And those were some of the more “gentle” recent headlines. Let’s set the stage. Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri saw an opportunity to rethink mobile computing, so they founded a company called Humane. They invented a lapel pin that would essentially become your AI-infused digital assistant. This vision and the founder’s Apple pedigree landed $100M …more
Ted Sarandos is co-CEO of Netflix. He’s the one greenlighting Stranger Things, The Queen’s Gambit and Bridgerton. He had better get the concepts of story construction. Does he? For the answer, we turn to his recent interview with the New York Times. Asked about how his interest in TV and movies came about, the 81-second …more
When people talk about improving global PR, the discussion typically gravitates toward infrastructure or titles. But these are supporting pieces. At the core, the most important factor in the success or failure of an international PR campaign comes down to mentality. Two basic questions go a long way toward revealing the presence of a global …more
All communication consultancies periodically encounter Procurement before contract sign-off and embarking on the fun stuff with a client. I am not a fan of Procurement. They always claim to be there to help the agency and make sure everyone — both the agency and the in-house PR department — enjoy a “happily ever after.” Yet, …more
That was the headline in a Wall Street Journal article back in 2012. The piece made the point that the word “innovation” (and its derivatives) was being used so much by companies to tout incremental improvement — or worse — that the word lost meaning. Raking through earnings calls from the previous 12 months, The Journal …more
By Andree Latibeaudiere, Account Director, Hoffman Europe . . We value our relationship with the University of Oregon. More than hire U of O grads, we strive to do our part to give students a window into a PR career as well as working at a consultancy. This can take various forms. We participated in …more
Companies consider brainstorming a magical alchemy, especially if the business puts a premium on creativity. That’s certainly the case in a communications consultancy; not so much if you’re an accounting firm that depends on the rigor of process. The words “let’s brainstorm” bring multiple people together with the singular quest to find a better way. …more
You might have seen the news earlier this month that we promoted Maureen Tseng to oversee our Southeast Asia operation from our hub in Singapore. We hired our first employee in Asia on April 17, 1997. That person was Maureen. The photo above depicts her and our Singapore team during the early days when we …more
The internet has commoditized news announcements, particularly product news from B2B tech companies. This isn’t to say that journalists will never write about a new SaaS offering, a denser storage product, etc., but the why-should-I-care bar sits in the stratosphere. I was reminded of this when our European MD Mark Pinsent scooted the OOO message …more
