Everyone perceives advertising agencies as creative. Forget the football game. The Super Bowl delivers three hours of programming that essentially turns into a promo for creativity in the ad biz. As Exhibit A, check out the Budweiser Puppy Love ad which has had over 54 million views and counting. People also categorize the digital shops …more
Whether it’s taking over a restaurant to cook a meal or trying to stay upright playing broom ball (hockey minus ice skates,) company off sites often bring a creative bent to team building for a PR agency. But when I heard our Japan team was headed to a place called “Jigoku” which literally means “hell,” …more
Naturally, it’s a book. It’s called “Lost in Translation” and no, it’s not about Bill Murray finding it a tough go in Tokyo. The author Ella Frances Sanders captures words from various languages around the world that defy translation. Yiddish contributes three words without even tapping the classic impossible-to-define “mensch.” My grandmother on my mom’s …more
When The New York Times and Ravi Somaiya fired the first shot at The New Republic on Dec. 4, I figured the paper couldn’t resist a “hell hath no fury like an editor wronged” story, and life would move on. But the stories kept coming and coming. And coming. Seven articles on the turmoil at …more
Consider yourself in a time machine that has whisked you back to high school English. Remember your teacher hammering home the point that effective writing “shows” the reader as opposed to “tells” the reader. It’s the showing that underpins true storytelling. The same holds true in business communications. Nobody wants to read — or believe …more
I don’t think Rem Rieder, editor of the American Journalism Review, is going to be happy. Rieder penned a viewpoint piece for USA Today last year that spanked the Obama administration for bypassing the media for its own channels of communications: “The Obama administration is deep-freezing the news media because it can. It’s nothing new …more
I highlighted some of my top 2014 posts on Monday, ranging from interviewing my Mom on the PR profession to using the Budweiser Puppy Love video to illustrate how teasing out tension in a story requires bad stuff. Here’s the rest of the list. Why PR Should Lead the Charge for Organic Search: The experiment …more
After 600+ posts, I feel that I’ve honed my voice. Of course, that doesn’t mean that every post hits the mark (or even gets horse-shoe close). Still, I’ve strived to apply the same counsel we share with clients: Offer fresh takes that help those in communications. As far as what constitutes the “best,” it’s a …more
I explored the concept of word visuals earlier this month as the perfect way for PR professionals to bridge into the visual world. For those not familiar with word visuals, one “packages” clever words in a way that brings a visual dimension to communications. What’s key is they emphasize the words with the design element …more
