Tag: marketing

The Difference Between PR and Marketing

Public relations professionals know it. Marketers know it. Beyond those folks, however, the difference between PR and marketing may well remain one of the world’s best-kept secrets… until now. While both share a common goal of attracting and retaining business, their approaches and roles differ greatly, yet are equally important to businesses of all sizes and industries. Further confusing matters is that these two functions usually… Read more »

3 Traps to Avoid When Judging PR Success

So you’ve decided your business needs PR. That’s fantastic news, as maintaining great momentum in the media has never been more important, and recognizing that you need a better way to relate to your partners, customers or stakeholders puts you firmly ahead of the pack. Unfortunately, even the most forward-thinking brand managers can fall victim to false assumptions about PR and how it should be measured…. Read more »

3 Video Trends for 2016

2015 was a great year for online video – just check out the excellently crafted and entertaining #YouTubeRewind video. And there’s no signs of the momentum slowing as we enter 2016. From a communication professional’s perspective, I’d like to offer-up three trends that will likely have the greatest impact on how video will influence the industry in 2016. 1. Mobile Video 50% of video views will… Read more »

3 Things to Look for When Watching a Video Sizzle Reel

At year’s end, most video production houses should be recapping their latest and greatest work into a short video for the world to see. Also known as the “sizzle reel,” this video showcases said video house’s best work and truly provides good insight into the group’s production value, quality, aesthetics, and knowledge in industry. This best-of-the-best video is ultimately edited very intentionally to project or parallel… Read more »

4 Steps to a Successful 2015 Video Strategy

  With Christmas around the corner, there’s really only one thing on everyone’s mind. Next year’s Video Content strategy!  Ok, well, maybe not, but as the calendar year winds down and we all gather to reflect and celebrate the accomplishments of 2014, there’s no time like the “present” to start thinking about what 2015 has in store for your brand’s content production.  Unsurprisingly, countless articles about… Read more »

Animate Your Infographics to Maximize Your Reach

In today’s media landscape, there’s no such thing as “too much content.”  The amount of platforms, outlets, and opportunities for getting your message seen and heard is enormous, and it’s crucial that brands take notice and stay ahead of the game.   As both the Boy Scouts of America and Scar from the Lion King advise, “Be Prepared.”  It’s best to always be ready with content (especially visual… Read more »

In launch of #OneGoodReason, CVS demonstrates ‘3 Good Reasons’ we can all learn from them

As you may have caught on the news on your drive in yesterday morning or throughout the day on Wednesday, it’s a big week for drugstore chain (and Matter client) CVS. Earlier this year CVS Caremark made a commitment to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products at all CVS/pharmacy stores by October 1, 2014 – becoming the first national pharmacy to do so. Yesterday morning CVS officially… Read more »

Apathy Interrupted: How Smart Marketing Wins

Once upon a time, a movie camera was invented. What would follow were silent movies, movies in black and white, movies in color, movies with sound, special effects and eventually even 3D movies. There would be cult classics, box office biggies, busts, rom coms and everything in-between, and there would be public relations efforts for each one. These days there seems to be a new multi-million… Read more »

A Lesson AT&T Will “Never Forget”

We have all heard it time and time again: From the moment you send a tweet or post to Facebook, your words are forever on display for the entire world to see – even if you press delete. Talk about pressure! Social media marketers and public relations professionals are well aware of the embarrassment the simplest typo could cause a brand. You don’t have to remind… Read more »

3 Things Senior Marketing People Get Wrong about Working with PR Agencies

When you’ve run a PR agency as long as I have – ten years and proudly counting – you begin to notice patterns of behavior from the marketing folks who are your prospects. There are a lot of brilliant CMOs and marketing VPs who are great at their jobs, but aren’t quite as skilled at picking the right PR partner because they evaluate faulty criteria. Here… Read more »

BREAKING: I’m “That Guy From Matter Communications” Now

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve joined Matter Communications as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Matter has a story worth telling well, and I’m seriously excited tell it – broadly and often. There’s another, more personal reason why I’m happy to join this particular PR firm, but I’ll get to that further down if you can hang with me. For those unfamiliar, Matter started with… Read more »

Enterprising Thoughts on Marketing

Earlier this week, I led a workshop on marketing for a group of entrepreneurs from Boston’s North Shore at Salem State University’s Enterprise Center. Its always great to get out and interact with new people, particularly those who have taken the leap to chase their entrepreneurial dreams and start a business.  Having spent most of the past six years running or co-running my own small business… Read more »