Peppercom
Company: Peppercom
Company Description: Peppercom, Inc. is a strategic communications firm headquartered in New York, with offices in San Francisco, Chicago and London. Its business approach to strategic communications drives new opportunities for clients. Peppercom is the recipient of the “Small Agency of the Year – 2006” award from PR Week and was named “Innovative Agency of the Year – 2006” from The Holmes Report.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Agency, Brokerage, or Satellite Office or Facility
Nomination Title: Peppercom, Innovators in Digital and Beyond
1. Tell the story about what this nominated office, plant, or agency achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
In the Public Relations industry there are many players responding to Corporate America’s need to communicate effectively with consumers, businesses and investors.Many PR professionals would agree that PR agencies are often relegated to a “vendor” status, since so many agencies are offering the same cookie-cutter offerings.Let’s face it, in today’s marketplace, traditional PR services are a dime a dozen; as a result, PR agency services are turning into a "nice to have" resource than a "must have" solution.
At Peppercom, we believe that the key to success is innovation and reinvention.Innovation and reinvention begins by understanding our
clients’ “pain” as well as the business of our client’s business. We define “pain” as the day-to-day, critical issues that keep our clients awake at
night. By conducting marketplace research, we continually identify new “pain points” in the market that our clients are contending with, and in turn increase investment to develop new service offerings that address this pain.Peppercom raises the bar for other mid-size PR agencies with the continuous invention of innovative service offerings.Current Peppercom offerings include:Peppercommotions, the agency’s in-house event planning division; PepperPrescriptions, a measurement tool that provides predictive analysis of marketing campaigns; Pain-Based Selling, which improves communication between sales executives and their prospects; CrisisRx, which helps clients respond to a post 9/11 world; and Sales Shield, which helps maintain sales during a crisis.In 2005 Peppercom launched two new offerings: PepperDigital, a service that marries the agency’s positioning expertise with its deep understanding of digital communication platforms (Steve Cody even launched his own blog and podcast in 2005), and Executive Leadership Forum, a new professional development course that helps executives differentiate, grow and protect themselves and their companies.
Peppercom has identified truly unique industry issues, and as a result, agency executives are at the forefront of thought leadership.Peppercom has placed thought leadership byline articles in leading business publications including, The Chicago Tribune, BRANDWEEK, CMO Magazine, InvestmentNews, and PRWeek, as well as having management quoted in several publications including USA Today, New York Post and CNN Money among others.
Peppercom’s innovation, reinvention, and resulting service offerings have paid off.2005 was a banner year for Peppercom with the addition of several domestic and global clients including Siemens, Diageo, Mainetti, Soleil Securities, World Poker Tour, Bayview Financial and Nautilus.At the same time, Peppercom’s strategy, creativity and bottom-line results cemented long-standing client relationships such as those with Steelcase, Unisys, ITT Industries, Panasonic Broadcast & Professional Company, Ricoh, Tyco International, Bank of Montreal, and British Telecommunications.
In 2005, we also celebrated the 10th Anniversary of Peppercom New York, the fifth anniversary of our San Francisco office, the four-year anniversary of our London office, and the opening of our Chicago office.
As the PR industry continues to face new obstacles – one thing remains increasingly clear – the more we understand what’s really keeping our clients up at night, the more opportunities we will have to innovate and prosper in the future.In 2005, digital reputation management surfaced at the forefront of our clients agenda, among other things.But it doesn’t stop there; communication landscapes are continually changing, and so is Peppercom.
2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
A sample of 2005 news and bylined articles from Peppercom:
Peppercom in the News:
Holmes Report – 2006 Innovative Agency of the Year
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[tt_news=125&tx_
ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=5c821e74d2]
PRWeek – Peppercom Named 2006 Small PR Agency of the Year
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[tt_news=124&tx_
ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=6a22b89899]
PR News – Blogging Q&A w/ Steve Cody
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[pointer=1&tx_ttn
ewstt_news=123&tx_ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=78a6d2249d]
PRWeek – Peppercom’s Blogging Survey
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[pointer=3&tx_tt
newstt_news=104&tx_ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=ccd6fec71b]
USA Today – Peppercom on branding for US Airways
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[pointer=5&tx_tt
newstt_news=34&tx_ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=7401d78c6b]
Bylined Articles:
PR News –Corporate Blogs
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[pointer=1&tx_ttnews
tt_news=119&tx_ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=815195f665]
PRWeek –Digital Reputation Management
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[pointer=2&tx_ttnewstt_news=
112&tx_ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=9448927d0d
CMO Magazine –Branding
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[pointer=6&tx_ttnewstt_news
=30&tx_ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=21f2fc79e7]
Hotels Magazine –Crisis Communications
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=102&tx_ttnews[pointer=2&tx_ttnews
tt_news=109&tx_ttnewsbackPid=4&cHash=c3dca3f58d]
Service Offerings Developed in 2005:
PepperDigital
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=79
Executive Leadership Forum
http://peppercom.com/index.php?id=155
3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of this nominated office, plant or agency:
From two people working out of a one-bedroom apartment 10 years ago to one of the nation's top mid-sized communications agencies, Steve Cody and Edward Moed, co-founders and managing partners, have been together for over a decade and provide a complementary blend of strategy, creativity, and responsiveness. Each is a noted speaker and published author on a variety of strategic public relations and partnership development subjects. Ed is widely known for his expertise in crisis management, marketing, and public relations partnerships. Steve has become the agency’s leader into the digital world; he has spoken at industry events on digital reputation management, and is the host of his own
blog and podcast.