Public Relations Archives

PR Tips

My First Month at a B2B Tech PR Firm: What I’ve Learned

A new job is a new beginning. I just began my first job out of college at a public relations (PR) agency – Catapult PR-IR. Like many people, I had anticipated my first day and was looking forward to the opportunity. The prospect of starting a new job was exciting. The first day can be nerve-racking as you meet many new people and try to soak up as much information as possible. I didn’t know

Adele Barbles June 29, 2022

Market Leadership

Catapult PR Helps SOFTWAREcolorado Expand Social Media and PR Program as In-kind Sponsor

Catapult PR Helps SOFTWAREcolorado Expand Social Media and PR Program as In-kind Sponsor SOFTWAREcolorado and Catapult aim to increase awareness of local technology innovation among the Colorado software community BOULDER, Colo., November 10, 2021 — Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a public relations agency for software delivery and B2B tech companies, today announced it has received an In-kind Sponsorship by SOFTWAREcolorado (http://softwarecolorado.com/) to help further the organization’s local Colorado presence and awareness. As an In-kind Sponsor, Catapult

Christin Jeffers November 10, 2021

Strategic Narrative

Freshen Up Your Messaging Strategy: Spring Your Narrative Forward

Spring is in the air — and we are reminded of new beginnings. We see blossoming flowers, green growth on trees and longer days. In business, Springtime reminds us that the company messaging strategy also benefits from newness and growth. So many companies suffer from stale, ineffective messaging with no significant changes for years. Or, internal efforts result in inward and narrow messaging that is ineffective and draining. After repeated tries at differentiation and capturing

Christin Jeffers March 25, 2021

Strategic Narrative

Catapult Celebrates 20 Years: 20 PR Lessons Learned

Twenty years ago today Terri Douglas and I took our own good advice and started our PR firm — Catapult PR. Since 9/9/99, there’s been a lot of hard work, an awesome group of employees past and present, many great clients, and a whole lot to be grateful for. There are also many lessons learned along the way on this wild and crazy ride. This year is especially significant because it marks the big “2-0”

Guy Murrel September 9, 2019

Uncategorized

How to Prepare for Your First Day at a PR Firm

A new job is a fresh start for many people. Whether you’re moving to a new state, starting at a new company or landing your first job after college, it’s an exciting time. For me, I landed my first job out of college at a boutique PR firm in Boulder, CO. Like many people, I had been dreaming about this day for a long time and the hard part was finally over, I got a

Megan Boudreau August 27, 2019

Uncategorized

Boost Productivity with these Five Favorite Google Apps and Extensions

I’ve found that whenever something frustrates me or slows me down in my digital workspace (which is pretty much 100% Google Chrome) — there’s an app for that! Chances are, if I’m getting tripped up time and again, someone else has had the same problem and a solution is out there. The Internet ecosystem includes hundreds of helpful and creative Gmail and Chrome browser extensions that make work life easier. Over the years I’ve installed

Laura Balboni May 21, 2019

Uncategorized

Increase Productivity with Music: Best Playlists to Help you Work

(I’m a Spotify user so sorry to everyone who uses a different platform. You can still use these tips on how to build out your own playlists on your preferred platform.) Is it just me or does it seem like music platforms like Spotify, have a playlist for everything? Some activities might be better if you had a little music to accompany it but on the occasion of being productive, music can either be helpful

Megan Scharf May 14, 2019

Market Leadership

Gift Guide for the PR Professional in Your Life

It’s that time of year again, a magical time when no one knows what to get each other for the holidays – but have no fear. Here to help you out is a list of great gift ideas for the PR person in your life. Even if you forget to get someone a gift, a couple of simple last minute ideas are here to save the day. In the PR world, we usually use this

