How Not To Apologize: A Lesson In "Apology PR"
The past two weeks have seen a cascade of misdeeds to fascinate apology-watchers like me. Where to begin? There’s the mushrooming scandal over the GSA’s $820,000 taxpayer-funded junket to Las Vegas in 2010. And the even seamier “hookergate” involving members of the Secret Service (though at least they were cost-conscious in their indiscretion!) There was […]
Read MoreThe End Of The PR Agency Of Record
Agency of record. It’s a phrase to warm the heart of any PR professional. It tends to evoke a long-term, retainer relationship with a largeish account. But there’s evidence that the agency of record (AOR) may be heading the way of the traditional media tour. Gone. According to the latest study conducted by the USC […]
Read MoreCan "The Pitch" Be Fixed?
Can the pitch be fixed? I don’t mean the new reality TV show, although the debut episode was a losing proposition — contrived, tedious, and unrealistic. But there was one aspect of the show that hit home, and that was the pitch itself. A team from McKinney, the first of two ad agencies competing to […]
Read MorePR Move of the Week: Hillary Clinton (Hillz)
Hillary has become cool. That’s right, the Hillary Clinton who struggled through grueling Democratic primaries in 2008, only lose the ultimate prize to the maddeningly unruffled new guy, seems to be having the last laugh. And we thought Obama was the cool one. It started when two Hillary fans, PR specialists Stacy Lambe and Adam […]
Read More6 Reasons Why PR Is Stressful
One of my more colorful bosses was a communications exec with a very distinguished military background. His career included not only senior posts at the Pentagon, but two tours of duty in Vietnam, as a paratrooper. When things went wrong and I went crazy, he’d sometimes pat my shoulder, smile indulgently, and say, “It’s okay. […]
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