Tag Archives: public relations

Keith Trivitt

Personal Branding in a Service Industry

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Businesswoman Giving a PresentationRecently, the PRBC crew had the pleasure of chiming in—as an entire group via Google Documents—on a series of questions regarding the blending of public relations and social media (one of my favorite subjects to discuss) on Lauren Fernandez’s LAF blog. The first set of questions dealt with what effect we all thought social media has had on the public relations industry.

You can read all of our responses here, but a comment by our good friend Jay Keith really sparked something in me. Jay was discussing his distaste for the exponential increase in so-called “experts” who are now online. Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

Content vs Relationships – It’s not a monarchy…

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Low angle view of the statue of Emperor Augustus, Faraglioni rocks, Monte Solaro, Capri, ItalyI’d been bouncing around a post on this topic mentally for a few weeks, but as usual things get in the way.  But when a post from superstar Chris Brogan declaring not content, but rather relationships “King” and a counter-post (though not referencing Brogan’s) appeared on Chris Illuminati’s blog declaring content King it was time to, as they say, open a vein and bleed on the page.

Declaring either content or relationships as King implies that either can stand alone.  After all, in a monarchy the King rules — his will is law (and in some cases religious doctrine).  This is certainly the exception, not the rule.  It’s a triumvirate folks. Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

Guys…we’re scarce, use it to your advantage

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Two women touching a businessmanOk, so to address this first…maybe there is something to the whole women’s intuition thing…(touché Kate).

As many of you know, earlier this week my colleague and PRBC founding blogger Kate Ottavio posted a great article addressing the male:female ratio in our industry, noting it’s a great chance to meet a girl.

While undoubtedly true (have you seen the Male:Female ratio of the PRBC family and of our get togethers (and yes @dannybrown — it is sheer coincidence)) there is a definite chance to use this to our advantage gents. Continue reading →

Keith Trivitt

Seeing Opportunities in the Face of Fear

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Businessman working alone in boardroom, crying, portraitI want to take a moment to step aside from some of my previous discussions about the technology behind what is guiding us into a new era of communications and my ruminations on why I can’t stand the term “blogger relations” to discuss something far more personal to me: fear. Specifically, how my fears shape and alter my personal and professional goals and convictions. Continue reading →

Christina Khoury

Coffee Talk with the Winners of #PRStudChat Challenge

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On October 21st over 409 participants joined in the #PRStudChat Challenge. This challenge was organized by Deidre Breakenridge and Valerie Simon. The conversation consisted of students, professors, and PR pros with Christine Perkett as a special guest. Over 40 schools participated but the winning school, with the most contributors, was the University of Maryland.  After the challenge, I got the chance to chat with Assistant Professor Brooke Fisher Liu and Lecturer Susan Whyte Simon about UMD’s communication program and how they integrate social media into their students’ education.  There will also be a part two of this interview with two public relations students from UMD. Continue reading →

Kristen Massaro

Mentoring PR’s Generation-Next Can Produce Superstars!

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kreeIn my six plus years in the PR “world” a number of friends have shared their Devil Wears Prada like horror stories about the competitive nature of this industry among their colleagues and managers. For these friends, sharing media contacts is taboo, asking questions of your boss/team lead to make sure you understand an assignment is blasphemy and supporting the success of your team mates is unheard of. With that kind of thought process who would want to build their career in this field? Continue reading →

Laney Cohen

Madison Avenue Goes Back to the Future

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Laney Cohen HeadshotThe Wall Street Journal recently reported on NBC’s allowing marketers to tack products on their programs promoting a cause, health or social issue, citing Campbell Soup as an upcoming sponsor for Today Show health segments in November and February.

This got me thinking – is advertising blurring the space between product placement and advertising? A throwback to days of yore? Continue reading →

Danielle Cyr

Is Synergy Part of Your Strategy?

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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 →

Danielle Cyr

Allow Me to Disagree. . .

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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 →

Marie Baker

Can Publicists Be Friends?

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Tension Between CoworkersIn a recent post, fellow PRBC-er Kate, posed the question: “Can publicists and journalists be friends?” It is an interesting issue that elicited a number of responses from our readers. It also made me question if publicists can be friends with other publicists.

During my former life within the music industry, my particular job was extremely competitive and we were all fighting over the same client pool. I met my very best friend on the planet while we both worked at competing agencies. We hit it off right away and we were able to relate to each other because we had the same job. Continue reading →