With both business and communications evolving faster than ever, and with companies increasingly relying on innovation to fuel growth and competitive advantage, talking about innovations is becoming more important—and trickier. The famous flop of “New Coke” back in the 1980s reminds us what can happen when companies don’t properly introduce innovations (although in that case,…

If I have one impression to share about the panel discussion the Council put on last weekend at this year’s SXSW conference, and about the conference in general, it is the sheer energy, excitement, and interest we encountered. We have attended SXSW these past two years in the belief that as marketing communications gets more…

Are consumers spending again? What are they thinking about? What trends do you most need to know about as you’re framing communications strategies for consumer-facing brands? In a volatile marketplace, it’s more vital than ever to aggressively track consumer sentiment and behavior and translate that into fresh, effective marketing approaches. To get you started, we…

As we reported last week, headcounts are up at our member firms, revenues are higher, new business pipeline are stronger, and firms are innovating new practice offerings. All that growth is exciting, but it can also pose challenges. As one business author has noted, medium-sized businesses that catch fire enter a kind of “no man’s…

Political communications often carries intriguing lessons for the corporate sphere, and this season’s Republican presidential contest is no exception. In recent months, we’ve watched as a front-runner, Mitt Romney, has faced challenge after challenge from upstart contenders. Although Romney remains on top heading into South Carolina, he has so far failed to gain more than…

Innovation in medicine alone is not sufficient to meet the growing health needs of the world’s population. As healthcare communicators, our priority is to improve understanding and shape positive behaviours to achieve the best outcomes. Traditionally, communications have focused on individual groups; engaging patients and healthcare professionals to transfer information. However, the increasing power of…

Longevity is often something worth celebrating. And so it is with great pride and gratitude, along with an equal measure of humility, that I am delighted to say that Text 100 and Ketchum have achieved 10 great years working alongside IBM as its global public relations partners. Way back in 2001, IBM’s agency review process…

Don’t just provide audiences with information. Provide meaning! Our industry has long talked about the surfeit of messages. We’ve posed the question of how to “break through” a “cluttered” public space to reach target audiences. And we’ve devised all sorts of strategies, both content and media, to do exactly that. Here’s the thing: The problem…

Failure has cachet. Harvard Business Review devoted its April 2011 issue to the subject, with many authors agreeing on its importance to the running of successful, innovative enterprises.  Since Steve Jobs’ death, observers have catalogued his missteps—he never graduated from college; he was fired from the company that he himself had started—and ranked them as…

Everywhere we look today, from the streets of Cairo to Zuccotti Park, we find evidence of social media’s power to galvanize people and effect change. But what does social media’s grass-roots organizational potential mean for companies and brands? How can companies best mobilize consumers around their brands? And how should they conceive of the broader…