OK — you’ve found the story. You’ve lined up a positive quote from within your company — and maybe (if you’re playing in the big leagues) a favorable comment from a professional business analyst. You have the facts, the figures, and the human interest that transforms facts into stories and news. Now what? Read More
It is the worst nightmare of anyone involved in event planning: The event turns into a disaster. Such was the case last week in London, where British Airways (“BA”) and BAA, which operates Heathrow Airport, opened Terminal 5. Read More
Dumbstruck. That’s how I felt after reading Jeffrey Goldberg’s article in the April 2nd edition of The New Yorker entitled “Selling Wal-Mart.”
“The Edelman team assigned to Wal-Mart, I learned, is divided into three groups: ‘promote,’ ‘response,’ and ‘pressure.’ The Jobs and Opportunity Zones notion came from the promotions team. The response-team members – veterans of political campaigns – are supposed to quickly counter criticism in the press or on the Web. The pressure group works on opposition research, focussing on the unions and the press,” Goldberg wrote. Read More
It was just a simple contest. For Toys “R” Us, Inc., however, it turned into a public relations nightmare.
The toy retailer started off 2007 in ugly fashion after a contest to award the first baby born in 2007 a $25,000 United States savings bond went awry amid charges of xenophobia and racism. The company smartly did an about-face, but will consumers be forgiving? Read More
When transit strikers in New York City went on strike last December, I tuned into NY1, a local news station owned by Time Warner and carried exclusively on the company’s cable system. The station had up-to-the-minute information on the labor negotiations and traffic situation. I didn’t bother to watch the local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates. In fact, I haven’t watched very much local television news since the immediate aftermath of 9/11 for one reason: It makes my stomach turn. Read More
I can only imagine what it’s been like for the public relations people at JetBlue over the past week. If any of those folks get paid by the hour, they’ve been racking up some serious overtime. Read More
The business world was shocked on Monday when it was announced that McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Jim Cantalupo had died of an apparent heart attack. Read More
Bizarre is a word I’ve heard muttered often over the past few days when it comes to Overstock.com. Read More
Ask Rudy Giuliani how one major event can change the public’s perception.
Before the tragic events of September 11, 2001, New York’s then-mayor was not exactly a media darling. His personal life was splashed on the pages of New York’s tabloids, the city’s finances were in awful shape, and His Honor was trying to push through funding packages to build, of all things, sports stadiums. By the time the sun set on September 11, 2001, however, Giuliani was considered a hero, and even his harshest critics found themselves cheering the Mayor, and the man. Read More
Richard W. Edelman, the president, chief executive officer and namesake of Edelman Public, is a very happy man. Read More