I love watching the Academy Awards, from the red carpet to Best Picture. And I think we’ve all come to the consensus that the 86th annual Academy Awards, Ellen’s performance in particular, were particularly well-done and entertaining. Ellen did a terrific job of engaging her audience in the auditorium and, in doing so, offering the viewing audience a sense that we were all in on a great joke. Most notably, the “selfie” seen ‘round the world was, I believe, a moment of live-television genius; a…
Read MoreFirst of all thanks so much for reaching out to us. All 126 of you have done a great job of reaching out to us at THP as part of your assignment. That aggressiveness (I will get back to that in a minute) will serve you well in your future careers as public relations professionals. Apologies for not personally getting back to you individually, so in the spirit of not wanting to disappoint, and to set an example as a good role model, here are…
Read MoreI usually don’t watch much of the Winter Olympics, other than figure skating, but this year I paid much closer attention. There was a lot of hype surrounding the Olympics this winter; however, much of it wasn’t about the games themselves. Instead, headlines surrounding the Olympics focused on what was going on in Sochi: the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are some public relations lessons we can learn from the events at Sochi this year. Hotels were built, but hardly complete. Upon arriving…
Read MoreDuring the last couple of months, many of us at Hodges have caught the running bug. (If the opinion piece that ran—pun intended— a few months ago in the Wall Street Journal, Ok, You’re a Runner. Get Over It. resonated with it you, this might not be the blog post for you.) Here in Richmond, The Monument Avenue 10k is kind of a big deal and this year almost half of our office will be running it—look for us wearing some cool shirts on the…
Read MoreLast week, CVS made a bold move in deciding to no longer sell cigarettes in its 7,600 stores nationwide. The decision garnered CVS beaucoup earned media, including much praise and perhaps a little criticism. But some of that praise, including from CVS vendor and global PR powerhouse Edelman, blew right past hyperbolic, calling the decision courageous. In a guest column this week on The Future Buzz, our own Caroline Platt explains why this is a smart business move, not a courageous act of civil disobedience….
Read MoreWhile I won’t go into a blow-by-blow grading of the Super Bowl fare dished out by our ad agency brethren (although special kudos to Radio Shack and our friends at CarMax just to name a few), I found myself underwhelmed by the latest batch. After spending more of the game on Twitter watching reaction to the Broncos’ lack of action and to the knee-jerk reaction to the spots, something screamed at me loud and clear. It’s not about the ads anymore, it’s about the PR…
Read MoreFor good or for bad, lots of media relations is done by email. We need journalists and producers to open and respond to our email out of the hundreds that they receive each day – and beyond straight pitches, we’re competing against real life – stories they’re actively working on, demands from the boss, even emails from the spouse about home stuff. It’s tough to be seen among such volume, and so we media relations folks examine (read: obsess about) everything: What’s the best time…
Read MoreSo what’s new? I actually asked myself that question during my holiday hiatus. It’s the one time of the year that I actually have the time to ask that question of myself. And while it wasn’t a great epiphany, Richard Edelman, one of the leaders and giants in the PR industry answered my question. Not directly. He didn’t appear in a dream or anything. He landed in my Twitter stream in the form of a research report Edelman (the firm) released on the future of…
Read MoreFor the past couple years, public relations has found itself at the top of the most stressful jobs list. In fact, if you take away the life-or-death careers (police officer, soldier, fire fighter, pilot), our profession is #1. Not brain surgeon, not nuclear engineer – public relations professional. Take a moment to really let it sink in. Many PR people take this as a point of pride. It shouldn’t, unless we’re also willing to admit a self-importance problem. (Before I go any further, I’m not…
Read MoreEarlier this fall, Barilla made headlines for all the wrong reasons: its president said they’d never use a gay family in advertisements. News outlets reported on planned boycotts, people flocked to social media expressing outrage and clever Photoshoppers edited the company’s trademark blue Barilla box to say, “Bigotoni,” a play on rigatoni. Two months later the company is doing damage control by creating a diversity and inclusion board, hiring a chief diversity officer and participating in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. Too little,…
Read MoreBefore landing at The Hodges Partnership 11 years ago, I spent two years working for a business journal. Back then, I leafed through media kits that came in the mail and countless faxes and filtered emails and calls from PR professionals near and far. My take on the PR industry back then? I was amazed at how many things came across my desk that were irrelevant to our publication. And I always got a chuckle when I’d take a call about a new business opening…
Read MoreThis week marks the end of fashion week in Paris, a culmination of a month long global reveal of what we’ll be wearing next spring, or at least wishing we were. For those PR professionals representing fashion and luxury brands, as we do here at Hodges Partnership, the next few weeks will be spent pitching the newest collections to key editors, especially for long lead publications, as they plan their early 2014 books. When it comes to pitching fashion or luxury goods, the most important…
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