ICYMI – PR, Marketing and Social Media Advice from the Amendola Blog

Award-winning health IT agency offers guidance applicable in virtually any industry

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 15, 2020 – Amendola Communications has built an outstanding reputation as one of the leading public relations, marketing, and social media firms serving healthcare, health IT, and life sciences organizations. So it’s no surprise that its blog, peppered with contributions from the entire team, would become a favorite destination for information among organizations, reporters and others within those industries.

While healthcare is always on their minds, the reality is the advice proffered by the award-winning agency extends well beyond its core healthcare market. In fact, as these posts demonstrate, most of the content generated and topics covered are applicable in virtually any industry. Here’s a quick sample from the past few months.

In “Branding: Be Yourself, Earn Engagement,” the post describes how CEOs and other organizational leaders can stand out among their peers by being authentic and really saying something about what’s happening in the world, or their world, rather than playing it safe. It uses the example of Elon Musk, CEO and Founder of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and other companies to show that being yourself and taking a stand rather than putting out vanilla pap is a way to create an indelible brand and drive intense loyalty and engagement in the market. READ MORE >>

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has been an all-consuming story for pretty much everyone this year. It has been such a sentinel event you might think all the old rules have gone out the window. The post “Revisiting ‘The Four Ps’ of Marketing During a Pandemic” takes this topic on head-on. It shows that these tried-and-true principles still apply, but must be adjusted to reflect the reality in which we’re currently living. READ MORE >>

Then there is the agency’s advice on “Breaking Into the Policy World Through Public Relations.” Government policy can have a profound effect on organizations as well as industries. Yet many in both simply shrug their shoulders at the prospect of influencing policy, assuming it requires a significant investment in heavy-duty lobbyist firms. Yet that isn’t always the case. This post describes strategies organizations in a variety of industries can use to help ensure policy decisions go their way – or at least do not work against them. READ MORE >>

Finally, for those interested in the personal side of business there is this heartfelt homage from agency CEO Jodi Amendola to the influence her mother has had on her career. Written shortly after receiving the news that Kamala Harris would become the nation’s first female Vice President, “Women Leaders: A Tribute to My Mom,” recounts the lessons her mom, Thelma Kurzweil, taught her throughout her life, including the importance of just being a good person and taking responsibility for your own happiness. Sadly, Thelma passed away shortly after Jodi’s blog was published in November and we are not sure if she had a chance to read it but, as Jodi said, “Nothing was left unsaid.” READ MORE >>

This is just a sampling. The Amendola blog has been around for several years, offering timely and evergreen advice that covers the gamut of activities of interest to PR, marketing, social media, digital content and other allied professionals. This information is offered free, so be sure to explore it in-depth and subscribe.

About Amendola Communications

Amendola is an award-winning, insights-driven public relations and marketing firm that integrates media relations, social media, content and lead gen programs to move healthcare, life sciences/pharma and healthcare IT decision-makers to action. The agency represents some of the industry’s best-known brands as well as groundbreaking startups that are disrupting the status quo. Nearly 90% of its client base represents multi-year clients and/or repeat client executives. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros understand the ongoing complexities of the healthcare ecosystem and provide strategic guidance and creative direction to drive positive ROI, boost reputation and increase market share. Making an impact since 2003, Amendola combines traditional and digital media to fuel meaningful and measurable growth. For more information about the industry’s “A-Team,” visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes, Amendola Communications, mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com

Amendola Named Finalist for Multiple Ragan 2020 PR Daily Awards

Agency honored for high impact PR, thought leadership and digital campaigns during pandemic year

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ., Dec. 1, 2020—Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and technology public relations and marketing agency, announced today that it has been named a finalist in Ragan’s 2020 PR Daily Awards in multiple industry and award categories, including Healthcare Media Relations Campaign of the Year and Grand Prize—PR Campaign of the Year for Biofourmis, Healthcare Thought Leadership Campaign for Air Methods, and Thought Leadership Campaign for Kaufman Hall.

Ragan’s 2020 PR Daily Awards represent the organizations and communications teams behind the best communications campaigns, projects, initiatives and content from the past year. Through clear strategy, sharp creative, and flawless execution, Amendola was able to generate hundreds of media placements, secure key thought leadership opportunities, drive social media and digital engagement, and propel awareness and positive perceptions.

