Pitching an Op-Ed Piece to The New York Times
Founded in 1851, The New York Times (NYT) is considered one of the leading newspapers in the world. Winning 125 Pulitzer Prize awards for excellence in journalism, Yale University noted that The Times has earned itself a “worldwide reputation of thoroughness.” Although no easy feat, securing coverage on behalf of a client in the NYT […]
Psychological Safety and Team Communication
In November 2017, I blogged about building motivation as a learned skill and applying it to the PR industry, based on Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg. I have now finally finished the book and must say I truly enjoyed it. I found the information in the book interesting, and applicable to my work as […]
3 PR Lessons From Starbucks’ Public Bathroom Crisis
After two African American men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks for asking to use the restroom without purchasing something, the nation wondered how the giant conglomerate would handle such a polarizing crisis. Not long after the video of the confrontation with police and hashtags to boycott the coffeeshop went viral, Starbucks rolled out an […]
5 Ideas to Make Your Pop-up Shop Instagrammable
Every brand wants customers to be their brand ambassadors on social media, and what better way to do this than creating an engaging pop-up activation that followers can visit and post about. Instagram is one of the most public channels that consumers use to discover and learn more about brands, as well as share branded […]
Think You Know What You’re Good At? Think Again
Recently, I stumbled across an article in The New York Times that I thought would be helpful to those of us with a commitment to continuous improvement. The article is titled, “How to Spot and Overcome Your Hidden Weaknesses,” and focuses on how challenging it is for people to truly assess their strengths and weaknesses […]
Crossovers Between Internal and External Communications
Last week at our Communiqué PR brownbag, Melissa Cafiero, a past Communiqué employee and current senior communications manager at Projectline for Microsoft Windows NEXT, took time out of her week to share insight about her experience managing internal communications. As an experienced PR and corporate communications executive, Melissa is passionate about helping organizations uncover the […]
The New Strategic Selling: Sales (and PR) Tactics are Only as Good as the Strategy That Leads up to Them
One of my professional goals for 2018 is to hone my business-development skills, and multiple people have recommended the book, “The New Strategic Selling,” by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman, as an excellent foundation with which to begin. As I read the book in the weeks ahead, I’ll share some of my key […]
Best Practices for Tracking News Coverage
One of the many tasks that public relations (PR) agencies perform on a regular basis is tracking editorial coverage. In most cases, we track coverage that is expected, such as a story based on a press release, or a by-lined article placement. On other occasions, we may be looking for unexpected coverage, for instance from […]
The Evolution of Facebook’s Messaging
The last few months Facebook has been the center of the media’s attention. In case you haven’t sifted through the articles, the gist of the story is this: Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm hired by President Trump’s 2016 election campaign, gained access to private information from millions of Facebook users. The backlash has been […]
Developing a PR or Communication Program? Tips for Securing Stakeholder Buy-in
Whether it’s an strategic PR plan, an important customer announcement or a new message to reach your audiences, obtaining buy-in from key stakeholders ensures that everyone understands and supports the recommended approach. Securing consensus also provides the opportunity to obtain additional ideas and perspectives, and to understand objections that may not have been apparent to […]