Twitter stepped into a PR mess this week when it broke ranks with peers and declined to suspend conspiracist Alex Jones from its platform. The decision came after most tech giants hosting InfoWars content – Apple, Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube — removed at least some of its pages or broadcasts in response to public pressure….
Read more
There’s more bad news on the “fake news” front. It seems lies are more viral than truth – at least on Twitter. That’s the conclusion of a study recently published in Science magazine. Conducted by the MIT Media Lab, it was unprecedented in scope, analyzing 126,000 distinct “rumor cascades” that spread on Twitter from 2006…
Read more
Terrible explanations for terrible behavior are perversely fascinating — especially to PRs and professional communicators. They’re also instructive. It takes a well-crafted and sincere apology to explain away repugnant speech or actions, and even the best mea culpas can fall short. But lately there have been some doozies. In an episode unlikely to be matched…
Read more
For a fast-growing startup, a dynamic founder can be a huge PR asset. A charismatic entrepreneur is the face of his brand, its best media spokesperson, and the embodiment of its values. The most talented can attract a top workforce and inspire it to achieve beyond expectations. From Steve Jobs to Marc Benioff, the examples…
Read more
Until they were found, I’d no idea that 12 boys and their coach were trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand. But once the news broke, I was hooked. And I wasn’t alone. The national fascination tells us something about PR, storytelling, and ourselves. Why was the plight of the stranded Thai boys so…
Read more
Sometimes a story is so strong that all you need to do is tell it and get out of the way. Improving on a good thing can be tricky, because there’s always the risk of over-embellishing. Too much PR or packaging can overwhelm an emotional punch. “Doors,” the remarkable ad by Texas congressional candidate…
Read more
Deciding it’s time to invest in PR is one thing, but selecting the right agency is another. It’s time-consuming, occasionally intimidating, and often confusing. What’s more, the people who are skilled at internal communications aren’t always prepared to conduct an agency search. Here’s a cheat sheet on finding the right PR firm while saving time…
Read more
If timing is everything, how does a business know when it’s time to invest in a public relations program? Here are some of the most common signs. Competitors are beating you to the punch. They may be beating you in business deals, customers, or simply mindshare. If your B2B service isn’t in the consideration set…
Read more
Public relations and SEO were once worlds apart, with no overlap between them. A PR team or agency would work to build brand credibility through news announcements and feature stories. SEO focused on getting backlinks and website-stuffed keywords to drive search rankings. What changed? Now there’s a growing area of commonality as traditional public relations…
Read more
There were bigger stories breaking on the Tuesday after Memorial Day, but on social media the news was all about Roseanne. It started with @therealroseanne’s revolting tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. The post was bizarre, horrible, and nakedly racist, but at the risk of sounding cynical, I didn’t think anything much would happen…
Read more
Many years ago at my first PR agency, we represented a “dot-com” startup in the ticket resale business. When I was introduced at a board meeting, the founder casually mentioned that I’d be serving as a media spokesperson as the company navigated tricky messaging around gray areas of the industry. This came as a surprise…
Read more
This week two sophisticated corporations faced an unwelcome PR challenge. AT&T and pharma giant Novartis were confronted with awkward and pressing questions about “consulting” payments each made to a company set up by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen. In each case, the public response left a lot to be desired. Cohen is under criminal investigation for…
Read more
It’s the time of year when PR agencies have the chance to bring on fresh talent as a crop of new college grads hits the job market. I’ve offered advice in previous posts for those determined to build a career in PR or communications, and it holds up pretty well. But it’s time to add,…
Read more
I apologize in advance to anyone reading this who can’t appreciate the insights offered in this post or who disagrees with the public relations expertise shared here. See what I did there? Call it the no-pology, the fauxpology, or the if-pology – but it’s far too common today. A cheap and lazy way to publicly express…
Read more
Mark Zuckerberg’s trip to Washington this week marked a high-stakes PR challenge for the Facebook CEO as well as its brand. After months of negative coverage following the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal and a series of half-hearted public responses, Zuck faced the music. So how’d he do? Above all, Zuckerberg was well prepared. Some…