Megan Scharf December 19, 2018

Thought Leadership

The Recipe for Landing Your First (PR) Job

The holiday season is a wonderful and magical time. It’s a time for making lasting memories, and a wonderful time for spending time with loved ones. Can it be a magical time for landing your first real job? Yes! From personal experience, I am most grateful for my new job during this holiday season at Catapult PR in Boulder, one of the top B2B high-tech PR agencies. Some of you may have been wondering why

Jacob Harvey November 29, 2018

Market Leadership

The DevOps Industry Narrative Journey

Narrative leads every industry forward. For the software industry, two major movements — driven by narrative — has led to the rise of Agile, and more recently, DevOps, from concept to mainstream practice. From the Agile Manifesto (Feb., 2001) and Marc Andreessen’s famed 2011 WSJ column “Why Software is Eating the World,” to the much used motto “Building Better Software Faster,” narrative stories have helped lead both practitioners and vendors alike to collective benefit. Last

Guy Murrel November 14, 2018

Strategic Narrative

We’re Celebrating Our 19th Anniversary as a High Tech PR Firm

Wow – it’s hard to believe that we’re celebrating 19 years in business. Time flies when you’re having fun – and boy do we know how to have fun. As we reflect over almost two decades of hard work and success, we can’t help but feel a sense of pride as we think about all the good work we’ve done to help our tech company friends build awareness, thought leadership and create attention-grabbing positioning and

Terri Douglas September 11, 2018

Market Leadership

Catapult Adds Zype to B2B High Tech Client Roster

We are pleased to announce that Catapult has been retained by Zype, a video content and distribution company out of New York, for PR and Strategic Narrative Marketing services. Through our Narrative Practice service offering, we will help position Zype as a market category owner in the rapidly growing direct-to-consumer streaming video market. Zype CEO, Ed Laczynski, shared his thoughts on this new partnership: “We’re excited to position Zype as an industry leader with Catapult’s narrative

Christin Jeffers August 30, 2018

Top Quotes on PR and Narrative from Catapult

In a previous blog, I shared some tips on what I learned from my first couple of weeks in the PR industry. One thing I learned after joining the Catapult team is that, “Tips from co-workers are the best… if a co-worker gives you any information on how to make your time more productive or to make others in the office happier, take it. Many of my co-workers at Catapult have helped me with this.” Shouldn’t

Megan Scharf August 22, 2018

Market Leadership

Collaboration: the Ultimate Win/Win for Everyone

Think about it. What is it about certain people or environments that make you enjoy your work more? You probably feel empowered, that there is an open exchange of ideas, and encouragement to express your thoughts, ideas and suggestions. Whether it’s personal or in the business world, it is clear. The more collaboration, the greater the trust, learning, growth and innovation. According to Wikipedia, collaboration is “the process of two or more people or organizations

Terri Douglas August 15, 2018

Market Leadership

Narrative + PR = Category Winner

It’s harder than ever to stand out — with most companies saying the same thing as competitors. It’s even harder to seize the top spot within your given category. Despite all the digital automation and intelligence available to marketers, effective public relations still provides the most credible path to winning the market positioning battle, especially for startups and B2B tech firms. Don’t get me wrong… Growth hacking is great. As is paid digital marketing that

Guy Murrel June 27, 2018

Strategic Narrative

How Communications Pros can get the Whole Company Excited About Category Building

Communications and PR people get the importance of narrative. You don’t need to convince us, it’s the world we live in. Stories shape and redefine our companies, our clients, the industry we are in and the industries we represent. Our day-to-day work involves digging up those narratives, editing them, analyzing them and acting with the story as the backbone of our activity. Therefore, when the marketing team creates a plan or the PR agency comes

Laura Balboni May 29, 2018

Market Leadership

Why You Shouldn’t Leave it up to the Industry Analysts to Define and Claim Your Market Category

If you are in the tech space, you are familiar with all the industry research firms who tout their worth and value when it comes to defining who your company is and where you fit within their various market categories. Companies pay a LOT of money to get on analysts’ radar screens and utilize their advice and services. There’s nothing really wrong with this approach. There is definitely certain value you get out of paid

