The art of publicity stunts dates back to 1929 when Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, announced to the media that a group of women’s rights suffragettes would march in a Manhattan parade and light their “Torches of Freedom.” Once in front of the cameras the models lit up Lucky Strike cigarettes on cue, as Edward was employed by the American Tobacco Company. (Read more…)

Each year, the clock for getting out holiday-related press releases starts ticking earlier. Recent holiday seasons have proven to be ultra-competitive because of genuine fears that consumers would not be spending money like they had in the past. These fears push purchases back, causing retailers to discount more heavily in an effort to reduce inventories. So when it comes to holiday planning, it’s imperative that manufacturers and service providers push the value element of their products when doing public relations. (Read more…)

The Oprah Winfrey Show
(noun)
1. (also known as Oprah) the highest-rated and longest-running daytime U.S. syndicated talk show. It is hosted and produced by Oprah Winfrey through her company Harpo Productions, Inc.
2. maker of dreams; the holy grail of public relations professionals, authors, entrepreneurs, and individuals seeking exposure for their products, books or services.

One of the most frequent questions we get at eReleases is, “Can you get us on Oprah?” (Read more…)

Baseball may seem to have little to do with public relations; baseball haters may question whether they can learn anything from a game. But examining the various public relations disasters the sport has weathered over the years can teach us a number of things: how loose confederations of companies and organizations fail at the most basic level; how the consumer can be turned off by abhorrent behavior; and how the failure to capitalize on public relations opportunities — or contain public relations  disasters — can lead to catastrophe. It’s been said that baseball is a microcosm of life. Baseball has also served as a microcosm of the world of public relations. (Read more…)

Whether you’re a pundit, an expert, an analyst, or a third party, it’s important to remember that you rarely know all the facts. The media does not care about this; they just want a quote and a public relations contact to attribute it to. The juicier the sound bites you offer, the better for journalists, but not necessarily for you. (Read more…)

Every so often, I undertake what I call my “Email Dump.” This is where I go through the approximately 12,000 emails that have piled up in my inbox and decide what I can finally delete for all eternity. Unsurprisingly, there a lot of press releases and public relations communications among the emails now languishing in my “trash” folder. (Read more…)

During the last week of 2006, when things were slow on Wall Street, I spent some time surfing around the web, playing public relations detective for my company. I was on the lookout for two things: 1.) people or companies infringing on our copyrighted material, and 2.) people writing things (good or bad) about my company. What I found should send public relations professionals to their search engine of choice immediately, just in case they think no one is writing about (or stealing from) their company or clients. (Read more…)

August is supposed to be a slow month for me, one where I catch up on long-term projects that I’ve managed to ignore for several turns of the calendar. This past August I was interviewed on television four times, a public relations coup. The four interviews — on Bloomberg TV, the BBC, CNBC and CNBC Europe — went off without a hitch. I was well-prepared, well-dressed and ready to tackle the subject at hand. Looking back on last week, here are some lessons that I tried to remember before my interviews, as well as ones that I discovered after the fact. (Read more…)

Presenting yourself–or someone in your organization–as an expert can be a critical aspect of your public relations strategy. However, there are some fields where just about anyone can say they’re an “expert”–or worse, a “consultant.” The media, and even the general public, has become increasingly skeptical of such claims. However, there are ways to overcome this skepticism, add credibility to your claims of expertise, and pull off a public relations coup. (Read more…)

It’s time for another dip into the PR Fuel mailbag. This time around, readers have questions about job interviews with public relations firms; the pros and cons of media training courses; the potential public relations pitfalls of Facebook; and more. (Read more…)