Our Insights

advertising, branding, communications, Crenshaw Communications, ImPRessions, marketing, public relations • March 22, 2011

What Marketers Don’t Know About PR

Are we living through PR’s “golden age”? Sometimes I think so. Clients understand the benefits of PR and are sophisticated about the tricky aspects, like trading perfect control for a measure of credibility. And budgets are opening up after the economic downturn. But other times I wonder. Last year a favorite client of mine refers to […]

PR Fish Bowl • March 18, 2011

Charlie Sheen For President?

Celebrities-turned-politicians aren’t new … but this one caught our attention. A recent poll from Public Policy Polling revealed that independent voters favor Charlie Sheen over Sarah Palin for President by a 41/36 margin. Sheen’s “winning” outcome is even more surprising given that he’s the “most unpopular” figure they’ve ever polled about, with 67% of respondents indicating an […]

advertising, branding, communications, Crenshaw Communications, ImPRessions, marketing, public relations • March 15, 2011

PR By Another Name: Public Relations and the "New" Competition

The chemistry was great, our experience perfect, and they loved the proposal. But, in a twist, the account went to a “digital brand management” shop whose website touts its ability to drive visibility and engagement. PR by another name? The “creative destruction of PR”? It’s true that social media has changed the game for our […]

PR Fish Bowl • March 15, 2011

The Idea-File-Phile

What do you do with all the good ideas you come across, whether business or personal? Do you see a great website and bookmark it? Spot a creative email and shove it in a folder? Tear out a magazine page and stick it in a binder? Do you ever look at them again? I propose […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, public relations • March 8, 2011

If PR Is A Woman’s World, Why Do We Earn Less?

The feminization of the PR industry is undeniable, and it’s not a particularly good thing. For one, it hurts diversity. And it’s been widely noted that the domination of any profession by women tends to have a depressing effect on salaries. A recently debated 2007 PRSA study confirmed what we already knew: that men earn up to $30,000 […]

PR Fish Bowl • March 8, 2011

I Just Texted To Say "I Love You"

Did anyone call you to tell you about the devastating earthquake in Japan? More likely, they texted. Or posted on Facebook. Maybe you found out in something close to real time via Twitter. Thoughtful posts that express sympathy and support in the wake of a tragedy are normal and welcome – particularly when they’re tied […]

advertising, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations • March 2, 2011

What Good Public Relations Cannot Do

Hearing about someone’s bad experience with a PR firm has a train-wreck kind of fascination for PR agency people. It’s painful to hear criticisms and generalizations about our business, but we can’t resist jumping in to diagnose the problem. That’s the case with our most recent public flogging, “The Trouble With PR,” which appeared in […]

Crenshaw Communications, public relations, reputation • February 22, 2011

The Care And Feeding Of PR Interns

Guest post by Liz Savery When I started in the PR business, interns fetched coffee and picked up dry cleaning for agency VPs. Serf labor. Then, after the Lewinsky scandal of the nineties, the very word became a punch line. But things have changed, right? Not so fast. Last week, a fresh intern “scandal” broke […]

advertising, Crenshaw Communications, ImPRessions, public relations, reputation • February 15, 2011

Is Any PR Good PR?

Of course not. PR agency professionals have been preaching that for decades. No marketer in his right mind would recommend a strategy that involves offending customers, or demeaning the brand. But, think about some of the celebrated marketing gaffes of the past two weeks. Socially-conscious Super Bowl viewers were outraged at Groupon’s rookie commercial on […]