The Public Relations Blog

Gaining positive coverage is great news and certainly a morale boost in that someone thinks you are doing a good job, but why leave it there? Just because you had a story published, does not mean everyone has had a chance to see it.

For more information why you shouldn't hire an advertising firm to do PR, see Signs you’re working with an ad agency instead of a PR firm

Never let an advertising agency do your PR.

The other night I saw a commercial from Apple, in which it claimed that the iPhone is now the most-used camera on earth. Not the most-used camera phone, the most-used camera, which would mean its integrated digital camera has surpassed stand-alone photo giants like Nikon, Canon and Fuji. Added to the number of Google searches, emails and Facebook updates performed every day on smartphones, the popularity of cell-phone cameras is a powerful testament to just how much you and I love and depend on integrated technologies. (Remember when you had to remember your camera, film and batteries? I do.)

Quick PR Response Averts Reputational Crisis and Returns Company to Profitability

Background

Considered to be the definitive sports drink for all major athletes, Gatorade’s march to international brand recognition saw it begin its life in Florida as a regionally based drink, with little of the scientific research backing its claims that it enjoys today. The product’s launch came at a time when general public belief was that any liquid ingestion during physical activity caused cramps and nausea. Despite this common misconception, a growing number – including University of Florida Gator football coach Ray Graves – began to recognize the need to somehow replenish energy and endurance lost through an athlete’s perfusing sweat. The answer, an electrolyte-infused concoction developed by UF’s College of Medicine, showed promising results in restoring the body’s chemical balance. The challenge, however, as with all new ideas, would be to gain wider public recognition and acceptance.

Background

Billed as the sports car for people who dislike driving sports cars, the creators of the Ford Mustang opted for a slow and strategic approach when it came to promoting its latest concept. Rather than solely relying on an expensive advertising budget, Ford instead began focusing its efforts on a media relations campaign. Understanding the power and influence a public buzz could generate, the carmaker starting leaking information to the media almost a year prior to the vehicle’s launch.

PR Success Story: CBS vs. Gen. Westmoreland

Background

After airing a controversial documentary accusing military leaders of gross miscalculations concerning the strength and size of enemy forces during the Vietnam War, CBS News soon found itself acting as defendant in a $120 million libel lawsuit. Having recently suffered some negative press coverage due to a similar circumstance, the last thing the news network wanted or could afford was yet another public image crisis.

Background

In what began as a simple plan to promote construction of a Vietnam War memorial in Washington D.C., project fundraisers soon found themselves becoming the source of a dispute that quickly spread across the country. Architecture major Maya Lin's vision of a "rift in the earth" created by a polished black stone wall on which the etched names of the dead or missing would appear, generated as much praise as it did intense opposition. At the center of contention lay disagreement over the chosen design's ability to provide dignity and valor to the memory of the war's fallen servicemen. Now far removed from simply promoting a non-profit fund and its statue, PR experts responsible for the memorial's image instead found themselves in the middle a struggle to find a resolution that would benefit their client as well as the public at large.