Terri Douglas May 24, 2018

Catapult PR and CorSource Develop and Launch ‘Staffing Lifecycle Management’ Through the Strategic Narrative Marketing Approach

Today we are excited to announce that we helped CorSource create and launch a new process framework through the Strategic Narrative Marketing approach. Read the news below: Industry framework establishes a unique platform for CorSource to address employee management challenges in tech with concrete steps to improve the Talent Economy. Here’s the news release: BOULDER, Colo., April 17, 2018 – Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a Strategic Narrative communications agency, today announced it helped CorSource develop and launch,

Christin Jeffers April 17, 2018

Strategic Narrative

The Rise of Strategic Narrative In Marketing

The following is an excerpt from an article published in Forbes by Guy Murrel It’s no secret that a person who talks endlessly about themselves is a bore. For years, businesses have been guilty of this “look at me” approach when it comes to positioning and messaging. Mission statements, inward value manifestos and the overuse of self-serving superlatives result in a dead end of unfocused and uninspiring brand messaging. But the use of narrative in

Guy Murrel March 29, 2018

Market Leadership

Time for CEOs to do Some Spring Cleaning

And Strategic Narrative Marketing is Blooming. . . Ahhh, Springtime. The grass is starting to turn green, the birds are chirping, and tulips and daffodils are popping up through the dirt to greet the sun. You’re probably even thinking about golf, vacations and scheduling a few outings with your friends and family. That’s the familiar narrative we are all accustomed to when we think about Spring. Now, apply that to what your company does each

Terri Douglas March 28, 2018

Strategic Narrative

Strategic Narrative Marketing in Forbes

We are excited to see Strategic Narrative Marketing featured in a recent Forbes post about creative ideas for driving an organization’s brand. We believe that every company can benefit from Strategic Narrative Marketing, and that adoption of the approach creates industry leaders and category owners. Read the full article here. Strategic Narrative Marketing challenges companies to look higher than what they do or offer, and focus on the industry. By following the approach, a company

Christin Jeffers March 1, 2018

Market Leadership

Selfless Marketing is a Thing (Let me Explain …)

Believe it or not, a company’s messaging does not have to be self-centered. Stay with me for a moment and let me explain what I mean. I know, I know the very word “marketing” means promoting and selling. So how can marketing be selfless? Isn’t the purpose of marketing always to increase the bottom line? Shouldn’t a B2B company focus on advertising and promoting its solutions? Sure, those activities matter and good marketing will end

Laura Balboni January 29, 2018

Strategic Narrative

Strategic Narratives Reach Beyond Marketing

As we head into 2018, so many of us look back and reflect on the year (and what a year it was!). At Catapult, we helped more than a dozen B-2-B high tech firms create an industry narrative to define a new category space. Our category building framework – Strategic Narrative Marketing – is a new marketing category that helps organizations build a new category. It sounds kind of like a riddle, but when we

Guy Murrel December 21, 2017

Strategic Narrative

It’s Budget Time. . . .

And you know what that means. Looking at what you spent last year and seeing what worked, what didn’t (and why) Investigating ways to streamline resources, budget, yet get more impact Seeing where to invest to ‘move the needle’ so your organization/company can get more sales, be acquired, raise more money Let’s be honest. It’s stressful. Boards want justification for the money you (your company) spent and why. Investors want the same, but, they want

Terri Douglas November 20, 2017

Thought Leadership

Starting My Career in the PR Industry: What I Did That Helped & What I Wish I Would Have Known

Well, I’m straight out of college and have my first job in the public relations industry. Catapult PR gave me a home after graduation, and I couldn’t be more thrilled! Now that first week jitters have come and gone it’s the perfect time to reflect on my thoughts from this past couple of weeks. Arriving at Catapult on my first day wasn’t at all bad. I had met everyone throughout the interview process, so seeing

