SCOTUS And What It Means When The Media Get It Wrong
Media mistakes happen all the time. Publicists joke about mangled names and massacred quotes, and even The New York Times – especially The New York Times – is regularly skewered over its errors and omissions. But occasionally media get it wrong in a big way, – an unforgivable, historically indelible, “Dewey Beats Truman” way. That’s […]
Read MoreThe Case For The Independent Agency
Smaller and independent ad and PR agencies like to tout their size and status as a competitive advantage. The problem with some of those claims is that they can boil down to cost, and the message too easily becomes, “Hire us and pay less for essentially the same creative service, or a better publicity result.” […]
Read MorePR Techniques: How To Get ZMOT On Your Side
Marketers like to talk about the Zero Moment of Truth, or ZMOT, for a product or brand. Loosely defined as the moment when a prospective buyer looks for online reviews and recommendations for a product, ZMOT follows the P&G tenets of the “first moment of truth,” when a customer chooses a product on the store […]
Read More7 Deadly PR Sins or How Not To Be An Amateur
My favorite TV character rant, linked (loosely) to the practice of public relations, is the one delivered by PR pro Eli Gold of “The Good Wife,” who is played superbly by Alan Cumming. Faced with a boneheaded media relations move by a political colleague, Gold lets loose with a wonderfully escalating barrage of outrage. He […]
Read More2012 Commencement Wisdom For New (And Old) Graduates
There’s just something about graduation season. Even those of us whose commencements are far in the past can catch some fresh inspiration from the wisdom dispensed at the annual college rites. And for the speakers, it’s often a strategic PR move where boldfaced names look to be humorous, colorful, and newsworthy. Here’s a recap of […]
Read MoreJason Alexander’s Apology Is A PR Homerun
We communications pros like to use words like authenticity, transparency, and honesty. Too often, they’re empty cliches. But every now and then, they jump out at you. Take the latest public apology to go viral. I don’t know anything about cricket, so when I read that actor Jason Alexander had called the game “gay” in […]
Read More7 Ways PR Can Support Lead Generation
PR pros naturally believe that a well crafted public relations program is a sound investment for most businesses. Yet we often caution clients against thinking about PR as a reliable way to generate demand. It tends to work best as a branding tool. Publicity can result in bursts of lead or business generation when a […]
Read More7 Reasons Why Your PR Isn’t Working
Why are some PR programs more successful than others, and what should you do when faced with a media relations program that just isn’t gaining traction? Here are a few common PR mistakes. You rely on blasting press releases rather than telling a story. “PR” isn’t shorthand for “press release.” A newswire spam strategy might […]
Read MoreJamie Dimon’s Apology Tour: Is It Enough?
JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s apology to shareholders last week managed to fulfill at least three prerequisites for a public mea culpa. It was swift, it was direct, and the CEO took responsibility for the bank’s $3 billion trading loss in a hedge gone wrong. Dimon used words like “egregious,” “sloppy,” “stupid,” and “self-inflicted.” […]
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