Your PR Architect

The news release found at  http://www.myprgenie.com/view-publication/pillsincartcom-stands-out-as-a-trusted-generic-online-drugstore  should give chills to anyone who purports to write for a living. It's poorly written ("online pharmacies on the internet" -- where else would an online pharmacy be found?). Verbs and nouns don't agree. Its dateline sounds like an apartment complex address, rather than a city. And when the release diverts from talking about drug safety of sorts to the commissions available for resellers, it just becomes an utter mess. Who's at fault? The author of the release is an easy target. But MyPRGenie.com should shoulder much of the blame. They promise to get your news release to thousands of editors -- most of whom will laugh at the poor writing. MyPRGenie.com should provide some editorial counsel. Writing an effective news release takes skill, and Pillsincart.com's writer clearly needs help.   English can be tricky. That's why hiring

It would be too easy to judge Justine Sacco's Dec. 20 hara-kiri on Twitter. It would also be premature, because as of this writing, she's still an employee of IAC and its boss, Barry Diller. Memo to Justine: ask friends to round up empty copier paper boxes for when you're back in the office.You'll need 'em. Justine Sacco, via NY Daily News Details on Justine Sacco's self-inflicted PR disaster are here, along with the preposterous Gogo tie-in. Calling this the internet equivalent of drunk dialing is an understatement. There's plenty of stupid to go around: For a PR person, Sacco's now-deleted Twitter account contained a wealth of borderline coarse comments that were stunning in their stupidity. Teachable moment: just because you have only 400 followers on Twitter doesn't mean the whole world can't see you be stupid. Diller has owned and sold more media properties than almost everyone, including Rupert Murdoch. He's not a shy pe

This afternoon, Rochester's police chief shuttered a downtown nightclub called Plush. The club -- scene of a recent shooting -- had taken its battle to stay open to the people via social media. And lost. The last time I saw a nightclub win a battle with city hall was .... well, never. I'm no nightclub expert, but I can rattle off names of saloons gone by that enjoyed their 15 minutes of media fame. Studio 54 in New York City. Bachelors III, a Queens, NY establishment best remembered for one of its high-profile co-owners, Jets quarterback Joe Namath. They're all long gone. No nightclub wins a battle waged in the news media. And that adage now extends to social media. The "public service announcement" on Plush Lounge & Night Club's Facebook page berates the media for negative coverage of the recent shootings at the night spot. Could these events have taken place at Target or Toys R Us, as the writer suggests? Sure, if Target or TRU served alcohol an

This year, I've collaborated with a colleague on a public relations guide that we've intended from day one to be an e-book. Turns out, it's harder to get an agent to bite on an e-book than a real book. I've read and used my share of textbooks about PR. The one that works best for me is Fraser Seitel's The Practice of Public Relations , now in its 12th edition. I've used it when teaching college PR classes. It's readable, full of short case studies and executive interviews, comprehensive and doesn't go out-of-date too quickly. But if you're in crash-course mode, Seitel's book and other texts are a bit heavy. If your boss told you yesterday that, in addition to your other duties, you had to write news releases and promote the business through social media, our little e-book would be easier to use. And it would leave less of a dent on your debit card than Seitel's $143 textbook. E.B. White My co-author and I believe there's a place

Aside from the minor tedious nature of a 6-plus minute slide show, there's plenty to like about MillerCoors posting scenes from its 2011 diversity summit on YouTube. I like linking diversity to the fundamental goals of the business: "Diversity Sells Beer." Or a clear focus on "regular employees" from different backgrounds, not executives in $1000 suits. (Although diversity initiatives really catch fire only when senior leaders actively champion such change.) Capturing key points on whiteboards, and chronicling them in stills (and video) isn't a bad way to keep these learnings close at hand. It's not a Joe Sedelmeier film, but it works. The disappointment, however: MillerCoors' video has had a stunning 116 views as of this blog post. MillerCoors' parent, SABMiller.plc, has 70,000 employees worldwide. If only 10 percent are MillerCoors employees, that still leaves a stunning gap between the number of views and MillerCoors' workforce.

