It must be a weird quandary for media properties. On one hand, their journalistic mission can result in contentious interactions with PR professionals. On the other hand, like any company they invest in the PR function in hopes of “swaying” their journalistic brethren to write about them in a positive light. As a stand-alone journalist, …more
As social media and other digital means increasingly blend into traditional PR, the macro goals remain the same: Generate share-of-mind with the target audience(s), and if we’re living right, brand preference. In the old days – say the 1980s after Nixon resigned, but before the Gulf war – correlating a story in a magazine like …more
You’re probably thinking, “What does this headline have to do with the intersection of storytelling, PR and social media?” Bear with me as I share the context – While I don’t consider myself political much less an activist, the behavior from the NRA and its recent communications troubled me. How can any reasonable person or …more
Our infographic that contrasted storytelling with corporate speak seemed to resonate with the outside world. People recognize that gluing together facts and figures makes for dull information. Since publishing the infographic, we’ve seen talk – and chatter in social media channels – evangelizing the value of storytelling in business accelerate. Dare I say, storytelling has …more
I’m always interested in the science behind storytelling. What makes it such an effective part of our social being and communications? This video by Paul Zak is a good watch. It shares his study on the topic, which revealed a change in a person’s blood chemistry before and after hearing a story. The storytelling caused …more
By now, everyone and his dry cleaner has weighed in on how Lance “performed” during his first interview with Oprah. Literally. My dry cleaner knows I’m in the communication business (must be the Façonnable shirts) and asked for my viewpoint on how Lance came across in the interview. My scientific answer in three words — …more
We completed the eighth of our social accelerator sessions before the holiday break as part of our internal training curriculum. When considering which social media tools to deploy in a given campaign, there’s a tendency to focus on functionality and reach. And rightfully so, since those two variables largely determine traction. Still, there’s another useful …more
The word is out that Lance Armstrong will come clean (no pun intended) in an interview with Oprah to air on Thursday. I can imagine the discussion among Team Armstrong debating who would be the “best” interviewer: “Let’s see, 60 Minutes would make a great forum to reach the masses. What about Morley Safer? No, …more
As yet another indication that storytelling is the new black, it’s become a go-to topic for a range of publications. Fast Company provides a good Exhibit A. It’s not exactly science, but the number of mentions of “storytelling” in the publication over the past three years is still revealing: I think we can conclude that …more
