communications

communications, Crenshaw Communications, ImPRessions, public relations • August 26, 2011

Should PR People Drink The Client Kool-Aid?

Recently, a senior colleague at a boutique firm was reflecting on the loss of a longtime client. She’d been active in the company’s product promotion for many years and was a tireless advocate, even among friends and family members. She confessed that she looks at their products completely differently now. What used to be leading […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, ImPRessions, public relations • August 23, 2011

Six Strategies To Beat Perfectionism

“The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.” — Tina Fey In her very entertaining book Bossypants, Tina Fey warns against the evils of perfectionism, the enemy of so many creative projects. As she advises, “perfect is overrated.” Even busy agency folk struggle with impossibly high standards, particularly those who write […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, ImPRessions, public relations • July 29, 2011

How To Be Quoted In The Press: Nine PR Tips

One of the mysteries of media relations is the process whereby an interview becomes a feature story. Quality in, quality out, right? Not always. What goes in does not always come through in the final piece. And there are few things more frustrating than offering up your best insights, quotes, and experience, only to be cut […]

advertising, communications, Crenshaw Communications, ImPRessions, public relations • July 26, 2011

A Summer’s Eve Debate: Why ‘Offensive’ Ads Can Be Good

Can men effectively market to women? Can whites sell to people of color? Sure. Yet, some recent ad campaigns make you wonder. The latest is for Summer’s Eve cleansing wash, and it’s definitely a fresh take on the “feminine products” category. Each of the three ads features a woman’s hand that is meant to be a […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, crisis management, ImPRessions, social media • July 20, 2011

Was The Murdoch’s "Humble Pie" Good PR?

As he prepared to face a day’s worth of questioning by British lawmakers about the News Corp. phone-hacking crisis, Rupert Murdoch was set to serve up a carefully crafted statement that began,”This is the most humble day of my life.” But Murdoch was rushed into questioning and had to wait until later to try to […]

branding, communications, Crenshaw Communications, crisis management, ImPRessions, public relations • July 4, 2011

Craft Beer Fight Over B-Word Rages, With Good Press On Tap

The Bitch is back. That’s Flying Dog Brewery’s Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA. Now maybe the name should offend me, but it doesn’t. I don’t actually have a dog in this fight, but I do think it’s fitting that on Thursday, just in time for the July 4th weekend, the state of Michigan reversed a decision […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, public relations • June 17, 2011

Do Journalists Really Make The Best PR People?

The recent Burson Marsteller “whispergate” mess got me thinking about the long-lived, symbiotic relationship between people who work in PR and those who make their living in journalism. The two PR pros who tried to seed negative stories about Google on behalf of a not-so-secret client (Facebook) were former reporters who had only recently moved to the dark […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, crisis management, ImPRessions, public relations, reputation, social media • June 3, 2011

Crisis PR Tips From "Weinergate"

Last night, Jon Stewart mocked his own ambivalence about going below the belt on close friend Rep. Anthony Weiner in a bit that epitomized the appeal of the scandal known as “Weinergate.” A Tom Brokaw “angel” appeared over one shoulder urging journalistic restraint, while a Don Rickles “devil” on the other side repeated, “But it’s about Weiner’s […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, public relations • June 1, 2011

For PR Pros, There Will Never Be Another Oprah

As Oprah’s long goodbye at last culminated in her final show last week, many PR professionals breathed a sigh of relief. The country’s most powerful third-party endorser has moved on. No longer will consumer clients gauge PR success by whether we could land an Oprah segment. For so many years, an appearance on Oprah was […]