in the best of times. In the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, today's startup companies operate at a crippling deficit. Right? Well maybe not.

For disciplined startups, the conditions surrounding a recession can present a rare opportunity to grow and actually thrive – and to create a strong impression that will serve them well for the long-term.

Startups will not be able to outspend their entrenched competitors, but they can achieve a measure of equal footing and emerge from the pack in a cost-effective way through public relations. In our experience, there a few key principles that help a startup emerge in a difficult environment.

This begins by taking stock of how people are living and working today and positioning the message accordingly. Broad themes that echo with today's recession-conscious public include: necessity over excess, local and inexpensive rather than exotic and pricey, and comfort and protection instead of risk. Startups that can legitimately and effectively communicate these themes can capture market share and even cause consumers to switch brand loyalty.

But that's not enough. A product and a message must go beyond the immediate crisis to resonate fully with consumers and to avoid appearing like a passing fad or as overly opportunistic.

A new sun care protection product and DKC client, UVSunSense, is emerging as a revolutionary entry in its category. Its product is a first-of-its-kind wristband that changes color to indicate when the wearer has been in the sun too long. UVSunSense provides peace of mind and comfort, particularly for parents concerned about sun exposure for their children. Peace of mind and common sense are strong selling points these days, and prevention rings true across many market platforms, no matter the economic environment.

Watchitoo, a new platform that brings together real-time chat with synchronized content such as videos or photos, is another DKC client that has the elements to not only capture attention in the short-term but translate that into long-term loyalty. Using chat and making shared viewing of video easy and realistic, the service creates a collective experience that easily connects people across geographic distance. Connectivity – to family, friends, colleagues – is high on the cultural zeitgeist during a recession, as well as within the broader context of today's borderless world.

But what turns customers into brand loyalists that stick around after the recession is over?

Digital and social media tools – many of which require only investments of time – are ideal to help startups connect with audiences and create brand loyalists while competing on a level playing field with established brands.

Foneshow, a startup service that delivers audio content to cell phones, is a DKC client that has utilized these new media platforms to build a community that believes in the product. The CEO, Erik Schwartz, is in frequent communications with customers and influencers within the radio industry through his regularly updated blog, which has served as a springboard for coverage in key trade outlets and national business media. This increased coverage has in turn helped drive traffic back to the Foneshow website and Schwartz's blog. The value that Schwartz gets just from his blog, a free service, has been immeasurable in building the Foneshow brand.

Public relations can function as the tool that a startup needs to connect with people and develop an audience. And a recession, believe it or not, is a great time to do it.

There's a new energy around public affairs these days, with business, policy and even fashion taking their cues from larger public debates about the direction of our nation. No matter what your party affiliation, it is a fact that with a new President, new faces in the U.S. Congress, a massive economic stimulus bill and new policy directions every day, Washington, DC, and public affairs in general, have renewed relevance for business and non-profit organizations alike.

As a result, we find ourselves increasingly involved in public policy issues on everything from taxes, veterans' rights and the national parks to the hats worn by the Obamas during Inauguration weekend.

At DKC, we have a roster of senior staff with experience and connections at the highest levels of national, state and municipal government. John Marino is a former chairman of the New York State Democratic Party and remains engaged at the state and federal level on politics, strategy and making sure the good guys win. Matthew Traub, former chief of staff to Rep. Nita Lowey, puts his legislative skills and connections to work for corporate, nonprofit and media clients. Joe DePlasco, a veteran of New York politics, handles issues communications and public affairs for a wide range of national clients. Bill Cunningham, former communications director to New York Mayor Bloomberg and former chief of staff and senior advisor to the late Senator Patrick Moynihan, brings his expertise and connections to the table for clients with state and city issues.

Also at the firm are a number of executives with city, state and federal legislative and political experience, including Robert Leonard, Johanna Flattery, Krista Pilot, Wendy Sachs, Katie Hart, Michael Paluszek, Michael Braun and Daniel Roberti.

We combine our consumer marketing and media relations expertise with our knowledge of what's going on – and what's coming next – in public affairs. Our media and political contacts are among the strongest in the nation, allowing us to create discussions and events that can garner attention. In particular, we've focused on issues campaigns that can impact policy makers in Washington, DC while also reaching people throughout the country.

Our work with public broadcasting, for example, has allowed us to create national conversations around the issues of race and immigration, veterans' affairs and mental health, among many others. In the case of Ken Burns's film on the great boxer, Jack Johnson, we helped spearhead a posthumous pardon effort for the former heavyweight title holder, working with Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. For Ken's latest film, "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," DKC has organized a fifty-plus market outreach effort to spark a public discussion about our parks.

We often turn to Washington, DC to launch initiatives because of the audiences we can reach there. Whether it is the NRA Blacklist, the celebrity-filled Huffington Post inauguration party or the national kickoff of StoryCorp's Griot project, Washington provides a fertile political and public policy landscape to help tell important stories.

Another example is our work with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Over 100,000 New Yorkers work in the film industry, but rampant movie piracy costs the city 23,000 jobs and more than $3.5 billion in economic output, which is why the MPAA retained DKC to work with them and Mayor Bloomberg's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting to spread the word about the negative impact of DVD piracy on New York. Built around a PSA campaign and new legislation cracking down on piracy, DKC worked with Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and law enforcement officials to highlight the problem. Our efforts resulted in local and national media exposure that was credited in part with the immediate reduction in pirated DVDs available on New York City streets.

We do our best work at the intersection of media, consumers and public affairs. Other public affairs related projects include coordinating with the building owners, Business Improvement Districts and the City of New York on World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour initiative; working with Delta Air Lines to introduce them to government, media and influentials in the greater NYC area; and ongoing consulting work with Con Edison, Waste Management and the Atlantic Yards development, among others.

There's a new excitement and vitality to public affairs and we're glad to be part of it. Don't hesitate to call us if we can be of service to your organization.