Social Media Relations: How Companies Use Influencers to Expand Their Marketing Efforts and Enhance Their Customer Relationships
People see your advertising for your product or service. They hear your claims. But are they buying it? Literally?
Covalent LogicYou want to think out of the box, go out on a ledge, or maybe just get your message out there. Taking a risk can be difficult. That’s why you need a risk-taker in your corner. You might want an innovative product on the web—something that’s never been done before. Maybe you need a campaign to promote your company or announce a new endeavor. We can do that.
Our process is as unique as your problem. We don’t “save as.” We don’t use a formula. We draw from our canvas of experience—whether you need a website, graphic design, investor communications, public relations, an advertising campaign, videos, brand management or help in a crisis—we’ve got you covered. We’re nimble enough to respond to your needs and diligent enough to get the job done.
We believe that two heads are better than one. You’ll find us bouncing ideas off each other all day long to get to another right answer. Because one approach is not enough. We explore possibilities and options until you’re satisfied. You can’t learn what we do in a classroom (though our people *love* to get degrees), so it’s the experiences—all of them—that count. Our wide variety of backgrounds, past lives and time travel adventures drive our ability to innovate. But, former experience as a barista is always a plus!
Her friendly face and casual demeanor about all things business are merely a decoy - there is no one else you want on your side for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or defending you in a crisis. Stafford Wood is a deadly combination of strategic brains, mystical intuition, humor and corporate marketing intelligence. As the Founder and President of Covalent Logic for the past fifteen years, Stafford leads a team of thirty corporate communications experts in internal communications, graphic design, web development and public relations. Stafford is an Emergenetics Associate leading professional development, team building and organizational transitions through mergers and acquisitions all over the country. As an Accredited Senior Practitioner of Public Relations, she's received two lifetime achievement awards from the American Advertising Federation and the Public Relations Association of Louisiana and has been inducted into the Southern Public Relations Federation Hall of Fame.
An LSU graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, Trae is experienced in advertising, marketing, branding and digital strategy. As Covalent's vice president, he oversees all project timelines and budgets, client communications, creative production schedules and account management. Trae has led strategy and execution for some of Covalent's multimedia, full-service clients, like the Southern University System, Baton Rouge Metro Airport (BTR), MOVEBR, the Office of the Governor and Ventec Life Systems.
Prior to joining Covalent Logic, Trae was the marketing and communications manager for the $150 million Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) buildout for EATEL. His success and expertise were recognized when he was asked to be a guest speaker for two national Fiber-to-the-Home conferences. Additionally, Trae has overseen multiple product launches, company rebrands and crisis communications for three hurricanes in Louisiana.
Growing up in the town of Pato Branco, Brazil, where her father owned a print shop, Fernanda knew her CMYKs before her ABCs. And from an early age, knew she was destined to design.
While attending the Universidade Positivo in Curitiba, Brazil, she worked for the prestigious Servico Nacional de Aprendizagem Comercial, gaining valuable skills in marketing, interior design, photography and illustration. Upon graduating with her Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, she continued honing her talents as Project Manager for Patograf Industria Grafica.
After leaving Brazil, she took North America by storm, working as a graphic designer for a design firm in Virginia and Texas. And today, Covalent is reaping the benefits of her vast experience and vital exuberance.
As one of the founding members, Stacey has been with Covalent since its inception in 2005. She is deeply committed to leading the creative team with passion and vision. Equally adept at both print and Web design, Stacey's diverse skill set and traditional design background enable her to develop quality solutions for both media. Her work has received multiple awards including the Business Report's Technology & Web Awards Website of the Year as well as regional and international awards of Excellence and Distinction from The Communicator Print Media Awards, Lantern Awards and Public Relations Society of America Awards.
Stacey has worked with a variety of clients across many industries including healthcare, athletics, hospitality, government and many more. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design and has more than 15 years of experience in the industry.
Poulin holds a doctorate in mathematics and a master’s in computer science from Louisiana State University. He has more than 10 years of experience developing complex, Web-related applications and is a Certified Macromedia ColdFusion Developer. Poulin is proficient with ColdFusion, XML, Perl, C++, C, Visual Basic Java, JavaScript, HTML and is an expert in database development.
As Covalent Logic’s Chief Software Architect, he applies his diverse skill sets to devise and implement clever solutions to the most challenging programming scenarios.
