Infographic: Must-Know Social Media Statistics From 2013
While 2014 may already be in full swing, there’s still much that can be learned from 2013. I came across an infographic from SpareFoot which summarizes some truly interesting social media statistics from the past year. As you formulate your social media strategies for 2014, consider the following: In 2013, 30 percent of traffic from […]
The Rise of the Contributor
While pitching an announcement for one our clients recently I ran into an increasingly common problem: The perfect person to pitch was a contributing writer at the publication and I couldn’t track down his contact information. Eventually I found a way to get in touch with him, but it got me thinking about the balance […]
Seattle’s Seahawks Victory Parade and the Importance of Celebrating Success
This past Wednesday, an epic event overtook the city of Seattle: the Seahawks Super Bowl victory parade. According to news reports, some 700,000 people flooded the downtown streets to go full Beast Mode and revel in the Seahawks’ win—the first Super Bowl victory in the history of the franchise. In a city of 634,535, this […]
Branded Content: It’s the Future – How Will Your Firm Approach It?
I was catching up on some industry-related reading recently, and came across myriad stories about branded content and how this critical strategy is blurring the lines among marketing services. One story in particular, “The Power of Content,” caught my eye, as it was published in a “branded content” special advertising section of Advertising Age paid […]
PR Lessons From Richard Sherman
Seahawks mania is at an all-time high in Seattle. The city is plastered with the iconic 12th man flags and not a moment goes by when there isn’t something on TV, radio or online about the team’s march to the Super Bowl. And of course, the big story that everyone is talking about is Richard Sherman’s […]
The PR Agency of the Future
Yesterday I was reading PR Week’s 15th anniversary issue and came across an article entitled “What will a PR agency look like in 15 years?” It was a compilation of comments about the future from some of today’s industry leaders: Gail Heimann, president of Weber Shandwick; Kim Hunter, president and CEO, Lagrant Communications; and Patrick […]
Got Problems? Tips for Staying Solutions-Oriented in PR
A pretty significant chunk of our work in the PR industry is about solving problems. Perhaps the problem is huge: Your Fortune 500 client is facing a major PR headache and it’s your job to fix it. Or perhaps the problem is comparatively small: One of your team members is struggling to nail a pitch. […]
Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer Headline Dreamforce 2013
Early in November, I was lucky enough to acquire a few passes to attend Dreamforce, Salesforce.com’s annual conference. The four-day conference, which takes place in San Francisco, drew more than 100,000 attendees from the technology industry and is considered the third biggest tech industry event, following TED and CES. Big-name speakers from this year’s event […]
Should PR Pros Use Reddit?
We recently encountered an interesting scenario with one of our clients, who came across a relevant industry discussion on Reddit and wondered why their brand name was not mentioned. At first the answer seems apparent, since Reddit relies on user-generated content that, for the most part, cannot be controlled. But that got us thinking—is Reddit, […]
PR Lessons From the Healthcare.gov Launch
When the Obama administration launched its healthcare website on October 1st the President’s most prized project quickly turned into an unmanageable disaster. Healthcare.gov was riddled with technical problems that made it almost impossible to use, causing enormous public backlash. But there are a few valuable PR lessons to be learned from healthcare.gov’s disastrous rollout. Launching […]