No company in business history has played the scarcity card in media relations with the deftness of Apple. People talk of the genius of Steve Jobs in regard to product design, pushing people to achieve the seemingly impossible and developing a cult-like following from customers. Often lost in this discussion is how Jobs orchestrated Apple’s …more
Before jumping into the experiment, a few words on the big picture. After beating the SEO drum since 2010, it baffles us that the PR industry hasn’t embraced this discipline. Our push to marry SEO and PR picked up steam seven years ago when Google overhauled its search algorithm. Google used the Hummingbird …more
We’ve been touting the virtues of SEO in PR strategies since 2010. Our push to integrate SEO and PR accelerated in 2013 when Google revamped its search algorithm with the Hummingbird update. It was at this point that Google squeezed most of the gamesmanship out of organic search. Those backlinks sold out of …more
Note: A version of this essay appeared in EE Times. Beleaguered. That’s the word that seems tethered to Huawei these days. Yet, “beset with difficulties” doesn’t quite capture what the telecom giant is experiencing. As a student of communications — the type with words, not satellites — I’ve been observing Huawei from afar since …more
You can’t make this stuff up. Raking through my storytelling and PR posts, I’ve curated a list of seven “life is stranger than fiction” moments. 1. Media Squeeze — and Watermelon Explosion — Described by the NY Times Presents an Opportunity for PR BuzzFeed proved what everyone has always believed in theory. If you stretch …more
I’m with the seagull. As my Mom will attest, I wasn’t big on rules. Since starting the blog back in 2008, I’ve strived to offer perspectives that you won’t find in the Communications 101 handbook. This is the time of year when I reflect, calling out what I consider to be the 10 best posts …more
I suppose there’s a reason that “time flies” became a cliché. It does. I think 2015 saw a better product from Ishmael’s Corner. It certainly looks better, finally bulldozing the original design and bringing the “look and feel’ into the 21st century. And with Ron Howard resurrecting the “Moby Dick” narrative, a new audience learns …more
It’s been a couple months since my last Grab Bag post. With over 10 items in the queue, I made some tough choices on the three vignettes that made the cut. Here goes. Extending a Brand Too many companies extend their brands in ways that trade incremental revenue for flinging an incongruent message to their customers. …more
