Public Relations, Advertising & Social Media

C-Suite Still Undervalues PR

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Brian Lee

conference room If executives in the C-Suite, which often is missing a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief Communications Officer (CC), actually valued PR, companies would:

Spend more resources on reputation management. A Deloitte study showed that when your reputation is damaged, there is a corresponding loss of revenue, brand value, customers and/or stock price,
Seek the counsel of their communications staff before making any major decision to learn of potential reactions and consequences, and
Have a crisis communications plan that’s updated at least yearly.

Instead, you see companies continue to make boneheaded mistakes that make you wonder, what in the world were they thinking?

A recent article titled “Lesson Plan: Business Leaders Still Don’t Understand Strategic Communication” sheds some light. Research conducted by the authors showed that despite the recent introduction of strategic communication coursework to the MBA programs at various universities, the students:

Often do not see the strategic dimensions of communication,
Often don’t see a clear connection between communication activities and business results, and
Have little understanding of the importance of related strategic communication issues, such as corporate social responsibility and internal communications.

For PR practitioners, this means we’re still fighting for a seat at the table, and we may continue to do so for another generation.

Improving Digital Literacy in Hospitals

Posted on January 25, 2018January 9, 2020 by Jaimie Onasch

INTRODUCTION

Digital literacy is essential for communication, collaboration and advocacy in the world of healthcare. Patients are becoming more empowered, turning to the Internet and social media for medical information and using digital devices/apps to take control of their health.

Meanwhile, telemedicine and mHealth are on the rise. Yet, many hospitals are slow to incorporate emerging technologies into their systems, detaching them from the mainstream and potentially limiting the quality of care delivered by their providers.

Implementing proper training for medical staff members can help address gaps in knowledge and equip them with the skills they need to become more digitally literate. In turn, providers can help improve patient understanding of digital health tools and where to find valuable health information available online. Continue reading “Improving Digital Literacy in Hospitals” →

If Agencies Were Like Football Teams

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Brian Lee

I come from a sports PR background, and I’ve always found how football coaches are hired/fired to be unique. What if you tried the football model in the agency world?

First, let’s use independently owned advertising agencies. This means the structure involved with holding companies like WPP or Omnicom won’t be used in this example. A total of 32 agencies exist in the country.

Let’s say the investors/board represent the owners/GM, and the president/CEO is the head coach. On offense, the creative director is the coordinator, and the designers, copywriters, etc. are the position coaches. On defense, the head of client services is the coordinator, and the account managers, strategists, etc. are the position coaches.

Scenario 1: a team needs a new head coach

The agency conducts a national search. It is considering promoting its creative director, but in a surprise move, it hires the media buyer from last year’s top agency. In football, you sometimes see a position coach skip the coordinator role en route to becoming a head coach. However, it would be rare for a mid-level agency person to make the direct leap to company president/CEO, excluding starting their own agency.

Scenario 2: a head coach is looking to hire a position coach

The president/CEO knows of the good work an animator did for another agency, and without knowing anything about how he/she will fit in the current workplace culture, hires the animator over the phone. It’s stunning how often head coaches do this. And somehow, coaching staffs are able to work through their dysfunction (if there is one), at least for a while (see Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin).

Scenario 3: a head coach is fired and gets a job as a coordinator for another team

The president/CEO takes a demotion by accepting a creative director or head of client services position at another agency. You hardly ever see this situation in the agency world, but it happens all the time in football. For example, the Green Bay Packers’ two coordinators are former head coaches.

Scenario 4: a head coach reassigns the duties of position coaches

The president/CEO tells the media buyer that he/she will now be in charge of public relations. In boutique agencies, you may find more people with a wide breadth of experience, but the larger the agency, the more the staff members focus on depth of experience. Yet in football, it’s not odd for a quarterbacks coach to now coach the tight ends, or a linebackers coach to now coach the safeties.

Scenario 5: a head coach also serves as the play-caller on offense or defense (instead of their coordinator handling those duties)

Due to its size, a boutique advertising agency may see the president/CEO also serving as the creative director, but this scenario would be rare in a larger agency. Meanwhile, examples of this in football include the Vikings’ Mike Zimmer (defense) and the Wisconsin Badgers’ Paul Chryst (offense).