“People don’t really watch television. They listen to it.” It was Jack Faris, former president of the National Federation of Independent Business and chief fundraiser for the Republican National Committee during Ronald Reagan’s ultimate rise, who first gave me this lasting lesson on the art of the sound bite. “People don’t really watch television. They ..
Ten things to remember in public affairs messaging: 1. Have a well-defined goal. Determine how you will know whether you have won. Know what the scoreboard is and the role messaging plays in putting points on the board. 2. Know your audience. Gather as much data on your target audience as possible, develop a compelling ..
The media has been filled with the bad public relations that Obama Administration has been suffering from a trio of investigations and scandals – Benghazi, Associated Press and the IRS investigations of Tea Party groups. Every day, Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary seems more embattled as the IRS narrative changes. The media which ..
One of the big trends in advertising and public relations lately is to use iconic images and nostalgia. Yet Brands who plan to co-opt iconic American images should probably make sure they cast those images in a positive light. Swiffer learned that lesson the hard way when it injected Rosie the Riveter—who symbolized female empowerment ..
Margaret Thatcher left behind three keys in being a successful communicator whether you are business or politics: 1. Be Yourself When British politicians were struggling to appeal to their party base, Margaret Thatcher was comparing state finance to her household budget. People know when you are being real with them rather than just trying to ..
You can’t take short cuts when it comes to media outreach. Here are a few of the techniques our agency consistently emphasizes to deliver excellent media placements: •Research: You’ve got to know who you’re sending your pitches to and what they write about, so research, from past articles to Twitter feeds, is important. We don’t ..
Spanish-language outreach is an essential component of public relations. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic population increased 5 percent from 2000 to 2010, while the non-Hispanic population increased only 2 percent. Because the Hispanic population is fast-growing, relatively young and has larger households, they can potentially be more vital to future growth in ..
There has always been this belief that great communicators—writers, actors, or presenters of any sort—are simply born with their outrageous skills. The right words simply jump from their lips with no effort. Their work is hardly work at all. In truth, communicating well is a skill that takes training, practice, and hard work. The better ..
Nothing says boring like a press release that reads: “ABC company today announced its new thingamajig product at the Wizziwig expo.” ZZZZzzzzzzz. With Twitter forcing us to give the news in 140 characters and Instagram encouraging us to send a picture to say 1,000 words, the press release needs to stand out, and – sing ..
We all have different sides to our personality did we share with different groups of people. We usually do not talk to our mom the same way we talk to our buddies. We do not talk to our co-workers the way we talk to our spouse and we do not talk to the guy at ..
