Latest Posts

Moving from being a brand communicator at Pfizer to an agency executive prompted Dean Mastrojohn to think about team building. He offers three lessons he learned from his years on the client side. The veteran communicator is using these lessons as he builds an integrated media team as part of his agency position.

You may remember the backlash of #OscarsSoWhite after the 2015 nomination announcements. Many outraged directors, producers and actors, including Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith, boycotted the awards in 2016. How did the 2020 Oscars do on diversity and inclusion? We take a crisis PR perspective to grade last night’s ceremony and the larger issue facing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In this regular series with the Institute of Public Relations, veteran communicators relate lessons learned early in their careers that continue to help them. This installment features Shirley Powell, SVP, Cox Automotive, who received a great education from her first boss. One of his toughest lessons remains with Powell to this day.

Most indications are that data and analytics are rising in importance in the world of PR and communications. Still there are some communicators who refuse to measure. If you find yourself trapped in a non-measurement culture, how can you change things? Measurement guru Katie Paine argues that testing assumptions via audience surveys is a simple route to take. But first, buy Starbucks, cookies and alcohol.

When it comes to crisis, there’s good and bad news, according to a survey from PRNEWS and CS&A International, a risk, crisis and business continuity management consultancy. More than half the executives surveyed said their firms have crisis plans. Far fewer knew whether or not those plans are updated regularly. In addition, few companies are practicing crisis scenarios regularly.

While everyone anticipates the release of Iowa Caucus results, PR and crisis management pros are more inclined to discuss the crisis response of the Iowa Democratic Party. Technological glitches may be common, but to fail on such a grand stage, when timely results are expected, shows cracks in an already shaky system, debilitating public trust in a year when it’s most important.

In our January 2020 edition, this column began its celebration of Black History Month with a remembrance of Joseph Varney Baker (1908-1993), who is believed to be the first black man to own a PR firm. This month’s edition remembers the first African-American woman to own a PR firm in the U.S.

The hunt for the perfect influencer usually starts with seeking out those social media accounts that can increase reach, raise awareness, build engagement and drive business results (sales, donations, conversions, etc.) for your organization. This means pinpointing the influencers who stand out among billions of users; true digital denizens capable of adjusting to ever-changing social media platform algorithms. It also means attracting the right influencers to your brand, and ensuring they yield a strong return on investment.

The Super Bowl can be a benchmark in a communicator’s career. An experience at the big game can make or break a brand, as well as bring out the best (or worst) in any professional. The hours are long, but the payoffs can be great. So what can we learn from Super Bowl PR veterans on how to handle what seems to be a larger-than-life media event?

The overarching theme at this year’s Top Women in PR Awards rooted itself in the way professionals see themselves and how they treat others. Many winners noted that having it all is nothing if colleagues don’t have each other’s backs along the way. The honorees gathered for a luncheon on Jan. 28 at the grand Gotham Hall in New York City,.