Since Craigslist eviscerated the classified ads business in newspapers, journalists have been writing the “poor me” story. At some point, it became fashionable for these “poor me” stories to blame the PR industry for journalism’s shrinking job pool. Before jumping into the latest “poor me” piece in The Washington Post, the Pew Research Center delivers …more
As a PR nerd, when I read a story in a publication that vacuums my attention, two questions immediately come to mind: Was PR the catalyst for the article? What storytelling techniques carry the narrative? Such is the process I went through with the NYT piece, “A Chinese Billionaire Spinning Research into Investment Gold.” As …more
Thanks to the wonders of Internet and WordPress, any company can rationalize the cost of digital publishing. What’s more, Google’s decision to communicate the dialing down of activities in China on its corporate blog gave street cred to owned media. Since Google’s act on January 12, 2005, organizations of all shapes and sizes have become …more
Before jumping into the sense of urgency part, let’s frame the issue. Mobile devices are taking over the world. In terms of raw numbers, mobile users surpassed the desktop users last year. Yet, this only tells part of the story. For PR and other communication functions, the core question comes down to behavior. Are consumers …more
It occurred to me that I could write a grab bag post every single day. Social media platforms like Twitter serve up wacky as well as useful fodder in a never-ending stream. Of course, the challenge lies in the fleeting nature of this information. These grab bag posts provide a forum to “stop” on three …more
Nobody likes airports. Dealing with the security gauntlet at airports is right up there with going to the dentist and watching Brady Bunch rerurns. Naturally, the organization behind airport security, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), finds itself image-challenged. To borrow from Shakespeare, the TSA does experience “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” Still, I give …more
One of our young account professionals, Melissa Lewelling, will be headed to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival next month. Out of literally thousands of films, her creation called “More Than a Number” was one of 30 films selected by Campus Movie Fest to be shown in the Short Film Corner. Her film takes a raw look …more
Since Lee Kuan Yew’s passing, every media outlet in the free and not-so-free world has chronicled his accomplishments. If you haven’t spent time in Southeast Asia, it’s hard to appreciate the “miracle” of transforming this speck of geography into a world-class economy. It’s not quite Moses parting the Red Sea, but it’s close. I …more
I’m not referring to fiction or fabrication. The question relates to the role of storytelling techniques in the HR function. The question also happened to be the thrust of my talk at the Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) conference last week in Hong Kong. It turns out that one can make an argument for HR more …more
