One of our account folks, Kari Ramirez, penned the guest post last year “Who’s the Hero.” Today, she offers a take on how the Facebook purchase of Instagram generated a spike of homogenous storytelling … with one exception. By Kari Ramirez The Hoffman Agency (Silicon Valley) Facebook set off a flurry of media stories last …more
We believe today’s public relations programs must reflect a basic understanding of search engine optimization. The connections between content, online presence and organic search traffic are too strong to ignore. We were reminded of this dynamic during a check-in on one of our SEO experiments from over two years ago. When the Toyota recall and …more
China has so quickly moved up the economic food chain, it’s easy to forget this is a country still under communist rule. As Dorothy put it in The Wizard of Oz: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” No, we’re not. Which brings me to the story in The New York Times last …more
There’s no getting around that, to some extent, every startup makes it up as it goes along. It’s a high wire act. Inevitably, reality doesn’t match up with the theory, which in turn causes changes or even chaos. Yes, this dynamic can also wreak havoc with the budget. But there are many benefits from supporting …more
We periodically delve into the murky world of investigative reporting. If you recall — and I suspect you don’t — it was this property that broke the story that The Wall Street Journal failed to dig into the background of Tim Bray who had a history of dissing Apple before joining Google. It is in …more
My last “grab bag” showcased donut drama. No such alliteration (or glaze) in today’s segment. Behind the Op-Ed Curtain at The New York Times I’ve touched on this area before. Landing an op-ed in a heavyweight target like The New York Times requires crisp and clever storytelling. I just stumbled across a column in The …more
There’s often a gap, no make that a huge gap, between what the media values and what the PR function “sells.” It’s no wonder the relationship between journalists and communicators can border on contentious at times. In the graphic below, you can see two variables that go a long way toward aligning with the media’s …more
Ask 10 people to define buzz and you’ll get seven different answers. Three people will say, “I know it when I see it.” It’s easy to quantify a YouTube video by the number of views. It’s straightforward to quantify a blog through the underlying analytics. But how do you quantify buzz for a company, especially …more
The underpinnings of any social network revolve around the interactions. By personalizing those interactions, we share a little about ourselves and make connections. For all the things that are great about LinkedIn – there are plenty, not the least being pulling other social feeds into one’s profile – it defies logic that LinkedIn encourages impersonal …more
