Today’s a pretty big day here at THP. We actually just celebrated with cheap champagne and Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches (OMG, they are so good). Today we launched our first eBook, the EOP (earned, owned and paid) Playbook. It’s a culmination of two years of trial and error as we changed the main focus of our agency from “traditional PR” to one based on the evolution of media relations, social media and content marketing. If any or all of those practices interests you then you should download…
Read MoreMy dad always thought I worked in advertising. Until the day he died seven years ago he thought I created ads. Oh, I tried on many occasions to explain what I did as a PR pro but in the end it was easier for him to process it as placing ads. Of course what I really did — especially in the world of media relations — was convince a reporter or editor to write/create their interpretation of the story I pitched them. And then hope the final…
Read MoreSo, you think you have a good story to tell. Do you? What makes you think so? What makes your story stand out, why are you different, why should the media care? A lot goes into media relations, a lot more than most people think. Granted, there are slam dunks like helping a new retailer open a location in your town or announcing the new CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But even newsmakers like that require a great deal of work. Now more than…
Read MoreIn the world of marketing we’re always focused on “what’s next?” What’s the next big technology platform? How can we measure better? What comes after B2C and B2B? One of the reasons I haven’t blogged for a while is I’ve been spending my time talking to clients and other in the industry to get a sense of “what’s next?” In a couple of weeks THP will be making its first e-book available. Its focus is on the EOP (earned, owned and paid) approach of PR…
Read MoreOwning your story, which we covered in our previous post, is one thing. Telling it consistently month after month with a fresh and interesting perspective is another. Based on our experience, the reason most owned content strategies fail – or at least don’t reach their full potential – is because not enough resources and time were devoted to the many steps and dimensions that are part and parcel to an effective content strategy. Build the infrastructure A critical first step is identifying subject-matter experts (SMEs),…
Read MoreWhile there is, and likely will always be, a place for media relations and traditional news delivery, the audience for this type of information is shrinking. According to Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media Report, 2015 circulation numbers in the newspaper industry alone were down 7 percent from the prior year. Compounding that, advertising – in both print and digital – was down 8 percent. The implications for individual publications is staggering with staff being slashed, the elimination of entire sections, and in…
Read MorePublic relations is, to some degree, always changing. There’s always some new tool or technique to stay ahead of the curve. But every so often, these changes are so severe, or culminate in a way, that they force us to alter the strategy and counsel we provide to clients, bosses and even each other. The rise of social and digital media, and concurrently, the changing nature of the traditional media landscape, is one such example. As Josh discussed in his previous post, public relations used…
Read MoreWhen I set out to find my first job in public relations in late 1979, I did what many newly minted English majors did — pored through the classified section of The Washington Post, running my finger down the column past pharmacists and physical therapists, psychologists and public health workers, to that largely ambiguous category: public relations. I’m not sure I had a clear idea what public relations really was, but I knew it had something to do with writing, so I thought it would…
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