Your PR Architect

There's a short list of technology companies whose products I will never buy. This isn't a "Buy American" rant, but it has plenty to do with how tech companies manage -- or mismanage -- their reputations. I don't buy Hewlett Packard products. Partly for the shoddy treatment bestowed on former EDS workers (with whom I'm personally acquainted) acquired when H/P bought the company. Partly because H/P's board of trustees engaged in spying on employees and each other. Partly because an H/P CEO was dismissed in 2011 for "fudging expense reports" -- corporate-codetalk for using company funds on an inappropriate relationship . By Etcha (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0  (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL via Wikimedia Commons None of these events means H/P makes poor technology products. To me, however, it's indicative of a company that applies its profits irresponsibly. And I don't want dime one spent in support of a com...

Is it worth shouting about an award if you aren't among the Top Ten winners? Today, Apple is the world's No. 1 Brand, according to Interbrand, a brand consulting agency (surprise!) that annually assigns an economic value to the best-known global brands. This year, Apple bounced long-time top dog Coca-Cola off the Global Brands summit, landing it just below Google at No. 2. (Read the whole list here. ) Business awards are our industry's cottage industry. A publication or organization looking to gain credibility creates some form of award competition, invites nominees, recognizes the winning companies at a banquet or news conference -- and then tries to leverage the relationship into an exchange of cash. Buying an ad or a membership. Licensing the award logo for use on packaging or in ads. And so on. Everyone likes recognition. Even if it's not cheap. Once J.D. Power recognizes your company as tops in customer satisfaction, you need to pay a minimum five-figu...