- Not just for lumberjacks
Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. A rare gem illuminating the power of communication, this Indian proverb has never rung truer. Read more…
- When competitors are in the news chances are you should be, too
It’s just not right. Your competitors are in the news, talking up their chances and spreading the gospel, but you’re not. You go about your business unnoticed. Trouble is, not being noticed is as good as being invisible. So how do you go about joining the conversation? Read more…
- Oil on the wheels of business, or a load of bollocks?
One journalist asks: What does the age-old industry practice of “doing lunch” really serve?
By Anonymous for Media News, Mediaconnet.com.au The tradition of an expensive PR-bought lunch for a journalist is as old as the media industry itself, but when did it become the only way to build a relationship with someone? It’s a common scenario. The dining environment is stunning, a waiter brings out the perfectly cooked lamb shank and a robust shiraz to wash it down, but there is a bitter taste in the back of your mouth. Read more…
- Don’t be scared, they’re not trying to make you look bad
It’s little wonder people are spooked by active participation in news media. The whole process is the antithesis of button-downed message orchestration and corporate signoff and safety nets.
Control is forsaken and submission and anxiety rule. Careful answers to journalistic questions are scurried back to the factory and smashed to bits, with just the chunkiest shards dispassionately hammered into spaces between advertising.
- Getting your story heard: Find a new angle. Then own it
Familiarity breeds contempt. Just ask Hugh Hefner’s old girlfriends.
However, not all relationships are as fraught and I think Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein offered a better assessment when he said something like, familiarity may not breed contempt, but it certainly takes the edge off admiration. Read more…
– Long live PR
PR’s abstractedness and lofty service aspirations can make it tough for people to buy. Just how do you go about buying stakeholder goodwill and corporate reputation management? What might it cost? Can I see it first?
As important as these things are, commercial reality often narrows the buying spotlight to news media publicity. For some, in fact, for many, a PR agency’s only redeeming value is unlocking the door to ‘free’ publicity. Read more…