Home Depot, like many large companies, outsourced the running of its Twitter feed to a nameless marketing "agency." When the agency posted a racially offensive tweet, HD acted swiftly to sever its relationship with the agency. Read about it here:  http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2013/11/07/home-depot-tweets-alleged-racist-photo/ Brad Shaw of Home Depot, via Ad Age Maybe the practice of entrusting your brand presence to an outside contractor isn't as disastrous as it sounds. But someone, somewhere needs to have a broader perspective. With Twitter's huge IPO taking place this week, all eyes were focused on the micro-blogging site. Brands can live or die on Twitter. The irony: two years ago, Ad Age lauded Home Depot for its internal team's social media acumen .Why did this strategy go off the rails? So cheers to Home Depot for cutting its ties with an insensitive agency. But who the heck thought placing HD's online brand in the hands of a non-employee w

Which Rochester ad agency didn't get the message about distracted driving? The Rochester Advertising Council's 2013 campaign "Yeah, You're that Distracting" has helped make motorists aware that texting while driving can have fatal results. It convinced me that multitasking behind the wheel was a great way to wreck a car, and likely injure someone. But their great campaign doesn't stop outdoor advertising initiatives like this one: The photo isn't mine. Someone -- perhaps a local TV journalist -- grabbed this image with a smartphone and posted it to a social media feed. I'm betting many other motorists did the same thing, and maybe even added a snarky comment. Free publicity? Sure. And Twitter users' tendency to repost and add their own comments are likely to give the athletic club's modest two-billboard campaign a broader reach than they'd have earned if they'd purchased 10 normal billboards. However: campaigns like this

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

My recent post on NASCAR's credibility problems got an answer. Sort of. The AP published a profile on Brian France:   http://racing.ap.org/article/france-steadies-nascar-during-credibility-crisis.  Do you think it's enough for NASCAR to police itself from the top down, or get some external advice from experts who pretty-date Brian France's leadership?

Last week, NASCAR gave itself a black eye. Several, actually. This week, NAPA Auto Parts smacked the team responsible for NASCAR's PR week from hell. Without digging into details that only a motorhead could fathom, it boils down to this: driver Clint Bowyer deliberately spun out in the Richmond, VA. race, shuffling the race's finishing order so a teammate could make NASCAR's big playoffs, the Chase for the Cup. You can read the convoluted details here . NASCAR, the sanctioning organization, has very deep pockets -- thanks to lucrative TV contracts and corporate sponsorships of teams and drivers. NASCAR came down hard on Bowyer's team, Michael Waltrip Racing, suspending team members, imposing a $300,000 fine, and bumping Bowyer's teammate, Martin Truex Jr., from the Chase playoff season. Truth is, there's been trickery in motor racing for years. MWR just got caught doing it, thanks to their over-the-air coded radio messages between the team and Bowyer.

You're on Twitter. And your clients ought to be on Twitter. Or should they? Not without an escort. That would be you , the PR professional. You need to guide clients' use of Twitter. It's a stream-of-consciousness (or semi-consciousness) tool that without strategy and discipline can damage a clent's brand more than enhance it. Applebee's PR ordeal over the employee who posted a guest's receipt in response to a modest gratuity blew up, in part, because of its exposure on Twitter. (It didn't help that an inexperienced Twitter manager at Applebee's extended the exposure of the unhappy event.) AT&T Twitter ad, 9-11-2013 Today's @ATT ad , using symbols of the Sept. 11 tragedy on 9/11 to promote its wireless products, demonstrates social media tone-deafness at its worst. The backlash was swift, loud and punishing. AT&T took down this image (at right) within minutes after the backlash. But what about your use of Twitter? Are you

