When it comes to launching a new product or service, success isn’t defined by whether or not you launch “on time.” Many mistakes can be avoided by slowing down, thinking through the entire campaign strategically and ensuring all ducks are in a row before pontificating your news to the world....
Continue ReadingThe popularity of influencer marketing has exploded in recent years. Common belief is that the influencers‘ opinions can shape the perceptions of their followers. Though marketing campaigns constantly change, the followers‘ faith and trust in the influencer remains consistent. Online customers are known to trust the recommendation of individuals within their network or social circle. In...
Continue ReadingSocial media is a very powerful tool for business. It is a platform for businesses to showcase their strengths and build a community of followers. Unfortunately, that same power can translate to major damage in the event of a crisis. Social media gives publicity issues the fuel to escalate to a full crisis in mere minutes....
Continue ReadingWe came from a world where selling a product or service was all about how you positioned yourself and how you ‘sold’ your company, through advertising, marketing and PR where you told people what you thought they should know about your product. It was really all about you and how good you were. Now we are...
Continue ReadingArtificial intelligence is not science fiction anymore. AI is here, and it’s probably part of your daily life. In fact, when you search the web at any time from any device, whether you’re typing into a browser or talking to Siri, you are interacting with AI. Search engines use AI to deliver the best results based...
Continue ReadingThe use of influencers is now a crucial element in every communications and PR agency. Over the latest years, influencer marketing has won the trust of consultants and their customers, but as with most trends, we run the risk of underestimating its complexity....
Continue ReadingThere used to be a way to reach your target market with just a few touch points. Send out a press release. Produce an event. Sponsor a program. According to the Online Marketing Institute, it now takes 7-13 touches to reach a potential customer....
Continue ReadingPublic relations has long been a powerful marketing tool for companies. In today’s digital environment, its impact is greater than ever....
Continue ReadingNearly 3 years after the VW emissions scandal broke worldwide, the CEO of VW-owned Audi is arrested for fraud, false advertising and hindering the investigation by German authorities. The first rule of crisis communications is to end the crisis and on something of this scale, that means untainted leadership and a willingness to right the wrongs...
Continue Reading1. What did you do before PR? : I was a political reporter covering the Illinois Statehouse for ABC affiliates and did a brief stint as a TV News assignment editor in Madison, Wisc. So I’ve worked both sides of the coin, if you will....
Continue ReadingThe Peace Summit between President Donald Trump of USA and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea held at The Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island concluded on 12 June. The historic meeting was considered a success, as both parties agreed to meet further to work out the details for a permanent peace...
Continue ReadingAnthropology is a science born out of two schools of thought related to how should a social scientist study a community....
Continue ReadingAs an industry, public relations has experienced our fair share of PR. Popular TV shows like “Mad Men” and “Sex and The City” have bolstered PR’s reputation as a career path lined with celebrity parties, free swag and other VIP perks. While many of us do frequently work on cool projects with major brands and some...
Continue ReadingA Twitter presence, whether personal or corporate, is part of daily life in 2018. According to Hootsuite, nearly 330 million users worldwide access the platform in more than 40 different languages. Even more impressive is the number of active users: 42 percent access the app every day, while another 24 percent use Twitter weekly. That means...
Continue ReadingWhen clients hire a public relations agency to develop a PR campaign, they typically measure its success by the number of times the story was picked up, in which publications it appeared, and how many times it was retweeted or shared. Of course, they also want to know that the story was free of errors and...
Continue ReadingPopularity of influencer marketing is a rich seam for brands and PR reps but greater transparency is now needed to enhance trust and credibility, writes Owen Cullen....
Continue ReadingBack some years ago when many of us were ‘spring chickens’ one of the golden rules of PR was that companies did and should not have opinions on politics because they were corporate entities and not people....
Continue ReadingDo you Google yourself and your company? If not, you should....
Continue ReadingThe best kind of press isn’t something that you buy, but how exactly do you get free press coverage? Because the media is constantly pitching new products and services, getting noticed can be difficult. Here are three clever ways to ensure you get the media coverage you want, provided by the world’s top media relations agencies....
