Amy Parrish With Rhythm Communications, LLC

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio brought to you by on pay Atlanta’s new standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:24] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a fun one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor on pay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on the Land of Business Radio, we have Amy Parrish with Rhythm Communications. Welcome, Amy.

Amy Parrish: [00:00:41] Hi. How are you doing?

Lee Kantor: [00:00:43] I am doing well. Before we get too far into things, tell us a little bit about rhythm communications. How are you serving folks?

Amy Parrish: [00:00:50] So Rhythm Communications is a marketing firm that specializes in public relations, media relations. But we deliver fully integrated campaigns that range from not only the media relations component, but social media, which has become a crucial part of marketing today, as well as the print materials and event production. So we are pretty busy these days. There’s a lot going on in Atlanta and although we work across the country, probably 50% of our business is within the within the southeast.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:32] Now, can you share a little bit about maybe the evolution of marketing into this more integrated approach that folks are taking? At one point, there were just dedicated firms just in PR or just in advertising or just an event. And now it seems like there’s a blurring of the lines, especially when you toss in social media that kind of binds it all together.

Amy Parrish: [00:01:52] Yes, I think that’s true. In general, media relations is still a key component of the work that we do and that clients are seeking because using the media as your validation arm for any message that you want to convey still has a lot of power in the marketplace. However, individuals on social media channels and going direct to consumers from the brand have become a way to create the trust that you need. So although the media is still. Probably the primary source for those types of initiatives. You still need to be speaking or, as we would say, singing from the same sheet of music and being on the rhythm of the marketplace with whatever the trends are, whatever the trending topics are, and making sure that all of those initiatives are in sync. So out of necessity. I don’t know if a PR firm that wouldn’t be thinking about or shouldn’t be thinking about social media and direct email marketing channels to communicate with consumers in addition to their media strategy. I would say in the last couple of years with the pandemic, although no one wants to talk about it, it made that even more necessary because the trust in the media seemed to change. I don’t necessarily agree with with that because I am a big proponent of the media, but it did, in fact change. So being consistent in the marketplace, conveying the messages that you want to convey while the media is validating that message in that position is the most significant way to achieve your goal in marketing, in my opinion.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:57] So it’s critical to have all of these elements working hand in hand rather than just kind of this kind of pop gun approach of just, Oh, let’s do this for a little bit. Oh, I heard Tik Tok is a good one. Let’s go do something over there or hey, LinkedIn marketing seems hot. Let’s, let’s spend some money there. You think that it’s better to kind of coordinate everything in the and have everything kind of working harmoniously?

Amy Parrish: [00:04:22] That’s correct. And consistency is key. Now, the way in which you might communicate that message or the words that you might use, depending on the typical audience of that channel of communications, certainly that would change. So for instance, if you’re using Tik Tok to communicate a story and you’re using LinkedIn, as you can imagine, the messaging and the positioning might sound a little different, but at the core the attributes of the brand are the same. So as an example, we represent a very successful Tik Tok artist named Yung Homie Y V in G Homie, and he is a good, clean cut guy that is very successful on Tik Tok and he’s I believe, 19 years old. When we talk about young homie on, on sort of the channels that might be Tik Tok or on YouTube, as you can imagine, the messaging might be a little more youthful. Not that we don’t all use those channels, but the language is different. When we talk about him on LinkedIn, the positioning is the same of him as a professional, but we’re talking more about the fact that other brands can hire him instead of focusing on the fact that he he released a new dance move or that he’s currently doing an around the world dance similar to the moonwalk with Michael Jackson back in the day. So just very different a very different approach, but the same core message has to be conveyed.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:08] So now do you serve a specific niche or you’re kind of industry agnostic and you can help with strategy no matter what the client is or who they’re trying to reach.

