
Post-Trump, Can We Bring Back The Apology?
When he caught heat for escaping the frigid Texas weather for a few days of R&R in Cancun, Senator Ted Cruz fell back on family excuses. He was just trying to be a good dad, he explained. He was dropping off the kids at the resort, implying that he never intended to stay. Allies jumped […]
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7 Occasions When PR And Marketing Must Work Together
Between the PR and marketing functions of any organization there can be creative tension or even competition. Sometimes that’s because each team struggles for their rightful piece of the same budget pie, especially during lean times. But the conflict typically runs deeper. PR and marketing are perceived very differently, especially in a corporate environment. Marketing […]
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Big Business Must Help Us Unify
Pundits and politicians have bemoaned our country’s cultural and partisan divisions for years. Yet things have gotten worse. There’s just not much that brings us together these days. We’ve seen an erosion of confidence in our major institutions – government, faith groups, and media, among others. I’ve long thought that this perfect storm of disunity […]
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PR Hits And Misses Of 2020
It’s that time of year — when observers trained in PR and reputation weigh in on the brands and personalities who made news in good and bad ways during the year. But 2020 is different from previous years. Many stories that might otherwise have made news were overshadowed by two monsters — the COVID-19 pandemic […]
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PR And Communications Trends For 2021
In PR and elsewhere, 2020 has been a year like no other. Even the Oxford English Dictionary is at a loss for words to describe it. If we could wipe it off the calendar and start again, most of us probably would. So, the sooner we finish our 2020 roundup posts and 2021 forecasts, the […]
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Will Jones Day Weather The PR Storm?
Elite international law firm Jones Day faces a reputation crisis as a result of its work supporting legal challenges to the results of the election. Controversy isn’t new to Jones Day, but this situation is a bit more fraught. Here’s why. As any professional services company knows, the stakes grow if your clients are involved in […]
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Five Reasons Why B2B PR Works
I’m a late convert to B2B public relations. That’s probably because I started my career at consumer marketing PR agencies and enjoyed the work immensely for many years. For young practitioners especially, it’s heady to have bragging rights about working with brands like Starbucks, Apple, or Netflix. For many firms, consumer work typically offered lower […]
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The Cost Of Losing Credibility
A former PR agency boss once told me, “You don’t win by being right. You win by being credible.” That’s been ringing in my ears since the White House COVID-19 credibility crisis shifted into high gear. Credibility is among the most valuable currencies of any leader. It’s tough to watch it squandered even on an […]
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A PR View Of Ellen’s Apology
It’s not the biggest story in the country today, but it’s instructive for PR and crisis management experts. This week Ellen DeGeneres issued her first on-air apology after reports of her show’s “toxic workplace.” For those who are tapped to help craft redemptive messages for personalities and corporations, a public apology is always useful, and […]
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