Weber Merritt’s multidisciplinary team has the proven expertise to win across the board, from public relations and grassroots mobilization to legislative advocacy and corporate positioning.

What sets us apart from other firms is that we maintain the largest and most prolific national network of state and local public affairs specialists and political operatives. These partners and our staff team work together seamlessly to provide integrated services at the local, state and national level.

Public Affairs

Weber Merritt helps organizations manage their reputations and monitor the business and legislative environments in which they operate. We begin by identifying stakeholder groups that can have an impact on your organization, then we establish and cultivate positive relationships with your key audiences.  

From elected officials and news media to industry experts and academic voices, Weber Merritt engages opinion leaders who will champion your cause and make your case to the public. 

We do that through:

• Local Community Outreach & Education
• Coalition Development
• Earned Media
• Outreach to Elected Officials

Strategic Communications

Rapidly shifting political or media landscapes can suddenly alter your business priorities and communication goals.  Weber Merritt continually monitors news cycles and public sentiment that can affect your organization to define the scope and direction of the campaign.

Whether you are interested in positioning your brand or reputation, passing or defeating legislation, or managing a crisis, Weber Merritt can help you understand the environment in which you operate and fine-tune your strategy.

To achieve your goals, we provide:

• Strategic Communication Plans
• Robust Campaign Planning
• Media Relations
• Opposition Research and Rapid Response
• Third Party Partnerships
• Crisis Communications
• Message Development

Integrated Campaigns

The most effective campaigns are those that seamlessly integrate diverse tactical elements.  Weber Merritt employs every tool and resource at our disposal – from grassroots and coalition development to survey research and earned media – to develop multi-pronged approaches and attack your issue on all fronts.

Our team will make certain that each aspect of your campaign not only conforms to your objective, but also complements – not competes with – the other elements of communication efforts.  The result is a unified voice and a clear message.

Issue Advocacy

Increasingly, voters in a number of specific states are determining our nation’s public policy agenda. Success today depends on targeting those voters and shaping their opinions long before they get to the polls.

From strategy and polling to fundraising and field operations, Weber Merritt employs the latest techniques to gather accurate and insightful information so we can develop and deliver integrated, targeted and cohesive messaging through multiple communication channels. By optimizing this core competency, we help you pass ballot initiatives and referenda at local and state levels.

Among the services we offer:

• Campaign Management
• Communications Counsel
• In-District Field Operations
• Grassroots Activation
• Constituent Education
• Earned Media and Paid Advertising

Grassroots & Grasstops

Constituent mobilization is an integral part of any effective political or public policy campaign. It builds support, creates demand, motivates policymakers and brings focus and clarity to issues hotly debated by lawmakers and regulators.

Weber Merritt was founded on the strength of our grassroots capabilities. Our extensive, influential and effective network of political operatives – Republicans, Democrats and community activists – can be activated on very short notice. They know the political landscape, the local community and, most importantly, the people whose opinions matter most – the friends, neighbors and business leaders to whom policymakers turn for advice.

We advance your policy goals through:

• On-Ground Field Organizing
• Constituent Activation
• Grassroots and Grasstops Mobilizing
• Coalition Development
• Issue Education and Materials Development
• Press Events, Speakers Bureaus, Town Hall Meetings
• Earned Local Media
• Radio Actualities and Media Tours
• Local Elected Official Outreach
• Web-Based Communication/Activism

Public Relations

Robust planning and superior execution are at the core of successful public relations campaigns.  Our seasoned, multidisciplinary team will help you define your message, hone your voice and deliver your message to the right target audiences.  Our hands-on expertise offers you a distinct strategic advantage in managing issues, marketing products or services, enhancing reputations or containing negative fallout. 

Weber Merritt’s experienced professionals deliver:

• Media Relations Planning, Execution and Measurement
• Corporate and Issue Positioning
• Executive Visibility Programs
• Editorial Board Programs, Op-Eds and Letters-to-the-Editor
• Satellite Media Tours
• Video and Radio News Releases
• Web Communication and Blogs

Message Development

Weber Merritt offers message development for corporate and issue-specific positioning.  Our senior-level communicators provide coaching for executives who give media interviews, speeches, presentations, community meetings, and public testimony. Our coaching is carefully customized to meet each client’s individual requirements and strategic objectives.

Using intensive and realistic practice sessions, we help clients master the organizational techniques and physical skills required to prepare and deliver effective speeches and presentations to audiences of all sizes. We work closely with executives and their communications teams to sharpen speeches and maximize the impact of key messages.

Online Campaigns

Build your community, recruit new advocates, send communications to lawmakers and drive your message home with impact.  Weber Merritt has a proven record to build and manage your online efforts. 

Our team has developed large campaigns for national coalitions, associations and companies looking to build a groundswell of support as well as smaller efforts by micro-targeting audiences to build localized social networking communities and online vehicles for message delivery.

Our approach is customized and uniquely designed to meet the client’s objective.  Instead of a cookie-cutter approach, we develop a campaign that focuses efforts on organizing online, mobilizing offline.

Online campaign tactics may include the following:

• Campaign website development
• Social networking to build communities, enhance a company’s reputation, educate an audience about an issue or deliver key messages
• Search engine marketing
• Monitor online news sites, social media and forums
• Pitch online media
• Development of viral and widget applications
• Display (banner) advertising
• Video and rich media advertisements

Media Production

Through our in-house media production firm, Advocacy Media (with link back to AM website), we can create and produce professional video, audio and print packages that can help tell your story and the importance of advocacy to your broader membership community and, in turn, demonstrate the value of active voices in public policy.

As the public affairs business has evolved over the years, so has Weber Merritt.  While we’d like to think we’ve gotten smarter in the 16 years of running our business, but truth be told, we’ve adapted to how people communicate and how they prefer to be reached.   As a result, our service offerings have expanded so that we continually provide value and results to our clients.