The Public Relations Blog

1. Apple’s polarizing ‘iPhone Pocket’ sells out in hours
2. Grammys demonstrate earned media with wildfire relief fundraising
3. United Airlines unifies messaging during shutdown
4. 60-second close: Unify communications for crisis and reach

1. Apple’s polarizing ‘iPhone Pocket’ sold out in hours

• Apple’s $230 iPhone Pocket sold out within hours of launch.
  
  
• While fashion influences the accessory, many mocked it online.
  
  
• Premium-based brand positioning is key, demonstrating the brand's ability to generate cultural buzz for high-priced accessories, even where public opinion remains mixed.

2. Grammys demonstrate earned media with wildfire relief fundraising

• The Grammys leveraged high-trust messengers like the Jonas Brothers and Avril Lavigne to elevate local businesses through earned media.
  
  
• Blending broadcast ads, social media visibility, and on-screen QR codes, the initiative became a multimedia experience.
  
  
• The cohesive messaging and multichannel PR campaigns generated $7 million in relief funds.

3. United Airlines unifies messaging during government shutdown

• United Airlines published an internal CEO memo, signaling employee communications aligned with its external communication strategy.
  
  
• The company prioritized transparency and rapid crisis communications.
  
  
• During a turbulent moment, United shared key policy decisions with its workforce, reinforcing trust and alignment in communications.

4. 60-second close: Unify communications for crisis and reach

• From Apple's polarizing iPhone Pocket to celebrity-powered earned media, adopting a unified communications strategy is critical for PR that delivers.
  
  
• Unifying internal and external messaging remains critical for brand growth and crisis communication strategies.
  
  
• Axia’s team can strategically outline and unify your communication strategy for maximum impact and visibility. Ask me how we can assist you.

1. Amazon’s internal blunder leads to global outage
2. Authenticity is essential for modern communications and reaching Gen Z
3. 60-second close: Build brand trustworthiness with credibility and consistency

In a courtroom, even the most confident witnesses often get the story wrong. They remember what they think they saw — not what actually happened. The same problem happens in marketing every day.

Companies ask new customers, “How did you hear about us?” and then take those answers at face value. Unfortunately, people are unreliable narrators of their own buyer journey. Human memory isn’t a recording; it’s a reconstruction.

As a result, marketing teams build reports, dashboards, and even budgets on faulty self-reported attribution — and that can lead to costly, misleading conclusions.

Recently, I was interviewed by a leading enterprise technology publication about the lessons corporate leaders can learn from the AWS outage. The conversation revealed something every brand — not just cloud providers — should take seriously: Crisis communication is as critical as technical resilience.

As search evolves from links to language, the humble press release is experiencing a powerful resurgence. Not as a tool for vanity metrics or mass wire spam, but as a strategic asset that feeds both generative AI models and answer-based search engines. Smart brands are rediscovering how to use news releases to shape how they’re understood, quoted, and recommended by machines.

1. Cracker Barrel’s new social media lead reflects on “busy” first 60 days
2. Taco Bell leverages celebrity cameos for its new “Crispy Chicken” menu
3. Charlie Kirk’s death exposed gaps in crisis communication plans.
4. 60-second close: Navigating crisis and creativity

1. AI is shaping brand visibility through media coverage
2. Taylor Swift’s Orange Wave sparks brand buzz
3. 60-second close: The power of earned media and visibility

1. The domino effect of Prime Day — retail's new Black Friday
2. Chipotle, Deliveroo, Lime: Quirky campaigns round‑up
3. Adidas resurrects its “Superstar, The Original” campaign
4. 60-second close: The many faces of PR strategy

We asked ChatGPT directly how it uses earned media and news releases to shape its responses. Its answer reveals exactly why PR is now central to AI-powered discovery. If your brand isn’t showing up in trusted coverage, you’re invisible to the algorithms shaping today’s conversations.

Explore the full exchange and its implications for your PR strategy regarding AI relations.

1. Lessons from the Nintendo Switch 2 pre- and post-launch
2. X hires third PR lead in a year
3. 60-second close: Aligning messaging with reality