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How do you prepare for an interview? How do you know if you're reaching the right audience? And what do you do when the other side is attacking you in the media? Here we offer expert insights and tips to help you better understand the complicated business of public relations—and tell your story more effectively. 

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Paywall Surge a Fresh Challenge for PR Pros

07-23-2018

By Alex Altman With ad revenue plummeting and editorial budgets being slashed, digital publishers are turning over every stone looking for new ways to make money. So, it should come as no surprise that many of them are kicking the tires on paywalls. The Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Wired, Vanity Fair and Financial Times are just a few of the publications that have introduced paywalls in recent years. By restricting access to non-subscribers, these publications are betting […]

By Alex Altman With ad revenue plummeting and editorial budgets being slashed, digital publishers are […]

How Ambien Avoided a PR Nightmare

06-11-2018

By Alex Altman Roseanne Barr was in hot water. She had just fired off a regrettable tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former advisor to President Barack Obama. Her show had been cancelled. She was being vilified as a racist. And she needed someone to blame. Enter Ambien. “It was 2 in the morning, and I was ambien tweeting,” read her since deleted tweet. Ambien may have seemed like a natural scapegoat. But the maker of the drug, Sanofi, wasn’t going to […]

By Alex Altman Roseanne Barr was in hot water. She had just fired off a […]

When Brands Should Take Stands

06-05-2018

When Brands Should Take Stands Weighing the pros and cons of political and social advocacy By Alex Altman If you support Millennial causes, Millennials will support you. At least, that’s what the numbers say. According to a study by Cone Communications, 87% of consumers will patronize a company because it advocated for an issue they care about. Another study revealed that around two-thirds of all consumers want brands to take a stand on issues. So, it’s simple then: supporting issues […]

When Brands Should Take Stands Weighing the pros and cons of political and social advocacy […]

Crushing a News Interview

05-11-2018

Check out these six tips for crushing your next media interview.

Check out these six tips for crushing your next media interview.

12 Months Later: Starbucks Learns from United Airlines’ Woes

04-26-2018

By Alex Altman Caught in the eye of a PR firestorm, former Starbucks CEO (and still face-of-company) Howard Schultz took a page from the Oscar Munoz book on corporate leadership. And then he did the exact opposite. When cellphone footage last April showed a passenger being violently dragged off a United Airlines flight, Munoz delayed, deflected and even blamed the “disruptive and belligerent” victim for his failure to heed the orders of a flight crew. His regrettable handling of the […]

By Alex Altman Caught in the eye of a PR firestorm, former Starbucks CEO (and […]

Great customer service

Great customer service, 5 low budget ways.

04-18-2018

In today’s business climate, recent polls suggest that great customer service is one of the best ways to drive loyalty and gain an edge over the competition. 54% of Millennials said they stopped doing business because of poor customer service (Conversion) 66% of US consumers spend more on brands to which they are loyal (Accenture) 74% of consumers would be more likely to engage with brands who provide a higher level of customer loyalty (Wunderman) Customer relations should be a […]

In today’s business climate, recent polls suggest that great customer service is one of the […]

Donald Trump Fake News

04-03-2018

President Donald Trump’s crusade against “Fake News” has been one of the biggest headlines of his time in office. His pointed, personal and persistent attacks on the Mainstream Media have striven to not only discredit reporters, but also to intimidate them. Especially those whose reporting “undermines” his presidency, or at least the public’s perception of it. While polls show Trump has succeeded at the former — a meager 32% of Americans say they have a great deal or fair amount […]

President Donald Trump’s crusade against “Fake News” has been one of the biggest headlines of […]

Marketing Madness: 5 Brands Winning the Tournament

03-19-2018

By Alex Altman When Little Caesars marketers pitched the idea of giving away free lunch to every customer if a 16-seed defeated a 1-seed during the NCAA Tournament, they surely sold it as a risk-free proposition A 16-seed couldn’t beat a one. Never had it happened. Never could it happen. But when UMBC defeated Virginia in what will surely go down as the greatest upset in college basketball history, the Hot N’ Ready chain still probably felt the like biggest […]

By Alex Altman When Little Caesars marketers pitched the idea of giving away free lunch […]

5 Ways to Measure the Success of Your Social Campaign

03-01-2018

By Alex Altman With few exceptions, any time a business spends money, it expects to see a return on investment. Unfortunately, proving ROI can be difficult in the public relations industry, which deals less in data points and more in human emotion. While marketers demonstrate ROI through clicks, impressions and conversions, PR professionals have to get a little crafty to show how their social campaign is affecting their client’s bottom line. Luckily, there are several bulletproof ways to validate your […]

By Alex Altman With few exceptions, any time a business spends money, it expects to […]

Facebook Rolls Out Changes to Combat Negativity

02-20-2018

By Alex Altman Four weeks ago, I made a decision that once seemed unfathomable. I logged into Facebook, clicked on the settings and deactivated my account. I first registered for “The Facebook” in 2005, when membership was exclusive to college students. In the decade that followed, Facebook was more than just a site I would frequent — it was a pipeline into my social world. I’d use it for sharing pictures, crowdsourcing, connecting with new friends and other mostly harmless […]

By Alex Altman Four weeks ago, I made a decision that once seemed unfathomable. I […]