Generally Accepted Practices in Public Relations Departments

The Strategic Public Relations Center at USC has released its annual study of Generally Accepted Practices in internal PR departments, and it is chock-full of insights that should be valuable both to inside communicators and outside consultants.
The study looks at practices across-the-board including budgets, evaluation, reporting lines, use of outside agencies, management’s perceptions of PR, [...]

Scott McClellan Sells Out the PR Industry

Scott McClellan is going to be rich man. The former Bush press secretary’s about-face regarding what he and the White House said while he was Bush’s spokesman will make his book fly off the shelves and will probably double his speaking fee (and the demand for his services).
It’s safe to say that if McClellan had [...]

How to Do Your Own Trendspotting

Porter Novelli trendspotter Marian Salzman spots trends for a living. In a recent interview, she shared some of her secrets for identifying the latest craze (UPDATE: Salzman sent her white paper to Catching Flack: Porter Novelli’s 10 Trends)

There are basically three stages involving trends related to brand stewardship. The first is “discovery.” This is when [...]

Check Out the Blogs That Journalists Like to Read

Wondering which blogs journalists themselves find most valuable? Brodeur Strategies and Marketwire did an online survey. “We did the study because we wanted to help clients better understand the interplay between online news activity and journalism. We know who the traditional reporters are that cover our clients’ industries and beats but we need to better [...]

Getting Your Agency Ready to Survive the Downturn

While it’s not certain that there will be a broad and prolonged economic downturn, there are already signs of weakness and the first reports of layoffs at PR agencies are starting to roll in.  Is your agency ready to withstand the downturn?
According to PR agency management experts Bruce Bishop and Rick Gould, the key to [...]

Twitter is Something Else You Should Know About

What do Dell, Panasonic, Hormel, H&R Block and Zappos.com have in common? They are all actively monitoring what’s being said about them on Twitter, the micro-blogging site where people post very short bursts of opinion, information and other marginalia.
If these companies have figured out Twitter, it’s time for your company to understand it too. For [...]

John McCain’s Smart Blogger Relations Strategy

Last week, we talked about how President Bush was breaking new ground in doing the first Presidential on-camera online only interview. This week the news is about the Republican who wants to succeed him, John McCain, and his creative blogger relations strategy. McCain is scheduling briefings with left-wing bloggers like those from Talking Points Memo [...]

Useful Buzzwords to Get You Through the Week

Feeling a syngergistic need to multi-task? Hoping to have a results-oriented week full of out-of-the-box thinking? Want to take your PR writing and corporate-speak to the next level? Then here’s a crib sheet for you: a fresh article on the latest in corporate and PR buzzwords, courtesy of PRSA’s Tactics and Strategies.
Here are a few [...]

PR Lists: Worth the Trouble?

Some companies expend a lot of energy to fill out applications to be listed among the “most admired” or “the best places to work.” But do these lists really impact the business in any meaningful way, or are they effectively make-work projects for the PR department?
Burson-Marsteller came out with a list of the most sought-after [...]

Bush Online Interview a Wake-up Call for PR

George Bush’s online on-camera interview this week on the web site Politico marks a turning point in the use of the media — one that the C-suite ought to take note of.
The interview itself is unremarkable — it’s the decision to do an interview online that’s worth noting. Somewhere in the White House communications machinery, [...]

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