Category: Insight

What’s the Best Way to Utilize a Blog?

Recently, there was a meme going around on social media dealing with the topic of food bloggers. The meme essentially poked fun at food bloggers, who always seem to include a blog about the story that inspired the recipe. This frustrates the recipe seeker, who simply wants to know what they need to add to their grocery list. But there’s a reason behind this for these food bloggers. What many casual observers may not realize is that the entire reason why that recipe popped up high in their search results for “what to make for dinner tonight”.

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Faux Treasure-seekers jailed

A South Korean court has sentenced three business executives to prison after they were found guilty of falsely claiming to have found a long-lost treasure-laden shipwreck. Yes, you read that right. In July last year, the Shinil Group claimed it had found the Russian cruiser Dmitrii Donskoi, a vessel that sank in 1905 and has since been rumored to be holding gold valued at billions of dollars. As a result of the claim, Shinil Group reaped more than $7.6 million from thousands of excited investors.

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Why the Quality of Branding Matters

Recently, the founder of the beauty brand Glossier was interviewed on the NPR podcast, How I Built This. Emily Weiss never thought she’d end up with a well-known beauty brand without a brick and mortar presence. All she wanted to do was start a blog — looking back, she says, she never would have thought she’d end up on the path she is on now.

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Boeing: A Case Study in How Not to Manage Your PR

As one of corporate America’s most recognizable brands, you would think Boeing would be well-poised to deal with public relations crises of all shapes and sizes. Indeed, as a major exporter and military contractor, Boeing has deep pockets when it comes to lobbying in Washington; you would think this kind of spending would carry through to the firm’s PR department.

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Apple v. Qualcomm: A PR win

The scene is this: The opening arguments for Apple vs Qualcomm are well underway in the Southern District of San Diego, with the US District Court Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel first disallowing, then reversing his decision and allowing live tweeting. Included in the passionate arguments are allegations of double-dipping, talk of KFC and its secret recipe, debates over chicken and potatoes. Who says the world of corporate law is a dull one?

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Leveraging Momentum from a Successful Marketing Campaign

The marketing team is celebrating. Months ago, in a meeting, a concept for a campaign was floated around the conference table. The idea had all the right ingredients: it was daring, edgy, attention-grabbing, and emotive. After a few more strategy meetings, the campaign really began to take shape, and the Chief of Marketing was excited to launch it. And it went off without a hitch. The campaign, starring a prominent basketball star, went viral. Thanks to the clever integration of a community impact story, together with just the right music, graphics, and hashtags, the campaign seemed to grow legs of its own. Soon, everyone was talking about the brand.

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Developing a Content Strategy for Effective Marketing

Having an effective and viable content strategy is an important key to the success of any marketing campaign. Content is easy to brush off, and it’s also easy to rush to complete and publish. After all, more is more, right? Wrong. Remember, consumer behavior trends today identify a strong sense of fatigue. This comes from the constant stream of content seeking their attention, the conflicting reports found from various media sources on news issues, and the constant battle for subscription dollars. This creates a less-than-welcoming environment for a marketer who needs to reach more consumers with a content plan.

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Do We Still Need Nobel Prizes?

The annual Nobel Prizes in Sweden are more sacred than Christmas, drawing out international royalty in the arts and sciences, and attracting an audience of millions to witness an annual event styled in the pomp typically reserved for the naming of a new Pope. The prizes are so important that the king of Sweden last year took an unprecedented step in cancelling the Nobel Prize in literature for 2018. Why? For the same reason Alfred Nobel founded the awards: public relations. Inventor and chemist Nobel was famously known as the “merchant of death”, thanks to his arms dealership’s role in “killing more people faster than ever before.” In an effort to restore the Nobel name, Alfred launched the prizes under…

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Elon Musk adds to Tesla PR woes

Everyone’s favorite tech-ego Elon Musk has escalated his feud with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hitting back at accusations by regulators that he violated his settlement with the agency by posting “inaccurate and material information” about his firm on Twitter.

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This Bud’s for Her: Beer Giant Celebrates Women with Updated Ads

In a tip of the hat to International Women’s Day, Budweiser dusted off some of its old-school advertising, recreated with a more modern sensibility. Many described the side-by-side adverts as “jarring” or “very telling.” But the end result for Budweiser was a strong wave of people congratulating the brand for taking the lead on this social issue in their industry.

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