Let’s be honest: Not every client has a compelling story to tell if you look just at their products or services. So, a little investment in a poll or survey can help raise their profile as a thought leader and relevant voice in their respective industry. But there are a few caveats to observe so … Read More
The Best PR Can’t Replace Real Leadership
At its core, PR is all about reputation management with stakeholders. People and brands rightly expect PR professionals to help them connect with important stakeholders, build meaningful relationships and effectively communicate the right messages to them. However, many make the mistake that PR can help them solve a real leadership and business problem especially when … Read More
What Should PR Firms Be Prepared For In the Post-Covid Era?
Over the past 15 months, the global pandemic has challenged mankind in so many ways, from our very existence to the way we do business, and thankfully, the worst part appears to be behind us. As life goes on, so is the need to communicate, promote, salvage, interact, advise, contain, create – connections, ideas, plans, … Read More
From Brand Purpose to Brand Activism: Time to Act
“Between saying and doing there is the sea,” says a well-known proverb. This quote can be applied to today’s brands as they are called to cross this sea and take their Corporate Social Responsibility strategy to a new level by developing brand activism strategies that mark the transition from storytelling to storydoing. What is brand … Read More
The New Chapters You Should Add to Your Crisis Handbook After Covid-19
Crisis communications as a public relations practice stands out not just in the execution of high level strategies at an amplified pace, but because every crisis communications scenario serves as a stress test for that organization. Whether that crisis plays out in the headlines or gets managed internally, everyone immediately recognizes what worked… and what … Read More
What Most Companies Get Wrong When Doing Their First ESG Report
Doing your first ESG (environmental, social and governance) report is not as simple or straight-forward as it seems. In no way are we trying to deter you from producing your first ESG report. It is one of the most important reports a company does for responsible investors and key stakeholders. Yet, our experience with first-time … Read More
Six Reasons Why Sustainability Matters for all Companies – and Two Common Mistakes They Should Avoid
Sustainability is becoming more and more important: People are aware of global challenges like climate change, pollution and social inequality, and they discuss them and ask for solutions. It is clear that companies have a major impact on social and ecological issues, so the pressure on them to operate sustainably is increasing accordingly. Not only … Read More
2020 – The Year of Crisis
What a year. 2020 might as well have been “the year of crisis.” Or maybe it was just one big 365-day crisis. It certainly felt like it, as The Castle Group’s crisis communications practice managed more than 100 crises for 57 clients in 19 states and two countries. As we reflect on 2020, we all … Read More
5 Simple Ways to Boost Visibility of a Stock
Corporate stocks have seen a rollercoaster year due to Covid-19, political turmoil and social unrest all impacting market sentiments. And now news on the vaccines have arrived and are spreading hope on the stock markets again. How can publicly traded companies – especially midcaps and small firms not sitting on large marketing budgets – keep … Read More
Leadership Is Communication
We live in an era of hyper-connectivity and information overload. Stakeholders are bombarded with messages every moment of the day. This crowded and cluttered marketplace has not only made stakeholders more informed, it has also made them more demanding about what they expect when they interact with brands and corporations. Communicating corporate and brand values … Read More
Effective B2G Communications, or How to Reach Political Decision Makers in the Digital Age
With crises of democracies and capitalism the end of this decade has brought to us globally, it has become more and more necessary and frequent for diverse interest groups to express their opinions to governments in fast and powerful ways to change the environment around them. Tired of waiting to raise their voices through traditionally … Read More
How to Work with NGOs for Mutual Success
Close cooperation between agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) is becoming the norm increasingly, as it offers a win-win situation for both sides. Ideally, such cooperation can generate for NGOs an increase in resources, as well as growing public awareness, improved reputation, accomplishing new extraordinary projects and recruiting more donors. On the agency side, such cooperation … Read More
Being Purpose Driven: The New Imperative to Reinventing Businesses Post Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly disrupted the marketplace and accelerated the move towards digitization, which is now embraced even by traditional “brick and mortar” industries. Digital transformation is certainly the first imperative for businesses and brands to reimagine themselves for the new marketplace in this Covid-19 era. In fact, businesses, big or small (including mom … Read More
Three steps to boost your sustainability offering
Sustainability is no longer an optional extra. It’s becoming a core part of business. In 2019, 90% of the S&P500 published a sustainability report. Investors and customers increasingly expect companies to meet their sustainability criteria. The pressure is not just coming from board rooms. Two-thirds of employees say sustainability is extremely important to them. So, … Read More
Female leadership and PR: What have they in common?
The most recent research studies on leadership share the image of a future increasingly characterized by skills that have socially and historically belonged to the females. The old “command-economy” mentality by Henry Ford is now outdated and overtaken by the modern working organization, inspired by values such as active listening, empathy, sharing, delegation and inclusion. … Read More
How hospitality and leisure PR has changed under Covid-19
The global hospitality industry has been dealt a devastating blow by Covid-19. Most hotels and restaurants suddenly lost the majority of their customers and are struggling to keep their businesses alive. How has PR changed as a result? Can PR help in this situation? How should PR professionals think differently now? Here are what we have … Read More
The Five Pillars of Online Reputation Management
Managing reputation for a brand or a company at the turn of this decade has been challenging for a variety of reasons: First: Everything has become faster and global, from news to information exchange, movements, trends and issues. Many of the recent grassroots movements and major issues, such as Brexit, #MeToo and Extinction Rebellion, have been … Read More
How to be Pro When Doing PR for Aviation?
While I’m writing this, the vast majority of all commercial passenger aircraft are grounded as global and domestic travel is mostly prohibited. However, once this picture changes, airlines will need to quickly regain the trust of passengers and get back into a professional communications mode. This is when communications agencies can step in. But what … Read More
Reputation Management and Monitoring Your Web Presence
Do you Google yourself and your company? If not, you should. Google is the first impression for anyone who doesn’t know you. It’s common for clients, customers, colleagues and even competitors to use the Internet to form their opinion of you. They want to know who is saying what? Is the information positive, negative or … Read More
