Social Media:Adverting v. PR — Round 1

DTeicher-This is my first, and long overdue, post for PRBC. Though I’m technically not in public relations anymore, the time I spent in the field has irrevocably molded my view of social media and helped me develop the skill set with which I operate today. But I’ve since moved to advertising and I find it amazing how publicists and ad execs hold such varied perspectives of how to operate within the social space on behalf of brands. I used to advocate that PR was the industry to spearhead social media initiatives. But I was admittedly biased. In  fact, I think the key to effectively establishing a brand as a powerful social entity is to take what each industry offers to the space and somehow unify the various approaches. Continue reading

Know Thy Audience

A woman giving a speech in front of an audienceStop me if you have heard this one before from a PR/communications colleague: “Our CEO/Board of Directors (BOD) really wants this hit/newsletter/sandwich/microsite/etc.”

Yeah, we’ve all heard this phrase from some of our PR and marketing peeps, and while that approach to external communications may have worked just splendidly in 1995, heading into 2010, this notion of “we must appease our CEO/BODs first!” is a recipe for a PR/marketing plan disaster, if you ask me. This thought’s been rocking through my mind for a few days now, so I’m just going to come out and say it: Continue reading