TechCrunch is the latest publication to play the tired narrative that the public relations industry is behind the woes of modern day journalism, GMOs and global warming. In the latest bullish show from TechCrunch, Alex Wilhelm looks into the camera, laments the state of the journalism and recites these “horrifying” statistics: There are 4.6 PR …more
I continued to collect potential vignettes for the grab bag during my “assignment” in the South of the France. In fact, one of today’s vignettes takes a look at the use of English in France. Here goes … English in France If there’s one country that rejects all things American, it’s France. Yet, you can …more
Given the blog’s quest to serve as an industry resource, it’s rare that a post focus on Agency work. Today is an exception. I asked Idran Junadi, an account director in our Singapore office before taking a PR role with Oracle, to write about a campaign because it shows the power of storytelling techniques in …more
As PR-led campaigns increasingly blend tactics such as paid media, native advertising bears watching. I called out the genre last month suggesting most of it should be called “alien advertising.” Still, with the rules of the game being invented on-the-fly, we’re seeing fresh wrinkles like this native advertising campaign by Ryder in TIME Magazine. Here’s …more
After publishing my book “On storytelling, leadership and the power of connection,” I started the project www.hetverhaalvandeleider.be. What encouraged me to do this was an incident at my book’s publication event. An economic weekly magazine offered two key leaders from the Belgian economic community to speak at the affair, but they were ultimately offered nothing …more
We’ve completed the “assignment” in the South of France. The last grains of sand have found their way through the hourglass. The experience has been better than what Heather and I expected. And we had high expectations. Reflecting on the professional side — and putting to rest talk of a boondoggle — so many things …more
I made my first trip to China in 1998. To say it seemed like another planet doesn’t quite capture the feeling. Try a different universe. I remember attempting to place a classified ad in China that required signoff from multiple government entities. It turned into a Kafka-esque exercise when the third stop found something out …more
I’ve advocated that PR sits in the best position to lead the organic search charge or what I prefer to call “earned search.” As Google continues to squeeze the technical gamesmanship out of SEO, the signals most valued by Google in determining what to serve up for a given search tend to fall within the …more
All companies recognize that customers saying positive things about their products is marketing gold. Think about the last time you were searching for a ramen restaurant and put stock — can’t resist a bad pun — in Yelp to find your destination. Or your dependence on online reviews before shelling out money for the latest …more