Amendola’s nominations include:

Healthcare Media Relations Campaign of the Year and Grand Prize: PR Campaign of the Year for Biofourmis—With Amendola’s strategic guidance and execution, Biofourmis secured nearly 100 media placements in 12 months, focusing on thought leadership and brand awareness. Notable earned article placements included the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Tech Crunch, Axios and Business Insider as well as top national healthcare and health IT trade media. Following a headquarters move from Singapore to Boston, the company went from being virtually unknown in the U.S. market to becoming top-of-mind experts for reporters covering digital therapeutics, artificial intelligence, remote monitoring and wearables.

Healthcare Thought Leadership Campaign for Air Methods—The Amendola/Air Methods “No Membership Required” campaign ran between November 2019 and June 2020. With extensive media outreach, the NMR campaign outlined Air Methods’ commitment to continued high-quality air medical services as well as its focus on eliminating potential financial burdens for its patients. Amendola skillfully communicated this message to show what Air Methods has done to revolutionize medical care in the air while also serving as patient advocates. Amendola’s aggressive outreach and content development generated 209 organic media placements in national, trade and local media, and its digital campaign earned more than 21 million video plays, 25 million impressions, and more than 21 million post engagements.

Thought Leadership Campaign for Kaufman Hall—Amendola developed a PR campaign focused on how hospitals and health systems confronted COVID-19 from a financial perspective. Built on a steady cadence of outreach to media across national, business and trade publications, the program generated 159 original placements, 115 of which were initiated and secured in three months, starting on March 1, 2020. Key placements appeared in Crain’s Chicago Business, Bloomberg News, Modern Healthcare, Inside Higher Education, Bank Business and the Chicago Tribune.

“These nominations are a testament to our teams’ dedication to outstanding and measurable results for our clients,” said agency CEO Jodi Amendola. “It is especially gratifying to be honored during the toughest news cycle I can remember in my 30 years in the business because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It really speaks to the talented team at Amendola and the strong relationship we have with the media and our clients. In each of these three campaigns, Amendola’s account teams provided unmatched results and value to our clients. We strive to find new and interesting ways to tell our clients’ stories, identify opportunities, and deliver award-winning results—and this news is a validation of that approach.”

In addition to earning these finalist spots with Ragan’s 2020 PR Daily Awards, Amendola Communications has earned numerous awards for its market leadership in PR and marketing.

About Amendola Communications

Amendola is an award-winning, insights-driven public relations and marketing firm that integrates media relations, social media, content and lead gen programs to move healthcare, life sciences/pharma and healthcare IT decision-makers to action. The agency represents some of the industry’s best-known brands as well as groundbreaking startups that are disrupting the status quo. Nearly 90% of its client base represents multi-year clients and/or repeat client executives. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros understand the ongoing complexities of the healthcare ecosystem and provide strategic guidance and creative direction to drive positive ROI, boost reputation and increase market share. Making an impact since 2003, Amendola combines traditional and digital media to fuel meaningful and measurable growth. For more information about the industry’s “A-Team,” visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Marcia G. Rhodes, VP, Amendola Communications, mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com

Amendola Named Finalist in 2020 Platinum PR Awards

Agency honored for its work on Air Methods’ No Membership Required program

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 22, 2020—Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and technology public relations and marketing agency, announced today that it has been named a finalist in PR News’ 2020 Platinum PR Awards for its strategic integrated PR, social media and digital campaign with Air Methods, a leading national air medical services company. This distinction is one of several awards the agency has earned in recent years for its ability to develop high-value content for healthcare organizations that speaks to market needs.

Amendola focused on establishing Air Methods as a leader in reforming the air medical services industry with its No Membership Required (NMR) program, created to eliminate unnecessary air medical memberships for patients and shift the focus to going in-network with health insurance companies throughout the U.S. The primary goal was to educate the public about Air Methods’ efforts and demonstrate the company’s thought leadership in industry best practices, billing reform and clinical innovation.

“Collaborating with Air Methods on this important NMR campaign is vital to paving the way for necessary changes to eliminate unnecessary memberships for patients/consumers,” said agency CEO Jodi Amendola. “We’re honored that our hard work and impressive outcomes have been recognized by PR News. The results of this campaign really speak for themselves: our aggressive outreach and content development generated 209 organic media placements and our digital campaign earned more than 21 million video plays, 25 million impressions, and more than 21 million post engagements. Most importantly, this campaign and our overall partnership with Air Methods, has led to increased awareness of the company as a visionary leader and industry trendsetter in the air medical services industry.”

