http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog C-Level PR Counsel Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:40:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Paul Holmes makes some painfully important points about a McKinsey Quarterly analysis on corporate reputation that goes to the very heart about why the PR function often does not get a seat at the table. McKinsey makes some key points about what companies need to do on the reputation ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/06/11/the-heart-of-the-problem-pr-is-about-action-not-communications/ Core to communications is getting information out to the public.  Traditionally (as in, pre-Web 1.0), that was the domain of professional news organizations.  However, with the growth of UGC content in blogs, Twitter, podcasts and other Web-centric properties, you might often hear the argument that news organizations are losing control ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/06/02/news-sites-continue-to-dominate-online-reading-but-search-is-strong/ Professor Louis Lowenstein, a former (now deceased) Columbia University business law professor had a line every senior public relations counselor should remember: “You manage what you measure.” To those public relations professionals that see themselves as lead reputation counselors - do your measurement reports analyze media relations and social ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/05/17/does-your-public-relations-analysis-measure-media-relations-social-media-or-reputation-through-audience-perception/   In discussing public relations counsel, I often hear discussions focus on reputation over understanding the public.   However, some of the best reputations are earned by taking a PR approach that relies first on understanding the public, then by making business decisions around that understanding, and, ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/04/27/ceo-of-me-bank-corp-on-corporate-reputation-and-public-relations/ On a recent call with Wall Street analysts, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz dropped the f-bomb while talking about the frustration of getting things done at Yahoo. There were engineers in almost every country, and way too many product people. We had one product management person for ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/04/22/is-the-f-bomb-a-corporate-message-a-case-study-from-carol-bartz-at-yahoo/ If a CEO does not have a reputation for bottom line honesty, then he or she doesn’t have a reputation needed to be CEO.  As Carl Bask, CEO of Autodesk, shows, a sprinkle of humor on a platter of cynicism maybe the fastest route to a reputation for bottom line ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/04/17/quarterly-earnings-quote-on-greenland-and-antarctica-from-carl-bask-of-autodesk/ Carlos Gutierrez, former US Secretary of Commerce and former CEO of the Kellogg Company, made some very telling remarks about the difference in skill sets between public relations counsel in the public and private sectors.   In Richard Edelman’s blog, there is a quote by Secretary Gutierrez that drives home why ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/04/08/former-ceo-of-kellogg-tells-pr-how-to-get-the-seat-at-the-table/   Paul Boutin has a great example of one of my favorite simple but effective positioning approaches for startup technology companies – take aim at a high profile 800 lbs gorilla and back it up an argument that you can win using strong numbers. Boutin briefly outlines how ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/04/02/startup-strategy-the-secret-to-taking-on-major-market-players/ Nielsen makes some interesting points on why on the value of reading a physical newspaper (Reports of the Death of the Newspaper Are Exaggerated).  They compare the death of the newspaper to “death of the CD” and point out that while CD sales have fallen, they are still very much ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/04/01/nielsen-shows-why-reports-of-the-death-of-the-newspaper-are-exaggerated/ I’m glad that this was said in a public forum like ZDNet though frustrated that the media telling the social media part of the PR industry (or any part, for that matter) No social media decision should be led with tool selection. Companies need to first ... http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2009/03/27/zdnet-survey-on-pr-agency-social-media-use-with-clients/