PR

Those of us in public relations spend a lot of time helping clients speak effectively in front of strangers, but what about our own speaking skills?  Last week some of us addressed a client conference on best practices in PR and social media, which was an opportunity to put those skills to use. The crowd was engaged,…
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It’s inspiring to meet newly minted public relations or communications grads looking to crack that first job in their chosen field. And though the first break is rarely easy, for anyone set on a career in PR there are likely to be forks in the road at the beginning of the career journey. I often…
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Surprises? Great for parties and gifts, but not so great for public relations. Like many client service businesses, ours works best when it’s predictable and reliable. This means attention to staffing, budgets, deadlines and prep work to ensure successful outcomes. Our informal poll elicited some interesting – yet undesirable – surprises we all strive to…
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Summer in public relations includes outdoor meetings, shorts and flip-flops (if your office works that way), Summer Fridays, and an all-around happier work environment.  But it doesn’t mean we strive any less to keep clients happy and implement great new campaigns. If you find yourself needing any more motivation, music is always key and we…
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Some PR agencies fall into a trap of chasing only only large, brand-name clients. This is in part because like attracts like; large brands can bring more of the same, they reason. A PR firm may also think that doing media relations for well known brands can be easier than work for unknowns, because journalists…
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In public relations, it’s always gratifying to be recognized by one’s peers. Typically, that recognition comes in the form of industry awards. Right now we’re finalists in a couple of awards competitions, and we’ve won our fair share as well. So, we thought it might be a good time to review what helps make a…
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The past couple of weeks have seen quite a few public relations faux pas committed by folks who should know better. But it seems a combination of hubris, ignorance and impatience may have gotten the better of them! Some have handled the situations well, and others, not so well. Let’s review. PR: The good, the…
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What’s the cost of a brand crisis? As video of United Airlines passenger Dr. David Dao being violently dragged from his seat went viral last month, the media – and a global audience of prospective customers – were shocked. It may not have hurt the airline’s stock price in the long term, but CEO Oscar…
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Congratulations, you’ve retained a new public relations firm, and you’re getting ready to kick off a successful partnership. Like any new relationship, this one is in the honeymoon phase as everyone gets to know each other. But things are about to get real, so all parties need to be on their toes to ensure success…
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Public relations experts know that the majority of traffic coming to a blog post comes in the first hours and days of publication. This makes the timely promotion of your blog content critical to its success. And, according to TrackMaven, you might want to publish your post at 3 p.m. EST for the highest number of…
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Some say the goal of a great public relations program should be to build brand reputation, while sales and marketing actually drive sales. The reality is that the lines between PR and marketing are getting blurrier all the time. The two can and should work together –  much like brick and mortar. A strong public…
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Recently a journalist posted some basic advice for public relations people to improve media relationships. He said to “read stuff, then take it to reporters who like that stuff.” That’s a little like Elmore Leonard advising writers to “try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.” Simple, yet true, and harder than…
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Millions of college students graduate this year, and if my inbox is any indication, many would like to work in public relations. Of course, anyone entering the field is likely to look at the different paths to a career, which typically means exploring large agencies, in-house opportunities, and smaller firms. We’d like to make the…
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Nearly every public relations campaign can benefit from smart use of hashtags, those words that start with the symbol # and make social content more searchable by topic. Marketers know that hashtags help spark brand conversations, expand content reach, engage a target audience and improve search and SEO. Building Better Hashtags Hashtags work best when…
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A few years ago I dropped in on a client’s booth at an industry conference, and the company CEO introduced me – the founder of his company’s public relations agency – as the “publicist.” Who, me, a publicist? What he didn’t realize was that for some PR people, the term is faintly pejorative. It implies…
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When it comes to good public relations, a company can have great potential that for one reason or another is never realized in the form of media coverage. There can be a number of reasons, including bad timing, a poor approach, or competition in the space. But it’s often simply because the company is unprepared for…
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Timely, authoritative and well-written bylined articles – contributed pieces for business and trade publications – can elevate a B2B public relations effort exponentially, if executed correctly. How hard is it to write some short articles on a subject you know well? Harder than you think, if you want editors to consider your content for publication….
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The Tony nominees were announced this week, and it’s award season for public relations as well. We are pleased to be contenders in a couple of categories. Nothing beats acknowledgment by industry peers for a job well done. The timing also provides a good opportunity to review the kinds of traits that create award-winning PR teams….
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Throughout the past decade, public relations pundits have trumpeted the rise of the personal brand in the digital era. By now we expect that many have mastered the basics of personal branding, but it’s not as easy as setting up a social media presence and hoping an audience finds you. There are concrete steps to…
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At least one company learned something about PR and reputation from the United Airlines fiasco earlier this month. Over the weekend, Twitter and Facebook lit up with smartphone videos of a fresh instance of passenger distress on an airplane. This time it was a scuffle between an American Airlines flight attendant and a passenger who…
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In public relations, sometimes the stars align and a story just writes itself. When looking for winners and losers in the realm of public opinion, this past quarter offered a wealth of excellent examples. The criteria for this quarter’s selections are simple enough: the coverage had to be plentiful and broad and the story had to pass…
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Not long ago, a chief executive could lead a business, even a large one, fairly quietly, leaving public relations and social media management to the corporate communications team. The CEO job was mainly to deliver a strong financial performance. Today, things are different. A capable business leader is expected to also serve as a brand…
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Want your public relations to rule? Then be prepared to break some rules. Face it, the typical client-agency relationship can sink into a routine that, over time, becomes a little too comfortable.  Companies partner with PR agencies to add value to their business, and that means offering new ideas and innovative ways of looking at the…
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    Are there any tips that public relations can take away from high-level governmental negotiations? We think so. This week’s international machinations between the US and China and the US and Russia included the term “deconfliction.” This is the process of avoiding mutual interference, or outright hazards, among systems under the control of one’s own…
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It goes against all the instincts of a public relations specialist to turn down a media opportunity. Yet despite the adage that all PR is good PR, there are situations where the disadvantages of speaking to a reporter far outweigh the gains. We don’t recommend an adversarial or “no comment” response, which usually provokes unwanted…
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The public relations team at United had probably just started to breathe easy after the infamous “leggings” crisis when a second PR disaster hit. And this one’s a doozy. Late Sunday, a United passenger who refused to give up his seat on an overbooked flight was forcibly removed from the plane by police, to the…
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As public relations campaigns become more sophisticated, they need to adapt to ever-changing digital habits and platforms. Though millions may have tuned into HBO for the finale of “Big Little Lies” this past weekend, millions more were watching it in some other form or on another device. A current forecast says that 74% of all Internet traffic…
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Brand Pepsi fell flat this week with its bafflingly tone-deaf ad featuring Kendall Jenner, but in the wake of a public relations backlash, the brand did at least one thing right. After Twitter lit up with nasty tweets and late-night comics poured on scorn, Pepsi reacted quickly. Its response was so simple, sensible, and honest…
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Recently, Jennifer Lopez found herself in some public relations hot water when she reportedly neglected social media duties on behalf of a hoverboard company. With brands inking five and six-figure deals with mega-celebrities for a single tweet or post that may fall short of its goals, it’s no wonder the PR industry is looking for different influencer strategies to…
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People often ask how agencies come up with great ideas for public relations campaigns. Agency teams will answer this question differently owing to their unique sector experience and orientation,  but there are commonalities. We have culled a top ten list of do’s and don’ts to help foster successful idea generation from some of the best brains in the…
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