Megan Scharf October 3, 2017

Market Leadership

TechDay LA Recap

For a boutique PR firm like Catapult, the tradeshow/conference circuit is a bit off the beaten path. We work with clients all over the country, and we’ve been fortunate enough that the reputation we’ve developed throughout the tech industry often leads to referral-based client relationships. When we decided to attend TechDay LA, we recognized it as a great opportunity to push our boundaries, engage with a whole new sector of the industry, and continue to

Charles Trowbridge September 21, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Find us Today at TechDay LA

We are thrilled to join more than 300 hundred startups and 12,000 attendees for a whirlwind, one-day event – TechDay LA! Our very own Guy Murrel, co-founder and principal, and Charles Trowbridge, senior account executive, are manning the Catapult PR table. At 2:40 p.m. PDT, Guy will take the general stage for a three-minute demonstration on Strategic Narrative Marketing, a ground-breaking new approach to company messaging that aims to build category owners and establish true

Christin Jeffers September 14, 2017

Thought Leadership

Practicing DevOps with Your Public Relations Agency: Tips for a Successful Relationship

Let’s face it – in today’s digital world, you are probably working for an organization that runs on software in some way. Even if you aren’t working directly with the software part of your business, there is a chance that you have heard the term “DevOps” buzzing around over the past several years. Not ringing any bells? DevOps, while many may dispute a concrete definition, is a term used in the software delivery industry to

Olivia Heel September 12, 2017

Strategic Narrative

An Industry Narrative Helps CEO’s Align Company Culture Around a Common Goal

A company that finds its voice and truly leads an industry often changes the world with new innovations and new ways of thinking. By blazing a path through unknown territory and beckoning others to follow, true industry leaders shape the future. It’s these brands that we remember through the decades, whose products become household names. Not only do organizations that achieve this kind of success provide good products or services, they offer a new way

Laura Balboni June 30, 2017

Strategic Narrative

The More You Give, the More You Get

I generally find that the saying “the more you give the more you get” holds true when applied in life and business. In life, the rewards of giving are more intangible and somewhat spiritual – feeling good inside, aligned and centered, and riding the wave of a positive force. It’s more of a karma thing. But what about in business? How much should you give and share with the market, even competitors? When I look

Guy Murrel June 22, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Join our Webinar: Finding Your Narrative in a Crowded Content World

We are teaming up with Chief Marketer to present a webinar on our new messaging approach – Strategic Narrative Marketing. Join us to learn how to create industry-level messaging that is 100 percent unique, helps align organizations toward a higher, singular cause, and serves to lead the advancement and success of the overall industry. This approach can be leveraged to drive content development, social media, and general PR/marketing. “Finding Your Narrative in a Crowded Content World,” will

Christin Jeffers June 5, 2017

Strategic Narrative

News: Rogue Wave Software Taps Strategic Narrative!

Today, we’re very happy to announce that our second Strategic Narrative messaging project is completed with our valued partner from Louisville, Colorado — Rogue Wave Software (www.roguewave.com/). Rogue Wave is a leader in software development tools, components, and platforms for mission-critical applications. Together, we dove into a full-day Strategic Narrative discovery workshop and subsequent messaging framework that blends an industry narrative with company positioning and messaging to help Rogue Wave align around a common, higher purpose. “We re-engaged

Jeremy Douglas May 16, 2017

Market Leadership

How a CrowdChat Can Bring Your Industry (and Narrative) Together

In the world of PR and marketing, it’s always crucial to keep a pulse on the latest and greatest tools and technologies. Why? These present new and innovative ways to help bring your client’s or your company’s messages and strategies to market. If you’re a Twitter person, like me, perhaps you’ve stumbled onto an application called CrowdChat – a social chat platform where a crowd creates the content through engaging conversations and a gamified experience.

