/p> Such storytelling isn’t easy to find. When organizations and consultants go through branding exercises and come to be part of associating words with their brands, they rarely highlight “cold” or “heartless” (suppose someone selling ice fishing equipment might go for “cold.”). After scouring the Web I finally found one. Meet Nick Murray, a self-professed …more
The intelligence community devotes massive amounts of time in trying to decode information from the bad guys as well as advancing their own encryption technology. The communications business – and specifically the client/agency relationship – has its own code. With the help of the worst mathematician in the world – that would be me – …more
Today finds hundreds of brands huddled in their war rooms, rehearsing how they will respond to what-if scenarios at the Super Bowl. I loved the line uttered by David Matahia, director of marketing communications for Hyundai, at the Holmes Innovation Summit last week: “Oreo screwed us all with their Super Bowl moment.” Because Oreo generated …more
Predicting how the PR and communications scene – defined as anything that impacts a person’s or organization’s image – will unfold over the next 12 months is not a job for the squeamish. As for last year’s predictions, one out of nine ain’t bad. I believe a Meatloaf verse makes that very point. Look, anyone …more
You’re probably expecting me to spit out the seven lessons of branding from Ron Burgundy in a tidy row of bullets. Instead, there’s a more meaningful takeaway from the branding effort on Ron Burgundy and leading into the release of Anchorman 2 later this month. Zig when others zag. Like the science behind storytelling in …more
Notice I said “levity,” not “funny” which is a much higher bar. Still, it often takes guts as much as creativity to bring levity to a brand’s storytelling. And if you can tap into a recent happenstance, you’ve got the makings for a story to reach the masses. I’ve come to call this “improv marketing” …more
Deciphering the inner meaning of Beatles lyrics goes back to playing the White Album backward and the “Paul is dead” hoopla, a technique that obviously proved to be flawed. I believe a more hand-crafted approach to sifting through Beatles lyrics paves the way to storytelling gold. My crack researcher Grace Hoffman – who says nepotism …more
BuzzFeed reaches over 25 million unique visitors each month. No doubt, business publications ogle this number, but I didn’t expect The Wall Street Journal to actually try its hand at BuzzFeed storytelling. Not satisfied with the standard fare that recaps a Department of Labor study on how Americans use their time, the Journal created a slide show …more
The White House has gone all in with owned media, recently adding Tumblr to its arsenal of 17 social media properties. It’s only a matter of time before Team Obama starts poaching talent from BuzzFeed. By studying the trajectory of the White House’s investment in owned media, we can predict what such a property would …more
