Mayra Vasquez – Public Relations Coordinator

I am a recent ASU graduate with degrees in English (Writing, Rhetoric, & Literacies) and Communication. I’ve always loved writing, but I knew I wanted a career in public relations because I’m invested in how a message is crafted and how audiences respond to the story told. I’m also a lover of horror movies, rock music, and Thai food.

But first, the company had to completely change its original focus.  Title Alliance started out as the Title Abstract Co. of Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1948.

What’s your favorite book?
The Humans, by Matt Haig

Best advice you’ve ever been given?
The right opportunity is waiting for you.

Your favorite magazine, publication, or outlet?
VICE or Vox – I love the interesting stories they report.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from your time in Public Relations?
You can’t control everything and sometimes you’re going to have just work with what you have.

When you’re not at work…
I love going out with friends and family to discover amazing places in Arizona like scenic places in nature or the best local restaurants. I also have two little nephews who are my entire world and I love spending my time with them and watching them grow up.

It’s that time of year- The March Madness college basketball tournament.  If you’re not a college basketball fan, keep reading. Don’t worry, what I’m going to share should still make sense.

Like a lot of people, every year I complete a bracket of the participating teams to predict a winner. But, in truth, I barely pay attention to college basketball during the season.  So how do I choose which team I think will win?

Sometimes I favor teams from my hometown simply because I want to see them win, or the team representing the mid-major conference that my alma mater plays in.

Like most people, I usually just go with the teams I’m most familiar with, or the teams with higher rankings. 

Duke Basketball is the perfect example.  For the first time in decades, Duke did not make the tournament, but had they squeaked into the field of 64 my assumption is that a lot of casual basketball fans would have chosen them to make the Sweet 16. Simply off of name recognition, awareness of their team history, and out of respect for their well-known coach.  Their legacy matters- and people are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt even during a tough season. 

A lot of people choose a product or business the same way. 

There’s comfort in familiarity.  There’s confidence in a track record of success, even if the current task is something new.  Belief in individuals transfers to trust in an organization.

How does a business achieve this?  By playing the long game and promoting their successes along the way.  It’s not by announcing one big new contract, it’s by announcing a steady stream of contract wins over time.  It’s not by creating one single event, it’s by promoting numerous events throughout the year.

One good season or one good story isn’t going to earn long-term loyalty. It’s repetition of actions, over long periods of time, which ultimately breeds public confidence. It’s that awareness and reputation which will sustain a company even during a rough patch.

Finally, allow me to share one last off-topic story simply because it makes me smile every year around this time.  Probably a good 15 years ago or so, a friend of mine had a vasectomy.  He had to book it far in advance because he wanted the timing to coincide with the start of the basketball tournament.  Turns out he had to book early because a lot of guys have the same idea. They figure if they had to sit at home with a bag of frozen peas in their lap for a couple of days, they might as well do it while there were constant basketball games on TV!  

Marcia Brookey, APR – Senior Account Executive

I have lived in many cities and countries: Brazil, Italy, Israel and the United States. I enjoy starting a new life in a completely new city – although unpacking is a beast! I have over a decade of experience in marketing and public relations. I am a native of Rio de Janeiro and started my career in public relations in Sao Paulo in 2009. There, I served clients in the publishing, construction, architecture and interior design industries. But I married an Okie, and so in 2011 we moved to Tulsa, OK, where I consulted in public relations and market research for three years. Over the last six years I managed marketing and public relations for a large financial services organization in Oklahoma. I feel fortunate to have relocated with my family to the Phoenix area. I am ready to bring my experience and skills to The Valley and help boost brands!

If you didn’t work in PR, what would you do?
I would be teaching Communications and Film at the university level. Before working in public relations, I earned a master’s degree, taught undergraduate classes and published a book about documentary film.

Best advice you’ve ever been given?
The right opportunity is waiting for you.