Jeremy Douglas May 4, 2017

Market Leadership

The (Only) Three Questions to Ask Your PR Firm

After being in the PR business for more than 30 years, it’s been an interesting ride to see how it’s evolved, morphed and changed. Yet, while PR has been around for a while, it still is a mystery for many CEOs, CMOs and marketing folks. Oftentimes, they don’t understand what kind of results they should expect and, if they are hiring a PR firm, how they operate. We often get asked the standard questions when

Terri Douglas May 1, 2017

Market Leadership

Strategically Targeting Analysts as Key Influencers: AR is a Two-Way Street

Analyst relations (AR) and public relations are usually closely paired within the marketing functions of today’s businesses. At Catapult, we run AR programs for most of our clients, in addition to PR. This makes sense because in some ways, analysts function like journalists—although more technical, specialized and usually with prior firsthand industry experience. Analysts formally report on the movements they see within particular markets. They evaluate and review vendors, provide recommendations and forecast future growth

Laura Balboni April 26, 2017

Market Leadership

Raise Your Brand Volume with Execution-as-a-Strategy

One of the best ways to beat your competition is to out execute them. This is especially true when it comes to PR and marketing. All too often companies get bogged down when it comes to PR cadence and frequency. Activities are done in fits and starts. Then, long lags in time occur as the company goes “quiet.” Meanwhile, the leaders in the market seem to be communication machines – frequently and consistently posting social

Guy Murrel April 21, 2017

Market Leadership

Social Media Marketing World: The Future of Social Marketing

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend Social Media Marketing World 2017 (SMMW) in sunny San Diego. Coming into the conference as an intermediate member of the social media world, I was excited to learn a lot. And, boy, did I learn! The conference covered just about every corner of social media marketing, including tracks specifically dedicated to blogging, vlogging, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, analytics and more. With more than 100 sessions lead

Olivia Heel April 13, 2017

Thought Leadership

Accelerate Your Career Path by Becoming a Messaging Expert

We (PR and marketing pros) have the freedom to create our own unique vision for success. As we pursue our individual careers, there’s a good chance we’ll have some big highlights to reflect upon when we reach retirement age. On the other hand, there may be seasons where we feel stuck or uninspired, when direction is murky and movement is limited. While we are creating our career paths, we’re also likely to run into stiff

Christin Jeffers April 4, 2017

Strategic Narrative

How to Turn Industry Misperceptions into Education Opportunities

Turning lemons into lemonade is a skill that any PR or marketing agency should have. At the end of the day, any press is good press, right? As professionals in the lemonade-making business, the answer is yes – and no: ‘yes’ because press presents opportunities; ‘no’ because if you fail to capitalize on negative press – or a misperception being perpetuated – the effects are typically not positive. For companies playing in industries constrained by

Charles Trowbridge March 24, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Demand Grows for Strategic Narrative Marketing Services

Today Catapult PR announced strong momentum for our new Strategic Narrative Marketing services after launching our book, “A Practical Guide to Strategic Narrative Marketing.” Strategic Narrative Marketing (SNM) is a new approach to market positioning that focuses on higher-level industry vision and category-building, giving organizations unique, compelling and useful messaging to communicate to the market. Read the full press release here to learn more. To learn more about the SNM Workshop, visit: https://www.catapultpr-ir.com/strategic-narrative-messaging-workshop/

Guy Murrel March 21, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Championing a Narrative in the On-Demand Economy

The ability to have immediate access to goods and services through a digital marketplace is in turn causing radical, disruptive effects on businesses across the world. What’s more? My generation (Millennial) and the generations hereafter are starting to (almost) exclusively use on-demand services for numerous facets of our lives – from shopping and transportation to news and entertainment. Previous generations are making the migration as well. So, how are businesses leveraging public relations in the

Jeremy Douglas March 17, 2017

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative Marketing from Launch to Adoption | Part 12

