o.b.’s Apology PR Campaign Is Pitch-Perfect
Maybe it should have known better than to tangle with women at, well, a certain time of the month. After J&J began to discontinue its o.b. Ultra line of tampons, its loyal users felt betrayed. The brand was smacked with infuriated customer comments, “girlcott” threats, an online petition and general user crankiness. But instead of defensiveness, […]
Read MoreThe Governor, The Teenager And Twitter: A PR Lesson
The awesome power of social media may be matched only by the withering force of teenage scorn. I was startled by the social blowback resulting from Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s public feud with a local high school student. It started last week when Emma Sullivan and her class attended a youth event in Topeka where […]
Read MoreRedefining Public Relations: Does It Matter?
Years ago, a colleague who’d spent 20+ years at PR agencies joined a large marketing services firm. He told me he’d cracked the code to winning new business, significantly increasing his batting average in selling programs to existing ad and marketing clients. The secret? Never calling it “public relations.” Instead, he would say “promotion,” or refer to “adding […]
Read MorePR Lessons From Occupy Wall Street
Today is the National Day of Action, and the media noise around the Occupy Wall Street movement is louder than it’s been since the start. The mood around here is mostly business as usual, flavored with a little anxiety and mild distraction. But, is OWS a PR success? Many have criticized its lack of coherent message, […]
Read MoreWhen PR And Legal Strategies Clash
A recent episode of “The Good Wife” offers a highly entertaining look at crisis management inside a law firm and the tension between PR advice and legal counsel. A strategy session for a client whose tainted cheese has sickened dozens of schoolchildren erupts in war between the attorney, who wants to stonewall media calls, and a $60,000-a-month spinmeister (played to […]
Read MoreUnHappy Valley: Penn State’s Massive PR Fumble
“… I wish to say that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz have my unconditional support. I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 years. I have complete confidence in how they have handled the allegations about a former University employee. Tim Curley and Gary Schultz operate at the highest […]
Read MoreDoes Matt Lauer Hate PR?
People in PR-agency-land are getting steamed this week about our industry’s reputation. Again. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz appeared on the NBC-TV’s “Today” to talk about his jobs creation fund, which will raise cash for micro-loans to small businesses, and host Matt Lauer was less than gracious. Lauer allowed Schultz to outline the program, but he seemed […]
Read MoreHerman Cain’s PR Problem
Until recently, Herman Cain had shown himself to be a pretty savvy communicator. The plainspoken ex-pizza prez showed he understands the value of a simple idea, well packaged and often repeated, with his “9-9-9” tax proposal. (No one understood it, he couldn’t really explain it, but everyone knew about it. Can you say that about […]
Read MoreRobert Gibbs On PR, Politics, And Social Media
“Whether or not someone is camped in a park literally, there will always be someone camped in a park, figuratively.” Nice, tweetable quote from former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Gibbs spoke yesterday at the Council of PR Firms Critical Issues Forum about the power of social media to mobilize change. As a veteran of policy […]
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