Category Archives: Danielle Cyr

Is Synergy Part of Your Strategy?

Hands passing baton, close-up, studio shotMarketers, branding strategists, advertising agencies and PR pros alike probably wish they didn’t see it.  I speak from experience when I say it makes me twitch a little.  And I know it confuses consumers more than it benefits them.

So what is this annoying little blemish that irks us all and ages us prematurely?  The case of the confused brand.

Your brand has an identity (of note, the use of ‘an’ indicates singularity)

Yes, brands can represent different things to different people.  Starbucks can represent convenience to some and quality to others.  Different values aside, it doesn’t mean each market needs a different version of your logo.  Or that your Facebook and Twitter should appear so dissimilar that the consumer questions whether or not the same brand/product is being represented.

So just where do these little differences hide? Continue reading

Allow Me to Disagree. . .

businessman sits in a chair and reading the news paperConsidering I’m writing these thoughts in a blog post, and that the #PRBC was formed through Twitter, I think it’s safe to say I understand the value of social media.  That said, I also understand its limitations and that it is one piece of the publicity puzzle; a puzzle that include events, traditional media placements and a comprehensive strategy which ensures synergy amongst all components.With that in mind, it’s no surprise that a recent blog post (you’ll want to note this was a blog post as you keep reading,) The Fallacy of Facebook: Twittering Away Our Time, rubbed me the wrong way.  By no means do I disagree with all points made, but I think this post warrants some scrutiny and careful examination. Continue reading

Dear Reporter – We’re Really Here to Help

Person holding coffee cup, compass inside cup, elevated viewI’m not one to state the obvious but this needs to be said – PR pros are here to help reporters.  We’re here to provide information, coordinate interviews and come through with a last minute source when deadline knocks.

It’s not just about us touting our clients and promoting our business partners, it’s about being a source, and more importantly, a resource. Continue reading

The Things Interns Say

South Asian bookshelves
(CC) flickr // Quinn Dombrowski

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of interns. By no means is it the concept of an internship. I had a great internship in college and got a lot out of my experience. It’s the caliber of interns that are coming through the door. An intern is brought into a company to learn about the business, gain hands-on experience and observe the inner-workings of a company in the industry they aspire to enter upon graduation. If effective in their role, interns can be invaluable to an organization and the staff which they support. Sadly, this isn’t always the case. Even worse, my recent experiences lead me to believe they are the exception. . .NOT the rule.

Was I hallucinating, or did you really say that?

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Does My ‘Evolve or Die’ Theory Apply to PR Pros Too?

Before I get chased out of my profession by my superiors, I want to make a few things very clear:

  • I have great respect and admiration for the arsenal of long-standing media relationships PR veterans have built and maintained.
  • I willingly admit there is much that I can learn from my superiors’ successes (and, admittedly, from their struggles as well.)

Now that we’ve laid some ground-work. . .or covered my backside, whichever you find more appropriate. . .let’s get to the reason for making myself perfectly clear (other than abiding by the Co-Communications mantra, ‘Make Yourself Perfectly Clear.’) If veterans of the PR industry don’t evolve, can they survive? Or will they die-off like the newspapers we sorely miss?

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You Can Call It A Network…But Does It Really Work?

We’ve all heard it. That infamous phrase. The one that alludes to the worth of your network relative to the value of your knowledge. It borders on being so overused that I cringe even thinking about it.

My own feelings aside, we all know it’s true – it’s not what you know. It’s who you know.

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The Industry That Cried Wolf—Is the ‘evolve or die’ rule universal?

The press release is dead. The media is dying. It’s beginning to feel like we work for the industry that cried wolf.

While I am by no means saying PR pros shouldn’t be concerned about and keenly aware of the intricacies of the media’s evolution, it’s time we stopped panicking and took a look at the facts. Or more importantly, a look at the newspaper industry’s proposed solution—a new and improved online product. Can it work? Is it a universal solution?

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Blogs are for Dialogue; Twitter is for Snippets

Blogging now, party of one
If you had come to me a month ago and asked about my blogging experience, I would have sheepishly admitted to merely reading blogs and been quick to point out that I did not comment on them, despite an often overwhelming temptation to do so.
Fast forward a month and I’m blogging for the #PRBC and for Co-Communications (http://cocommunications.wordpress.com/).  So why the drastic change?
Some conversations cannot be restricted to 140 characters.  While one could conceivably labor over dissecting their message into multiple 140 character tweets, it isn’t the same as a carefully drafted, thorough response.  Blogging affords the opportunity to leverage media placements, visuals, multimedia and commentary in a cohesive message that is carefully packaged to best illustrate a point.
In part, this is why the #PRBC is blogging—because all of our perspectives, experiences and tips can’t be crammed into 140 characters . . . and because we know that some topics warrant an in-depth conversation.
Some points needn’t be explained . . . and so we call them tweets!
While it only takes seconds to craft a tweet, it can’t always carry an entire message.  So we stick to the messages that can be effectively delivered in 140 characters.  Examples of such include links to interesting articles with a couple of words stating your opinion on same, reactions to an event or experience, small talk, tips, and witty banter.
It doesn’t take a blog post, or blog comment, to communicate the basics or point others in the direction of valuable content.  And in many instances, we just want to encourage others to look at something—form their own opinions—and pass the content along.  All of which are effectively and succinctly communicated through tweets and retweets.
Point . . . Counterpoint
While Brown’s examples of #journchat (http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23journchat) and #blogchat (http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23blogchat) (and to which I will add the recent #prstudchat (http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23prstudchat)) have effectively sustained dialogues on Twitter, I firmly believe it’s the nature of the content that allows these forums to succeed on such a concise medium.  With #journchat and #blogchat, it’s the strength of a question and answer format that allows them to thrive in a 140 character format.  For #prstudchat, it’s the question and answer format coupled with the fact that most answers come in the form of tips.
Inversely, were #prstudchat to pose questions which asked for both tips/advice and illustrations of the importance of each, it would be better suited to a blog dialogue, where messages could be conveyed in comprehensive responses, not bound by a 140 character limit.
Speaking of points . . . .
So after all of those examples and comments, I must have a point, right?  (At least we hope I do!)
Blog comments and tweets aren’t competitors.  They are merely different models for delivering a message, each of which has its own merits.  So what’s your next step?  Comment on this post if you want to have a dialogue with me, or start what could become an in-depth debate.  If you just want to say you read it or share a tip with your tweeps, package it inside a tweet.

After reading Danny Brown’s recent post ‘Is Twitter Killing Blog Comments’ I couldn’t resist answering the last question he posed – ‘What’s your take?’

While I could go on for paragraphs rallying in support of Twitter and defending its merits as my social media platform of choice, I’ll spare you the cheering and keep it simple: Blogs are for dialogues.  Twitter is for snippets!

Blogging now, party of one

If you had come to me a month ago and asked about my blogging experience, I would have sheepishly admitted to merely reading blogs and been quick to point out that I did not comment on them, despite an often overwhelming temptation to do so.

Continue reading