Read more
We love working with tech startups, especially those with a few years (and a round or two of financing) behind them, and who are prepared to make the most of a public relations agency partnership. It’s exciting to collaborate with an early-stage company because a good PR campaign can really make a difference. As I’ve…
Read more
Since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, a small group of activist students have shown remarkable media and public relations savvy in taking on powerful forces who oppose firearm limits. In just six weeks, they may have accomplished more to raise awareness and change public opinion on gun safety than…
Read more
As an industry, public relations has a PR problem. Stereotypes about the profession die hard; 14 years after “Sex and the City,” people still think Samantha Jones is a typical PR woman. Or maybe they liken PR to dirty tricks, like the antics of fictional Big Tobacco flack Nick Naylor in Christopher Buckley’s satire “Thank…
Read more
When should a large company take a political stand? Some PR experts would say never. And you can’t blame big companies if they want to avoid public debates about the causes of gun violence, climate change, or other politicized issues. But increasingly, corporate America is being asked to pick a side. It seems there’s more…
Read more
Who says you can’t make lemons into PR lemonade? That’s precisely what the UK unit of fast-food chain KFC managed after an embarrassing shortage of a pretty important ingredient in its prepared meals – that’s right, chicken. Due to a change in suppliers, KFC was somehow unable to procure birds in the UK, forcing it…
Read more
Can you imagine being the guy running a public relations agency that “perished in a public relations fiasco”? That’s the unhappy fate of James Henderson, the former CEO of now-defunct PR and crisis management powerhouse Bell Pottinger. The London-based firm imploded last year after its role in running a “dirty campaign” for South African client…
Read more
Yes, 2017 feels like a lifetime ago, given our breakneck news cycle, but there were plenty of public relations lessons over the year for big brands and business categories. Here’s a look at those who came out on top, and others who took a reputation beating last year. The Winners Amazon 2017 was like a…
Read more
Public relations has many fans, from legendary figures like Steve Jobs, to the current occupant of the White House. Yet PR doesn’t always command the same respect as other disciplines, like advertising or direct-mail. It’s even still a bit mysterious to some. As Greg Galant of MuckRack once observed, the advertising business is linked with…
Read more
For years, public relations and reputation experts have promoted CEO activism and corporate social responsibility, preaching its benefits and warning of limits and pitfalls. But for many corporate communicators, the position was lonely. For some companies, the embrace of social change programming was little more than lip service — maybe a dignified corporate social responsibility…
Read more
What can PR professionals expect in 2018? Despite the acceleration of change, new directions don’t always announce themselves. Yet in 2017 we’ve seen specific trends that might reasonably be expected to continue through next year. Here are some we’ve noticed. Brand advocacy will grow. Shortly before the inauguration of the new president, some brands went…
Read more
Armchair PR experts get lots of mileage from critiquing crisis management by major brands and businesses this time of year. But what about the crisis situations that are handled well? Those instances are less clear, presumably because we don’t hear about the bad news that never hit the press. But in the spirit of fair…
Read more
There are now five PR people for every working journalist. This may seem like a good thing for the PR business as companies increasingly tell their stories through social media and branded content. But as stark evidence that sources of objective news are shrinking, it’s not a healthy sign for either industry. What may be…
Read more
When it comes to philanthropy, Americans are a generous bunch. A natural disaster tends to create its own PR appeals, and in 2017, millions responded. We opened our wallets to help victims of floods, fires, and other catastrophes, and the giving season has only just begun. The sixth annual #givingTuesday on November 28 will probably…
Read more
Today’s divided political climate has affected PR strategy for many companies and brands, including those who like to stay far away from partisan matters. Though it may be an opportune time for some brands to take a stand on relevant issues, many choose to remain neutral on hot-button topics, and understandably so. So, how did…
Read more
One foundation of a good public relations campaign is reputation management. Whether for a brand or an individual, most good PR people spend their time helping internal or external clients create a positive perception among key audiences or building a specific kind of reputation in the marketplace. The growth of social and digital media, of…
Read more