What is your most memorable PR experience?
Bragging, not bragging. I’ve put my client (the Brazilian Association of Ceramic Tile Manufacturers) on the front page of the largest business and financial newspaper in Brazil – the Brazilian version of Wall Street Journal. It was a homerun.

When you’re not at work…
I am hiking the beautiful Arizona and New Mexico trails and mountains, reading, traveling with my kids and husband, watching documentaries, taking care of my houseplants and trying to become a better photographer.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from your time in Public Relations?
Public relations is a long-term commitment to building mutually beneficial, trustworthy relationships with many, if not all, your stakeholders.

Who’s your celeb doppelganger?
I don’t think I have one, but a friend insists that I remind him of Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman. Yeah, right! I wish…

While this new year has just begun, it already feels like a sprint. Not just from the renewed energy of our current clients, but as demonstrated by the significant increase in prospective client inquiries that we’ve already received this year.

Why is this year different? Significant change is imminent.

2021 initially might feel like a continuation of 2020, but the ending will be far different. I’m not just talking politically, but as it relates to the pandemic and ultimately the economy. The general public can finally see a potential end to the pandemic once enough vaccines are administered. Businesses are seeing it too.

But this year, it’s like everyone is on the same compressed schedule to make up for time lost due to the pandemic, forcing many companies to work harder to ensure they’re at the front of the pack when potential customers cross the pandemic finish line. 

Thinking about this finish line, I can’t help but think about how a company’s PR strategy correlates to a race day strategy.

Back to high school when I ran track, my primary race was the 400 (one quarter of a mile) or one full loop around the track. I was decent at it. My freshman year, my best time was 55 seconds, good enough to earn a spot at regionals. My coach tried me in some other races like the 100, but I didn’t have a great start out of the blocks so my times were never great. He tried me at the mile, and while I started strong, I would fade to the back of the pack as the race went on. 

My success at the 400 wasn’t based on technique or skill. Ultimately it came down to one thing: I always ran the race as a flat-out sprint. I wasn’t the fastest out of the block, but I was by far the fastest in the middle of the race building up a lead. By the end, I was running out of gas trying desperately to hold on to the lead that I had built. This often led to my getting passed at the end by a closing competitor who had saved some energy for their sprint to the finish.

It’s okay to sprint the entire way from start to finish, it is a valid strategy for some cicumstances. But if you want to win the race, the strategy is done before you ever step foot on the track. It means before the race even begins you need to know what length of race you need to enter to make sure you end up in the right spot at the right time. Otherwise, you risk of running out of gas as you to watch your competitors run right by you into the arms of your potential customers.

It’s why you see a lot more in-race strategy occurring in longer races. The goal isn’t having your personal fastest time across the finish line, it’s simply about crossing the finish line first. It’s why you often see a clump of runners in a pack despite everyone having a different strategy. The goal is about trying to force the competitors to react the way you desire to advance your strategy to win. The runners with a fast last leg sprint try to stay with the pack and keep the pace slow until the end knowing they can outrun the rest. The runners less known for their sprint abilities may try to push the pace faster early in hopes of leaving others so tired or far behind they have nothing left at the end and can’t catch up before the race ends.

Which brings us back to today’s race to the pandemic finish line. Current predictions are that sometime later this year, we’ll pass a threshold where enough people have been vaccinated and it becomes safe to start gathering in groups again, going back to the office or booking travel plans.

As a business, you need to think about this race route from start to finish and how a public relations strategy can help you come out ahead. Along that route, you need to place different potential “PR story” flags along the way. Maybe the best strategy is placing the flags equal distances apart and simply sprinting as fast as you can through all of them to reach the finish line before anyone else. Or, maybe your strategy is to start off slower and clump more of the flags towards the end to ensure you’re at your top speed as you reach the finish line. 

As a PR firm, my team excels at developing a plan, planting flags and implementing the strategy. If you need help, let us know. We’re already wearing our running shoes and are ready to go.

— written by Josh Weiss