There are mobile business apps designed to make users more productive, more organized and more collaborative, but now there is an app to help guide public relations professionals in making ethical decisions. Ethical decision-making has never been easier thanks to PRSA taking the Code of Ethics (Code) mobile.

PRSA, in partnership with MSLGROUP, has brought the Code to the palm of your hand. The PRSA Ethics app is available for free in Google’s Android Market and Apple’s App Store and can be accessed from iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

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Companies and brands work tirelessly to build a strong image and protect the reputation of what that entity represents. Even the most guarded company and/or brand can make mistakes that lead to bad press. Some are able to make a comeback that leaves any negative association in the past, while others suffer from disastrous PR crises that leave the media saying, “let a sleeping dog lie.” Regardless, media attention, good or bad, still means visibility and for some that’s the ultimate end game. 

In this week’s PRSA “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest public relations and business news and commentary —we look at how companies, brands and public figures recover from public relations blunders and how media attention drives behavior. We see, also, how even the smallest mistake can turn a company on its head when the unthinkable occurs.

Continue reading " Friday Five: Mistakes, Crises and Bad Publicity Lead to PR Lessons Learned "

The advertising industry is facing pressure to keep up with the increasing presence of mobile, technology’s new ability to censor consumer ads based on their likes and dislikes, and the lack of targeted, more personalized ads that resonate stronger with brand advocates. All of these factors combined with companies having significantly smaller ad budgets are forcing the ad industry to make a change, and make it fast.

In this week’s PRSA “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest public relations and business news and commentary — we explore how traditional advertising channels are being put to the test as they compete with mobile and online advertising. We also take a closer look at disruptions to mobile and online advertising. Finally, we get a peak at how some brands find new advertising opportunities in television advertising while others miss the mark despite their brilliant products. 

Continue reading " Friday Five: New Technology Pressures Ad Industry to Get Personal "

Brands are beginning to see the value in investing internally in their corporate reputation as it plays a very influential role in how brand products are perceived. Maintaining a strong corporate reputation is especially challenging with the numerous conversations taking place online via social media channels. So how do brands know what’s important and what’s not? The true value of monitoring social media exchanges via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn lies in the ability to attribute these findings to a corporation’s bottom line. How customers perceive a brand/company greatly impacts sales, brand loyalty, and future branded products that come from any company.

In this week’s PRSA “Friday Five” post — an analysis of the week’s biggest public relations and business news and commentary — we delve into Weber Shandwick’s report on corporate reputation and the reputation of brand products. We will also look at the importance of monitoring social media for the sake of maintaining a valid scope and measurement of what’s being said about a brand and how it can contribute to a company’s bigger picture. Finally, we explore the idea of perception as it relates to a brand’s image by taking a closer look at two technology giants, Apple and Microsoft.

Continue reading " Friday Five: Corporate Reputation and Brand Perception – Two Sides of the Same Coin "

Editor’s note: The following is a guest post by Billee Howard, managing director of the brand innovation group and creative development officer at Allison + Partners. Howard has more than 15 years’ experience in brand development, strategic media relations, CEO brand building, corporate positioning, business-to-business strategy development and economic and investment promotion.

With experience emerging as the foil to technological innovation, communications continues to emerge as among the most powerful and potent tools in the CEO arsenal. As such, programs that influence outcomes and drive business performance trump those that merely illicit approved awareness. As the year unfolds we see all of these principles unfolding broadly across the business landscape. The commercialization of many leading brands is being driven by the notion of Art + Commerce = Innovation (and winning experiences).

In the recent months, we have seen a change in the business model from a product-centric notion to an experience-driven culture. Experience continues to emerge as the defining factor of competitive differentiation, and the new cornerstone of the supply chain, as the age of total experience management unfolds. We see this everywhere, with brands from McDonald’s (multibillion-dollar investment in complete re-design of restaurants) to eBay (pop-up stores aimed at demonstrating their role in overall next-gen retail) investing significantly in re-imagining winning experiences as much as innovating beloved products and services.

With experience at the forefront it is also important to acknowledge the growth on an innovation-centric corporate culture. The notion of specialization continues to sweep the landscape working to define more unique and memorable experiences in every way, from the proliferation of niche businesses to the emergence of specialty focused roles inside leading organizations.

Continue reading " A CEO’s Most Powerful Tool is Communications "