With extensive media outreach, the NMR campaign outlined Air Methods’ commitment to continued high-quality air medical services as well as its focus on eliminating potential financial burdens for its patients. Amendola skillfully communicated this message to show what Air Methods has done to revolutionize medical care in the air and serve as patient advocates.

“The Amendola/Air Methods partnership has shown results from the beginning,” said Dallan Huff, Air Methods senior vice president of Marketing and Communications.  “As the first air medical company to eliminate air medical memberships, we knew we would be plowing new ground and Amendola was critical in ensuring our success.  They were able to help us create a strong narrative on why memberships were the past and how Air Methods was leading the industry into the future.”

In addition to sharing article placements with a wide audience, a nonstop stream of social media posts delivered positive, consistent and constructive messaging that promoted the NMR program itself along with the underlying principles behind it. Amendola curated content from a wide variety of sources, even some that had been critical of prior industry practices, to further the message that Air Methods was at the tip of the spear for reforming the way the business side of emergency air transport is delivered.

PR News’ Platinum PR Awards celebrate the ingenuity and leadership behind the year’s most outstanding communications initiatives. Platinum PR Award winners set industry benchmarks for excellence across all areas of PR.

About Amendola Communications

Amendola is an award-winning, insights-driven public relations and marketing firm that integrates media relations, social media, content and lead gen programs to move healthcare, life sciences/pharma and healthcare IT decision-makers to action. The agency represents some of the industry’s best-known brands as well as groundbreaking startups that are disrupting the status quo. Nearly 90% of its client base represents multi-year clients and/or repeat client executives. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros understand the ongoing complexities of the healthcare ecosystem and provide strategic guidance and creative direction to drive positive ROI, boost reputation and increase market share. Making an impact since 2003, Amendola combines traditional and digital media to fuel meaningful and measurable growth. For more information about the industry’s “A-Team,” visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact: Marcia G. Rhodes; mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com

Branding: Be Yourself, Earn Engagement

In public relations, there’s a lot of talk about a company’s brand and its messaging – the ideas and public image of the institution and its representatives. The value cannot be overstated.

Messaging and branding give a company its identity, making it appear “human” in the eyes of people. It gives anyone interacting with a company or organization an identity they can latch onto and work with.

A loyalty to your messaging and branding as a company is important. However, things are changing. If you’re an individual, even a CEO, the rules are not quite the same.

I want to direct you to the Twitter feed of Elon Musk, CEO and Founder of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and other companies that revolutionizing their respective industries: http://www.twitter.com/elonmusk

Did you notice anything? Elon is in touch with the companies he runs and the branding of those companies, but he is operating outside that sphere as an autonomous person.

Be it a Karl Marx meme that he drunkenly puts out to make people laugh, or his ill-advised tweets about Covid, he is just being himself. He talks about his products and his brands when they are doing something interesting, but he also posts stupid photos, trolls his followers with snarky comments, and sometimes says inflammatory things intentionally to get a rise out of people.

Basically, he is your crazy uncle on Facebook. And that’s fine, because his engagement level is through the roof.

He has 39 million followers and each of his posts earn thousands of replies, retweets, and likes. Elon is in touch with the times and realizes that corporate branding is great – but not for people. He comes off as a genuine individual, and that’s what makes him so popular.

I look at the Twitter feeds of other CEOs and business magnates and they tell a different story. I see nothing but links to blogs with bland statements, on-brand messaging, company news, and the occasional nod to a competitor.

It’s boring. It feels pre-planned and doesn’t contain anything worth seeking out and engaging. Sure, these business people (who I won’t point out specifically) do have followers and people who engage them, but it’s almost assuredly no one outside of their immediate sphere.

Their engagements are low, and their image is that of their company. No one sees them as a separate entity, a real person.

Yet, despite how popular social icons like Elon Musk  — and others, such as “crazy” billionaire Richard Branson – are, most others still choose to play it safe, opting not to express their personality.

