PR

From Phil Gomes: A whole bunch of people are talking about this article from a magazine I don't read. Reminds me of something that started early in my career. Something I called "Wall Street Journal Syndrome." Even as a junior employee, it astounded me how a PR team could pole-vault over every expectation and every conceivable measuring stick, only to allow themselves to get beaten up for not getting a "hit" in the …

Continue Reading about Hitting Up The A-List Does Not A PR Strategy Make →

The Economist: "News is what someone wants to suppress. Everything else is advertising,” said Reuven Frank, a former head of NBC news. So what sort of business is public relations (PR), which spends half its time huffing about bad news; and the rest puffing politicians, companies and celebrities? The answer is that, for business, PR is an increasingly vital marketing tool—especially as traditional forms of …

Continue Reading about In The Conversational Marketplace PR Gains Momentum →

B.L. Ochman has some suggestions for pr flaks who want her to pay attention to their story. What's Next's Pitching Rules for Flaks Publicists, please paste these to your refrigerator or filing cabinet 1. don't pretend you're not a publicist 2. don't lie 3. if you forget rule 2, refer to rule 1 4. provide an email address from your company, not hotmail, yahoo, or gmail; and a phone number in case I have a question. 5. …

Continue Reading about How To Throw A Strike →

International Herald Tribune: According to a survey by Edelman public relations in New York, conducted recently in 11 countries, chief executives no longer command the trust they used to among consumers, and generally should not be pressed into service as media spokesmen. Edelman said the survey findings were consistent with other indications of a democratization of the business and media spheres, as the internet …

Continue Reading about Hey Boss, Back Away From The Camera →

Stiff formality: Another press release no-no. "We're delighted to be expanding our presence at Sundance, as we know that the Stella Artois drinker is one who appreciates creative risk-taking, diversity, and aesthetic innovation characteristic of the films debuted at the Festival," said Victor Melendez, director of marketing of European Brands, InBev USA. …

Continue Reading about People Don’t Talk Like That →

Jeremy Hermanns of Tribal DDB was on Alaska flight #536 from Seattle to L.A. when twenty minutes after take off the MD-80 airplane tore a hole in it’s fuselage at 30K feet. Jeremy writes about it on his blog. It's an interesting account, but what is hard to understand are comments on his blog like this one: You come up with some very imaginative terms to describe the smell and what was happening. Can you explain to …

Continue Reading about Alaska Airlines Debacle Made Worse By Attack Dogs →

From today's New York Times: More than ever, Americans do not trust business or the people who run it. Pollsters, researchers, even many corporate chiefs themselves say that business is under attack by a majority of the public, which believes that executives are bent on destroying the environment, cooking the books and lining their own pockets. Many executives, while acknowledging the public antipathy, adamantly …

Continue Reading about Does Big Business Have A PR Problem? →

Internet News is running an article about the greening of HP. The piece draws attention to HP's efforts to recycle approximately 140 million pounds of hardware and HP print cartridges globally, an increase of over 17 percent from the prior year. It also highlights the difficulty HP has historically had in claiming PR wins around this issue. "If HP invented sushi they would have called it 'cold, dead fish,' " said Amy …

Continue Reading about HP Takes Responsibility But Not Credit →