Continue ReadingWith earned media playing an increasingly important role in content-sharing, media relations remains a crucial element of public relations....
Continue ReadingWe’ve all seen it on the news. The spokesperson heads to the microphone, reads a statement, then begins taking questions. Then, we notice something. He or she makes a mistake. Whether your spokesperson starts speaking off-topic, becomes a “deer in the headlights” or unintentionally gives away private information, a mistake takes place. Any one of these...
Continue ReadingThink you will ever ride in a flying car? Check out the latest on Flying Cars from David Fuscus of Xenophon Strategies, PRGN’s Washington, DC member. https://tinyurl.com/y9kn7pw3...
Continue ReadingHaving been in the public relations business for nearly three decades, I’m often asked by business associates why and how to find the right PR firm for their needs. So, just like BuzzFeed, we’ve compiled some easy-to-read lists for you....
Continue Reading“Dead ones live longer” is a common phrase – and indeed, it applies also to pr. The question is not if the press release in general is dead but much more how to make it a vivid, compelling and fruitful part of your toolbox. The starting point is of course: Who should read, enjoy and use...
Continue ReadingVideo remains a sizzling hot medium for storytelling. Organizations of all sizes and industries are using it to tell their brand story....
Continue ReadingDifferent people have different interpretations of what brand building means. Sadly, many equate advertising campaigns or logo changes to branding exercises – which only scrapes the surface of holistic brand building....
Continue ReadingSocial media influencers are not a new thing by any means. With the growth of platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, the term blogger has almost become a thing of the past. Why have a WordPress account that needs to be updated constantly with full length, long form posts when you can influence the masses with a...
Continue ReadingFor years they have been on separate paths, but since crisis is a synonym of corporate reputation, clients no longer worry about hiring a law firm when looking for a solution to their conflicts, but for several years they have understood that simultaneously they should look for someone who watches over their public image before it...
Continue ReadingWe live in amazing times today, we are so digitized and so technologically advanced that the beginning of my PR career 20+ years ago seems to be in another life. I remember sending press releases by fax and communicating very important issues via pagers. No mobile phones, no blogs, no Facebook, no Twitter, but a lot...
Continue ReadingAt first glance, a product review may just seem like a bunch of words coupled with images of a product, lavishing the product with half-hearted praise and encouraging readers to buy....
Continue ReadingIn consumer public relations, we often build our annual plans around new product launches and all of the buzz – and sales – they will bring. While every new product is different, here are a few tried and true tips to make the most of any product launch campaign....
Continue ReadingAs PR pros, it can be difficult for us to step away from our inboxes and voicemails for time dedicated solely to professional development. It’s easy to put client needs in front of the latest webinar or online course, especially when your time is billable and there are deadlines at every turn. But public relations is...
Continue ReadingHaving been in the communications industry for more than 40 years, first within corporations, then in consultancy, there were many lessons gleaned along the way. These have helped me to deal with various stakeholders better and to handle PR events and activities more effectively. I hope you will find them useful....
Continue ReadingEveryone knows the best time to plan is the beginning of each year. But, the end of the year offers some unique opportunities too. How can you maximize your brand in the 4th quarter? Here are a few End-of-the-Year PR and Social Media PR Tips....
Continue ReadingBy writing a blog you broaden your knowledge, acquire new skills, develop your imagination and enhance vocabulary. You also become a better writer, interlocutor, an expert in your field, improve your own concentration and memory. These are advantages that nobody questions....
Continue ReadingIt is a common request from potential clients to see a Public Relations case study of work comparable to what you are recommending to them. But what exactly are they looking for? Strategy, deliverables, measurement? Of course, but how best to provide that information without overwhelming and oversharing....
Continue ReadingBefore analyzing the results of a PR campaign, it is necessary to clarify what PR means today. The primary goal of Public Relations has always been to develop relationships, to connect institutions, companies, people and establishments with their users or their clients. What has changed over time, and has even significantly increased, are the ways that...
Continue ReadingWhat you say can or will be held against you, should you not take up the challenge to prepare for an interview. In the digital age, everything you say lives on forever, so, preparing for an interview should not be taken lightly. You should spend enough time getting up to speed and doing the due diligence...
