All Entries in the "Strategic Communications" Category
In the Digital Era, Make Your Own News
Today’s digitally-driven information revolution is creating a new-world business matrix and model. Organizations large and small are finding they can simply bypass mainstream media to communicate their news, in their way, directly and effectively, to their publics.
What Works, What Doesn’t Online
I would like to write a few reflections on what I learned by while researching and writing my new book, Making News in the Digital Era. The book was published in September. Making News is a compendium to my 2006 work, Making News: A Straight-Shooting Guide to Media Relations that continues to be a favorite, especially among university communications classes.
How-To Hire Online Communications Expertise
There are an awful lot of overnight online and social media communications “experts” out there, many light experience in communications, and lacking credentials both online and with more traditional, yet essential, methods. Here is a practical starter checklist to use when vetting any PR or communications agency, team or person … in order to really [...]
A Great Story Has Legs
Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of effective communications … and one of the most timely. My colleague Anne Bell at PBS NewsHour says it best: “A great story has legs that in today’s world can travel many miles per hour.” The discipline of storytelling can energize (or re-energize) any business or organization. It [...]
Communications Leadership: Storytelling
Brooke Gladstone of National Public Radio’s “On the Media” program says: “Journalists are taught to talk and write in human terms. Tell me a story.” We are all part of a storytelling culture in America. It’s been that way forever, and it’s no different in countries, cultures and communities around the world. We share stories [...]
Tactics Seldom Work, Without Strategy
More than ever, I am convinced we live in a tactics-driven world, and it’s leading us in a downward direction. When we embrace tactics, we relinquish leadership, by default. When tactics are used, it reveals a level of anxiety over needing to get fast results. But results don’t work that way. Congress tries to fix [...]
Strategy Planning – While You Wait
The whole concept of strategic planning has become too complicated, in my opinion. It’s reached the point where developing a strategy, as espoused by many consultants, is simply too time-consuming, too divisive, and too frustrating a process. It’s dreaded at many organizations. Years ago, I had a business partner, the late Jon Phelps, who, like [...]
The Brandeis Ripple Effect
The headline in The Boston Globe online boldly told the story – “Crisis raises questions on Brandeis campus.” The recession and the depth of America’s financial is clobbering universities, which seemingly are unprepared for a crisis on every front. Were it not for the famous and respected name of Brandeis, this story may be replicated [...]
Twitter’s Lack of Transparency, Leadership
Twitter, the popular online mini-blogging service, is in serious, deep PR trouble that has the potential of cratering the online company’s value. It is all self-inflicted, I believe, due to the company’s own arrogance and lack of respect or understanding for transparency and openness. I just returned home to D.C. after a series of lectures [...]
Sex, Drugs & Graft at Interior Department
Major story in The New York Times about the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties being caught in a wide-ranging ethics scandal, involving allegations of accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct. It is being called, “a culture of ethical failure,” by department’s inspector general.
Lack of Plain Language, Clarity, Delivering
For weeks, we have been receiving mailings at our home several times each week from Verizon, announcing “FiOS.” We believe that FiOS is fiber optic cable service but Verizon has never explained what the four-letter acronym means, relinquishing “FiOS” as just another meanless and made-up word, like “Verizon.” I find Verizon’s marketing approach for a [...]
Steve Jobs Is Not Dead
Bloomberg, the financial newswire service, accidentally published its 17-page obituary for Apple Co-Founder and CEO Steve Jobs. The news service said it was updating the document when it was inadvertently published online. “An incomplete story referencing Apple Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m. New York time today,” Bloomberg said. “The item [...]
Wall-E for President
I was watching CBS Face the Nation this morning and veteran newsman Bob Schieffer who kept using the phrase, “flip-flop,” to describe a politician who seems to change his mind. Schieffer should know better than to repeatedly pick up on such simple-minded politicking jargon. Heck, everyone changes his or her mind. The origins of the [...]
Corporate Blogs: the Realities and Purpose
A business acquaintance was telling me that he hoped his company might emulate the style of Dell Computer’s corporate blog. Not wanting to throw cold water on his hopes, I kept silent. But Dell’s blog is not my concept of a contemporary transparent and open interface with customers. Rather, it is more focused on product [...]
Good Headlines, Bad Headlines
A acquaintance writes on Facebook today, “Dear Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer: Vista sucks! Vista is slow on my fast Lenovo x61 with 4GB RAM! [expletive deleted] Driving me to Mac!?” The opinion he expresses is but the latest in a chorus of complaints and news headlines about the significant shortcomings of Windows Vista, the [...]
Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
In today’s world of intense message chaos, blogs have provided an effective online channel for expression of voice and words. But, what are the rules, best practices and ethical boundaries in the vast blogosphere? Paris-based Reporters Without Borders has made available online and for free download its “Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents.” It is the [...]
