STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES' NEW LOOK OFFERS SMART IDEAS, BETTER SOLUTIONS
By Adnews Staff
Toronto-based public relations agency Strategic Objectives has adopted a new look, to convey growth and skill through their new logo and the wordmark "Smart Ideas, Better Solutions".
According to co-founder Judy Lewis, the phrase expresses the trademark qualities of the company. The logo's exclamation point represents the agency's dedication to superior service, while a red dot highlights the power that can be generated with PR, she said. The new logo and wordmark were created with the help of Forbes Design Group of Toronto.
Strategic Objectives has grown considerably since it was founded sixteen years ago. Launched in 1983 by sisters and former journalists Deborah Weinstein and Judy Lewis, the two began in a one-room office with a desk, two telephones, a typewriter and an approach towards PR that required the setting of strategic objectives at the beginning of every project.
Over a decade and a half later that approach has grown the company to 38 employees working on more than 30 accounts. Early clients were Frank Stronach of Magna International and Flare Magazine. Long term clients include Marks and Spencer, The Body Shop and General Mills Canada, Inc., while recent clients wins include Hallmark Canada, Alberta Distillers and Brick Brewing Company.
That decade and a half has also seen major changes in the way PR is perceived by the business world.
"There's been a dramatic change in the way our profession is now recognized as a powerful business tool," says Weinstein. She explains that when Strategic began, public relations was seen as a mere sidebar to real marketing activities, while today it is considered a practice equal in importance to both marketing and corporate planning. The agency's new look and approach are designed to focus client attention on the business value of public relations.
Strategic offers services in the areas of media and public relations, crisis communications, issue management, product launches, news conferences, media training, Web site consultation, multimedia and video production, newsletters, annual meetings and sales conferences. The agency's work has been recognized with awards from the United National Department of Public Information, the International Public Relations Association, the International Association of Business Communicators and the Canadian Public Relations Society.
Weinstein notes that the speed of information and its delivery has increased enormously in the years leading up to the close of the current millennium, and maintains that her agency's job in the next millennium will be to deal with the ever-increasing speed at which news travels. "Information that travels at the speed of light has to be dealt with using immediacy, accuracy, flexibility, creativity and ingenuity," she says.