Continue ReadingCompany websites used to be only virtual business cards. Not anymore. With the online developing faster than everything else around, websites moved to have a sales role or shifted to a hybrid function covering both the presentation and commercial purposes. Browsing the web one can see several neat website designs and functionalities and what might catch...
Continue ReadingSocial media is no longer the territory of the millennial. Today, consumers ranging from 14 to 65+ and beyond (to infinity!!) are active across the various platforms on a daily basis. In the current climate it wouldn’t be out of order to assume that your audience is using social media in one way or another, and...
Continue ReadingMedia relations is our bread and butter in the PR industry. There’s nothing better than a well-placed media hit that’s authentic, engaging and delivered directly to your target audience. But with an increasingly competitive media landscape and a growing desire by many brands to tackle multiple markets at once, honing the perfect media pitch can be...
Continue ReadingRecently, Hong Kong Observatory announced a move with World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to rename four typhoons that caused human casualties and economic loss in Hong Kong and other South China Sea regions. The renaming of these typhoons was an act of rebranding, designed to raise more public awareness about the cause of the disasters, and to...
Continue ReadingIf you’ve never had a client ask you to lower your fees, you are one of the lucky PR professionals! For the rest of us, here are 5 tactics you can try the next time a client mentions budget cuts....
Continue ReadingWhen it comes to public relations, the best-kept secrets are those protected by the PRSA Code of Ethics. This means PR professionals will keep proprietary information proprietary and would rather go to jail before disclosing business secrets....
Continue ReadingAnytime a company expands their marketing outreach efforts, no doubt there will be a great deal of discussion on which way to go. Should we hire a public relations/social media firm? Perhaps we should investigate hiring a freelancer? What about keeping it all in-house?...
Continue ReadingThe great digital transformation and Fourth Industrial Revolution we are seeing in large companies around the world is no longer confined to just mega-corporations and conglomerates. In Chile, many companies—both large and small—are in the midst of this great change....
Continue ReadingYelp, Trip Advisor, Glassdoor, Amazon and hundreds of other sites invite customer reviews on products, businesses and services. Less than stellar reviews can have a real financial impact on your business. According to Web Republic, products with positive reviews sell 200% more than those with no reviews. So how do you influence your customers to provide...
Continue Readingby Uwe Schmidt, Industrie-Contact (Hamburg, Germany) in co-operation with David Landis, Landis Communications Inc. (San Francisco, USA)...
Continue ReadingInternal conferences and meetings play an integral role in a company’s ability to develop business strategy, discover new industry trends, and connect employees in a way that facilitates discussion and promotes a shared vision for success. To ensure participation, it’s important to find a central location to host these events – especially if your company has...
Continue ReadingFor the past 25 years, David Fuscus of Xenophon Strategies has worked on hurricances, plane crashes, earthquakes, tornado and other disasters. Hurricane Irma is the scariest one of them all. He has just published A How to Help Guide by a Crisis Communications Pro based on his experiences and learning what works and what doesn’t. Please...
Continue ReadingFor the modern business, social media is an essential tool that makes it possible to connect with your target audience in the very place where they are choosing to spend their time. There are many benefits of using social media for business including building brand presence, building credibility, developing relationships, gathering marketing research, increasing website traffic, and...
Continue ReadingYou’ve got the idea. Your business plan is in place. The financing is ready to roll. Now you’re ready to launch. Let the media tour begin, right?...
Continue ReadingFor PR pros, social media is more than just memes and foodie videos – it’s a valuable tool for connecting your brand with the media. You can be just 140 characters away from your next media placement if you follow this list of do’s and don’ts....
Continue ReadingHungary’s media consumption is rapidly shifting towards social media. And so much so that the king of all media, television – which has survived all major media transformations so far – is now being dethroned by young video makers of YouTube. By 2017, advertising potential for social platforms has become a multi-million dollar market in the...
Continue ReadingImagine this: You get an unexpected call in the middle of the day. Your company’s network has experienced a data breach and information for thousands of customers is now susceptible to hackers. You don’t know all the details yet, but the local news has gotten wind of the story and they are planning to run a...
