Below, we provide brief reviews of new Web sites launched by PR agencies, corporations or others in the communications field. Check out what your peers are doing -- or what they're not doing online.
http://www.jprealty.com: Even though JP Realty Inc.'s site doesn't have an obvious PR hook at first glance, it's worth checking out what's happening at this URL. The site offers an Investor's Newsgroup, an open forum for brokers, analysts and investors to discuss the latest JP Realty developments. Another smart investor relations feature here provides the names of analysts, with their phone numbers, who track the company's business investments. JPR Realty owns or has an interest in 44 properties, including 11 regional malls.
http://www.liggett.com: Humor can be hard to pull off on the World Wide Web without seeming too trite. But if for no other reason than it made us chuckle, we think PR practitioners should take a short jaunt to this cyber destination. Marcom house Liggett-Stashower pulls off some nifty PR here by getting across its business spin -- such as its $74 million in billings and its industry partnerships -- while injecting some humor. There's also the company's Thought for Today and The Ad Guru. Fun stuff.
http://www.prpkronberg.com: Okay, it was first said on the "Seinfeld" show but yadda, yadda, yadda. Even though we think the Public Relations Partners site is loaded with content, it seemed a little rudimentary. This independent German consultancy needs to jazz up this site if it's meant to net good PR. We did, however, like that it breaks out its expertise and services.
http://www.makovsky.com: PR professionals will find this site useful because of the way Makovsky & Co. has showcased the variety of its clients and what it has accomplished for these clients. The site provides information about the company itself and has hotlinks to its clients' Web sites. The site also allows its vistors to e-mail queries directly to the firm. Smart, very smart.
http://www.gablegroup.com: The Gable Group's site might have more aesthetic value than compelling content. But the company, a high-tech and Internet marketing communications firm, does provide some Web PR know-how through its "Resource Center." This section offers PR tips, trend stories, new case histories, information on PR jobs, and hot links to top-ranked Web resources on media, entertainment, healthcare and research. There is also a "Hot News" section that has the agency's news releases, its clients news releases, video and audio clips and the agency's newsletter.
http://www.crisny.org/~sawbrown: We're giving Sawchuk, Brown Associates' site high marks because it was filled with facts as well as entertainment. The URl focuses on PR, public affairs, media and communications topics, with an emphasis on Albany and the Capital Region, N.Y., offering informative items about the area's history and personalities, including state government politics.
http://www.commcorecomm.com: We're not panning this site by any means but we think Commcore Communication Strategies needs to spice it up. While this URL contains a lot of valuable information, we think it needs more pizazz. The site, however, does offer worthwhile and quick tips on message development, persuasive presentations and media interview skills. Each month the site offers a new "QuickTip" on a communications/media training topic.