PRBreakfastClub

Cliched!

As it was when people used to say The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR I remember, when I was doing my MBA, the advertising lecturer had mentioned that the advertising industry in India was worth INR 8000 Cr, that was 1999. Today, after the emergence of PR as another communication tool and predictions of its imminent death, the ad industry is supposed to be worth INR 40000 Cr! Quite the fall, eh? Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week I received a tweet, from a buddy of mine, someone that I know offline and just happens to be on Twitter. He sent me this link and asked my opinion, as someone who has worked on the web for a long time. He wanted to know if stalking via social media channels like Twitter and Foursquare was common. Until reading this post, I had heard stories, but always in a game of telephone, friend of a friend way. I hadn’t seen a first hand account until now. It puts a sobering sheen on the social media world. It isn’t all Old Spice Guys and Lol Cats anymore. We’re definitely not in Digital Kansas anymore. Read the rest of this entry »

Sitting in a Barnes & Noble recently, I came across a fascinating article in Harvard Business Review analyzing social Web use around the world from a societal and cultural perspective. While the broad overview analysis offered was mostly typical of many recent “state of social media” reporters we have seen recently, what truly caught my attention was the implication this analysis has from a PR and marketing perspective: Read the rest of this entry »

Breaking news is news in the truest sense of the word — from “hard” news about national and world events, politics or major scientific breakthroughs, to entertainment news about celebrities or sports stars. Breaking news is what drives the media; and tying your pitches to breaking news is a great way to grab the media’s attention for you or your client.

What’s great about breaking news is that it answers the “Why now?” question for the media and increases your chances to share your or your client’s insights, commentary or expert opinion. Breaking news also answers the “Why should I care?” question for media. In news meetings, editors and producers constantly ask their reporters to answer one question from the point of view of the reader, viewer or listener: “Why should I care?” As an expert or publicist, you’re there to serve the media and help them media answer that question. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all be on one end of the social media matrix. Be it as a source, resource or the joystick (1985 MS-DOS pc reference, anyone?). In many ways, it is what makes social media work so well. That people who don’t know one another can connect. That people can be sources for complete strangers and that the complete strangers can be resources for the other people. But the connections aren’t always made organically. Oftentimes, they are made by the social media matchmaker. You know, that bubbly, super-social person who thrives on human or digi-human interaction. The one that Has. To Be. Around. People. STAT. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember Toyota? Didn’t they do something, like, not good? It’s hard to remember what with BP doing something so incredibly not good it makes Toyota look like they deserve an Oscar for Best Company Ever.

History is full of stories like this; in our short-sighted momentary grasp of facts, we think that something is going to be vilified for all time on account of a massive screw-up, only to realize much later that something else got in the way of carving that in stone. Take Wagner, for example. When we think of Wagner we probably think of Ride of the Valkyries playing during the helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now. His music endures as a cultural touchstone and the annual performance of his works at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus is sold out for years to come. This, despite his awful anti-semetic views and definite ties to the Nazi party. Read the rest of this entry »

Public relations pro: Caffeine-fueled typist and story teller.

We spend a lot of time discussing tactics to reach bloggers and other influentials, the latest tools for our arsenal and how to make our campaigns more successful. What we lose sight of sometimes is the art behind what we do. So, I want to spend some time talking about how to make ourselves better. How we can better tell a story. How we can be a better artist. Read the rest of this entry »

At a recent monthly meeting of the Arkansas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the topic of discussion was the lack of credibility within the field and practice of public relations, and the ways in which we as practitioners can combat this unfortunate (and inaccurate) set of beliefs. Read the rest of this entry »

Ahhh, summer. What a calm, relaxing time of year. Time to bask in the glory of the previous months’ triumphs, while relaxing our minds and bodies for the grueling months ahead. And in the media world, it’s the one time of year when things are decently slow.

Which means if you’re a bit hyperactive like me, summer is when you spend most of your time worrying; wondering what might be next around the corner. But, that’s OK, for you have resolved to use this summer as a time to get ahead of your competition and make the fall and winter truly your time to shine (pardon the pun) with great messaging and outreach to key reporters and bloggers you’ve been aiming to reach all year. Read the rest of this entry »

Due to work commitments, general life obligations and competing for the title of Miss CT, I disappeared from the PRBC blog for an extended period of time. Trust me that this was neither intentional nor planned. I’ve always been committed and punctual with my blog posts for this site . . . but things just got away from me.

After “getting back in the groove” and helping a business-owner friend of mine set up his own blog, the thought popped into my head: “how many people actually give serious thought to this blogging thing and how many just hop right in because it’s the coolest thing since Air Jordan’s?” Seriously, I’m commitment-phobe and I said “yes, I’d like to join these ten PR colleagues in starting and maintaining a blog!?” Who am I? Read the rest of this entry »