Amy Parrish: [00:06:19] We’re we’re industry agnostic. We’re solution focused. So the solutions that we provide typically are led by media relations with other necessary support mechanisms in marketing to get that message conveyed as far as the industry experience we happen to have. By the very nature of being located in Georgia, we happen to have an emphasis in specific markets. That includes entertainment just because there’s a lot of it here. And so by the very nature of being a firm around for a long time, we certainly have the right goods, if you will, to deliver on an entertainment project, whether that’s film or sports. We represent sports celebrities, we represent film studios, etc. We also have a specialty in medical and health related brands and technologies, and that’s partially because of my background. I came originally through the through the background of an old company called Atom Software that spawned probably 30 plus CEOs that are out in the marketplace today. But back in the day, we were a small, little, scrappy software company led by two people. I really admire Greg Swaine and Bob Kramer, who are kind of known in the industry for health care technology solutions and investments today. So I would say health care, I would say entertainment. And frankly, we do a lot of work in larger nonprofits. Why? Because a lot of the bigger brands in Georgia sponsor nonprofits. And there aren’t a lot of firms that know how to do that work and help to position those properly.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:27] So now what is kind of a symptom that a firm might be struggling right now, where rhythm is a good fit to help them either kind of get out of that spiral or take them their brand to a new level.

Amy Parrish: [00:08:43] Hmm. That’s an interesting question. So I’m going to take the spiral first. So. We get brought into the spiral. Spiral a lot. Unfortunately, a lot of times companies are struggling and sort of run of the mill marketing and PR firms that are sort of smaller. They do the same thing the same way every time. We don’t believe in that. We believe in tailored solutions based on the need of the client. So a lot of times they’ve been burned by another firm. They bring us in and say, We need you to help us fix this problem, whether it’s a positioning problem, repositioning of a product or service, or they’ve run into a crisis. I hate that that can happen, but it certainly does. I think because we’re willing to get in and get our. Elbows dirty. And be part of the team to really understand their culture, understand their desires, and to mold it into into their. Team instead of trying to be a new team and displaced people that they trust. I think that has been our success. The first thing we do, though, is to spend a lot of time understanding what the challenges are and ask the right questions of all the executives and find out where there’s a disconnect. Even the largest companies in the world. You could put three executives in a room and they all have a different position. They need to all be on the same page to grow. So. I think our core of making sure that we’re all on the same page, we’re singing off the same sheet of music. The campaigns fall out from that.

Amy Parrish: [00:10:34] So we get brought in sometimes just to do a one day session to help them all get on the same page, and then they use their internal marketing people. We’re open to that. But crisis work is one of our specialties, and there aren’t a lot of firms in Atlanta that are comfortable with that work. And that’s because we are former journalists, most of us on the positive side of a company that wants to grow. I think a lot of times. You start your growth and you plateau because you don’t have that new or interesting thing to say. Sometimes it just takes having an outside party versus your internal marketing people to help you identify that aha moment that says, Hey, let’s either find the news that you’re forgetting exists because you’re living it day to day, or let’s help to create your own news so that there’s something interesting to say. So. We help them overcome that plateau by helping to identify what the great stories are to tell. And then we tell that story through multiple communications channels and to their desired customers direct. To make sure that everyone is being touched. Once that happens, if in fact, you have a solid. Product or service to offer. That momentum begins. And then you have to be consistent. You’ve got to be telling the next piece of news every month. You’ve got to be telling the next piece of positive information every day. Social media is key for that without frustrating people because they can decide if they check it out or not.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:20] Is there any advice for a firm that’s listening right now that wants to maybe attempt that exercise you just described? Like, a lot of times internally, you don’t know what you’re not seeing the same thing an outsider sees. You might, like you said, take things for granted and there could be news that you as a professional see, that’s obvious to you in 5 seconds, but to them they see it every day, so they stop seeing it. Is there any exercise you can recommend entrepreneurs or leaders right now to do to kind of open the curtain a little bit or to give them a glimpse of kind of maybe the reality that is, is there a way to do that or do you need outside eyes to do that?

Amy Parrish: [00:13:05] I think, you know, I’m never going to force an agency model on top of someone. Do I think it’s valuable? I do. But you can always go a different route. I mean, if you weren’t in a financial position to hire an outside consulting group like us. You know, you could bring in a couple of different targeted customers that you have not been able to resonate with and build their trust and say, hey, I’m not going to sell you anything. I want to find out why you’re not buying. And then you go in and you share with them your who, what, where, when, why, and how of your business. Those are the basics if you can’t do that. Who, what, where, when, why and how. If you can’t present that, then you can’t get to the next level of telling them the new news, the exciting news you want to share. So I would I would start there, make sure that you have that refined. Once you do, I would then pull in some major stakeholders, maybe it’s members of your board, maybe some of your investors. So those outside parties don’t have to be rhythm communications. I’d love for it to be, but I’m realistic that not everyone’s going to do that.

