Ah, the good ol' days

First things first: I have a bit of a Peter Pan complex. I am 25 years old, yet I still cling to the memories of my college career, insisting that I am not old enough to be a post-college grownup. Truth is I am. I work a 9-to-5 and the rowdiest I get Monday through Friday involves a glass of wine, an episode of Dexter and a hard 10 p.m. shuteye. But as the relentless ticking of the clock pushes me towards middle age, I yearn for the sleepless nights academia once brought me. So naturally, when a group of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) students at the University of Delaware asked me to get involved in their chapter by speaking at an event, I had to say yes. Of course I wanted to go back to my alma mater to relive my adventures in those hallowed blue and gold halls and hear stories of these crazy college kids.

In a world of 24-hour information, quality PR work is crucial.

When the Baltimore Colts moved out of town under the cover of darkness in 1984, the team pretty much cemented its place in the Bad PR Moves Hall of Fame. But last week, Bally Total Fitness took a page out of the Colts’ playbook anyway, completing a sale of 171 of its clubs to competitor LA Fitness — without telling its members. Other than a vague, one-paragraph statement on both companies’ websites, and two days’ notice of an early closing on November 30, gym members were given no information about the sale, or what it would mean for them.

Paul Pomeroy weighs in on a couple of car ads.

As a guy who works in advertising I often get asked by family, friends, acquaintances and perfect strangers to offer my opinion on current ads in the marketplace. I find this funny because, unlike most people, when I meet doctors, lawyers and auto mechanics, I don’t find a way to wedge questions related to lumps on my back, clauses in my will or an incessant knocking noise coming from under the hood of my car into the course of casual conversation. But whatever. Most advertising people are raving narcissistic know-it-alls who are more than happy to share their opinions on just about anything — especially good ads vs. sucky ads.

OK, that really just describes me. And that brings me to the point of this post.

There are huge advantages to using a CMS, but some of these features also bring disadvantages.

As a Technical Director at AB&C, I'm mainly involved in the technical production for our web projects — from landing pages for specific campaigns to websites for hospital systems. For the last few years, we’ve been doing much of this production in a content management system (CMS), a web-based application that enables us to give our clients design templates that they can fill in with text and pictures.

Many crisis situations entail change, surprise or the unexpected.

“In many ways, individuals and institutions get measured by their capacity to deal with change, surprise and the unexpected.” — Bob Woodward

Many crisis situations entail change, surprise or the unexpected. How do we as public relations professionals respond effectively? How do we blend the proper doses of textbook theory, gut instinct and level-headed judgment?

Over the course of my career I have dealt with a variety of “urgent” situations: product liability, white-collar crime, race and sex discrimination, life-threatening negligence by healthcare providers, environmental issues, and corporate downsizing, to name a few.

One of the FDA-approved graphic warning labels

Full disclosure: I have worked on Tobacco Prevention and Control social marketing campaigns for more than 10 years. As you may have heard, beginning September 2012 the FDA will require cigarette companies to place very large and graphic warning labels on the packaging of their cigarette products. The nine labels can be viewed here: http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/CigaretteWarningLabels/default.htm.
These labels will have to cover the top half of the cigarette box and 20% of any tobacco advertisement.

What are you known for?

You get on an elevator, and the chirpy woman with the same show badge asks, “So, what do you do?”

Concentrating on nothing in particular on the way down to the convention hall was the game plan, but you answer, “I’m president of a bank.” “Wow,” Chirpy says. “What bank? That one they were occupying the other day? The one with the flag in its name?” After imagining that Brian Moynihan just flinched in pain as another pin was stuck in his likeness, you answer, “No, not a big bank.”

It can be scary to bust some new moves.

In all communications with consumers, whether it’s online, in print or over the airwaves, it’s easy to forget that we’re just talking to people. Usually that’s because there’s a laundry list of information that “needs” to go into each ad. In fact, in healthcare advertising there’s a well-known dance:

Step 1: Mention skilled doctors, latest technology and dedicated staff.

Step 2: Throw in a patient testimonial.

Step 3: Always tell people about your awards (even if they have no idea what you’re talking about).

Step 4: Grab a partner (preferably a celebrity).

Contagion billboard

This is the coolest advertising I’ve seen since the stunt for Lynx (we know it in the United States as Axe) with virtual angels falling from the sky into the London Victoria railway station. What Warner Bros. Pictures Canada did to promote its new movie “Contagion” could also be considered interactive, on a microscopic level.

Sean Parker: You may have a point, but you’re also missing the point.

Just like any morning I opened my eyes to my alarm gave a quick stretch and rolled over to my smart phone to quickly enter cyberspace and start my day. Naturally, I had to check Facebook first to see what mindblowing information I had missed in the past eight hours (priorities straight). As I scrolled through my app a plethora of status updates came through bashing the book for changing its layout.