There are no magic lanterns. No PR genies. No write-it-for-you software or apps. Nothing is going to create a readable news release or public relations pitch for you -- except someone whose skill set includes newswriting, storytelling, editing, and interviewing. I often teach university-level public relations courses. And, when I'm looking for examples of unedited, clumsily crafted news releases published online, my first stop, inevitably, is MyPRGenie.com.  Smokey the Genie (right) with Bugs Bunny MyPRGenie bills itself as a one-stop resource for PR support, including blogs, search engine optimization, and hosting online newsrooms. All are useful in today's PR universe. They may be better at some services than others. But I tremble whenever I find news releases -- often written by someone with, ah, less-developed writing skills -- that find their way online with virtually no editing or attention to what an editor will read. One recent verbatim example: "

I don't have an Instagram account. But I have friends in the public relations industry who do, and use them often. They're smart professionals. So I assume they realize that Instagram doesn't make money by hosting their gee-whiz edited photos of their trip to Savannah. It makes money by harvesting data from photos, including the metadata it contains. Your smartphone's camera adds metadata to your photos. It knows where and when you captured the photo. The exposure, the brand of camera, etc. And I'm certain Facebook -- owners of Instagram, you'll recall -- understands how to sift out important information from your photos. And re-sell that information to its advertisers. The PR business is about influencing people's attitudes. What do you and I care about? How can PR people and marketers use that knowledge to influence users' attitudes and behaviors? I'm not a fool. Google does this sort of data-mining with all my searches. When I was looking

Blame Paula Deen's implosion on a slow news cycle. And no PR strategy for dealing with criticism. The absence of legislative newsmakers this week -- the Supreme Court killed DOMA and left for the summer -- leaves an overabundance of unspent media wattage. Where did it turn? On TV food celebrity Paula Deen. In a few short days after the disclosure that Ms. Deen had used the "N" word, she's been ditched by Wal-Mart, Ballantine Books, The Food Network, and Smithfield Farms. And probably had her Exxon-Mobil card cancelled. (Curiously, you can still obtain Ms. Deen's recipes on the Food Network's website.) Here's a different perspective: Everyone over age 30 has used the "N" word. Everyone. Often in jest. View Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy "Blazing Saddles," and you quickly lose count of the number of times it's used. (Borrow a DVD; when it airs on cable, every potentially offensive word has been bleached from the film.) Ms

A marketing communications executive is doing a "road show." Marv and his team are holding learning events for customers in different cities, combining useful seminars and workshops with a little client hospitality. A major ingredient of public relations is, in fact, food and relaxation. It's a great way to build relationships. Hand out all the screen-wipes and memo clips you like, but most clients and business partners enjoy a beverage, snacks, and some chit-chat in an atmosphere without white boards. What's wrong with this scenario? The marcom exec leading this adventure occasionally posts photos of himself relaxing with co-workers. Most of whom appear to be happy women. Sometimes, there's hugging or arms-around-a-shoulder. And, as smart as I know Marv is, I keep asking: "Doesn't he know the message these snapshots send?" The Clock of Nations at Rochester NY Airport The message I get from his photos: Marv's having too much fun on hi

You'll notice I've revamped the design of this blog. I wanted to improve readability, and while the white text-on-black looked cool, those long rivers of san serif text bothered my eyes. Readability is the key here. A local company briefly flirted with a design aesthetic they called "black fade." This looked good in some collateral, but when it migrated to the LCD screens of its products, it was like viewing information through a $3 telescope. It appealed to younger demographics, for a time. But editorial critics quickly re-christened it "fade to black." This collided with a financially bleak period for the company, and the departure of the marketing swami who pushed it forward. Black fade is no more. Happy Reading!

