Media Relations

Not long ago I returned from three weeks traveling through India by myself. While planning this eight-city adventure, a voice inside my head kept telling me I was nuts: India?

There was a time when PR professionals tried to demonstrate the value of their contributions by counting clips and calculating the cost of the placements, as if that space had been bought as advertising. That time was, sadly, now. I’m saddened to hear that that’s still the method some agencies and their clients use.

When Twinkies parent company Hostess went out of business late last year there was an outpouring of sentiment from millions of people for the spongy cake with the creamy filling, which dates back to 1930. Saying goodbye to such an iconic brand was hard to, er, swallow for a lot of older consumers, who equate Twinkies with their childhood.

Anthony Weiner — or should we say “Carlos Danger” — is in the throes of a new crisis stemming from his apparent sexting habit. His poll numbers have already taken a huge hit, as reported by CNN.

New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, also known as Carlos Danger in the sexting world, issued an apology this week after more salacious text messages surfaced between him and a twenty-something Indiana woman. The messages… Continued

Personally, most of us know that communication is more about listening than talking. As marketers and corporate communicators, however, our professional training has too often driven us to think of our job as the science of monitoring, followed by the art of persuasion.

At PR News, we often write about how to stay on the good side of people like journalists or consumers. Yesterday, we decided to ask what really grinds your gears, as communications professionals.

Becoming a leading voice on one of the hottest issues in the country is not easy. If you really want to move your brand ahead and get into true thought leadership space, one of the best ways is to become a credible source for a momentous national news story.

KFC has announced the retirement of its Colonel Sanders brand mascot. The Colonel was a likeness of the restaurant’s founder, Harland Sanders, and is just the latest fast food icon to be faded out to make way for new brand appeals.

Soon after the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, Chick-fil-A President-COO Dan Cathy chimed in on his Twitter account about the decision.