John Steinbeck’s letter to Marilyn Monroe in 1955 has been making the rounds on social media. And you thought Steinbeck’s writing prowess was on full display in “The Grapes of Wrath” or perhaps “Of Mice and Men.” It turns out that Mr. Steinbeck saved his best for a letter that tin cups for Ms. Monroe’s …more
You would think every company would prefer to communicate in a way that connects with people. After all, before segmenting the target audience, we know the objective is to reach people. Yet, business writing often comes off as mechanical and even stiff. Do you want the narrative to sound like it comes from an actual …more
Nothing impacts the success of a company more than its ability to recruit talent. Massive investments are earmarked for the cause ranging from websites to research to recruiters to salted caramel macarons for the requisite on-site sugar high. Yet, the auto-generated email that lands in the candidate’s inbox after submitting a resume is …more
Politicians tend to be skilled communicators. Lee Kuan Yew was gifted. Today marks the five-year anniversary since his passing. Much has changed in Singapore on the communications front. Maureen Tseng who heads our Singapore office offers an on-the-ground snapshot. Social media represents the biggest change over the past five years. Previously perceived as elitist and …more
By Grace Hoffman, Editorial Assistant It’s rare to read a restaurant review that is brutal, compelling and downright strange! Pete Wells dug in and made it happen … but how? The variety of tactics and his unwillingness to “go easy” on Guy Fieri’s restaurant is what makes this review rich material illustrating how storytelling …more
There. I’ve said it. You can officially classify me as a heretic. My viewpoint started to form in 1983 when I landed my first job at a PR agency. Shortly after, the big boss decided I was ready to support our client Philips at COMDEX — THE computer show at the time (eventually bulldozed by …more
Imagine that. I’ve railed over the years that most prepared quotes have the stiffness of plywood. A couple of years ago I randomly selected 50 news releases from the wire services and extracted the quotes for study. The following cross section of samples captures the essence: “We are very proud of the inauguration of our …more
Nothing impacts the success of a company more than its ability to recruit talent. Massive investments are earmarked for the cause ranging from websites to research to recruiters to salted caramel macarons for the requisite on-site sugar high. Yet, the auto-generated email that lands in the candidate’s inbox after submitting a resume is …more
Roughly two years ago, I wrote a post about then-candidate Trump and how he used conversational language as a differentiator. Given his communications since moving into the White House, I decided to dust off the point of view that riffs on a Wall Street Journal column. Unfortunately, skipping to the end, bombastic did win the …more
