Too often a very important aspect of responding to the media during a PR crisis is underused—common sense. This article lists some of the common-sense tactics that I have used when responding to the media during crises. They have always worked for me. If there is one...
For decades I've been telling PR agency people that they can learn a lot about media relations by paying close attention to the political scene. Why do I know that is true? Because my first job in our business was with a political PR firm, where I worked on local,...
I’ve often told people who reported to me that the way to get ahead in our profession is to differentiate yourself from the pack. There are various ways of doing so. For me it was to think outside of the box. As a novice freelance reporter, I caught the eyes of...
Inconsequential titles have been a hallmark of the communications business for as long as I can remember In our trade, the propaganda industry, I’ve seen titles handed out like raindrops during a storm, mainly for three reasons: 1) to placate restless account people;...
Over the years, I’ve been called many things during my PR career: A gatekeeper, a purveyor of false information, a distorter of the truth, a defender of the indefensible, a maverick, and a cynic. The first four comments were made to me by journalists who didn’t know...
Many corporations are or will shortly start planning promotional campaigns for Major League Baseball’s playoffs and World Series and for the beginning of the National Football League season and Super Bowl. For a PR staffer being assigned to one of those accounts, it...
Below is an article about my experiences with “name” companies, detailing both good and bad experiences I had with the companies when attempting to contact them regarding my recent bout with Covid. In the great Broadway musical “My Fair Lady,” Rex Harrison sang a song...
Ever since the May 2 leak of Justice Alito’s draft opinion overturning Roe V. Wade, the questions on how corporations should react to the brief has been a constant topic of news articles. And as the date draws closer to the expected release of the Supreme Court’s...
For several years before entering the PR business, I was a reporter and editor at several New York City newspapers and wire services. It was because of my experience during my journalism days that I differed on my approach to handling a PR crisis when I joined the PR...
The early weeks of 2022 have proved one thing: Sports marketers should always have a back-up plan because as Robert Burns wrote in his poem To a Mouse, “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.” Burns wrote this sage advice in 1785, long before there...
Every public relations program has the risk of turning sour and producing negative publicity for the client. There is no way to prevent this from happening. The reasons are many: A new product might not stand up to the claims of the client that it is superior to...
Sponsors of the 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo had to cancel promotional plans because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Sponsors of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics did the same—but the cutbacks were not limited to the continuing Covid pandemic. Accusations of human...