He was a sports marketer’s dream client. An athletic superstar playing basketball for his hometown NBA team. He said all the right things, stayed out of trouble and let his talents do the talking. Some called him the next Michael Jordan as awards and endorsements poured in. No, this is not Chicago’s Derrick Rose. Perhaps [...]
Yesterday, June 8, was the big launch day for Grantland.com, a new sports and pop culture website that’s the brainchild of ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons, whom the New York Times recently called “the most prominent sportswriter in America.” The site launch was heavily hyped, not only by its creators, but also by fans ofthe writers involved [...]
What do Apple, Chevron, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Walmart, and Wells Fargo have in common? Besides being billion dollar companies that influence our lives on a daily basis, each one has used the same typeface for its marketing and/or brand identity! The font in question is called Myriad, and it is, in fact, taking over the world. [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege to work with a client on conducting a focus group. While I have done similar research in the past (lovely usability testing, customer surveys, etc.) this experience stood out from the rest. For the first time in a while, I was reminded of how important it [...]
New Chicago Mayor, New PR Strategies? Now that Rahm Emanuel is slated to take office in a few months, replacing Mayor Daley, how will he change Chicago as a vacation destination and as a place to live? How will the city revamp its PR efforts?
Measurement of business to business PR can be a difficult task. We take account of mentions, reach, relevance to target audience, sentiment, etc… but most importantly we want to understand the impact on the business. And in working with business that have year long sales cycles and million dollar deals it can be difficult to [...]
You’ve no doubt heard the public relations phrase that there is no such thing as bad publicity. The theory is that attention (whether through good or bad press) can increase awareness and lead to eventual success. We’ve all certainly seen examples of this phrase proving true but usually it centers on celebrities. Everyone has known [...]
RFPs actually serve to diminish the focus on relationship and try to compress all agencies into a cliché ‘apples to apples’ comparison.
What did the president say last night? From the pundit’s reaction it was a pretty bland speech with typical political references to innovation and investment but light on specifics. In light of how the country has changed I figured I’d go back to what I did last year and look at it using a word [...]
Using social media to build your brand: my experience with 1 to 1 marketing. Like most of us on a typical Friday afternoon, I was struggling to find energy and focus to get me through my day. I innocently tweeted my need for caffeine. Little did I know my “innocent tweet” would launch me into one of the most unique social media experiences in my life.
