As the Super Bowl and Beijing Olympics nears early in 2022, the sports reports will be filled with glorifying past and present “heroes.” But during my long career when selecting athletes as brand publicity spokespersons, I much preferred using athletes who have not...
My dislike of trite words and phrases is personal: When I was a reporter for several years prior to jumping over the journalism fence to the PR side, a “kindly old editor” told me, “Son, if you want to keep working for me, stop using trite phrases in your copy.” And...
One thing is certain. There are many PR lessons that President Joe Biden’s evacuation strategy from Afghanistan have provided. Another thing that is certain is that there have been many PR crises thus far in 2021. Arguably the most important one occurred not in an...
One year ago on August 26, 2020, the sports world came to a halt, when athletes refused to play because of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin—giving merit to what I’ve told many clients over the years: It’s way past the time for sports marketers...
There’s an old adage among military men: Once the battle begins, much of the preparations are useless. The same is true in our business, as PR practitioners are aware. Often, the detailed crafted program does not satisfy the client—and even if it does, results are...
Prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, my first PR job was with a political agency, where I learned on-the-job lessons not taught in communication’s schools about how to deal with the media and approach problems that could change on a daily basis. I have long said that...
The recently concluded Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump provided important lessons for PR pros regarding media interviews. Lessons included: Assertion #1: Whatever is said during an interview better be the complete truth because reporters will fact...
When the history of PR crises is written, February 9, 2021, will certainly be a day that will be highlighted. On that day, news stories covering three major facets of American society—business, sports and politics—made headlines, despite the best efforts of PR crisis...
Press conferences are glamorous. Account people like to work on them because they are exciting. Clients approve staging one because they expect a large media turnout for their event, which they believe will impress their bosses. But press conferences are dangerous...
For years, the public has had a low opinion of the public relations business—maybe even lower than they have of used car salesmen. But some PR practitioners, like myself, who entered the PR business after being a journalist, also have found fault with an aspect of...
Despite the best efforts of PR practitioners to help clients during a crisis with a by-the-book, supposedly proven crisis plan, history shows four realities: Clients want negative news stories stopped, but crisis PR pros have no control of the press and negative...
Eventually, hopefully, the coronavirus pandemic will subside. And some aspects of our culture will be changed. But one that will not is the business of sports. Regardless of the event, sports marketing sponsors will continue spending billions of dollars a year on...