The Public Relations Blog

PR professionals in film and what your company can learn from them

When PR professionals are depicted on the big screen, they’re typically shown as conniving, unscrupulous liars who are willing to cross ethical lines to get results for their clients. This has helped to cast the PR profession in a negative light because those probably aren’t the types of people anyone wants working on behalf of his company.

Nonetheless, there have been some examples of PR characters in movies offering valuable lessons you can use for your company. So grab some popcorn and find out what you can learn about the positive PR tactics used on the silver screen.

Is your CEO more like Meryl Streep or Linda Hunt?

As head of a successful company, a CEO has already proven herself as a leader. These folks know how to surround themselves with the best people and get the job done. Still, in today’s business world, you have to find ways for your company to really stand out against the competition, and one way to do this is to position your CEO as a star.

Make PR and positive news your secret weapons to move ahead of the competition

Most companies know that positive media coverage can help with promotion and increased visibility. What you may not know is that media coverage can also improve your online reputation.

With the popularity of online shopping and social media, the first interaction customers are likely to have with your company will be online. Therefore, it is vital to have a stellar online reputation, and PR, along with positive news coverage, can help.

PR explains the importance of branding

Heinz. John Deere. Sears. Wells Fargo. What do these names have in common? You know exactly what they are without any explanation. In addition, you know precisely what to expect from their products and services. That’s branding.

Every company – whether it’s B2B, retail or a large corporation – can benefit from branding efforts to increase market share and visibility. Branding is not only for companies like McDonald’s or Apple; it’s the kind of recognition you should seek for your own company, and PR can help.

Learn all about thought leadership and how you can use PR to attain it

There are plenty of corporate buzzwords and phrases floating around these days like “dashboard,” “human-to-human” and “goal digger.” Most of these will go just as quickly as they came. One that has remained throughout the years is “thought leadership,” and for good reason: It’s important.

You may have been told that your company or CEO needs to be positioned as a thought-leader in your industry but don’t really know what all the excitement is about. With help from PR, you can gain a better understanding of this vital term and achieve it for your company.

PR explains the top 6 phrases you should never put in a press release or pitch

You want to attract media attention, so you create a dynamite press release announcing your company’s brand new initiative or event. However, you may be sabotaging your great news by using old, tired phrases in your press release and turning off reporters.

Writing press releases is like a balancing act. You must provide enough information to pique a reporter’s interest without divulging too much. It has to have all the pertinent details without being too lengthy. In addition, certain overused phrases can be annoying to reporters and make them stop reading. Experienced PR pros can show you how to avoid this and craft press releases that get results.

Use these tips to educate your company on PR’s true value

You know that your company needs to be more visible and engage more customers in order to increase sales. However, it can be difficult to sell management on public relations as the solution.

Many companies see PR as just something to pull off the shelf when there’s a crisis. This misunderstanding makes it difficult for them to see the true value of PR work. Once you effectively explain all the ways that public relations can help you boost sales and advance your company’s goals, you’ll have an easier time convincing management that it should be an essential part of your strategic plan.

How a social media policy can help you in a crisis

It seems that, almost overnight, social media has taken over our lives. We use it to stay connected, express opinions and follow the issues that are important to us. Some people feel they couldn’t go one day without it.

Unfortunately, the technology has evolved faster than many can manage it. Businesses especially have found themselves playing catch-up, struggling to engage customers and increase profits through social media platforms, lacking the necessary guidance and making reputation-crushing mistakes along the way. With assistance from PR, you can create your social media policy and avoid disaster.

Protect and improve yours with the Axia PR reputation management e-book

For everything you do in business, reputation matters. Sometimes it precedes you, other times it follows you – but it’s always there. It’s up to you to give it form and control its direction. You can learn to do this with Axia PR’s Online Reputation Managemente-book.

All it takes is one careless comment on social media or a few negative reviews to damage the good reputation it took you years to build. However, by learning to manage your online reputation, these incidents don’t have to spell disaster for your company.

How a media policy can help you in a crisis

Imagine that your company is in the midst of a crisis. Perhaps your product caused an injury, you’re being sued, someone made a thoughtless comment publicly or a well-meaning campaign has gone horribly wrong. The news media is banging on the door and relentlessly calling every number at your company demanding a comment from someone – anyone. Would everyone in your organization know how to respond? Is it possible that someone might say the wrong thing, prolonging the problem and making the crisis even worse?