November 7th 2011 started a new chapter in my life – a “real job.” After 18 years of being a stay at home mom with two kids, one in high school and one in college, who now only see me as an ATM and a pain in the butt, I decided that it was time for me to go back to work.
I knew that this was going to be a big adjustment for me, and I also wondered how the transition would be for me. I was always used to the chaos of kids, homework, sports, trips to the store for that project my son forgot about, AGAIN. The last piece of an outfit my daughter had to have or she would look like a total dork and everyone at school will laugh at her, (teenage girls’ melt-downs are not fun or pretty to watch.)
As I arrive to work my first day I am warmly welcomed by not only by my two legged friends but my new and wonderful four legged friends. When Danieal told me that KolbeCo was a pet friendly environment, she was not kidding! I had to count twice just make sure I got the total right – yup, there are six dogs here, sometimes more when we have fosters! What’s awesome is that they don’t talk back to me and ask me for money. What’s even funnier is that they are actually better behaved and quieter than my own kids. I’m really going to like my job!
Question: So what happens when you have a culture at KolbeCo that really embraces helping dogs in need?
Answer: People ask for help when their dogs are lost.
A friend of ours called Saturday afternoon, very worried because his son had lost his dog, Bailey, at nearby Quail Ridge Park in Wentzville. Knowing how involved we are with dog and rescue groups, he asked: “Can you help?” I immediately said that we would, and asked what he would like us to do. He asked if we could share a picture and his phone number with our dog friends.
We knew where to take this request – social media.
We uploaded the picture in this post and started sharing it on some private and public Facebook Dog Rescue Groups, as well as our own Facebook profiles. We also put out some pleas for help on Twitter.
Within a couple hours the picture had been shared at over 50 sites and profiles in the St. Louis metro area. As of Saturday at 5 PM we had people searching the area.
Most of the people we have never met, but they saw the pleas and were concerned about this lost dog, and set out to help find poor Bailey. By Sunday morning, I received a message on Facebook from someone that I went to high school with. She had seen Bailey in her neighborhood! Around noon Sunday, we received the call we had all been waiting for – Bailey was home! Our friend was very thankful to us, and grateful to our amazing network of dog loving friends. Well, at KolbeCo we do have some amazing social media friends, but we also know how to get the message out quickly through social media.
So the job was not over yet. We then went back to everyone that helped us spread the word and thanked them for their help. We had to let them know that Bailey had been found. We all celebrated together, online, at the very happy ending for for a dog that wandered over 4 miles away.
The St. Louis Rams are once again fishing for a head coach and there is no bigger catch than former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher. (pun intended) The woeful Rams have been playing their cards correctly up to this point, being described by nearly every media outlet as the favorite to land the coveted coach.
Everything seemed to be falling into place, the stars were coming into alignment….but then.…da da daaa Yahoo Sports reported that Fisher was leaning towards the Miami Dolphins! And even worse, he wasn’t sold on franchise quarterback Sam Bradford. You could almost hear the red alert being issued at Rams Park.
The ensuing buzz of media chatter was deafening and suddenly Fisher was holding all the cards in this high stakes game. But how did this all happen? Things were looking up for our Rams!
There are only two words to describe what happened, public relations. It seems that the crafty old coach was able to flip the script on the Rams by utilizing a trusted “confidant” at Yahoo. In the end, it came down to Fisher leveraging a key media relationship.
As of today, it appears that Fisher will be promised the moon and the stars, not to mention a mega coaching contract, from not one but two teams. That is the power of PR and its ability to change the entire conversation. It will be interesting to see how the Rams respond. Will they also be able change public opinion by pulling an ace out of their own sleeve?
Only time will tell. Go Rams!
