WOUB Alumni (Yes, another one...) To Be Honored at Homecoming Ceremony

Last month when we published the story about fellow WOUB alums, Paula Shugart and Perry Sook, we did not have the information, that yet another person, we recognize as an alumnus, was also to be honored at the 2009 Alumni Awards, during Homecoming week, in October....This story is to correct that oversight and celebrate the recipient's outstanding achievements.


Selling Shoes in Pittsburgh

After graduation, there was a saying that became common to a few of us. Those that were still working together and were still close friends, while we were pursuing our media related careers in Cincinnati. And that saying was (when we started talking about what had happened to other people we used to know, but did not know if they were in the "biz" still) "I dunno about him (or her), they could be selling shoes in Pittsburgh, I guess...."

Of course we know, not everyone that graduated with a degree in Communications or Journalism, or ever worked at WOUB, in the Radio-TV or News areas, has continued on that same broadcasting path through out their life.

So it may not be a surprise when I tell you that former WOUB Newswatch reporter, Matt Rubel is indeed, "Selling Shoes in Pittsburgh"..... yes, that is a true fact.

But, I should probably add, that he is also selling them in Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Athens, Atlanta, Dallas, St. Louis, New York, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and every major city in the United States, and pretty much in every part of the world!

That's because currently, Matthew Rubel is the CEO and president of Collective Brands Inc., the holding company for Payless, Stride Rite and Collective Licensing International... so he sells shoes EVERYWHERE. He has sold them to you, very likely. I know he has to me!

After graduation, and leaving the news desk, instead of pursuing a job, at some small market station in the broadcast field, he pursued an MBA in marketing and finance at the University of Miami (FL). That decision and right turn from news and broadcasting, took him on a new career path, through companies like Revlon, J. Crew, Tommy Hilfiger and Nike, among others.

I don't know about you, but it really points out to me, I should have stayed in school a little longer, and got that other degree I was working on! It sure turned out to be a smart choice for Matt Rubel. Though I am sure he had the "making good choices for the long term future" brain, all the time, and obviously continued to exercise it, to have had the outstanding career, that he has....

And that is why HE is one of the Ohio University Alumni Association's, Outstanding Alumni, this year... (along with Paula Shugart) and the rest of us.... are not.

But hey, with hard work.... maybe next year? I think we should aim, for at least one alumnus, to get a Medal of Merit every year... Who's up for that?!

Here's to "contented" clients

For our public relations clients, we’re recommending at least a 50/50 split of emphasis between traditional media and Internet-based media. Our King’s English business model used to look like a Mercedes-Benz logo with equal thirds advertising, public relations and Internet. Now, it’s not that clean, because the Internet is more a medium than a discipline and all of what we do needs to work on the Web, PR especially.

Traditional print and broadcast publications for the most part have Web versions, but we have to look deeper and broader than that. A public relations program needs to reach blogs, Craigs List, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Remember, too, that your audience, like you, isn’t getting any younger. This will be an old list by the time you read it!

With all due respect to the grand old tradition of glossy magazines, you can’t Google search the Southern Living print edition. When prospects are looking for something that you sell, they’re typing in generic descriptions and clicking on the top Google responses. But you know this already.

The new message to our PR clients is: self-publish. Blog technology enables you to create your OWN glossy magazine. However, don’t assume you can just pump out your usual brochure copy or traditional Web site content.

If you’re going to self-publish and you want any readership, you have to achieve some level of:
1) Engaging writing—on the Web, you have to balance the consumer demand for fast facts with style. Online content is the easiest message to share and if your message is easy to read and entertaining it’s more likely to get pass-along readership.
2) Objectivity—consumers are jaded, especially Web consumers. While you don’t have to write good things about your competitors, you should avoid blatant sales pitches. And the more you can support your proposition with links and examples, the better.
3) Value—your content has to have value in and of itself. Your readers need to learn something or get a new idea from your content.

On the precipice of 2010, here’s what I see: a media opportunity that is more or less free and wide open to you and all of your competitors BUT the point of difference is your content

One caveat: we STILL NEED THE OLD PRINT MEDIA. What self-publishing and some lesser online properties lack is third-party credibility. Better Homes and Gardens, for example, has a big editorial staff in Des Moines, whose job it is to make sure they don’t print lame information and those are still the kinds of media you want to be seen in. So you should keep half of your PR emphasis on the traditional media to build credibility for your brand.

Editors Note: Dave McLean (BSC '81 Radio-TV), Principal at the King's English, is still making music, as many who knew him at Ohio University may remember. Now living in the Greensboro, NC area he is with The Raving Knaves, check out and listen to some of their music, or see them at some upcoming dates if you are in the area.