Welcome to episode #12 of For Immediate Release. This week’s panel includes Deirdre Breakridge, CEO of Pure Performance Communications, speaker, and author of multiple books; Neville Hobson, former co-host of this very podcast, blogger, and independent consultant; and Eric Schwartzman, CEO of Comply Socially, podcaster, and consultant.
In today’s episode, we covered these topics:
- Lewis PR has dropped “PR” from the company name; it’s just Lewis. The firm asserts it’s because they offer a broader scope of communication services, although PR remains “core” to its services. Is there an underlying belief that “PR” is confusing or limiting as part of an agency’s name?
- The fourth annual Creativity in Public Relations report is out, showing that clients are turning to PR agencies far more these days for creativity and agencies are investing more in its creative capabilities. Nobody seems quite sure, though, just what “creativity’ means.
- Three online (and printed) PR initiatives worth discussing: Futureproof, a collaborative book dubbed “the biggest conversation ever about the future of public relations,” #PRTech, an online resource addressing the intersection of public relations and technology, and #PRStack, a series of case studies now in its second edition.
- What books should communicators read during the holidays?
- Should brands podcast? GE is, and it has nabbed the top spot on iTunes. But is it a good idea for every brand? (Hint: It depends.)
- Dan York reports on GitBook, Twitter’s new look for photos, telcos’ attempts to eliminate the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules, and Snapchat’s reporting on last week’s shootings in San Bernadino, California.
- KMPG is dropping employee engagement surveys in a pilot test because (they claim) engagement is poorly defined and metrics aren’t useful. Really?
- How should brands decide whether to invest their time in Instagram versus Snapchat?
Connect with this week’s panelists on twitter at @dbreakenridge, @jangles, and @ericschwartzman.
Links to the source material for this episode are on Delicious.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
About this week’s panel
Deirdre Breakridge has been in PR and marketing for more than 25 years helping senior executives in mid-to-large organizations communicate to their stakeholders. She’s currently CEO of Pure Performance Communications, which she started in 2011. Pure Performance specializes in integrated marketing strategy, training, and workshops. Before that, she was president of Mangol Marketing, and was an adjunct professor at NYU. She co-authored Putting the Public Back in Public Relations with Brian Solis – and appeared with Brian in an FIR interview about the book back in 2009. She also wrote Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional.
Neville Hobson co-hosted this show for 10 years and 8 months, up just a few months ago. Neville is based in Bracknell, outside of London in England where he analyzes trends, behaviors and practices in digital communication. As an independent consultant for the last 11 years, he’s focused on social business, the collaborative economy, wearable technologies, and the professionalism of PR. He also held a position with WCG as head of social media for Europe, and was VP of Corporate Communication for Scala Business Solutions in Amsterdam.
Eric Schwartzman is the co-host of FIR B2B here on the FIR Podcast Network. He was the host of a terrific early-days podcast called On the Record Online – Neville and I were both religious listeners — and he was a regular contributor of reports to FIR. When we first met, Eric was director of Promotions for Rogers & Cowan, a Hollywood-focused agency. He went on to found iPressroom, one of the early online newsroom offerings, and currently is running ComplySocially, which offers a library of self-paced elarning courses to help organizations manage online employee advocacy campaigns and ecommerce functionality.
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