Amy Parrish: [00:14:22] But you have to listen to your market, and a good way to do that is to pull those stakeholders who want you to be successful, who may be a little distant from the day to day. I will give you an example of something that just happened. We were talking to one of our clients yesterday, and while we’re talking, we were going through what the news stories were and they’re like, well, you know, really the big news is coming in June. We’ve got all these tradeshows coming up. We can talk them. And I asked a simple question that may seem obvious. I said, Do you have any new technology updates coming up? New features and functionality? He goes, Yeah, we’ve got one coming up this week. And I laughed and I said, maybe we should be talking about that. So sometimes it’s just the obvious question that everyone forgot to ask because they’ve been working on that update for months. Right. So I think it’s good. I think, you know, board members want to share their knowledge. Board members are typically those people with gray hair, with great ideas that have been in the trenches. Use them. If they don’t have time to hop on a call, send them a survey.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:42] Now you mentioned part of your services events. How important are events in today’s world where, especially as we’re coming out of a pandemic, people are hungry for those kind of meaningful interactions with other people?

Amy Parrish: [00:15:56] It’s interesting you would ask that question. I would say that people coming out of the pandemic are either hungry or hesitant to interact. And so you still see a lot of that hesitancy. So every event that we’re producing right now has an in-person and a virtual component. And I actually think that maybe for the foreseeable future in our industry, that’s going to be a requirement. So so I would bring that up. I would also say that those who have come out of the pandemic, although they are hungry to be in public, they are overwhelmed and understaffed. So having that virtual component is also important so that if they aren’t able to attend in person. On their own time. They can play catch up, if you will, and and learn from that learn from that experience in some other way at a lower cost. Having said that, the events that we have produced and we’ve had ironically. A physical event. Every two weeks, every two weeks, probably four since December. And so the companies are hungry to get face to face with their customers. The virtual component, I think, is going to be required. And what I will say is that although we’re offering distance experiences, they’re excited to come and they’re coming in droves. I would also say that we will continue sort of the safety regulations around encouraging people. They don’t have to wear masks, but they can or maybe should.

Amy Parrish: [00:17:55] We’re going to continue to offer food and drink. That is not necessarily a shared item, but a handheld item in a separate served separately in a separate container of some sort. But I will say that it’s been really wonderful to plan events and see how people appreciate them so much. I actually feel that there’s not a single brand on the planet that wouldn’t benefit from the excitement of consumers today of any type to be able to come to an event. Most of our events have been business to business and CEOs are showing up, in fact. And for a while there, that was hard to do. In fact, we just did an event called the International Poverty Forum, and we had more C-level executives in the crowd than I think I’ve ever seen at any event in ten years. And it was because not only were they invested in the community and wanting to give to be present, they also wanted to give back. And I see a big trend with events that even if it is a for profit company with a for profit message, they’re offering a non profit contribution, a percentage of what’s raised fundraisers at their dances or concerts, silent auctions with donations to nonprofits. It’s been really interesting to see sort of the kinder, gentler economic model that I’m seeing today.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:38] So what do you need more of? How can we help? Are you looking for more clients or are you looking for more talent? What is kind of the most pressing need at rhythm?

Amy Parrish: [00:19:47] Thank you for saying that. How about all the above? We love meeting new talent. We’re always looking. We’re always interviewing. So send them our way. If anyone expressed expresses interest. We are certainly growing and we don’t want to stop that momentum. So if anyone is interested in talking to rhythm communications, send me an email. A parish at Rhythm Communications. And we are we’re open for business and excited. Our office is located in Buckhead and we work part of the week from home. But we’re glad to meet you face to face. So I hope you’ll keep us in mind. And it’s been a great honor to be here.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:35] Today and the website for Rhythm Communications.

Amy Parrish: [00:20:39] W WW dot rhythm communications dot com.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:42] Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Amy Parrish: [00:20:47] Well, I appreciate you. I love what you guys do and I’m a fan, so if that helps.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:53] Thank you. All right. This is Lee Kantor Rochelle next time on the Atlanta Business Radio.