Stories by Steve Goldstein

Even if you don’t share the company’s belief in the inherent, liberating benefits to humanity of Facebook, it’s hard to deny the power of the social network to expand the reach of brands to new audiences. And when we say brands, we don’t mean just B2C brands.

Engagement and ingenuity ruled the day at PR News’ 2013 Digital PR Awards luncheon, as more than 200 agency and in-house PR executives gathered to celebrate the top digital campaigns of the past year at New York’s Grand Hyatt on Nov. 5, 2013.

Verizon Wireless, with the help of agency partner Weber Shandwick, altered its approach to reaching influencers by developing an online news hub, the Verizon Wireless News Center; since launch, the News Center has received 1.3 million unique visitors.

To cut through the tangle of competing hair care products for Unilever’s Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy, Weber Shandwick helped build an online community that now hovers near 1 billion fans, achieving a total post reach of 80.1 million and 222,000 “people talking about this” on Facebook.

To demonstrate the power of connected technology and position Cisco as the global leader in the future of intelligent networks, the company’s social media team developed and produced a weekly video series featuring next-gen/millennial workers in 12 of Cisco’s fastest-growing countries; the impact of this series continues to grow with recognition and the sharing of the series by major online publications including Huffington Post, Digiday and The Content Strategist.

On April 16, 2013, the FAA advised Airlines for America and airline carriers that furloughs of air traffic controllers would begin the following Sunday; in less than 10 days, A4A led a grassroots campaign that ultimately resulted in Congressional action to resolve the issue with legislation.

The story you want to tell should lead image design, not the other way around, says Pete Ternes, senior social media and corporate reputation strategist for General Motors.

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, we can all agree that natural disasters of all sorts have slammed us before, and will slam us again in the future. That’s a fact of life, and one that communicators must be prepared to respond to, as a part of their overall crisis management planning.

The Council of PR Firms’ Critical Issues Forum featured a spirited debate about the growing influence of so-called native advertising, or branded content, which has quickly become a key component in marketing communications.

The Obama White House is coming to realize just how much of a reputation hit it is taking on the disaster that is the Affordable Care Act registration and information website. What could the White House have done and what does it have to do now to limit further damage?