Marketing Craftmanship

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Page’s Seven Principles of Public Relations Management

Marketing Craftmanship

Although Edward Bernays is often characterized (largely through self-promotion) as the “father of public relations,” most serious PR practitioners consider Arthur W. Page to be the first and most influential apostle of modern-day public relations and corporate communications. Corporate relations is a management function.

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Should PRSA Sanction Public Relations Practitioners?

Marketing Craftmanship

As a result, effective public relations involves pushing a company’s or client’s agenda (or products and services) without being a pest, and ideally, by being helpful to reporters who are in a position to reciprocate with media coverage. It will remain a business function, nothing more.

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Why Public Relations Does Not Sit at the Senior Management Table

Marketing Craftmanship

If the Edward Bernays era is considered the profession’s starting point, then public relations has had nearly a century to earn its seat at senior management’s table. But there are two major reasons – involving credentials and values – why PR still does not, and may never, sit there.

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The Herb Schmertz Era: When Public Relations Had Some Balls

Marketing Craftmanship

., brings to mind what many consider to be a golden age for Public Relations; the period from the mid-60s to mid-80s, when the PR profession had the mandate, the skills and the balls to stand up to criticism leveled against the organizations and people whom they represented. Masterpiece Theatre Mobil Oil Corp.

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Death by Content: How Press Release Abuse Killed Public Relations

Marketing Craftmanship

For public companies, dissemination of financial results and material events will be handled by their legal department. Because press releases are now considered sales collateral by their target audiences, “media relations” for all companies will be managed by the marketing department.

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The Harvard Cheating Scandal: Do Administrators Need “Public Relations 101??

Marketing Craftmanship

Harvard University announced last week that the school is investigating 125 students for possibly cheating on a take-home final exam for “Government 1310: Introduction to Congress.”

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Stop the Insanity. Fire Your PR Firm in 2014.

Marketing Craftmanship

Uncategorized #brand management #media merchandising #media placement #media relations #PR #press release #publicity #reputation management #thought leadership 2014 advertorials agency selection Albert Einstein earned media insanity marketing communications marketing counsel marketing strategy media clippings media clips NJ PR firms pay-to-play PR (..)

PR 124
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Ronald McDonald Makeover: Liposuction Not Required

Marketing Craftmanship

This was a historic triple-stupid play deserving of special recognition from the Public Relations Society of America. And the McDonald’s clown is namesake of a charitable organization that helps kids who have cancer. Perhaps they should have hired the PR guy who handles the Facebook account at Burson-Marsteller.

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Five Life Lessons from Doc Martin

Marketing Craftmanship

Uncategorized #craftsmanship #docmartin #PRfirms #public events #thought leadership Cornwall England Doc Martin Dr. Martin Ellingham marketing craftsmanship Martin Clunes Netflix Philippa Braithwaite Port Isaac Portwenn public relations social media television series UK Television'

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Sales Tips from PR Legend Lee Levitt

Marketing Craftmanship

Lee Levitt embodied craftsmanship in public relations, and left a lifetime of wisdom for those who follow in his footsteps. If you have a copy on your bookshelf, pull it out and re-read it. But don’t ask to borrow my copy, because it’s not going anywhere.

PR 113
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Marketing Craftmanship - Untitled Article

Marketing Craftmanship

Clint Arthur may represent the extreme end of PR hucksterism, but for decades many well-known public relations firms have sold other types of false or inflated credibility that relies on the implied third-party endorsement of respected media sources and organizations. (In

PR 100
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Client Newsletters: Empty Suit of the B2B Marketing Mix

Marketing Craftmanship

Uncategorized #content marketing #marketing #reputation management #thought leadership B2B marketing client newsletters CNBC CRM face-to-face communication marketing communications public relations strategy publicity tour social media top-of-mind awareness two-way communication word of mouth marketing'

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4 Media Relations Lessons…Learned the Hard Way

Marketing Craftmanship

Press relations is always a crap shoot. As head of public relations at a very large financial services company, I spoke on a regular basis with seasoned journalists who always knew far more than I did about complex, arcane topics. Then she hung up. That experience taught me that you can never count on positive coverage.

