Common Sense: The persuasion campaign behind the Fourth of July
The Declaration of Independence might not have happened without a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, which went viral and gave colonists a new identity The Fourth of July marks the day the United States declared independence from the British Monarchy...Read More
Lesson on storytelling for B2B marketing: Star Wars and Harry Potter are the same story
If you want to be effective at storytelling, there’s a successful structure and format that human beings across cultures have independently discovered – and it’s older than Yoda I loved Star Wars as a kid. The only thing better than...Read More
An “Interview” with ChatGPT: What is Public Relations? How has PR Changed? Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Comms Pros?
We interviewed ChatGPT about public relations and while it does well with high-level questions, it becomes repetitive when those questions were more nuanced; the system says it is “unlikely” that it “or any other AI system will fully replace public...Read More
28 Plus Public Relations Resources to Brush up and Stay Sharp in Comms
A carefully curated list of public relations resources like newsletters, blogs, podcasts, trades and books for staying up to speed in comms The other day Google alerted me to the fact someone had mentioned this blog in response to this...Read More
The Making of Cision: A Brief History of ~20 M&A Transactions that Consolidated a Sizable Chunk of the PR Tech Market into One Company
Note: this post was last updated in November 2022. In the course of putting together the monthly PR technology summary (PR Tech Sum), I’ve realized that no news site has compiled a complete list of all the acquisitions around Cision....Read More
9 Little Stories from a One Time Public Relations Gig with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
The month of May will see a sunset on an iconic American performance in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Like many in the middle, I have mixed feelings around the circumstances of its demise. It does seem...Read More
Public Relations: In History, at Crossroads and in the Future [UML]
There’s an old saying that the best business people aren’t student of business, but students of history. This allows them to see things in a grander context, and perhaps choose a path that avoids repetition. We study the past so...Read More
Icons: Drucker, Einstein and the Final Confessions of David Ogilvy [UML]
The copy I bought of David Ogilvy’s “Confessions of an Advertising Man” roughly 15 years ago was used. To the best of my recollection, it appeared the book was out of print, yet there was a seller on a little...Read More
The PR Stunt that Saved Batman for Generations
PR is a long-term strategy. Relationships and reputations aren’t built in days or even fiscal quarters and rebuilding a damaged brand can take years for a business While reinvention is a timeless PR positioning strategy, for Batman the process would...Read More
General Electric Theater: Reagan met Content Marketing in 1954
In 1954, the television had reached a critical milestone: 26 million U.S. households (56%) owned a TV. Long before product placements and sponsored content, one iconic American brand placed a big bet in creating its own television program – another...Read More