Whenever there is a global, national or regional news story of significance, you can be sure every company, brand and PR practitioner worth their salt will work to wedge themselves into the story. Let’s say a fire destroys an Ohio shoe manufacturing plant killing...
Sports PR—Larry Baer domestic-violence video creates ‘Giant’ crisis
On March 1, San Francisco Giants president and chief executive officer Larry Baer was seen on video courtesy of TMZ having an argument, and then a physical altercation, with his wife Pam. In the video, he is seen attempting to forcibly take back his cell phone from...
While the iron’s hot: Loyola Chicago should leverage the “Flutie Effect”
Each year millions upon millions obsess over, and bear witness to, March Madness. Nearly 70 Division I teams fighting for the title of NCAA National Champion in basketball and the rest of us eat it up: joining pools, arguing across social media, in sports bars and...
Marketing ROI—why it’s not so black and white
When we open our wallets to pay for goods or services, there is an expectation of receiving something of value in return. It's of course no different in marketing communications, where we are commonly asked about the value of our services as our clients expect...
Honing your reporter relations: 15 tips for media preparedness
I began my career in television, which lent itself to the near-decade I would later spend as a media spokesperson for several very large energy companies. During that period, depending on the day, I could be speaking to reporters on issues as mundane as a random power...
Patience is required in the media relations dating game
“It’s not you; it’s me.” It’s one of the greatest relationship cop-out lines ever, so commonly used that it has its own Urban Dictionary entry. In my single days, I would have loved to have used it had every girl I ever dated not dumped me on my rear. Beyond the...
Branding lesson from Donald Trump: disruption is the new innovation
Question: Why has Donald Trump, at least until this point, done so well in Republican Party polling? Answer: It’s because he’s disrupted the landscape, whether it be by gliding down an escalator with his former model wife while blasting Neil Young, uttering...