Media 147
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PETA’s SeaWorld Lawsuit: Do Publicity Stunts Make Sense?

Marketing Craftmanship

.” On that basis, PETA’s lawsuit succeeds as a publicity stunt. But the massive publicity related to their filing, calling the public’s attention to the rights of animals, is not only consistent with PETA’s underlying mission, but also demonstrates the extent to which PETA is willing to defend those rights.

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3.5 Reasons to Skip Industry Awards

Marketing Craftmanship

reasons why your __ (law, graphic design, accounting, management consulting, public relations, engineering, financial planning, advertising, technology, healthcare, beauty, payroll, etc.) With the understanding that industry awards represent a substantial worldwide economic enterprise…here are 3.5

Industry 100
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Using Negative Publicity as Negotiating Leverage

Marketing Craftmanship

The disclosure last May that Facebook had hired public relations firm Burson-Marstellar to initiate a smear campaign against Google’s “Social Circle” raised the hackles of many PR practitioners who labeled the tactic as unethical. Shakedown of BMW of North America.

Tactics 113
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PR’s “Big Lie” is Alive and Well

Marketing Craftmanship

Nearly 5 years ago, I wrote a LinkedIn blog post ( The PR Industry’s Dirty Little Secret ) that called out PR practitioners who use their “close relationships” with journalists – along with the implication that those relationships will generate media coverage – to sell their services to prospective clients.

PR 100
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PR Lesson from the Lolo Jones / New York Times Controversy

Marketing Craftmanship

Did Jere Kill Lolo’s Mojo? On August 4 th , New York Times sportswriter Jére Longman – who has been covering the Olympics under an “Inside the Rings” column – wrote an article on American hurdler Lolo Jones that was considered by many readers to be overly harsh and entirely unnecessary.

PR 164
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Tennyson Delivers Skyfall’s British Bulldog Moment

Marketing Craftmanship

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

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Investment-Related Publicity: How Clueless is Your Fund?

Marketing Craftmanship

According to BNY Mellon’s most recent survey of Investor Relations (IR) practices worldwide, fewer than half of the nearly 700 respondents are using media relations to support their IR goals. More significantly, only 6% of that group included media exposure as a top IR goal.

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PR Lesson from a Twitter Flap

Marketing Craftmanship

Emma Sullivan. emmakate988. Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person # heblowsalot.

PR 124
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Is Your B2B Firm REALLY Marketing…Or Simply Making Tactical Soup?

Marketing Craftmanship

Is Your B2B Marketing a Tactical Hodge Podge? B2B firms invest significant dollars and hours maintaining a broad range of marketing tactics that may or may not demonstrate economic value.

Tactics 100
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No-Cost, Cornball Marketing Can Drive B2B Top-of-Mind Awareness

Marketing Craftmanship

LtoR: Heather Fuller, Andrew Crisp, Percy, Gary Thompson, Mickie Kennedy. Missing: Nimmi, the acrobatic dog.

B2B 100
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BMW’s Storm Cooper: A Mini-Coup Rather than a PR Blunder?

Marketing Craftmanship

Stormy Weather for BMW? For a fee, Germany allows people or companies to sponsor the names of weather fronts. So last month, to promote the “wind and weatherproof” capabilities of its Mini Cooper line, BMW’s marketing agency purchased naming rights to a high pressure system that originated in Siberia.

PR 113
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Should Companies Manage Their Employees’ LinkedIn Profiles?

Marketing Craftmanship

Everything Counts in Brand Management. LinkedIn has become an important business channel, not only for individuals to showcase their professional credentials, but also for companies seeking to promote their value proposition and to establish or manage brand awareness.

Linkedin 100
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Should I Rekindle My Blog Love Affair…Or End It?