Continue ReadingAt Xenophon Strategies, we’ve handled crisis communication on 13 major hurricanes for a variety of clients. Check out the new blog post on communications lessons hurricanes have to teach from David Fuscus. From planning to execution, getting ready for a natural disaster can be difficult for any organization, these principles will make it easier. http://tinyurl.com/y93tm3lo...
Continue ReadingEvery day in Washington, there are dozens–or maybe hundreds–of press conferences. The grand staircase at the Capitol building is a popular spot, as is the iconic entrance to the Supreme Court after a key ruling. The White House Rose Garden is, perhaps, the most prestigious of them all. Below are three of Xenophon’s favorites:...
Continue ReadingHoliday season means days away from the office for partners, clients and employees – and it means a lot of Out of Office (OOO) messages, delivered automatically to your mail inbox. Some of them are useful, some funny, some are mysteries; it all depends on what you want to achieve and how you do it....
Continue ReadingThere is a great deal of confusion about the difference between Vision and Mission Statements and they often become intertwined. As a result, they can be uninspiring, confusing or overly long making them difficult to remember, much less articulate. Philosophically Vision and Mission Statements should be separate but related, just like strategy and tactics — strategy...
Continue ReadingDuring the Dallas Spring Meeting for PRGN members of the Leadership Roundtable, we were given the opportunity to get out of the hotel conference center and explore one of Dallas’ top corporate headquarters (and a Three Box Strategic Communications client) – Topgolf. While the visit was a great opportunity to cut loose and have a little fun,...
Continue ReadingI’m a huge podcast fan – they’ve made my hour-long commute each morning not only bearable, but enjoyable. Whether I’m in the mood to be informed or entertained, there is a podcast for everything and I’ve become a loyal subscriber to a handful of shows (shout out to ‘Four Finger Discount’ the podcast that reviews episodes...
Continue ReadingIt’s now been more than a year since Britain’s seismic decision to exit the EU but here in Ireland, we still don’t know how it’s going to pan out....
Continue ReadingGood crisis communications planning starts with base fundamentals – assessing areas of risk, preparing your organization including effective policies and solid messaging and narrative that defines the organization and its values. Check out Xenophon CEO David Fuscus’s newest blog post: Key Fundamentals of Crisis Communication Plans....
Continue ReadingAustria is among the world’s most stable and prospering economies, but its media landscape is comparatively small. If you can’t convince a handful of relevant journalists to tell your story to their audiences, you’re lost because you don’t have many alternative ways to go. So when you are trying to use traditional media channels for PR...
Continue ReadingEarlier this year, PRGN launched its Instagram account and earlier this month, Instagram takeovers,a new series where our partners will share what life is like in their city and at their agency. Instagram is unique because unlike Facebook and Twitter, the content has to be visual and it’s difficult to share links on the platform. This...
Continue ReadingKnown as the City of Angels, Los Angeles boasts both the second largest media market and the third busiest airport in the United States – and there is a lot more to La La Land. We also have a diverse, multi-ethnic population that makes us a cultural hub – with people from more than 180 counties...
Continue ReadingYou didn’t get the media attendance you expected at your last press conference. And you’re taking heat from your boss for the weak turn-out. She wants to know why reporters didn’t attend your press event....
Continue ReadingBy Valentina Giacaman – RumboCierto Chile...
Continue ReadingThis post is sponsored by ClickTime and Gould+Partners....
Continue ReadingWiesbaden, April 25, 2017 – Together with Rivel Research and the IR Club, cometis AG analyzed the use of non-deal roadshows (NDRs) and sell-side conferences. We asked IROs in key German-speaking countries: How often are you on the road? What are your preferred cities? Learn more about the exciting results....
Continue ReadingThe now famous United Airlines debacle of a bloodied passenger being dragged off a plane will resurface in news stories about United for years. Virtually everyone has seen the video of the crisis, from school children to captain of industries and because of it, they are paying a lot more attention to United....
Continue ReadingFor those of us in the profession of public relations, the rise of fake news and the attacks on legitimate media outlets have been deeply disturbing....
