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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 obviously few and far between, presumably because we don’t hear about the bad news that never hit the press. But in the…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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For many American businesses, the election of Donald Trump was a surprise, but not an unhappy one. They quickly adjusted their projections and looked forward to four years of deregulation and business-friendly policies. But as the first ten months of Trump’s presidency has been roiled in controversy and marked by unforced errors, we find ourselves…
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Word is that, in the wake of sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, The Weinstein Company is looking to escape its PR disaster with a rebrand. According to Adweek and other trades, the company is quietly reaching out to agencies to discuss a possible assignment, with some accounts saying it wants to change its identity…
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We’re living in divided times, and no PR professional is immune. If it weren’t for historical reminders, like those Hamilton-era honor duels, you’d think our culture is more splintered than ever. Part of what hinders communicators are changes in the news media. The media that once united us has fragmented into highly curated content feeds…
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Is the Russia scandal an ultimate comeuppance for Facebook? Will its reputation suffer real harm as a result, or will it rise to the occasion and grow up? When it revealed it had sold about $100,000 in targeted ads to a shady Kremlin-funded organization bent on reaching U.S. voters, I was initially skeptical about any…
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Public relations people like to talk about “getting out in front” of a crisis; in fact, for a taste of real-life preparation, check out this stress-inducing story about a crisis simulation by The New York Times‘ Sapna Maheshwari. Yet it’s a myth to think you can prevent any event that could wreck a company’s reputation….
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Back-to-back hurricanes Harvey and Irma were unprecedented in their impact, destroying lives and homes, wreaking billions in damage, and knocking other news out of the headlines (a minor challenge for the media and public relations professions.) But the storms of September also brought some good news. Experts tell us that the U.S. is improving in…
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As public relations professionals know, there are many different types of media interviews. Some are features based on in-depth contact with company representatives. Others involve a chance to comment about a breaking news story or issue. In the latter case, we sometimes experience disappointment. We work to generate a quick opportunity for a client or…
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Do you work in digital PR? If you work in public relations at all, the answer is yes. The difference between digital PR and “traditional” PR is fuzzy, yet worth examining, because it has transformed our profession in so many ways. And with change come challenges. In some ways PR hasn’t changed that much. We…
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