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…

A lot has been written in our industry about how vital it is to build strong and trusted client relationships. But who is the PR client today? Most public relations professionals have long regarded the in-house public relations and corporate communications teams as key players. Yet the marketing team and the Chief Marketing Officer play…

In the latest study exploring strategic initiatives — new market entry, M&A, product launches, recaps, downsizing, etc. — FD and Forbes Insights asked 180 CEOs, corporate strategists, and senior communications officers how much the recession has changed the rules of the game in the corporate world. We found that risk aversion and caution still dominate…

As strategy gurus have told us for years, any business will have difficulty thriving if it struggles to identify and deliver unique value to the marketplace.  The same is true for entire business categories, such as public relations.  For several decades the unique value PR brought to companies was media relations or, in today’s jargon,…

If you’re Vikram Pandit, the CEO of Citibank, the answer is yes. Last year, Pandit vowed he’d take no salary until the bank became profitable. So he didn’t. But Citibank is now back in the black, which is why this past week, Citibank’s board announced that they’d reinstate a salary for Pandit. Of course, Pandit…

Today, as recent news coverage has confirmed, we communications professionals find ourselves not merely in the trenches, but in the boardroom acting as valuable strategic counsel to corporate leadership. While our industry will continue to provide clients with the tactical help they need to execute communications programs, a real opportunity exists to add value by…

Even after years of exposure to one another, PR and Procurement still isn’t a match made in heaven. Dealing with client procurement departments often remains exasperating, due in large part to procurement’s lack of understanding of what public relations firms do for their companies.  Some of the concerns raised on the agency side relate to…

What do today’s CEOs care about? It’s a burning question for any agency seeking to be considered indispensable. Fortunately, some initial answers are there for the taking. Recent survey data reveals that several of the issues preoccupying CEOs are ones that our industry is especially well placed to help address. Take reputation. As our economy…

The question of who owns intellectual property (IP) created during a new business pitch is becoming an increasingly hot button issue in today’s marketplace. As Ad Age reported, the 4A’s recently sent an official letter to consultants urging them to use contract language “that reflects advertising agencies’ right to retain creative ideas presented during new-business…