The Shifty Press Release

The debate over the value of the press release has raged pretty much unabated for the last seven or eight years. My pal Todd Defren literally built his PR firm on the back of his pathbreaking effort to re-imagine the press release of the future. (Yesterday, his company Shift Communications was named PR Agency of…… Continue reading The Shifty Press Release

Converged Media Rising

Y&R’s Brand Asset ValuatorBack in the day, I had the good fortune to work on the introduction of Brand Asset Valuator, Y&R’s seminal study that turned conventional wisdom on its head about how brands are built. Through thousands of interviews across dozens of countries, Y&R concluded that a brand’s “Esteem” is derived through “Relevance” and…… Continue reading Converged Media Rising

Long Live PR (and the Press Release Too)

Two posts caught my attention early this week. Both offered fairly dour assessments of the practice of public relations, and as expected, both were heavily re-tweeted into the media echo chamber.The first, from a trade journalist who no doubt has been on the receiving end of myriad PR come-ons and spam, declared that the press…… Continue reading Long Live PR (and the Press Release Too)

Growing PR Spheres

Silicon Valley Watcher’s Tom Foremski has made a sport out of scrutinizing the PR profession these last few years (often with good reason). Yesterday, he raised a provocative question from which one might infer more disrespect for our perennially beleaguered profession: What are the implications when PR pros, who’ve built large online followings, use their…… Continue reading Growing PR Spheres

Incestuous Interplay

Do you think Todd Defren will ever break free from his character in Seinfeld to assert his broader industry wherewithal? I do. Defren, best known for getting PR tongues-a-wagging with his social media news release, is more versatile than the SMNR-saddled character with which he’s most closely associated.In his blog post today, Todd astutely derides…… Continue reading Incestuous Interplay