Month: November 2011

Survey Finds C-suite Cares about Brand and Social Media; Facebook Ranks Highest in Perceived Value to Brand

Newburyport, Mass. – Matter Communications conducted a survey of marketing decision-makers regarding their organization’s attitudes and practices in social media. Not surprisingly, nearly all of those surveyed are aware of the importance of branding in social channels. More interesting, 65% of those say that their C-suite is also interested in how their brand is perceived in social channels.

Why Cyber Monday is like COMDEX: My PR Spin

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like Cyber Monday reached an entirely new level this year.   Everywhere you turned; it was in your face. It was impossible to grasp what each retailer was doing, because everyone was doing something.  Some did it well, others not-so-well.  But no matter what, they talked about it everywhere  – social channels, TV, online.  Mix in the… Read more »

In PR, Timing is Everything. Just ask Qantas.

Qantas Airlines has a lot going on these days – most notably, a recent employee strike that has caused many delays and inconveniences for its customers.  Let’s face it, a strike is always going to be a public relations nightmare, and this case was no different.

Dangerous Driving

Recently a colleague of mine did the unthinkable and tried to send a text while driving on the local-area bobsled course (a.k.a. Route 1 South) on the way home from work.  While I know nothing about the text – whether it was urgent, important or other – I do know it caused my colleague to not-so-gently rear-end the car in front of him as he wasn’t… Read more »

#ad The Celebrity Social Endorsement

For $8,000-$10,000 Khloe Kardashian Odom will tweet about your brand to her 5 million followers! Too rich for your blood? Try singer Ray J, who will blast out your message to his 600,000+ followers for about $2,300. Still not buying? The list of B, C or D list celebs hocking their name for a quick 140 characters of their time, is fairly endless. In fact some… Read more »

'Tis The Season…To Be Mailing

Believe it or not, but holiday planning begins long before the temperatures start to drop and the turkey is on the table. In the PR world, holiday planning begins months in advance, often as early as the summer and spring months.

Back to the Basics: Helpful Tools for Scanning and Research

As an account coordinator, you are responsible for keeping up with everything going on in your clients’ respective industries as well doing research on bloggers and reporters. Instead of just Googling everything, there are a few tools of the trade that make scanning easier.

Smith College and The Tipping Point

Reading the news and reading good books are two of my favorite things. When I read a book, I sink into it and it changes my view of things for the time that I’m reading it; the world around me comes into focus through a lens of the book and I see overlap and connections between reality and fiction. So, when I’m reading a really good… Read more »