Today’s guest post is written by Lisa Gerber.

It’s been awhile, but recently, I’ve been reacquainted with a long lost love.

Yes, media relations.

That long lost love? Media relations.

As the chief content officer for Spin Sucks and Spin Sucks Pro, I have been mostly on the receiving end of pitches, not on the pitching side.

It’s been very entertaining to say the least.

This isn’t another post about bad pitches.

Trust me, I’m shocked at the number of atrocious pitches I get.

My name is not Spin Sucks, it’s not Spin, and pitching me on the broad topics of social media and marketing doesn’t fly. That just doesn’t tell me a thing.

Because the mission of Spin Sucks is to change the perception of PR, there is a huge opportunity for growth by addressing better practices in media relations. Continue Reading »

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Cody wrote “You Don’t Know Jack About Public Relations” in his Inc. column.

I know Steve. He and I both are cyclists and favor shipping our bikes to Counselors Academy every year so we can ride with a small group of friends.

I like him. A lot.

I respect the heck out of him for the agency he’s built in the last 16 years.

But he’s wrong about the difference between advertising and PR. Rather, he’s describing publicity, and that’s what is wrong with the perception of our industry.

We are not just publicists. It’s ONE tactic we use in an overall communication program.  Continue Reading »

So Susan G. Komen caved to pressure and reversed the decision to not fund Planned Parenthood.

Fantastic!

Or is it?

Did they cave because of the outcry, both online and off?

Or did they cave because they were caught not applying their “we don’t fund organizations under investigation” rule across the board (Penn State receives funding and Bank of America is a major sponsor - both under investigation)?

It doesn’t matter how you feel about the entire situation. If this were a political blog, it would matter. But it’s not. So we’ll talk communication instead.

What does matter on Spin Sucks is the incredible PR crisis management case study it’s providing. Continue Reading »

I was thinking I wasn’t going to jump on the bandwagon and talk about this, but it’s so disgusting to me, it has to be said.

What the heck is wrong with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure?

On one side is the charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which says it has raised $1.9 billion worldwide for breast cancer since it was created 30 years ago. Nancy Brinker started the foundation after Susan Komen, her sister, died of breast cancer.

On the other is Planned Parenthood, the 90-year-old organization that operates nearly 800 health centers nationwide. It bills itself as “America’s most trusted provider of reproductive health care.” Among its many services are breast cancer screening, contraceptives, and abortions.

Planned Parenthood says it performed 750,000 breast exams and breast care procedures in 2010, the latest year for which information is available. The organization says it has done four million breast exams in the past five years — 170,000 of them funded by Komen. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Lisa Gerber.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been asked on more than one occasion why we add “(client)” to the end of certain tweets.

In 2009, when the FTC revised their guidelines for online endorsements and testimonials, there was a lot of discussion on how this affected PR agencies and brands when working with bloggers. Not a lot of discussion, however, involved how it affects PR agencies endorsing their clients on social networks.

From time to time, we share a client’s blog or promotion when we know it will add value to our audience. In compliance with FTC guidelines, it is an Arment Dietrich policy to add “(client)” at the end of any communication we conduct on behalf of them. Continue Reading »

As most of you know, N-Control recently was the brunt of a social media consultant gone rogue.

The issue was a N-Control customer sent an email asking why his delivery was delayed and, taking the role of customer service, the company’s social media firm, Ocean Marketing, responded, IN WRITING, in ways most of us would never even think to do.

The issue was told over and over again on Reddit, giving N-Control a PR crisis they never could have expected…all from hiring the wrong firm. And it made the rounds on a lot of the blogs the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It has not been a pleasant few weeks for the video game controller company.

But they recently took control of their own destiny, fired Ocean Marketing, and hired Moises Chiullan to help them discuss delivery issues with customers.

And the first thing Chiullan did is take them to Reddit, to address the irate customers who, to this point, have pretty much been ignored. Continue Reading »

Let’s talk about a good response to a customer service, turned social media, crisis, shall we?

During the holidays, a video of a FedEx delivery man threw a computer monitor over a gate and onto the lawn of the customer’s lawn.

The scary thing is it’s actually in a computer monitor box, not a FedEx box, so he knew it was fragile. He didn’t try to open the gate or ring the bell. He just threw it over the gate. And it broke.

The person who lives in that house must have the same “neighborly” issues we have because he has a security camera on the front gate. And the “delivery” was captured on video. Continue Reading »

Last night I’m finally settling down after a very long day and I receive a Facebook message from Patrick Reyes (whom I’m not speaking to until after the Super Bowl) and a text message from Justin Brackett.

They both have sent me a photo that made my blood boil.

You see, Boners BBQ posted a photo of a customer, who apparently didn’t leave a tip, and used expletives to say what people should do to her if she comes into their restaurant.

Have a look for yourself. Continue Reading »

Late last week, Arik Hanson had an interesting blog post about PR flameouts and asked if we’re hurting, or helping, the industry by talking about them.

His point was about the Ocean Marketing debacle (and also included The Bloggess when she called out a PR professional by name) and whether or not it’s helpful to continue talking about these things.

If you don’t know what happened with Ocean Marketing, I encourage you to read Kevin Dugan’s post about it on Bad Pitch Blog.  I won’t rehash it for you.

If you’re a regular reader of Spin Sucks, you know I’m an advocate of attacking an idea, but not a person. There is way too much agreement in the social media chamber. Unfortunately, if someone disagrees with you, they typically won’t comment or say anything. They just stop reading.

And that’s a shame. The only way we learn is to debate with an open mind. If we surround ourselves with people who agree with us all the time, we’ll stall.

Over here, when we see something that seems crazy to us, we blog about it. After all, the name of the blog is Spin Sucks. Continue Reading »