Marketing Craftmanship

Can This Blog Affair Be Saved? Here’s a sad letter from the Marketing Craftsmanship mailbag: Dear Marketing Guy, I’ve fallen out of love with my Blog and I need your advice. My sad story: It was love at first sight. A company Blog had everything I was looking for in social media. It would drive SEO. Establish thought leadership.

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Glassdoor.com: Social Media Tool or PR Nightmare?

Marketing Craftmanship

Learning to Live With Employee Opinion. Since its founding in 2007, Glassdoor.com has become an important research tool for job hunters, corporate recruiters, and anyone looking for unvarnished behind-the-scenes insight into what really goes on behind corporate doors.

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4 ½ Reasons To Avoid Using Celebrity Endorsements

Marketing Craftmanship

With those big guns, can we be sure that Tony’s not using HGH? Here are 4 ½ good reasons to avoid celebrity endorsements: OJ Simpson. Tiger Woods. Lance Armstrong. Oscar Pistorius. Elmo the Muppet. The marketing world is littered with celebrity endorsements similar to these train wrecks.

Agency 100
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4 PR Lessons from the SharesPost / Wall Street Journal Fistfight

Marketing Craftmanship

If you’re not a habitual rubbernecker of battles between companies and the press, here’s a condensed version of a recent incident that can provide some lessons for all those subject to public scrutiny…which includes just about every individual, institution and company, public or private.

PR 124
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Brochureware Is Not a Dirty Word

Marketing Craftmanship

Brochureware is the term used, often with derogatory marketing implications, to describe websites consisting entirely of static pages that promote a company’s products and services, people and value proposition.

Words 113
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Fighting Online Brand Sabotage 101

Marketing Craftmanship

Complaint websites such as Yelp , Glassdoor and Ripoff Report – that empower actual and imaginary customers or employees to anonymously post their accurate or bogus comments online – have created new brand-related challenges and opportunities for their corporate targets. Brand Sabotage May Warrant Ninja Tactics.

Brand 113
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Avoid the Carnival Barker Approach to Publicity

Marketing Craftmanship

Publicity Must Be More Than Noise. Companies of all sizes believe that more publicity is always better, as a means to raise brand awareness and drive business results. But there are several reasons why this noisy carnival barker publicity is a losing game.

PR 100
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Why New Jersey Loves Bad PR

Marketing Craftmanship

Fly Fishing on the Raritan in Califon, NJ. Before I relocated to New Jersey a few years ago, my impressions of the Garden State were consistent with the stereotypes: Interstate 95 traffic jams, cogeneration plants spewing smoke, Tony Soprano, roadside diners, dangerous cities, people with annoying accents.

PR 113
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Is Your Web Content a Marketing Liability?

Marketing Craftmanship

Distracted by all the social media buzz, it’s easy for a company to lose sight of the fact that their website remains the mother ship of brand expression and commerce.

Content 113
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Sales and Marketing Alignment: Facing Professional Culture Clash

Marketing Craftmanship

To accomplish those necessary goals, and create some tangible evidence of their contribution to their company’s top line results, CMOs continue to rely heavily (or exclusively) on a large and growing inventory of marketing tactics and tools.

Sales 133
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5 Ways You Can Merchandise the “Masthead Value” of Publicity

Marketing Craftmanship

By limiting your publicity efforts to media placements with high masthead value, and by ensuring that those placements are effectively merchandised through direct communication, social media tools and proper website visibility, PR practitioners will spend far less time worry about the ROI of public relations.

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5 Secrets to Ray Dalio’s Hedge Fund Success

Marketing Craftmanship

Hedge Fund Craftsmanship. By most measures, Ray Dalio has achieved great success during his 62 years on earth. Unlike Donald Trump, Dalio didn’t inherit wealth. As a middle-class kid, he delivered newspapers, shoveled snow and was a caddy during the summer.

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Will Internet Transparency Devalue Craftsmanship?

Marketing Craftmanship

As online access to information and insight into a broad range of professional and technical skills becomes more widely available, will “knowledge worker” craftsmanship become an anachronism? For decades, medical schools have told students that patients want the Three As: Accessibility, Affability and Ability… in that order.