(Thread) What does #Trump know about #brand? Clearly nothing, based on this tweet. Let me explain. First, a definition of brand. Brand is about values. It’s a promise made by organizations to live up to a core set of values. The #brand of an organization is determined by how well it lives up to theseContinue Reading
I read articles that talk about a company having a PR problems multiple times every day. Most of the problems that are described aren’t. They’re operational problems; reputation problems; ethics problems. They might be a problem that the communications department within the organization but they’re not public relations problems. That’s not to say that thereContinue Reading
The business model for the public relations industry hasn’t changed in more than two decades. How do I know? I joined the industry in the last 90s. Nothing has changed fundamentally since that time. Agencies charge a retainer fee – generally based on a prospective customer’s budget – in return for pre-determined services. The focusContinue Reading
I’m fascinated by communications strategy. I spend hours looking at what makes a strategy work – and what makes it fail. As part of the work I’ve done to develop The Lean Communications Framework, I’ve been looking at the component parts of some well known – and successful – PR and marketing strategies. In thisContinue Reading
THIS POST WILL SAVE YOU $000s IN PR RETAINER FEES If you’re paying a public relations agency thousands of dollars to issue and follow up press releases this post will explain how you can save money and increase your chances of achieving commercially-valuable media coverage. What’s more you will be able to measure the commercialContinue Reading
Disclosure: I am a Microsoft Advocate. I have been provided with access to some of the company’s new technology – a Surface Book 2 – for evaluation purposes, as well as getting privileged access to some Microsoft Canada executives. In return, Microsoft has asked that I share any opinions and insights with readers of thisContinue Reading
The PR industry is hiding a dirty little secret that it doesn’t want you to find out about. Don’t tell anybody I told you… but the traditional PR ‘sausage factory’ of client win… press release… e-mail/wire distribution… media outreach… interview… coverage… product release… press release… email/wire distribution… media outreach… interview… coverage… [repeat to fade] doesn’t work anyContinue Reading
Actionable relationship = a relationship that has marketing value because the person or group of people will take a specific action when asked to do so Advertising = the placement of owned (media) content for a fee. The rate varies depending on the location, duration, the number of people that are likely to see it,Continue Reading
When I work with entrepreneurs I ask them repeatedly to tell me what their business does. In the majority of cases they talk about feature and function, rather than about the value it delivers to their customers. It’s often the biggest hurdle to growing a business. An effective value proposition focuses on the value toContinue Reading
The basis on which the strategy is built What assumptions are they making (and what happens if those assumptions are false)? What’s the pricing structure – how does it align with the retainer fee to deliver the strategy How often is the strategy reviewed? What’s the process for reviewing the strategy and fine-tuning it? WhatContinue Reading
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