Harold Burson, cofounder of global agency powerhouse Burson-Marsteller (now BCW) who died last Friday in Memphis, Tenn., was an icon in the public relations industry.
He was 98, and still worked three days a week until late last year.
Burson cofounded Burson-Marsteller in New York in 1953, and the agency grew to become a global force with a deep roster of international clients.
A Memphis native, Burson attended the University of Mississippi, then joined the U.S. Army where he worked as a reporter for the American Forces Network, writing scripts for radio broadcasts on the Nuremberg trials, notably the proceedings against Hermann Göring.... ⇢ read more
Earlier this month, International House of Pancakes (aka IHOP) made a bold decision to rebrand. At least, that’s what people initially thought. IHOP announced June 4 on Twitter it was “flippin’ our name to IHOb.” The company didn’t tell anyone what the “b” would stand for initially, building suspense for the big reveal.
People guessed everything from biscuits, to bacon to butternut squash. Many people assumed “b” would stand for “breakfast” since IHOP is known for its pancakes and other morning fare. For a week, IHOb (the name had already been changed on Twitter) continued to engage with followers via social... ⇢ read more
(Excerpted from original post on February 20, 2018 on CuriousAndClever.com, a website founded by Julie Dennehy and Toni Antonetti)
Each year at our annual meeting we present our favorite tech tools to our colleagues at PRConsultants Group, a consortium of senior PR professionals who represent the top U.S. media markets. They're a very discerning audience, so we know that the apps we recommend need to be easy to use, practical and attractively priced. This year, it was all about tools that help us collaborate with co-workers and clients, and connect with the media and the world.
Our picks for 2018:
Slack: Every team... ⇢ read more
by Sharon Kreher and Barb Harris, teamworks communication
At our recent annual PRConsultants Group conference, we had the privilege of spending some time with Dennis Skinner of Many-To-One (www.many2one.com), an inspiring speaker, on the topic of creativity and innovation.
One of the first points he made was to say that everyone has the potential to think creatively. We just don’t take the time to stop what we’re already doing long enough to challenge ourselves to think about things in a new way. We get trapped in boxes and assumptions of our own making. We limit our options and possibilities with self-imposed rules... ⇢ read more
As I see my agency’s 25th anniversary quickly approaching, I started to write a post about the 25 things I’ve learned over that extremely interesting, exciting, frustrating, and amazing time. But given attention spans these days (mine and yours), I decided to keep it to five.
You be you
For years I worried about what my competitors were doing. I noticed their client rosters, great placements, awards received, new employees attracted, and compared all these with mine. This made me cranky. So now I take that energy and direct it to noticing all the fabulous work my outstanding team does for... ⇢ read more
I love being a public relations consultant for the past few decades, and have enjoyed representing New England's largest and longest-running Renaissance Faire for the past five. Running your own PR firm can be fascinating, and we are required to keep all the “balls in the air” at all times. Just like a good juggler at the Faire, I’ve uncovered eight life lessons gleaned from observing master performers, including my favorite: the “grand finale” is a simple compilation of many smaller achievements.
Whether you are striking out pitching a story or creating a clever idea, or just need extra motivation for a personal goal, here are tips... ⇢ read more
Best Practices for Millennials by Millennials
Solveig Raftery, The Firm Public Relations & Marketing, www.thefirmpr.com
The journey to understand the millennial generation is as vast and arduous as the opinions about them. However, Millennials are now the largest living generation in the U.S. and represent the largest generation in the U.S. labor force. It’s safe to say that if you haven’t worked with a Millennial, it’s only a matter of time before you do.
According to Pew Research Center, Millennials are defined as those born after 1980 and the first generation to come of age in the new millennium. As an agency owner,... ⇢ read more
With all the many channels in which people communicate, nonprofit organizations need to find ways to outreach to both current and potential audiences. Social media is segmented, based on each platform’s users, so nonprofits need a strategy to outreach, share and “rally the troops” to effectively break through the myriad of messaging out there. Three such groups, ambassadors, avengers and advocates, can be an instrumental part of organization’s comprehensive communication plan.
Ambassadors
Ambassadors are folks who are tied into your community. They tend to be influencers who are willing and able to help spread the word about your organization at events and... ⇢ read more
The drumbeat over the growing spate of “fake news” stories reached a crescendo last week when the 2017 AP Stylebook felt compelled to address proper journalistic style when referring to “the modern phenomenon of deliberate falsehoods or fiction masked as news circulating on the internet.” Ironically, “fake news” is far from new. The Onion and National Inquirer were peddling this cheap brand of journalism long before Al Gore ever invented the internet.
What is new is the impact “fake news” is having on the Fourth Estate; where trust in traditional news media is at an all-time low. A September 2016 Gallup... ⇢ read more
For companies like Pepsi and United, these past few weeks have not been “friendly” after long hours trying to battle crises within their respective organizations.
Every time a crisis hits major corporations, such as these, public relations professionals are left scratching their heads wondering who is in charge and why the PR people “didn’t have a seat at the table?”…from the beginning.
PR professionals are oftentimes called in after the crisis hits versus having a seat at the table during the initial planning and strategizing phases.
It’s clear that in the case of Pepsi, the advertising firm created what they thought was a... ⇢ read more
According to a recent survey, more than 50 percent of journalists visit online newsroom sections of organizations’ websites at least once a week.
What are they looking to find in the online newsroom? More than news releases. The online newsroom should serve as an organization’s online filing cabinet with news releases, company information and digital assets readily available, including:
news releases;
visual assets like photographs (including key leaders’ headshots in print-quality resolutions) and video;
succinct information about products and services;
biographies of key executives;
media contacts, including cell phone numbers;
financial statements.
Smart PR professionals are now thinking about online newsrooms as... ⇢ read more
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