Stories by Sophie Maerowitz

In the months leading up to the Nov. 8 presidential election, the PR bombs that have been dropped on (or by) each presidential candidate would have kept even the most seasoned PR pro up at night if it were their own brand dealing with media fallout. Here’s how each candidate has remained standing after a number of media firestorms, with quick takes on PR tactics they’ve used for each crisis.

A PR pitch has about eight seconds to grab a reporter’s attention before it gets ignored, marked as spam or deleted. And while the text within the pitch copy might suit a particular reporter’s beat to a T, major outlets have become increasingly reliant on video and photo content amidst the current visual-thirsty digital landscape. So, to risk being passed over for coverage, today’s PR professionals must be able to incorporate visual assets into their content. Here are four best practices for incorporating visuals into content targeted at the media.

Hype’s only brand adopters as of this writing are News One, MTV and TechCrunch. But for brand communicators who have been looking for “the next Snapchat” now that teens’ parents are sharing Snapchat Stories, Hype might just be the one to watch.

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a “Twitter canoe”? The term refers to the frustrating dead-end effect of replying to users on Twitter, wherein the users’ handles take up most of the allotted 140 characters. More often then not, this ends up curbing a conversation that might have continued given more space, which can be frustrating for PR pros who use Twitter for relationship-building. The good news: Twitter is testing a character-freeing update that could put an end to the annoyance.

At the 2016 PRSA International Conference, Keith Green, vice president of marketing and commercial sales at Guinness World Records, and Doug Simon, president and CEO, D S Simon Media, spoke on the nature and evolution of brands as sources of video entertainment. PR News sat down with them after their session to learn how communicators can benefit from taking an entertainment-style approach with their channels and pitches.

Thought leadership: It may be on your C-suite’s wish list, but like many PR goals, the buzz phrase needs to be broken down into executable tactics in order to be both meaningful and achievable. At the PRSA International Conference in Indianapolis, David Siroty of Coldwell Banker Real Estate and Lindsey Turrentine of CNET broke down their own tactics as they spoke about the fruitful strategic partnership their brands have worked toward in the last decade.

“Organic is dead.” Whether or not you agree with this statement, social media platforms unquestionably favor sponsored posts over organic posts in followers’ feeds, and it’s now more important than ever to secure a paid social media budget if you want your brand’s posts to rise above the throng. But how can PR professionals make the case for those budget dollars with the C-suite given the ever-present challenge of proving ROI on social media?

Winner: WE Communications – Centralized Internship Program WE Communications has long recognized the value of offering paid internship opportunities to fledgling public relations practitioners. Over the course of its history, the company hired an average… Continued

Winner: IW Group Throughout the year, IW Group’s six-person New York team led a slate of innovative and groundbreaking campaigns that achieved unprecedented results for both the firm and its clients. The diversity of the modestly… Continued

Winner: Telly Wong, IW Group Telly Wong is the vice president and managing director of IW Group’s New York office, where he leads award-winning campaigns that consistently achieve unprecedented wins for the boutique agency. The Brooklyn… Continued