Sometimes transparency is a curse. One is naked to the public and criticized constantly for everything. It would be better to make decisions behind closed doors and to reveal them later. Consider the Oscars and their ongoing mess. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been fiddling with the ceremony in a futile […]
Posted on February 21st, 2019 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 150 Comments »
I know how the media feel about PR practitioners who flood them with irrelevant pitches and releases. Every day I get a dozen or so emails from PR newswire. I use none of them. There is one agency that importunes me to interview authors. I don’t do book reviews or author sit-downs. Just once, recently, […]
Posted on February 20th, 2019 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 401 Comments »
As this article discusses, fake facts are a growing crisis in the digital age, there are more ways than ever to broadcast them. With the low cost of publishing online, lies spread quickly. As PR practitioners know, there needs to be fast-twitch response to combat falsehoods, but even that might not be enough. Who is […]
Posted on February 18th, 2019 by admin
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Opportunity, the Mars rover, was a PR feather in NASA’s cap for 15 years. Now, it is dead. It was designed to last three months but it kept going and going and going for 28 miles and dozens of discoveries. Opportunity proved that a mobile instrument package could survive the harsh environment of another planet. […]
Posted on February 14th, 2019 by admin
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Here is just another recall. There doesn’t seem to be many PR implications to hauling vehicles back to the repair shop. Every car company does them: It is a cost of doing business. But, it makes one wonder what a company could say if it has few to no recalls for an extended period, say 10 […]
Posted on February 13th, 2019 by admin
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This HBR article gives advice on what to do when one makes a mistake. It reads like a PR text. One should take responsibility without ducking or blaming, address what needs to be done right now and share what you will do differently next time. It is transparency and an admission that no one is […]
Posted on February 11th, 2019 by admin
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Over the decades auto manufacturers have tried a number of times to form direct connections with customers. But auto dealers have blocked them. They are a powerful lobby in statehouses and have used their influence to strengthen their position. What happens, then, when an auto maker who never has had dealers comes to market? This […]
Posted on February 6th, 2019 by admin
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Senator Bernie Sanders is demanding to know why a drug that was once free is now costing patients $375,000 a year. He has put the pharmaceutical company, Catalyst, on the spot. The implication is that it is gouging patients for unmerited profit. There might be good reasons for the stunning increase in price, but Catalyst […]
Posted on February 5th, 2019 by admin
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What do you do when your founder considers a run for President over loud opposition? This is the position Starbucks finds itself in. Howard Schultz is publicly noodling whether to run as an independent for the White House, and Democrats are terrified he will split the ranks and give another four years to Trump. They […]
Posted on February 5th, 2019 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 385 Comments »
In the internet era, there is no burying of the past, even if an event occured long before the web. Witness the governor of Virginia who is battling to stay in office after racist photos showed up from a 1984 medical school year book. The media have now confirmed that other racist pictures are in […]
Posted on February 4th, 2019 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 148 Comments »
