PR for PR. “That’s so Meta,” Or is It?

This is a conundrum that almost every client services organization grapples with daily. Our President and CEO Anne Green refers to it as the “shoemaker’s children syndrome.” We are all so focused on our clients’ needs that we put our own to the wayside. But with our 20th anniversary hitting this year, it was time to buy ourselves a new pair of shoes — or at least polish up an old pair. So we created a task force, developed a plan and put ourselves in the client seat.

We held a town-hall style brainstorm, allowing everyone at CooperKatz to contribute. We created the core messages we wanted to convey. We experimented with new channels, and we pushed ourselves to think bigger.

So many themes came to the forefront — teamwork, creativity and even family, because many of us (and our clients) consider CooperKatz as such. But the idea that made the cut was our very own Top 20 Countdown, where we showcased the passion of our clients, partners and people for the past 20 years.

And because we are a PR agency — and it’s what we do — we measured it. Nearly 2,000 people visited our dedicated Medium site, cooperkatz20.com. Almost 60 percent of the publication’s visitors read a full article before clicking off. We connected with our audiences — friends, past and future clients of CooperKatz — and engaged with them via video, written stories, imagery and GIFs.

Plus, 90 percent of our staff came to our 1996-themed dance party.

I personally just celebrated my own nine year anniversary at CooperKatz. I’ve been here for almost half of its lifespan, through so many of the campaigns that made our Countdown. I’ve seen ups and downs, wins and major systematic changes. I couldn’t be prouder.

If you haven’t already checked out our 20th anniversary publication, I hope you do. Join as we toast CooperKatz to 20 successful years, and many more to come!