Posts Tagged ‘Public Relations’

Journalists Using TwitterI’m what you would classify as a Twitter observer – I look but I don’t touch. In response to my inactivity, I’m frequently told by digital experts “use it or lose it,” but I like my omnipresent view of the Twittersphere. It comes in handy to quickly ascertain the score of a game or the cause of train delays.

In the vein of self improvement, I’ve been asking myself what more could I do on Twitter? One obvious answer is engaging with journalists. Which lead me to my next questions – how do journalists use Twitter?

With the help of my colleague Cary Ruterman, I conducted an unscientific, but telling, audit of reporters’ social media habits. We spoke with journalists from print, online, broadcast and wire outlets and all of them focused on finance (that is kind of what we are known for here at Prosek).

Here is what we asked and found...

How do you use Twitter (professionally, for your reporting)?
All our respondents utilize it in almost in the same way: to monitor news, to connect with sources and to see what the industry and competitors alike are "talking about."

That seems like a lot to rely on Twitter for. How does it really impact you reporting?
Almost all reporters audited consider Twitter to be a key, daily source for reporting with one describing Twitter an “essential resource.” One reluctant reporter admitted that “it is becoming more useful to a degree.”

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Warren Buffett with the late Katharine Graham of the Washington Post at his 50th-birthday party in 1980. Image courtesy: Warren Buffett as seen on Fortune

Warren Buffett with the late Katharine Graham of the Washington Post at his 50th-birthday party in 1980. Image courtesy: Warren Buffett as seen on Fortune

The most recent issue of FORTUNE features an essay by Warren Buffett entitled, “Warren Buffett is bullish ... on women.”* In it, Mr. Buffett contributes his own thoughts to the recent dialogue taking place around women and work in the U.S., characterizing the unfortunate fact that barriers still remain.

Despite our track record as a nation, Mr. Buffett writes, “America has forged this success while utilizing, in large part, only half of the country's talent.”

Ultimately, Mr. Buffett’s FORTUNE essay issues a call to action not only to the men who continue to lead the majority of our corporations and occupy nearly all of the seats on our corporate boards, but also to those men who manage employees at any level.

Mr. Buffett states:

“No manager operates his or her plants at 80% efficiency when steps could be taken that would increase output. And no CEO wants male employees to be underutilized when improved training or working conditions would boost productivity. So take it one step further: If obvious benefits flow from helping the male component of the workforce achieve its potential, why in the world wouldn't you want to include its counterpart?”

While I don’t wholly agree with Mr. Buffett’s assessment on certain points (I’m sure he won’t lose any sleep over that), I did find his argument to be compelling. It also made me take a moment to look at the public relations profession in light of the argument that embracing the ascension of women to executive roles and directorships within companies, in addition to providing greater opportunity, mentorship and promotion of women through all levels of business makes business sense. Read the rest of this entry »

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Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar

Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar

While on a business trip in London this week, I read a story in the Financial Times about HSBC's planned layoffs.

What could have been a "routine" story (layoffs are unfortunately all too common in financial services organizations these days), became front page news when HSBC decide to get tricky with its word choice describing the redundancies.  Instead of using straightforward, transparent terms, HSBC announced it would be "demising" 942 roles as part of a plan that would "impact" 3,000 employees.

Demising?  That kind of creative, vague terminology was just begging for critical attention - especially in the snarky UK media market.  Apparently, according to the FT, the announcement caused a great deal of anger among employees.

But HSBC is not alone in its insensitivity.  Unfortunately, in our profession, we often see many companies step on similar landmines. A financial institution I know well (which shall remain nameless), recently announced its plan to be a "best place to work" and an "employer of choice" in the midst of an announced restructuring that will result in the loss of thousands of jobs.  Well-meaning as leadership was, there’s no question that working to secure such awards, is a bit insensitive to the employees who are waiting for the ax to fall.

The reminder to all of us PR practitioners is to not only make sure we guide management and organizational leaders to be sensitive, but to always err on the side of being direct, regardless of the temptation to use language, nuance and creative terms to hide the truth.  It’s always better in these cases to be transparent and clear, to take your lumps on announcement day and then let it pass.

The Financial Times didn't write one story, but two on HSBC's insensitive word choice.  The second story also pointed out that the use of a noun as a verb (demise into demising) was not only in bad taste, but it's just plain bad grammar. Ouch. End of Story

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt isn’t everyday that you get a chance to connect with and learn from a living legend. But that’s exactly what we at Unboxed Thoughts recently had a chance to do when we caught up with Carmen Baez, President – Latin America at Diversified Agency Services (DAS), the largest division of the Omnicom Group, one of the world’s leading marketing communications and advertising companies.  A few of the topics we discussed with Ms. Baez included her views on the growth segments of our industry, her advice for young, communications professionals, and the convergence of brand and reputation.

But first a bit about Ms. Baez's careeer. With more than three decades of marketing communication experience, Ms. Baez has been responsible for the development and growth of DAS agencies in Mexico as well as Central and South America, including global and leading marketing, advertising and public relations firms.

But her career started when she joined Omnicom at its inception in 1986. Since that time she has held various executive positions at global agencies where she counseled clients in a wide range of industries including high tech, financial services, telecomm, travel and entertainment.

In 1993, after a two-year sabbatical to travel the world, she co-founded Baez Zahorsky, Inc. (BZI), a Boston-based marketing communications consultancy that specialized in strategy planning and program development. BZI clients included Bank of Boston, Omnicom Group and The Walt Disney Company, among others. In 1997, she rejoined Omnicom to lead the DAS expansion in Latin America.

Among many other recognitions received, Carmen was named in 2010 an industry legend by the Association of National Advertiser’s ADCOLOR Industry Coalition, which promotes increased diversity in the advertising, marketing and media industries and celebrates the accomplishments of diverse role models and industry leaders.

Here is our interview with Ms. Carmen Baez… (click the jump or here to read the full interview)

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BestJobs2013_425315x210It was great to see that US News ranked PR Specialists as #1 in its recently released list of the best creative jobs, followed by architects and art directors.

The gift of gab and understanding the art of the sell are paramount to working in PR. But there's also a lot of finesse involved in producing and distributing communication materials that uphold and promote a client's image. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, this occupation should grow by nearly 23 percent by 2020. That is good news for all of us here at Prosek Partners and across the industry.

It got me thinking about why I chose to be in PR in the first place. Most people don’t seem to truly understand what PR professionals do; they either have a slanted view of us or they regard us as some iteration of a lobbyist (see: Nick Naylor, from the movie “Thank You for Smoking.”) But, my reasons for working in PR included a love of writing as well as an innate ability to build relationships with journalists (probably because I have a degree in broadcast journalism and so I understand their wants and needs). I also have a desire to help companies connect with their target audiences in order to educate these populations about products and services that can ultimately add value to their lives.

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