Paul Holmes recently wrote a terrific essay, “What Is A Public Relations Consultancy?” His overarching theme is the profession has allowed itself to be defined by media relations, which constitutes just one component of PR. Instead, PR should be defined as a social science and all that this encompasses. The intersection of PR, social media …more
Most manufacturing processes do not make for a good story, whether they involve sausages, semiconductors or steel beams. The steps are either gross or way too complex. That’s why I’m impressed with Erik Rhey’s visual storytelling in Fortune and his piece, “Bottles to Bridges.” Understanding the transformation of recycled plastic bottles into the equivalent of …more
Really? Here’s the lead from the story. “Got innovation? Just about every company says it does. Businesses throw around the term to show they’re on the cutting edge of everything from technology and medicine to snacks and cosmetics. Companies are touting chief innovation officers, innovation teams, innovation strategies and even innovation days. But that doesn’t …more
It’s tough to beat The New Yorker when it comes to storytelling. Starting with Malcolm Gladwell, the writers who grace these pages aren’t just good. They’re gifted. That’s what I was thinking as I tucked into the essay “Can Science Explain Why We Tell Stories” by Adam Gopnik. What could be better than the combination …more
I came across a video by David Shiyang Liu that plays off an Ira Glass riff on the creative process. David, who is a filmmaker and director at the Melbourne studio Kick Kick Punch (no Kaboom), married typography with Glass’s verbal narrative to produce the video below. Sure, Ira Glass’s voice by itself gives power …more
The media vetting of Facebook and its IPO makes applying for Supreme Court judge look tame. So how does a media property find that one unique angle on Facebook’s IPO day when thousands of journalists are essentially writing from the same script? By digging out storytelling standards like greed, cheating, sex and sticking it to …more
We expanded overseas and planted our flag in Singapore in 1996. Today, with nine offices across Europe, Asia and the U.S., we’ve literally worked with hundreds of executives on the international PR front. Taking from these experiences – and borrowing from David Letterman – we’ve packaged our top-ten list on why companies fail at international …more
We first connected with David Frost, founder of Australian PR agency PRDeadlines, back in 2001. He flew into Hong Kong as part of our team, presenting a regional brief to Juniper Networks. We’ve been working with David and his team ever since. Given his firm’s milestone, I thought it was high time to pepper Mr. …more
I espoused the virtues of the humble news release as a link-building tool to Mashable some time ago and continue to believe in this tactic. We apply this thinking in cultivating our own brand. For example, we distributed a news release on our new U.S. general manager last week that generated syndicated pickup in a …more
