In my first video post (hopefully of many), I explore the dual paths of traditional and “new” public relations and why we are traveling both. Marketing folks are using the phrases content marketing, social marketing, brand journalism, etc., interchangeably these days. This is causing a great deal of confusion not only in the client marketplace but within agencies themselves. As PR people look to grow they wonder things like, “What will happen to media relations as it becomes tougher given the shrinking media marketplace?” and “Where do I…
Read MoreEven a half a foot of snow in Richmond (and three inches in New Jersey where Stacey lives) can’t stop us from celebrating media relations success. First, a great placement for Sandler Training, the leading global sales and leadership training outfit. This CIO.com placement quotes Sandler VP Brian Sullivan sharing his thoughts on using LinkedIn for lead generation. A true team effort on our end and a month in the making. Second, a national placement for a just-released survey from Monmouth University pollster, Patrick Murray,…
Read MoreI was not a big Brian Williams fan at the beginning. Frankly, I didn’t think he could shine Tom Brokaw’s shoes. For some reason at that time he reminded me of the William Hurt character in the movie Broadcast News. Hurt’s Tom Grunick with his good looks and likeable on-air presence ended up winning the day despite having “fake cried” his way into the hearts and minds of the viewing audience. But time has a way of changing one’s mind. Williams in ten years went…
Read MoreMy wife served Super Bowl snack/dinner a little late last night. My family, including my 15-year-old daughter and my 11-year-old son, was still sitting around the dinner table in the first half when Nationwide aired its #makesafehappen Super Bowl spot last night. As it ended the voiceover said, “At Nationwide, we believe in protecting what matters most, your kids.” Tell that to my kids who audibly gasped about 15 seconds earlier when the boy in the spot announces that he “couldn’t grow up because I…
Read MoreTwo big announcements this week have “media” people (journalists, PR folks, social media peeps) wondering is this truly the beginning of the end. And the interesting thing is the announcements come from organizations on the opposite ends of the media world. First, Condé Nast, home to such high-regarded media brands like The New Yorker, GQ, Vanity Fair, etc., announced the birth of 23 Stories. This new “studio” gives brands and marketers direct access to editors at Condé Nast magazines to create “branded” content designed to fit in…
Read MoreSonali and I got together last week to plan our upcoming Hodges Starters presentation for next Wednesday (shameless plug: you can register here). While we have things pretty nailed down I have to admit it was harder than usual to gain consensus around what 2015 will bring in the PR/marketing/social/digital work. So while I know you’re waiting with baited breath to see what Sonali and I say, here’s a rundown of links from other PR/marketing folks as they looked into their crystal ball. I really…
Read MoreSo if you’re like me you’ve consumed all of the “year-ender/year-beginninger” marketing guru roundups. You know the ones where marketing leaders are asked about the big trends of the year and they each proclaim it as “The Year of The (insert the cool marketing word here).” I admit I’ve been guilty of doing that in the past inserting words like “social” or “content” or “personal” into the void as a way of simply describing what the coming year will be known for in public relations…
Read MoreContinuing on my recent content marketing rant… When the marketing trend du jour emerges, the sirens usually sound proclaiming that “(insert marketing trend du jour here) is the end or death of public relations.” Having been around for a long time, we saw that during the dot-com bubble when online communications became the rage. We also saw similar headlines five years ago at the beginning of the social media era. Now, content marketing is about to kill PR. I don’t know about you, but I…
Read MoreLet me apologize up front to everyone I “talked business” with at the annualish Newman Pig Pickin this past weekend. You know who you are. Thanks for telling me to relax. That being said, every conversation I had over pork and brisket, every phone call I’m having with folks, every new business meeting I’ve taken recently includes the new buzz topic du jour: Content Marketing. Aside from this thrilling me because THP has been focusing our efforts on this for the past year or so,…
Read MoreMedia relations is a core assignment and talent for most public relations pros. It’s what I cut my teeth at when I switched over from journalism 20+ years ago. It’s a lot of what we built The Hodges Partnership on when we started the firm 12 years ago. But the practice of media relations has changed dramatically over those 12 years. What used to be an exercise in list creation and blast emailing is now a more targeted, research-driven approach to find the right reporter/editor/producer…
Read MoreFirst of all I’d like to thank the folks that got up early this morning to “pack the room” for our first Hodges Starters event. If you joined us for our inaugural session (background here) event, you saw how we manage content on social channels and how it should and can be measurable, strategic and occasionally, magical. (Remember that Ellen selfie at the Oscars?) We haven’t forgotten the folks that couldn’t come (or the folks that made it and asked for a copy of the…
Read MoreFor those of you who aren’t sports or baseball fans, please indulge me for a second. This post will eventually make sense. As many of you know THP is named for Gil Hodges, the manager of the World Champion 1969 Mets. Any great baseball team has its stars and for Gil’s Mets that star was starting pitcher and eventual Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. But Tom wasn’t the only terrific starting pitcher on that team. The starting rotation boasted left-hander Jerry Koosman and rookie right-hander…
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