I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how, somewhere along the line, the term “media relations” became such a derisive and reviled term within the public relations business. In the world of PR 2.0, Web 2.0 and everything 2.0, why have we suddenly come to the conclusion—seemingly as an entire industry—that media relations (i.e. the act of actually understanding and trying to help the media as a key function of PR professional’s job) is dead? That now it’s all about bloggers, or reaching the hottest social media “influencers” and anyone else who can who has an online portal that has high enough uniques according to Compete or Quantcast. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Your Copy Sucks: Geek Speak Guide
A lot of hardcore wordy people really hate internet-speak, but guys, I am not one of them! I’m all for language evolution mostly because there’s really no way to stop it, is there? Also, considering that Twitter only allows 140 characters, we now have an excuse besides laziness for our Internet acronyms. Chances are, you’ll run into someone online who’s moved beyond LOL or BRB and you’ll want to know what the heck they’re talking about. So here’s a handy guide for all y’all that weren’t rocking the BBS back in ’94 when all these things got carved in stone. Continue reading
Pepsi Pulls Out of Super Bowl – So What?
Pepsi’s decision to not advertise during the upcoming Super Bowl may have come as a surprise to many. Especially with the buzz these ads generate and water cooler conversations they occupy in the days following the game.
Instead of Super Bowl ads, Pepsi will be sinking its dollars into cause-based social media, investing $20 million into its Refresh Project, which helps people improve their communities through a variety of projects, funded by Pepsi, according to a report by DMNews. Continue reading
What Not To Say – Spaeth Bimbo Awards
People say the dumbest things. At Spaeth Communications we call them (the comments, not the people) BIMBOs — although more often than not the two go hand in hand.
One of the first lessons we teach our clients at Spaeth is to not repeat and deny a negative word or phrase because the listener filters out the denial and hears the exact opposite of what the speaker’s intent.
The category (created by firm founder Merrie Spaeth) was named for a woman, who after getting caught in a tryst with a high-profile married man, announced to the world, “I am not a Bimbo,” causing the public to believe that she actually was. Continue reading
You — The Client
Laboring over blog posts? Crafting career-centric tweets? Using your Facebook for self-promotion? Taking meetings after office hours?
If you answered yes to all of the above, congratulations – you have become your own (worst) client!
So, now that we know what we are – what does this disturbing realization mean? Continue reading
Companies: Be Good in the Social Web
In the rush to get every consumer eyeball on their site, we are starting to see more instances of companies that are willing to align themselves with not so great people/vapid stars in order to boost their own Web presence/SEO. I won’t go into too many specifics here because we all know of some company that has done this, but I’ll be frank here: An attempt by companies to align/partner with wanna-be celebrities that have terrible reputations or utilize shady social media marketing opportunism practices purely to build Web traffic and SEO for their company is NOT a strategy. Continue reading
Plan Z
Last week, while walking around downtown NYC with my 5 year old he pointed to one of the taller buildings while we waited to cross the street and asked (in his “I know the answer but I want you to know that I know” voice), “Daddy, do you know what will happen if that building falls down?”
He’s been a bit obsessed (and pessimistic) about meteors hitting the earth since we explained how the dinosaurs became extinct. So whenever he asks ‘catastrophe questions’ we always try to assure him that whatever it is “isn’t going to happen” (assuming it’s true) and do our best to reassure him we don’t live a world where buildings just fall down or [insert catastrophe here]. Continue reading
The Bachelor: Failed Publicity Stunt or Marketing Genius?
Alright. I admit it. I watch The Bachelor. Some seasons, I actually enjoy watching it. This time, it looks like it’s just something to laugh at. Love it or hate it, the concept is a success. Even if the buzz isn’t positive, the show gets talked about. So as I laugh at this season’s stream of contestants, I thought it would help to see the good – that is, to look at the marketing lessons we can all learn from watching reality programs such as The Bachelor. Continue reading
Your Copy Sucks: Ode to the Op-Ed
As PR professionals, we often deal with placing a client’s op-ed with what we hope will be a reputable, widely read publication or platform. However, as anyone who reads small-town newspapers for fun and schadenfreude knows, many op-eds are pretty much unreadable. One can only assume they’ve been printed because there wasn’t any news about angry, window-smashing McDonald’s customers that week.
While I was back in my hometown for winter break, I came across an op-ed that must be shared here with some (I hope) small suggestions for improvements so that you and your clients can see what makes a good op-ed and what makes a bad op-ed.
Continue reading
Twitter Accounts: A User By Any Other Name?
After recently talking with PRBC-ers Marie and Sherri about how Twitter can sometimes stress us out (and Marie’s own issue), I realized that everyone has their own personal Twitter dilemma. Mine? You might be able to guess it on your own, but I’m constantly grappling with whether or not I should change my username.
I joined Twitter when I was in college, while working at my internship. At the time I (and most other people) didn’t realize its full potential. I just knew that a lot of PR people were talking about it and that it was something I should check out. I also knew that I loved Juicy Couture and that I wanted my name to be in my handle- tada! Jessisjuicy was born. Continue reading