While the firm is based in Chicago, MK Communications represents clients throughout the nation and actively works in twenty-five states. We have earned the respect of the media, winning awards and citations for excellence in national media publications. We pride ourselves on creating the right public environment for our clients, their mission and their messages.

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Philosophy

The firm has a clearly defined philosophy that has proven its value to our clients:

• We believe that public relations is a broad-based strategic activity that goes far beyond interaction with the media. It involves using organizational, political, and marketing skills to influence audiences and relationships that bear on our client's needs;
• We believe in the power of collaboration. We think that public relations must be an integral part of an institution's organizational strategy and that public relations counsel should help in developing not only marketing campaigns, events and speeches, but also legislative campaigns, program development, community outreach strategies, etc.;
• We believe in highly individual client service that understands and reflects the entirety of our client. Our firm's work does not begin at the media plan, but at the heart of the organization, garnering an understanding of our client's goals and objectives and creating an appropriate public relations strategy;
• We believe that public relations work is best done when we have more access to information and people, not less. We can serve you most effectively when we are included in the initial stages of planning and decision-making, to create and capture public relations opportunities;
• We believe that our job in media relations is larger than issuing news releases and organizing events. We position our clients with the media and opinion-makers so they will be called upon to comment on the critical issues of the day. Where appropriate, we aim to involve our clients in relevant emerging public debates that arise in the course of public life;
• We believe in conserving our clients' resources. We enhance the value and impact of costly paid media with creative earned media, , editorial coverage and direct marketing whenever possible. When we use paid media, we coordinate with direct marketing and free press activities to ensure the greatest leverage for our dollars and the greatest impact for our work; and
• We believe in open, unfettered communications between our firm and our clients. While we keep track of all hours worked, we prefer a set monthly fee so that client/firm contact is not impeded by concern about the cost of individual contact or projects.

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Expertise:

Typically we work with our clients to create a strategy that involves message; needed constituency outreach and media relations; and community, investor and government relations. We see each of these factors as interrelated and we work closely with our clients' in-house staff to formulate that strategy. While many of our clients are well-informed about the environment and issues they confront, when necessary, we develop the research necessary to augment and inform our public relations strategies.

We are known as "quick studies" who absorb large amounts of material rapidly, and thus are prepared to tackle virtually any issue or realm of endeavor. Conversely, the individual experience of the principals and the collective experience of the firm have prepared us to comprehensively engage in issues of healthcare, housing, community development, urban policy, education, the environment, land-use and law.

While we do an enormous amount of work with the media, we have extensive experience in community outreach, as it is a component of virtually all our long term work. Further, we enjoy excellent working relations with scores of community based organizations throughout the area.

MK Communications has the capacity to:

• Engage in strategic planning, including crisis management;
• Do media, policy and statistical research;
• Create and implement community, government, investor and other targeted constituency strategies;
• Create and implement media and marketing strategies;
• Create and manage complex data bases (we maintain a data base of 6,000 press contacts, augmented by a variety of computer based directories);
• Create and manage media events;
• Write and produce media, marketing, educational print materials;
• Write and produce print, television and radio advertising;
• Write and produce newsletters, annual reports and informational materials;
• Create and manage Web sites;
• Write and produce videos;
• Create and implement community outreach plans;
• Develop, implement legislative strategies and eduacation.

While we have in-house capacity for Internet, radio/television and print design, we have developed long-term relationships with outside experts for top-quality, yet cost efficient, final design and production of such materials.

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