What Goes Into Imagery for Business - Part 1
July 20, 2018
Hosted by Merritt Hamilton Allen and Gary Potterfield
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Guest Information
Episode Description
The strength of one’s brand lies in its ability to demonstrate its capabilities, communicate successfully with customers and stakeholders, and display personality and authenticity. And according to recent studies, there is certainly no better way to accomplish all of this than through imagery. For these reasons, traditional and digital marketers continue their trends toward visual content to gain consumer attention. In 2016 more than 51 percent of business-to-business marketers made visual content creation the priority for their campaigns. The trend continued as 74 percent of social media marketers consider visual content essential for their campaigns. To make sense of visual content importance, Merritt and Gary start a two-part series about the impact of visual information on brands on The Brand Ambassadors. They start with still imagery and call on photographic experts John F. Williams and Laura Lakeway to help explain the artistry and communication impact of visual imagery.
The Brand Ambassadors
Archives Available on VoiceAmerica Business Channel
PR and communication have bad raps as being frivolous ways for businesses to burn overhead dollars. The Brand Ambassadors will show listeners the best way to incorporate PR into their operations, whether a startup or a Fortune 500 firm.
Host Merritt Hamilton Allen is an economist by training and a PR executive by accident. She will give listeners expert advice on focusing their PR energy and money. She will be joined by co-host Gary Potterfield, who is an expert in integrating business goals into compelling creative campaigns.
Every firm has a compelling narrative that sets them apart from the crowd. Everyone, whether an intern or the CEO, can advance their career and their business by blending their own background into their firm’s narrative through strategic storytelling.
Merritt Hamilton Allen and Gary Potterfield
Merritt Hamilton Allen believes that every employee in every business can help promote that business. Merritt has leveraged unique stories and perspectives to persuade and inform those around her. She turned this personal brand into the company Vox Optima in 2005, and has since been awarded over $25 million in PR contracts. Vox Optima’s public relations clients include multi-billion-dollar organizations, start-ups, and everyone in between.
Merritt grew up in Silver City, New Mexico, where she got her first job in radio at age 13. She attended the University of Notre Dame on NROTC and National Merit scholarships. After graduation she served as a Navy public affairs officer for eight years, and led the Navy’s communication strategy for environmental, personnel, medical, and acquisition issues. Merritt is a disabled veteran.
Vox Optima closed its first year with a $1 million task order from the U.S. Navy. Vox Optima currently has 15 employees, offices in Albuquerque and the DC Metro area and its client roster includes NATO, the U.S. Navy, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, BAE Systems, the Census Bureau and several national trade associations
Merritt was honored as a Woman of Influence by NM Business Weekly in 2012. She was named the top-performing media and marketing CEO in New Mexico in 2013 by Albuquerque Business First. Vox Optima has been listed in the top five PR firms by revenue in the state for the last four years.
