O’Reilly DePalma in the News

Coverings, the ultimate tile + stone experience, has named O’Reilly-DePalma its agency of record for its next annual gathering, to be held April 29 – May 2, 2013, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. O’Reilly-DePalma will be responsible for all public relations efforts on behalf of the show, including pre-show, post-show and onsite media coverage; a VIP Press Tour for selected shelter and architectural media; and the creation of a publicity planner and press kit.

“We are delighted to welcome the O’Reilly-DePalma team, as we work to make North America’s largest tile and stone exposition an even bigger success in 2013, our first time ever in Atlanta,” says Elena Grant, Vice President of Marketing for National Trade Productions. NTP manages the entire event for Coverings, including registration, sales, marketing, PR, the show floor and special events.

Coverings 2012, held this past April in Orlando, saw attendance rise 19 percent over the previous year to more than 22,000 distributors, retailers, architects and designers, contractors, installers and fabricators.

The number of exhibitors also increased by 24 percent, while exhibit square footage was up 14 percent.

The O’Reilly-DePalma team is led by building products industry veterans Nora DePalma and Leslie Hart, each of whom bring more than 25 years of marketing and communications experience to the show.

For more information on Coverings 2013, contact Nora DePalma at 770.772.4726; nora.depalma@oreilly-depalma.com; or Leslie Hart at 212.989.4629; leslie.hart@oreilly-depalma.com. Or follow the Coverings blog, Pinterest page, Facebook page, Twitter feed or Linked In group.

**UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES BELOW**

From BlogHer 2012, slides from the seminar “10 Things You Can Do Now to Maximize Your Social Media Expertise,” by Stacie Tamaki, Chris Lam and Nora DePalma.

Staci Tamaki, Nora DePalma, Chris Lam

The view from our offices is particularly nice today, as we’ve just won the Skyline Award of Excellence in Media Relations from the Chicago chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for an already award-winning client case study that generated over 40 million impressions.

The case study being recognized by the PRSA-Chicago highlighted how the Loews Hotel chain experienced an 80% drop in service calls related to clogged toilets after replacing their old commodes with the American Standard Champion 4. Pitched by ORDP account director Joel Williams, the case study received coverage on the travel blogs of USA Today and The Economist, as well as a related humor feature on AOL.

The story previously won a Phoenix Award from the Public Relations Society of America, Georgia Chapter, as well as a Golden Trumpet from the Publicity Club of Chicago.

We’re feeling good today! Nothing like being able to blow our own horn, winning a Golden Trumpet from the Publicity Club of Chicago for good solid brand journalism, based on a client case study that generated more than 40 million impressions.

The Publicity Club of Chicago is recognizing our story on how the  Loews hotel chain saw maintenance calls for clogged toilets plunge 80% after the American Standard Champion 4 toilet was installed.

You could say we really blew the lid off that story.   Our team member Joel Williams, who wrote the toilet success feature, garnered more than 40 million impressions, including coverage on the travel blogs of USA Today (below) and The Economist, as well as a related humor feature on AOL.

“‘Think about the embarrassment and inconvenience of a toilet clog,’ Dick Senechal, Loews’ senior vice president of facilities, who calls American Standard’s Champion 4 toilet an industry breakthrough, told me. ‘Eliminating that is a great service for our guests.’” — From Barbara DeLollis of USA Today Hotel Check-In.

The story previously won a Phoenix Award from the Public Relations Society of America, Georgia Chapter.

O’Reilly/DePalma principals Nora DePalma and John O’Reilly weigh in on the consequences for a building products brand that sparked a PR firestorm after being too heavy-handed with a respected industry blogger.

Leslie Hart joins O’Reilly/DePalma as a New York-based partner, after several years of project collaboration with the building and architecture brand consultancy and more than 20 years of industry relationships with principals John O’Reilly and Nora DePalma.

Hart, the Consumer Insights columnist for Kitchen & Bath Design News and an honoree in the Kitchen & Bath Industry Hall of Fame, has more than 30 years of in-depth marketing and communications experience in all channels of the kitchen and bath industry. Trained as a journalist, Hart served as editor and publisher of Kitchen and Bath Business, then as director of strategic marketing at Meredith Corporation, publishers of Better Homes and Gardens and other leading consumer magazines, where she created integrated marketing programs for The Home Depot and Sub-Zero, among others.  Read more.

O’Reilly/DePalma today announced the appointment of Joel Williams as account director, where he will lead several of the marketing communications agency’s key accounts.

An award-winning writer and communications strategist, Williams has been a strategic partner of O’Reilly/DePalma for several years, performing an integral role in delivering results for the agency’s roster of B2B and B2C brands in the home and commercial building products industries.

Prior to joining O’Reilly/DePalma, Williams worked with Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, national homebuilder, KB Home, in addition to Marketing Support, Inc. where he oversaw marketing communications activities for Aristokraft Cabinetry, Black & Decker’s Hardware and Home Improvement Group, Elkay Manufacturing, Gerber Plumbing Products and In-Sink-Erator.

John O’Reilly and Nora DePalma were among 43 business owners quoted by The Entreprenette Gazette about business partnering, 22 months about their own decision to merge agencies. O’Reilly and DePalma supplied five tips for knowing when it’s the right time to seek a business partner:

1. The business needs to diversify and expand offerings to remain competitive.

2. The business has grown to the point that efficiencies could be realized with a partner, including shared overhead costs.

3. You seek an equal as a creative and strategic sounding board.

4. The partner brings immediate and significant revenue growth.

5. You’ve learned that it can be lonely at the top. The right partner helps share the challenges of managing and motivating people.