Making a Name for Your Startup

For those of you with whom I’m connected on LinkedIn, you probably noticed I recently returned from the Web Summit in Lisbon. It was my third year in attendance. Before I get into what I was doing there, you should know how big the Web Summit has become. First, I’d venture to say that it…… Continue reading Making a Name for Your Startup

Content Marketing Is So Last Year

KIMOJI’S APP LAUNCHES TOMORROW!!! pic.twitter.com/aXl8hiMobn — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 20, 2015 Many in my line of work will view the title of this post as heresy. Nonetheless, an admittedly unscientific look at who or what really moves the needle nowadays will likely reveal that those carefully crafted pieces of branded content contributed to…… Continue reading Content Marketing Is So Last Year

The 2015 PR Quiz (w/ answers)

How quickly things change in the PR business. In fact, how quickly things have changed in every business function — from marketing to sales to CRM to IT! Even with all this tumult, there remains one consistent imperative for managers: to attract and retain talent who’ve kept abreast of the changes in their respective professions.…… Continue reading The 2015 PR Quiz (w/ answers)

Cash Register Conversations

Well-intentioned, but awkward is how I would describe two current efforts to engage with customers when it’s not so clear those customers wish to be engaged with. I recently wrote about a McDonalds marketing promotion called “Pay With Lovin” wherein cashiers randomly profiled selected customers to act out an act of kindness in exchange for free…… Continue reading Cash Register Conversations

Apple Watch: Behind Imagined Doors

Cupertino, CA (Early 2014) Setting: A conference room at Apple headquarters where members of the vaunted company’s marketing communications team have gathered to map out a strategy to launch the much-anticipated Apple Watch. PR executive 1: We must make the Watch launch as big as anything we’ve launched in the last five years. We’ll all be looking…… Continue reading Apple Watch: Behind Imagined Doors

Drone On, Travel Marketers

In the immediate aftermath of the last major Mexican earthquake, our Mexico tourism client pleaded with us to help counter the U.S. media’s overly dramatic reports that the entire country was destroyed. In fact, the damage was isolated to just a few areas, and most of the big resort destinations remained relatively unscathed. Given broadcast…… Continue reading Drone On, Travel Marketers