All Entries Tagged With: "Featured"
Consumers are Not Crash Test Dummies
Toyota’s PR initiative to aggressively work to discredit drivers who have encountered apparent problems with Toyota cars and to complain that the news media has not treated the company fairly is big bully PR from a bygone era.
It’s About Brand Leadership, Not Marketing
One of the world’s most respected corporate advisory organizations wanted to know more about our strategic, proprietary model to building corporate online newsrooms that are vastly more effective at managing online brand image.
Online Newsroom vs. Online Cemetery
The brand-enhancement potential of using today’s powerful and influential online tools to dramatically broaden awareness for any organization is significant and proven.
Primary Audiences for Online Newsrooms
It is a misperception in the PR business that the primary audience of an organization’s online newsroom is the news media. It’s NOT the media!
How Much are Head Hunters Hurting PR?
It’s a familiar story – a seasoned PR veteran is approached by an executive search firm, hyped over an attractive-sounding corporate position, strung out through a series of interviews, and then, told that the evaluation process is too far down the road … or some other lie.
On My Birthday, Some Observations
Maybe it was the fact that I had a birthday recently. I have been reflecting on a number of things about our curious American society … so, I’ve decided to write down some thoughts here … with a little inspiration from Dolly.
The War for the Internet
A war of sorts is underway to establish control of the Internet. The sides are defined – social media’s power to the people versus pornography supported by big business. Porn’s tactics are from mean streets.
How to Salvage Toyota’s Brand Reputation
Trust of Toyota’s brand … of the safety and reliability of its vehicles … is on life support. The giant car maker is suffering from self-inflicted wounds, the worst of which is not monitoring, not listening to warning signs of trouble.
Toyota’s PR: Like a Bent Fender
While Toyota’s leaders have been parading to Capitol Hill, offering little to say except apologies, what is really curious is the company’s lack of outreach to consumers.
When the “Media” Intentionally Misleads
While interviewing the daughter of Joe Stark – the guy who flew a small plane loaded with fuel into an Austin building housing the Internal Revenue Service – a cable TV news anchor woman stated, “Wouldn’t you call your father a ‘hero’”?
How to Learn Social Media – First Steps
I was speaking before a terrific group at The Graduate School of Political Management recently – Professor Steve Lawrence’s class on Media Relations. The focus was understanding social media. The students could easily be described as among the best of the best.
Huge PR Firm Has Bunch of Kids Digital PR Strategists
As Hamilton Nolan writes for Gawker.com: Here is just the latest example of how a large PR agency can be a huge, huge, huge, hustle, staffed by hustlers, who will charge you too much money to do dumb, simple things, on the internet. Edelman!
PR at Cross Purposes
While doing research for my new book, Making News in the Digital Era, I was struck by the fact that most large PR agencies seemingly have created two different and competing agencies under the same roof that I believe will lead to competitive growth problems in the near and long term – a traditional agency competing against a digital agency.
Northwest Airlines: A Communications Nightmare
Northwest Airlines has had problems with its pilots, flight attendants and medieval company policies for some time now. Can you imagine trying to handle corporate communications/PR for such an outfit?!
Look at Where the Eyeballs Are
I was sitting in a cafe with the respected social media expert and practitioner Chris Abraham recently in Clarendon, just outside Washington, D.C., and we were purposefully people watching. Nearly everyone who walked by had their eyes down, checking something on an iPhone, Blackberry or some other type of wireless PDA.
Visual Media Means Business
Traditional public relations firms have never appreciated – or had much success with – using great photography. They’re often focusing on billable hours. What escapes most agencies and corporate PR teams is the knowledge of how to successfully use photographers to enhance their businesses.