After 5 years in hospitality and tourism, Julie has traded in her heels for steel toe boots. She now spends her days at a construction site to manage internal communications, public relations and marketing for a major international client.
Julie has experience in an agency setting as well as in corporate communications, giving her a well-rounded view of the public relations landscape. She has written about a wide range of topics including fishing spots on the Louisiana coast, game day programs, landscape features at community parks, and LSU’s 150 years of history. Julie received her B.A. in Mass Communication at Louisiana State University, with a concentration in public relations (and a minor in tailgating).
Margo leads Covalent Logic’s Washington, DC, office where she provides public relations and digital communications guidance to a variety of clients in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Core to her portfolio is providing digital PR solutions to a multinational Fortune 250 based in northern Virginia.
Before joining our team, Margo worked twelve years at LSU, developing and managing public relations plans for university-wide initiatives, achievements and programs. Margo was a core member of the team that rewrote the undergraduate admissions marketing communications strategy that yielded the award-winning “Love Purple Live Gold” campaign and LSU’s largest freshman class.
Margo received her Master of Mass Communication, as well as a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Psychology from LSU, where she was a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In 2016, Margo wrote and defended her thesis, “Weapons of Mass Communication: How the White House Used Twitter to Talk About Obamacare,” research from which was published in both the R Street Institute and a New York Times op-ed.
As a front-end developer, Stephen uses his knowledge of JavaScript and server-side code to bring to life the designs and concepts of Covalent Logic’s designers.
His ability to swiftly implement developer changes to various sites and softwares makes him a valuable asset to Covalent Logic. Stephen graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Southeastern Louisiana University.
Before starting at Covalent Logic in November 2015, Stephen previously consulted for multiple fortune 500 companies while working for IBM. He brings a wealth of knowledge in front-end design and development, back-end infrastructure, and implementation of external APIs.
New Jersey native, and 2015 graduate from LSU with a B.A. in Mass Communications, Cody Cifelli has a honed a diverse skillset of talents including political communications, public and media relations, as well as digital marketing and design.
Prior to his role as Project Manager, Cody was a Strategic Communications Liaison within the Louisiana Department of Education, where he monitored fiscal legislation for the Department, and assisted in the submissions to the Board of Elementary/Secondary Education. He also served as a Data Entry Specialist for the HIV/AIDS Alliance Region Two (HAART) and was a communications volunteer as well.
Always sharp and composed, Shelby is a virtuoso in creating perfect harmony between crew and client. As Web Project Manager, she makes sure every phase of every project stays in sync. And by keeping an ear out for industry trends, she’s a prodigy in creating innovative ways to help build a client’s brand.
After graduating from the Louisiana School of Agricultural Sciences, Shelby earned her B.A. in Mass Communications from LSU at Alexandria. For the next decade, she honed her skills in the digital world, handling everything from research to social media.
And since joining Covalent, her performance record has proven she’s first chair material.
As Account Manager, Courtney Greathouse brings a great deal to the Covalent table. A 2014 graduate of Shorter University in Rome, Georgia, Courtney received her B.A. in Communications, with concentrations in Public Relations and Advertising.
Prior to joining Covalent, she was a Community Marketing Specialist for Premier Health Consultants, planning and developing innovative marketing strategies to increase awareness of urgent care facilities and services, as well as serving as liaison to the communities at large.
She was also a Marketing Coordinator in the real estate industry in Nebraska, and assisted the PR and graphic design departments for her alma mater.
With a diverse background in music, theatre, finance and gaming, Jacob Lionberger is truly a Renaissance man and a welcome addition as our Administrative Assistant. A graduate of McNeese State University, Jacob earned his B.A. in Psychology, with coursework in both Visual Studies and Music. Before joining Covalent, Jacob worked as a Customer Service Representative for the Golden Nugget and L’Auberge Du Lac Casinos, and as a Retail and Personal Banker with Woodforest National and Iberia Bank. In his spare time, Jacob plays in the Trinity Baptist Church orchestra and Lake Charles Community Band, and volunteers in his community homeless shelter.
Jim has created results-driven, award-winning concepts, copy, content and campaigns for virtually every audience, for virtually every industry, and in virtually every medium. He has collaborated with some of the top-rated agencies in Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Baton Rouge to create successful national brand-awareness campaigns for clients such as Pennzoil, Texaco, Coke Foods, General Mills, Raising Cane’s and Whataburger.
