Stories by Bob Pearson

Here are four key trends related to innovation and four pearls of wisdom from leading professionals that emerged at SXSW.

Due to faster-than-expected growth in users in 2014, up 60 percent, Instagram surpassed Twitter to become the second-largest social network in the U.S. last year, eMarketer s aid earlier this month.

A few ways to focus on your audience.

Apple sends Dick Tracy a thank-you note, a new crisis for Hillary Clinton and Wendy’s takes an interesting brand journey.

The fleeting rush of a major influencer or prospective client responding to a ‘DM’ via Twitter may not be nearly as important for your brand or organization as a kick-ass annual report.

Here are five tips for PR professionals who are helping to set up an office for a PR agency. They apply to communicators working for brands, organizations and nonprofits.

Getting your pitch across the plate requires PR pros to be mindful of several things, lest the proposal end up in the circular file. But in a social media age, making sure you don’t waste a reporter’s time may not even be half the battle. That’s because you have to think about how the reporter can share the message with his or her network.

To cultivate relationships with journalists, there are a litany of practices to master; that’s if you want a puncher’s chance of getting reporters to consider your pitches and/or respond to your telephone calls.

Being more sensitive to the needs of pressed-for-time journalists is one way that companies and organizations can improve their media relations.

Chicago’s most talked-about addition to its famed skyline, the Trump International Hotel & Tower, has been the subject of countless stories since it was completed in 2009. In December 2014, after five years on the market, 14,000-square-foot penthouse was sold to entrepreneur Sanjay Shah. Mr. Shah retained Henson Consulting to create and implement a strategic approach to leverage his purchase and raise the visibility of his software company, Vistex Inc.