Continue ReadingFor a communications professional working in the U.S., the last few months have been a time of intense introspective about the state of the media. The rhetoric has been thick and charged. Phrases like “alternative facts” and “fake news” are making their own headlines. White House press conferences have taken on an element of the absurd....
Continue ReadingVoice search is quickly becoming the way consumers are searching for information they need – especially for business. Landis Communications Inc. (LCI)’s digital marketing consultants, Mannix Marketing, have 4 great tips on how to optimize voice search with virtual assistants like Siri....
Continue ReadingIt is always easier to reach your destination when you know where you want to go. Social media editorial calendars can map your social media strategy down a successful path. Not convinced? Here are five reasons why social media editorial calendars work for us and why we suggest adding them to your social media strategy....
Continue ReadingSocial media management can be time consuming and expensive. For many the real value isn’t something they can clearly see. If your goal is to turn likes into more bricks and mortar customers, or you want to get a sense of a return on your investment, consider these ideas....
Continue ReadingDid your organization recently win a coveted industry award and you’re not sure how to promote it besides adding the plaque or trophy to the office? This is something most organizations struggle with....
Continue ReadingInbound marketing is an effective way to connect with potential customers and strategically deliver information. One of the most successful tools is video. According to a recent Hub Spot article, the amount of videos posted to Facebook has grown 75% over the last year. On Twitter, visuals also produce 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites and...
Continue ReadingBack in my early PR years, I would call every reporter on my media list. I would occasionally find a few reporters willing to listen to my nervous pitch and if I was lucky, someone would bite and actually write a story. When I look back now, I realize I was most likely interrupting busy journalists...
Continue ReadingIt’s any publicist’s dream to call a reporter who knows our name, which companies we represent and even remembers our die-hard Green Bay Packers fandom. It’s even better when the reporter works at a publication that is extremely valuable for our clients. Although building relationships with reporters is no small feat, it’s certainly possible – and...
Continue ReadingSocial media is an essential aspect of building your brand, but building a strategy can be daunting. Here are a few quick tips for embracing social media to increase your business’s bottom line....
Continue ReadingAt the beginning of 2015, The Fearey Group moved offices and did a complete redesign of our workspace in the process. We went from private doored offices to an open, collaborative floor plan. We increased our technology infrastructure, worked on our message and created new tools in the process. And we did this for many good...
Continue ReadingFor us PR pros, our smartphones are basically glued to our hands. Whether it’s emailing clients, checking the latest news alerts, posting to social media or searching for that contact we met at a networking event, our phones are often our most indispensable tool as communicators and help us provide even stronger service to our clients. Here’s a...
Continue ReadingDid you know that nearly 70 percent of people in the U.S. have a smart phone? It’s not a huge surprise that the majority of internet access is now done through mobile devices versus desktop computers. Updating your marketing strategy to incorporate mobile users isn’t a trend that applies solely to B2C companies. Your B2B marketing...
Continue ReadingBy Abbie S. Fink, HMA Public Relations, Phoenix, Arizona...
Continue ReadingHWB enjoys unprecedented success in getting our clients great coverage in print thanks in part to the redeployment of our staff into those who client face and generate the press releases, tweets, blogs and those who distribute via our dedicated “newsroom”. But it’s never as simple as that. Here, head of the HWB newsroom, Nicole Chamberlin...
Continue ReadingBy Valentina Giacaman Hazboun, RumboCierto Strategic Communication, Santiago de Chile...
Continue ReadingBy Anne Buchanan, Buchanan Public Relations, Philadelphia...
Continue ReadingBy Edward M. Stevens, Stevens Strategic Communications, Inc., Cleveland...
Continue ReadingAs owners of public relations agencies throughout the globe, one of the biggest discussion topics raised at our twice-yearly Public Relations Global Network conferences is how the world of M&A is changing. Our colleague Aarti Shah wrote this insightful analysis which originally appeared in The Holmes Report. This is great food for thought for all agency...
Continue ReadingBy Sara Pearson, Spider PR Limited, London...
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Continue ReadingHowever, there is still a lot of confusion around the definition of storytelling that, just to clarify, does not consist in communicating the chronological history of a brand or product. Storytelling aims at creating a narrative universe around them while generating value that can be identity-making, social or economic....
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