public relations

Crenshaw Communications, public relations, social media • October 19, 2009

Taken For A Ride: What Did We Learn From Balloon Boy?

What more is there to say about the balloon boy – other than that he was never actually in a balloon? Plenty, it seems. Four days after the country’s most overinflated news story, what’s notable is the backlash. Not just against Richard Heene, the fame-seeking father who apparently dreamed up a public relations stunt to rival […]

advertising, communications, Crenshaw Communications, crisis management, public relations, reputation, social media • October 15, 2009

Did Amp Turn Up The Volume With #pepsifail?

As I’ve noted previously, good public relations sometimes means having to say you’re sorry. “Apology communications” is a PR buzzword these days. But, when is an apology something else altogether? (Hint: When it involves 18-year-old dudes, maybe?) What got me wondering was the backlash to the Amp energy drink campaign. Of course, I’m talking about the now-infamous iPhone app created […]

Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations • October 13, 2009

Overspending Is So Last Season

Conspicuous consumption is officially dead – or, at least, it’s so…last season. For the first time in memory, the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog has discounted its fantasy gift items. This year’s flurry of stories don’t focus on the fantasy, but the downsizing. The priciest item in the 2009 catalog is a mere $250,000 – far below the […]

Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations • October 7, 2009

Expense-A-Steak: Brilliant PR, Or Blatant Fraud?

We in public relations sometimes start our creative sessions with the mantra, “Let’s think up some ideas that could get us fired.” Part of what clients pay us for, after all, is to push the limits of what’s conventional. But, some concepts come really close to crossing the line. That’s why I laughed at the recent […]

Crenshaw Communications, crisis management, public relations, reputation • October 5, 2009

Is David Letterman A PR Genius?

PR agency and crisis management pundits are saying that Letterman’s handling of last week’s bizarre extortion plot against him was a public relations masterstroke. As the world knows, Letterman chose to recount his experience last Thursday in a ten-minute monologue – but not his usual kind. Somewhere in those ten minutes, the late-night host admitted […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, social media, technology • October 2, 2009

Why Twitter Could Be Worth A Billion Dollars

The number sounds like pure froth. After all, you don’t have to go back as far as the dot-com era to come up with laughable valuations of Web-based companies (Skype, anyone?) And this is one that has yet to turn a profit, or even articulate a plan to do so, at least publicly. Like others, I’ve gone […]

advertising, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, social media • September 29, 2009

Top Social Media Sins

I’ve been seriously under the weather after attending a meeting in Mexico City last week. (No, it’s not H1N1, though I did hear an excellent talk by the top docs in charge of public communication around the epidemic.) To make it easy on limited mental energy, I’m using a part of today’s MediaPost‘s Social Media Insider. It’s a […]

advertising, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, reputation, social media • September 22, 2009

Marketing Isn’t Getting Any Easier

It’s tough being a Chief Marketing Officer nowadays. It’s always been a high-risk role. Management tends to find it hard to gauge the bottom-line contribution, yet easy to place blame. In a recession, many businesses view marketing as a cost center, and it’s often the first budget to be cut. Then, too, everyone (and his spouse) thinks […]

advertising, branding, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, leadership, public relations • September 17, 2009

Will Healthcare Damage Brand Obama?

In “Mad Men”‘s season debut, fictional ad man Don Draper quietly advises a colleague, “Limit your exposure.” It’s actually an oblique reference to his associate’s indiscretion (and his own secret past), but I thought of Draper’s advice today in a different context. I’ve finally joined the ranks of those who fear that President Obama may be overexposed. Don’t […]