It’s a good time for people in the public relations business. It seems that companies of all stripes have discovered the power of PR and are giving it high priority. That’s great news, but it sometimes comes with high expectations that aren’t easily realized. So what happens when a PR campaign isn’t working? We often…
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Staking out a position on a high-profile issue is a time-honored public relations strategy. When done well it creates a public platform and builds brand visibility designed to resonate with customers. The right campaign can also humanize a corporate brand and engage individual customers and stakeholders in a powerful way by tapping their emotions. Most…
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In public relations, among other lines of work, things move fast, and rapid-fire communications is the only way to keep up. As a consequence, we’ve probably all said things in emails or texts that we shouldn’t have, or contacted the wrong person by mistake. I once sent an email about how to handle a somewhat…
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This week the Trump campaign and the Republican National Convention reminded the PR community —  and everyone else — of the perils of mishandling a public mistake. Within an hour of what should have been the high point of a shaky first day for the RNC, the campaign was in full damage control mode. Melania…
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When PR agency professionals plan a product launch or news announcement, we do it with close attention to detail. In most cases there’s sufficient lead time to schedule each element carefully. A top priority is to steer clear of previously planned events that could conceivably steal our PR thunder. Even if the news isn’t directly…
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Both the practice and business of public relations has grown enormously in recent years. The Holmes Report estimates the global PR industry at $14.2 billion, up from $13.5 billion in 2014. It’s expected to reach $20 billion by the year 2020. And as PR budgets have increased, the day-to-day practice of public relations has changed….
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The Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity – the Oscars of the advertising business – was held last week, and apparently it was a big disappointment for the public relations industry, which won fewer awards than in previous years. I wouldn’t necessarily have known that, for two reasons. First, my social feeds were filled with posts…
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Is Donald Trump’s presidential run just a giant PR push for his brand? And if so, is it backfiring? It doesn’t take a political pundit – or public relations expert – to suspect that Trump’s true goal in running for our nation’s highest office is to build up his name in order to license more…
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We had nice comments on a previous post from the PROI Worldwide meeting, What Clients Really Want From Their PR Agencies, so it inspired me to look at the flip side of the client-agency relationship.  Here’s our list of top things a typical PR firm looks for in an ideal client. Commitment. Occasionally in this…
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What do clients really want from their PR agency? A panel of communications officers from top brands tackled the question recently in a no-holds-barred session at the global meeting of PROI Worldwide. The meeting was hosted by PROI partner agency Jackson Spalding, who tapped clients from three notable companies: Scott Williamson, VP Public Affairs &…
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