In addition to his vast experience as a creative writer and broadcast producer, Jim is also an accomplished musician, voice talent, actor, and recipient of AdWeek Magazine’s Radio Copywriter of the Year award.
“Captain” Kirk Theriot’s see-worthy talents and accomplishments span from stem to stern. An LSU graduate, Kirk has logged more than 35 years’ experience in the business, 30 of those as principal owner and managing partner of one of Baton Rouge’s top design firms.
During that time, he amassed accolades and awards for his work in automotive, manufacturing, medicine and more.
Now, as Covalent's senior graphic designer, Kirk’s expertise in brand development, strategic communications, graphic design, social media and media management has shown him to be a steady helmsman.
Creative and curious, Micah can think on his feet—and outside the box. After graduating from LSU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Art, and a minor in Digital Media Arts & Engineering, Micah honed his talents as a front-end web developer for LSU’s Center for Computation and Technology and as a graphic designer. In addition, his digital-inspired artwork has been exhibited in galleries in Baton Rouge and Lafayette.
This guy knows the difference between generative and evaluative research. And with skills in research, illustration, design and web development, as well as proficiencies in web and A/V software, Micah is the consummate user-centered problem solver.
While his name is hard to pronounce (“Tara tong say”), his pronounced talent is easy to see. James is a recent graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he earned a B.A. in advertising and a minor in marketing. In the short time since, he has built a rep as a highly motivated critical thinker and is our resident expert in managing press releases, maintaining social media and building specialty web pages for very happy clients.
Darren brings more than 14 years of experience in brand cultivation and illustration to Covalent Logic. His architectural sensibility helps him to see beyond the aesthetic and into the practical, making Darren particularly invaluable to his clients.
Darren’s design work has included graphics and illustration for signage, packaging, magazine layout, illustration, digital (photo manipulation), identity, corporate communication, tradeshow materials and informational design. His skills have been utilized in everything from logos, stationery and brochures to magazines, banners and billboards. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design.
Sally joined the Covalent Logic team in February 2011 after a long list of impressive adventures, including a B.A. in Math, a B.A. in Music and a B.M. in Harp.
Before she began at Covalent Logic, Sally kept the books for a number of other companies—such as Classical Recording Company and Oil and Gas Royalty. She was also a professional harpist for several symphonies where she played with the likes of Pavarotti, Moody Blues and Aretha Franklin.
We take satisfaction in being a part of your success and watching you get the credit. In this news stream, we’ve included articles about our staff members and coverage of projects we’ve worked on, but there’s plenty missing. Sometimes we have a confidentiality agreement, sometimes our work is peripheral to a larger campaign. And then some of the stuff we do is really routine and not worthy of a big article. But, we execute it with precision anyhow.
You’ll have to trust us—we’ve done IPOs, multi-national campaigns in other languages, internal newsletters for hundreds of thousands employees. And last week we designed an ad for a start-up that had almost no budget, but we believed in it.
People see your advertising for your product or service. They hear your claims. But are they buying it? Literally?
When you have a good experience, you tell your friends. When you have a bad one, you tell everybody. If this isn’t part of every company’s employee manual, it should be.
Relationships are tough on a good day. But a year of too much interaction with some and virtually no interaction with others (except virtually) have left us wondering just how we’ll pick up the pieces. Or, repair the damage.
On April 23, Covalent vice president Trae Russell accepted two Red Stick Awards from the Public Relations Association of Louisiana Baton Rouge Chapter (PRAL-BR) for the agency’s 2020 work on the State of Louisiana Stay At Home Campaign and the Louisiana State COVID-19 Website.
While it’s clear the pandemic was a crisis of unprecedented proportions for many industries, there are some silver linings for business we’d love to stick around.
Looking for some custom continuing education or a speaker for your group? Covalent Logic Owner Stafford Wood has a number of prepared presentations from the past few months certain to educate or entertain your group.
But, we don’t rest on our laurels. Accolades and recognition may come, but we expect to get better with every project we do. When we finish a project, we don’t focus on the shiny objects—we keep thinking about how we can do even better next time. Meeting your strategic goals matters more to us than awards. But just in case you need to know we’re winners, here’s a short list:
But, really… we prefer if *you* win awards.
