All in PR
Chicken and beer. September collapse. The firing of Terry Francona. The hiring and eventul firing of Bobby Valentine.
Since the 2007 World Series Championship season, the Red Sox have been in shambles. The team is more of a side attraction to what is Fenway Park, the amusement park that the owners are selling more than the product on the team.
Fans are fed up as season ticket sales are down. The team is on the bottom wrung of fandom in Boston.
Queue the public relations onslaught.
Tonight I learned that a mentor from early on in my career passed away.
Peter A. Morrissey, president and CEO of Morrissey & Company Public Relations in Boston, was a well-respected PR counselor in the Greater Boston area. His name carries weight in town and especially in the PR world.
I was employee number six of Morrissey & Company. It was during the dotcom phase when securing media coverage was as easy as a quick phone call (ad revenue was aplenty back then) and the web was exploding.
We had some great clients and some dog clients. Regardless, we treated each of the accounts with the utmost care and dedication because that's what Peter asked of us.
I read constantly. News websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. When it comes to the social web, I realize that I can'y catch everything, yet it's my job to keep on top of the trends, news, new services, apps, etc. Some ask, "How the heck do you keep up with it all?"
The answer is simplicity.
I keep things simple because there are many ways you can slice and dice what's important to you in terms of content. There's content that's important to you personally as well as professionally. And as many of you know, there's LOADS of it.
So how do I keep things simple and keep it organized?
Well, I first break down content into three categories:
Mashable is reporting that Vocus, a developer of software for the public relations industry, will acquire Help a Reporter Out (HARO), the wildly popular service that connects journalists with sources.
HARO, which started out as a Facebook group, quickly surged to be a fantastic resource for both PR professionals and journalists. The service caught on quickly because it is free for both journalists and PR types, whereas the leader in the space, Profnet, is subscription based.
Influencers are the new mediaIf you've ever worked in the PR, marketing or advertising business, you know that the media industry isn't the same as it used to be. Yes, everyone knows about newspapers closing, smaller staffs and dwindling advertisers numbers.
However, when you work in the business, there is a noticeable dynamic shift in the value placed on media coverage by both clients and agencies.
I'll admit, securing a positive piece in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe or a trade magazine gets clients excited still. Afterall, those are top tier publications. However, do "clips," as they called in the business, really move the needle? Do they help sell product or service?
Sometimes you have to put in your boots; somtimes you dont.As PR professionals, we’re trained to think about worst case scenarios and are continually learning and testing strategies and tactics that will help our clients address any crisis situation -- no matter how severe the facts and brand risks may be.
While some of the tactics we employ are just as viable today as they were 10 years ago, including strong, clear messaging, other tactics aren’t, such as relying on traditional media to tell your story.
As counselors, we have to be on our toes more than ever today because of the share of voice and influence that social media channels can create on any given day, at any given time and around any given issue.
Take what’s happening to Nestle for example.
