Crowdsourcing: A New Way to do Business
Crowdsourcing is an emerging trend in which tasks traditionally performed by internal or professional teams are outsourced to a crowd. The term coined by Wired magazine writer Jeff Howe, owes its genesis to the trend of leveraging the possibilities of mass collaboration brought on by the growth of Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. […]
Building the Buzz for a Store Opening
Communiqué PR was recently hired by Mud Bay, a provider of healthy foods, supplements and supplies for dogs and cats, to help promote its store openings on Mercer Island, Redmond and Gig Harbor. Mud Bay’s marketing objectives are to drive broad consumer awareness of these new locations as well as to build relationships with key […]
Are Product Reviews Still Relevant?
Prior to the arrival of mass blogging platforms, such as WordPress, Tumblr & Blogger, product reviews were the bread and butter of a new or updated product’s world debut. PR pros would enlist key reviewers from the most influential publications to honor an embargo, and in return, receive shiny new hardware or a snazzy software […]
The Value of Product Demos and Why Companies Should Consider Them
So you’ve developed a great product. The funding is locked down, a marketing plan is set into gear and the product is ready to be launched into the world. Before you release your new product into the wild, you might want to consider developing a product demonstration. A demo can help a company validate and […]
HARO Features a New Search Tool for Industry Awards
Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out (HARO) recently featured a new service from mBLAST called AwardSync. This free service enables award organizers to post information and publicize industry award programs. It also makes it easy for organizations and PR professionals to find awards relevant to their specific industry and vertical market. AwardSync provides information about […]
Crisis Communication Planning and the Impact of Social Media
Last week, Jennifer and I had an opportunity to conduct a workshop on crisis communication at the Washington State Community Action Partnership Statewide Development and Marketing Conference. The goal of the training was to provide attendees with an understanding of the various types of crises and how to best prepare. We also spent time discussing […]
Communiqué PR — 2009 Highlights
With the economic downturn, layoffs, H1N1, massive changes in the media, and the growth of social networking impacting our world, 2009 proved to be a challenging year for many of us. At Communiqué PR, we looked at the uncertainty and adverse business climate as an opportunity to be even more focused in our efforts for […]
Social Media & Damage Control
Many of us have heard about the mistakes companies, such as Dominos and United Airlines, have made around crisis control. However, there seems to be a dearth of information about how companies can use social media in the right way for damage control during a crisis. In late January, I am moderating a panel on […]
Four Reasons Corporate Communications Should Own Social Media
There has been and continues to be significant discussion about the ownership of social media strategies and activities within an organization. As a PR professional with some social media experience, let me add my perspective to the debate. I believe social media should be owned at a strategic level by the top corporate communications or […]
Strategic Public Relations Excerpt: Knowing When to Use PR
To get the most out of PR, you need to know what PR can help you accomplish and what it can’t. A question many of our clients ask is when they should use PR as opposed to advertising. Both play a significant role in the marketing mix; the trick is to know when to use […]