Topic: Public Relations

  • It Was the Best of Times. It Was the Worst of Times.

    Who doesn’t like positive press? It’s generally good for business. Strokes the ego. Makes your employees feel good. Heck, you could even argue that even some bad press can be good for at least some of the above reasons. But positive media coverage isn’t always good for business. Yes, you…

  • Why Lockouts Are Bad PR

    The National Basketball Players Association announced this week it had rejected the latest offer regarding its collective bargaining agreement and now it will be up to the courts to decide the fate of this year’s NBA season. Like the NFL lockout earlier this year, the NBA and the Players Association…

  • Netflix to Its Customer: It’s Not You, It’s Me.

    The apology on Sunday by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings reminds me of a long overdrawn breakup. Two months ago, Netflix announced a change in its pricing and has been inundated with unhappy customer response since. Then on Monday, Hastings made another announcement that stunned the marketplace. Its well-branded DVD services…

  • Is There Really Bad Press?

    With today’s fast-moving news cycles and a forgiving (or forgetful) public, some wonder if there really is such a thing as bad publicity. Michael Vick’s $100 million contract showed that you can recover from a storm of bad stories, not to mention PETA protests and prison time. Some even believe…

  • Why 7-Eleven Needed a Plan B

    In the PR world, there is a saying, “expect the unexpected.” That’s especially true when you are doing an event or large-scale promotion. Monday’s “Free Slurpee Day” by 7-Eleven was a great idea, but a perfect example of why you should always have a plan B in place.The giveaway piggybacked…

  • Celebrity Publicists Are Dropping Like Flies

    When I was learning about PR and communications in school, we were taught as PR practitioners that our job was to help our client. Through the good and the bad, we are paid to advise, counsel and ultimately help our clients achieve their goals. Apparently the celebrity publicists missed that…

  • Live, Press Release, Live

    The press release is dead. Long live the press release. It’s been five years since Tom Foremski famously bemoaned press releases in his “Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die!” post. But a funny thing happened on the way to its imminent demise. Despite intense debate and attempts to fundamentally alter…