Wednesday, January 24, 2018

What Star Wars and Loot Boxes Can Teach Us About Avoiding a PR Crisis




If you follow the world of video games like I do, you’re familiar with Electronic Arts (EA), a wildly successful, publically traded, developer/publisher whose industry prominence has earned them exclusive licenses to some of the world’s biggest brands, including the NFL, UFC, and Star Wars. EA is no stranger to controversy, be it a conflict over pricing or their purchase of smaller development talent. However, in late 2017, the company’s stock took a $3 billion hit after their latest controversy became a full-blown PR crisis, prompting legislative action that equated EA’s business practices to gambling, in addition to a major drop in consumer sales.

While the situation now stands as a shining example of a communication failure, the truth is, things should never have spiraled out of control. Hidden within this PR nightmare are lessons to be learned for communication professionals in every industry on how to better manage a crisis.
  

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Customer Spokespersons: The Path to PR Success


For companies looking to breathe new life into a PR or marketing campaign, product launches are exciting, as is news on awards or other recognition. But, nothing is more powerful than an advocate who can praise your company without sounding like an insider – yes, I’m talking about customers. Customer spokespersons are the special sauce of any PR campaign.
  

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Media Relations Pitching Pitfalls that Kill Relationships


Media relations pitching is challenging to say the least. Editors are busy people. Writers and journalists are often on the run, facing tight deadlines and email boxes that absolutely never get read down to zero.

When pitching a potential story, getting an editor to open your email is already a challenge, albeit one that can be overcome with a good subject line and some follow-up phone calls. But believe it or not, that’s the easy part.