My earliest PR successes came from creating newsletters for business-to-business clients, alumni, and employees. These publications -- semi-weekly, monthly, and quarterly -- each helped grow relationships between my clients and their constituents (customers). And none of them exist today. Casualties of the digital age? In some ways. In the 1980s, desktop publishing gave almost everyone the power of the press. And some resulting newsletters were ghastly, much like some of today's blogs. But, as the internet grew, printing and mailing costs increased, and managers and marketers switched to online content: e-newsletters, or some other digital solutions. Those managers overlooked an important factor: their audiences . People who view a newsletter as an emblem of a relationship. They're accustomed to physical connections, and willingly invest their resources and time to support those relationships. After spending their workday staring at an optically challenging computer scree

In my favorite film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, there's a scene where the heroes step off a train at a rural town in Bolivia. Sundance takes a few steps into the plaza, and promptly steps into cow dung -- while Butch extols how much more they can buy with their stolen dollars and pesos. Sundance surveys the run-down plaza, looks at Butch, and says: "What could they have here that you'd possibly want to buy?" The scene comes to mind (minus the cow dung) every time I get an email from AmazonLocal, Groupon, or LivingSocial. Each of these online deal aggregators uses the power of social networking and deal-making with retailers to offer half-price deals to members. Call it social couponing. Ninety percent of these deals are things I would never, ever buy. Even after I've customized my Groupon settings. I've purchased one or two of these offers. The majority, however, are for goods or services I don't find valuable. Is this a $20 burger? O

An effective PR strategy requires leveraging social media to drive visits to richer content: blogs, videos, podcasts, infographics, etc. Create great content, and you give a human identity to an otherwise faceless business or organization. But, the content must be rich and active . And, if you once used Alta Vista for online search, you know that, like early roses, nothing online is forever. Recently I revisited my list of links to blogs and other websites that carry content I’d created. To be certain the URLs were accurate, I clicked each link. More than a few articles – mostly posts I’d written for company blogs – had been vaporized. Broken links? Worse. After digging, I discovered the hosting service that managed the blogs had folded. The client company (the one with their name on the website) hadn’t restored its missing content, or explained where it had gone. With the hosting service’s servers inoperative, a large chunk of their blog content – the “real

How many hats do you wear in PR? Counselor? Writer? Media negotiator? Strategist? Here's one more: ethicist. we need more authenticity. In PR. On Facebook. And maybe in life. Brian Solis, who blogs about the impact of culture, technology and business, thinks there's room for much more transparency online. Brian had an interesting take on authenticity in public relations and social media, which you can read here . He argues for disclosing your relationship with a client or company if you write a personal blog or reviews about that company's products. Brian's post doesn't directly talk about the 2006 "Wal-marting Across America" scandal, captured here . But the connection's clear. Fast-forward; in 2013, authenticity is on the ropes again. Facebook and Twitter, in particular, enable unbridled "liking" and "following" of products, brands, and services. When we cheerily agree to use a Facebook app, we often give it permission t

This started out as some informal recommendations I shared with a colleague at a large not-for-profit institution. As with many large enterprises, not all areas within the organization get the online visibility they desire. My friend's area wants to earn some visibility with prospective customers -- but the "mother ship" organization's social media strategy doesn't provide the ability to promote individual departments or divisions. Here's what I shared with my colleague: Facebook would be an OK place to purchase ads, if that's where your target audience is looking -- and if they will take action based on your ads. When I visited (your department's) Facebook page, I saw 430 views, but just 24 "likes". You want the 'likes' to grow, because they show up on other people's Facebook feeds. For comparison, a small local non-profit's Facebook page has 64 likes. It's much smaller than your organization, so word of that pag

Great communications means building relationships: leveraging the right message, in the right voice, with the right audiences.  You may have a working PR strategy. But, if it's not yet interwoven with building relationships via social media, content marketing and event presence, you're only doing outbound, one-way messaging. Are you listening to your customers and stakeholders online? Can you look them in the eye and be unafraid of what you see? With 20+ years of corporate, academic, and not-for-profit public relations successes, I'm starting a new chapter. I've broadened the definition of PR via executive presentations, video podcasts, media relations, government affairs, social media, content marketing and event management. Please let me know about your marketing, social media and communications challenges. You have marketing and revenue targets;  I can audit, align, refine and implement your communication strategies so you're building relati