Keith Trivitt

Serving PR’s Dual Constituencies

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“I work to promote the president and the message that he’s trying — the messages he’s trying to convey to the American people. But I also work with the press to try to help you do your jobs, to help you cover the White House, cover the administration and report on what we’re doing here.”

— White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, explaining his dual role of serving the President and the press, Feb. 16, 2011.

A ha! Finally we have a high-profile public relations executive saying what we all know to be true but far too often neglect to properly explain: in public relations, like many other professions, we’re playing a constant back-and-forth internal battle between our clients’ best interests and serving the public good. Continue reading →

Keith Trivitt

Battle in Adland: Big Shops Encroach on Little’s Digital Turf

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As the global economy continues to waver, things are looking positively rosy for advertising and public relations firms. With Veronis Suhler Stevenson predicting a 55-percent increase in U.S. spending on public relations services by 2013 (up to $8 billion annually), news has been rushing in from all sides of the major ad holding companies of expanding revenues and new digital opportunities.

The uptick in optimism started last week when Publicis reported a 19.8-percent increase in full-year revenue. Omnicom added to the fun after reporting 2010 revenues that were up 6.4 percent, which prompted this headline from the normally stoic Financial Times: “Omnicom heralds advertising acceleration.” Not a bad assessment of happy days to come.

But things really picked up this week after WPP announced it was developing a new interactive ad network to fully vest itself in all things digital. Continue reading →

Valerie Merahn Simon

You’re Invited: NYC #HAPPO HOUR

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In celebration of more than a year of using social media to leverage our networks and connect those in the PR industry who are seeking new jobs with those seeking new talent, the #HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out) initiative is moving offline for a special opportunity to build relationships in person. As my #HAPPO co founder Arik Hanson recently wrote, “We’re taking HAPPO to the next level by organizing our first U.S.-wide live and in-person HAPPO Hour chat.”

Whether you are a job seeker, looking to hire, or simply hoping to meet some of your “Twitter friends” in person, I hope that you’ll join us For those in the New York metro area, I’ve been working with the other NY area #HAPPO champions (Tiffany Winbush, Deirdre Breakenridge & PRBC’s very own PRCog) and a team of volunteers to organize a casual event at Connolly’s pub. It will take place from 6-8pm on February 24th.

Here are a few quick tips to help you make the most of the opportunity to integrate social and face-to-face networking: Continue reading →

Lauren Snyder

#GettngSlizzerd

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“Poppin bottles in the ice, like a blizzard
When we drink we do it right gettin slizzard
Sippin sizzurp in my ride, in my ride, like Three 6
Now I’m feelin so fly like a G6.”
-Like a G6, Far East Movement

I can only imagine this is the theme song of the week for the National Red Cross.

On February 15th, the @RedCross sent out an unusual tweet at 11:24PM with the hashtag #gettngslizzerd. No—there wasn’t a new emergency at hand although I’m pretty sure there are a few safety tips that the organization could offer to prepare the country for #gettngslizzerd. The only problem at hand was an accidental tweet that was meant to come from a staff member’s personal account. Continue reading →

Jeff Esposito, Keith Trivitt, Mike Schaffer

Everything’s Bigger in Texas – Even PR Headaches

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If you haven’t heard by now, the NFL had a giant game in Dallas a few weeks ago. It brought in buco-bucks, drew the largest viewership in television history and made a lot of fans from a small town in Wisconsin very happy. So one would think that the league left the Lone Star State feeling awesome and without problems.

Well, if you haven’t been living under a rock and you pay attention to sports, or news for that matter, you know that the league is facing a major PR issue that may tarnish their image. This doesn’t concern the looming lockout of the players (a PR conundrum for another day), but rather folks who fill their coffers – the fans. You see, there were over 90,000 fans who purchased tickets to come to the game, problem was the seats weren’t available for over 1,000 of these ticket holders to be sat in during the big game. This was because the seats were not completed and did not pass muster of the fire marshal. Continue reading →

Marie Baker

That’s a little ‘pitchy’ dawg

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Oh yes, it’s that time of year where thousands of contestants try out to be the next American Idol. There are some great singers, some really awful ones, and then there are those that are a little ‘pitchy.’

I’ve been getting a lot more pitches lately that are starting to remind me of Idol contestants. They aren’t necessarily terrible but they aren’t that great either.

Do you want to wow the judges (the media) with your next pitch audition and get that golden ticket to Hollywood? Think of me as a sort of Marie Seacrest but taller; grab a Coke glass and sit back as we break it down for you. Continue reading →

Tina McCormack Beaty

PR Lessons from the Super Bowl

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On Sunday, February 6 over 111 million people tuned into Fox to watch the Green Bay Packers challenge the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. According to Nielsen, it was a record-setting television event.  During the evening I was completely absorbed in the game, as would be expected for a serious Packers fan, along with the halftime show and commercials and it quickly became clear that there was messaging, branding, and PR at work on the screen at every turn.

No matter who you were rooting for, there were some key learnings that jumped off the screen and that could better our PR toolboxes going forward.

And with that, I present my Top 4 PR Lessons from Super Bowl XLV: Continue reading →

Justin Goldsborough

Do companies need a crisis plan or social media crisis plan? (Part 1)

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Without question, my favorite part about Twitter is crowdsourcing. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a passionate POV or a question I couldn’t answer, shared it on Twitter, and been amazed at others’ perspectives and how much I learned from my industry peers.

A couple of weeks ago one of these situations came to life. In the past year, I have seen more and more agencies and companies advocating for a social media crisis plan. And to be completely honest, I don’t get it. Social media is a channel. A crisis often affects your brand far beyond Facebook, Twitter or the blogosphere. In the end, your reputation lies in the hands of your customers and influencers. And those people don’t just live in a social media bubble.

Sure, a brand can employ social media to communicate in near real-time when a crisis strikes. And for most, that tactic will make sense. But isn’t it just one or a few pieces of the overall crisis plan puzzle? If you ask me, our PR peers too often sell social media crisis planning as a scare tactic because they know the social response is the part brands worry they can’t control. But on the other hand, social media does play a significant role in crisis communications these days, so maybe it’s just semantics and I’m getting all worked up over nothing? Continue reading →

…..a chance to start the day off right.