Granted, there is some risk of saying the wrong thing, making someone mad, etc. But, in the case of Elon (and probably Branson as well), short of saying something overtly racist or homophobic, or short of a criminal scandal of some kind, their brands will march on because the public views them as genuine characters. Their flaws are part of their charm of being a regular person, which is something people value.

If you want to draw attention to yourself (and thus your company), you can’t be afraid to just be yourself. Don’t overthink it. Just go for it.

Remember, the President of the United States of America is a reality TV star and WWE Hall of Famer who wrestled another Fortune 500 CEO in a Hair vs Hair Match at the Battle of the Billionaires. That’s a fact. Google it.

It’s fair to say the formalities of banal corporate speak and a bland, “proper” image don’t resonate with the public like they used to. Don’t be afraid to separate yourself from your corporate brand – the followers, engagements, and media interviews will follow if you reveal yourself to be a genuine person with interesting things to say.

And if you can’t take the first steps, a good agency and marketing team will help you make it work.

Pivot Point Consulting Engages Amendola for Strategic PR and Marketing Services

Health IT PR award-winning agency and Best in KLAS consulting firm partner to amplify client successes and industry best practices

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct.13, 2020 – Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and technology public relations and marketing firm, announced that Pivot Point Consulting has selected the firm to amplify client successes and industry best practices after a competitive review of agencies.

With 450+ consultants and serving more than 100 provider and payer organizations nationwide, Pivot Point Consulting, a Vaco Company based in Brentwood, Tenn. provides Best in KLAS healthcare IT services ranging from advisory, implementation, optimization, managed services and talent solutions.

“Pivot Point Consulting is thrilled to have Amendola in our corner,” said Rachel Marano, Pivot Point Consulting’s Managing Partner and Co-Founder. “Having been recognized as the 2020 Best in KLAS Overall IT Services Firm, as well as a Best Place to Work by Modern Healthcare, we’re excited to join forces to share our story with a broader audience who may not be as familiar with the successful outcomes we’ve accomplished with our clients in mission-critical segments including Managed Services, Revenue Cycle, M&A, Telehealth and Data Analytics.”

“We look forward to the opportunity to broadcast Pivot Point Consulting’s experiences and KLAS-ranked quality in the market,” said agency CEO, Jodi Amendola. “They are a fast-rising powerhouse in the health IT consulting industry — executing innovative strategies for their clients and creating a truly differentiated experience for their consultants.”

Amendola is implementing a comprehensive media and communications plan that will showcasethe success of Pivot Point Consulting’s collaborative work with their clients and bring greater awareness of their breadth of services and innovations as a healthcare IT consulting and advisory leader.

“Our goal is not only to tell our story, but more importantly to share and celebrate the excellent work our clients and consultants are doing,” says Marano. “We are excited to drive the healthcare IT conversation forward at a time when learning and sharing lessons with the community has never been more important.”

About Amendola

Amendola is an award-winning, insights-driven public relations and marketing firm that integrates media relations, social media, content and lead gen programs to move healthcare, life sciences/pharma and healthcare IT decision-makers to action. The agency represents some of the industry’s best-known brands as well as groundbreaking startups that are disrupting the status quo. Nearly 90% of its client base represents multi-year clients and/or repeat client executives. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros understand the ongoing complexities of the healthcare ecosystem and provide strategic guidance and creative direction to drive positive ROI, boost reputation and increase market share. Making an impact since 2003, Amendola combines traditional and digital media to fuel meaningful and measurable growth. For more information about the industry’s “A-Team,” visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Pivot Point Consulting

Pivot Point Consulting, the 2020 Best in KLAS: Overall IT Services Firm, enables healthcare organizations to realize the most value from their technology and data through their Advisory, Implementation, Optimization, Managed Services and Talent Solutions. Pivot Point Consulting works with provider and payer organizations and has 450+ employees serving over 100 clients nationwide. Pivot Point Consulting has earned many industry and workplace quality awards including: Best in KLAS: Overall IT Services Firm (2020), Top Three Best in KLAS for HIT Implementation and Support (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), Highest Rated Vendor in KLAS Implementation Services in the Select Category (2017), #1 in KLAS for Epic Consulting in the Select Category (2016), and was named one of Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work (2020). For more information, visit www.pivotpointconsulting.com and follow Pivot Point Consulting on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com