Strategic Narrative Marketing (SNM) is a new approach to company positioning and messaging. If you’ve been tracking along with our blog series, you probably have a decent grasp on what it’s all about (newcomers – start with Part 1). You’ve learned how to truly think and act like a leader in your industry and perhaps you are considering developing and launching a market category or framework for your organization. Recently, the series covered how to

Guy Murrel February 1, 2017

Market Leadership

Crafting Your Strategic Narrative Statement | Part 8

To continue our ongoing series on “Strategic Narrative Development: Elements of Success,” we’ll take a look this week at actually creating a strategic narrative statement. Last week, we discussed the elements most important to conducting a workshop and developing a category: gathering the right people, thinking at an industry level, using the workshop for discovery and not to answer questions, and to hold an extensive discussion that allows the team to consider all its options

Guy Murrel December 20, 2016

Market Leadership

The New Standard for Quality Content

My son, a kindergartner, is learning how to read and write. He tends to rush through his assignments so he can move on to more important things, like recess. His teacher, on the other hand, is a big proponent of “quality work.” She encourages him to take his time. My husband and I (also supporters of quality work), make him slow down when we practice with him outside of school but, he doesn’t quite get

Christin Jeffers December 16, 2016

Market Leadership

Five Ways to Get More Value from your PR Firm

After you’ve selected a PR firm to help your organization define and share a strategic narrative with the world, you need to make sure you get the most value for every PR dollar spent. The success of a PR initiative is not completely dependent on the agency, however. While a good agency knows how to work around unique quirks or challenges a client brings to the table, there are a number of decisions and actions

Laura Balboni December 9, 2016

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative Development: Elements of Success |Part 7

In our previous Strategic Narrative Marketing Series post, we discussed the value of conducting a discovery workshop to uncover raw, honest insights into your company’s view and vision for the industry. Without having any experience, these discovery sessions can be difficult to conduct and it’s easy to fall off course. We highly recommend looking into an expert third party to conduct the workshop for you. But, if you are determined to go at it alone,

Guy Murrel December 8, 2016

Market Leadership

Three Reasons to Adopt a Social Media Strategy

At Catapult PR, we offer a wide variety of services to our B2B tech clients. From analyst and media relations to content development, to capturing speaking and award opportunities there isn’t much we can’t do. While programs such as these are pretty painless in terms of getting clients on board, there is one initiative that is often a struggle: social media. Perhaps it’s because of how new social media is in terms of being a

Olivia Heel November 29, 2016

Market Leadership

The DevOps Enterprise Summit San Francisco Was Everything We Hoped For and More!

We (Catapult PR) just returned from an action-packed three days at the 2016 DevOps Enterprise Summit San Francisco (DOES16) where 1,300 DevOps luminaries, business leaders and practitioners united to unpack current DevOps trends and predictions, share success stories and collaborate for the betterment of Dev and Ops practices at large, complex organizations. The conference featured a jam-packed schedule including speakers from some of the world’s biggest brands, such as Target, Verizon and Disney, who shared

Terri Douglas November 17, 2016

Market Leadership

The Rules of Engagement: PR Edition

rule of en·gage·ment noun “A directive issued by a military authority specifying the circumstances and limitations under which forces will engage in combat with the enemy.” The [PR] rules of engagement (ROE) are standing orders to public relations firms (and individual PR professionals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of pitching, writing or socializing may be applied. These rules provide authorization for and/or limits on, among other things, the

Jeremy Douglas November 10, 2016

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative Marketing: Core Tenets of an Industry Narrative | Part 5

Today we are diving into Part 5 of our Strategic Narrative Marketing Blog series. To guide you through this new, unique approach to company messaging and strategy, we’ve broken down the key pillars of what makes up a marketing-based Strategic Narrative. Our aim is twofold: 1) help those of us in charge of “messaging” create a more industry level industry narrative and, 2) provide a guide that is open and available to make a meaningful

Guy Murrel November 7, 2016

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