Turning to the front page of The New York Times business section yesterday, I did a double take. Sitting above the fold found The New York Times taking on the story line of Amazon constructing buildings around oversized greenhouses in downtown Seattle. I wouldn’t exactly call this a puff piece, but it sure does come …more
If you missed it last week — perhaps studying the latest numbers from the Department of Labor? — BuzzFeed proved what everyone has always believed in theory. If you stretch enough rubber bands across a watermelon, it will eventually succumb to the pressure in one glorious Kodak moment. The New York Times used the BuzzFeed …more
PR under utilizes illustration as a form of visual storytelling. Yet, one could make an argument that no visual form better suits PR. After all, anything is possible with illustration (literally). Still, the idea of engaging with an illustrator can seem daunting — if not downright scary — for those steeped in the world of …more
Earlier this year The New York Times celebrated the 20-year anniversary of its website. Prior to the launch, the paper’s online reach depended on that “pioneer of online media,” AOL. Friend, colleague and periodic co-trainer for our storytelling workshops, Peter Lewis, wrote the introduction story. But before taking a look at his words from …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
Here’s another “grab bag” with a smattering of observations, updates and snarky remarks. Psychoanalyzing The New York Times Twitter Description It seems logical to assume publications pay attention to the words in their own outbound communications. If that’s the case, does the NYT Twitter description reflect a greater emphasis on engaging readers than The Wall …more
China has so quickly moved up the economic food chain, it’s easy to forget this is a country still under communist rule. As Dorothy put it in The Wizard of Oz: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” No, we’re not. Which brings me to the story in The New York Times last …more
We’ve discussed how storytelling techniques can open doors in the business and mainstream media. HP provides a good Exhibit A. By packaging a story on how the University of Minnesota took proceeds from licensing the “code” from Honeycrisp apples to help pay for a supercomputer, they secured interest from Ashlee Vance at The New York …more
The New York Times reported on Friday that ESPN plans to launch espnW. That’s right. An all-sports channel totally focused on serving one audience: women. ESPN has cracked the code when it comes to extending its brad to sub-audiences. By 2020, I’m predicting the launch of espnBB, programming rich in shuffle board, darts and other sports easy on the …more
