By Megan R. Auren Blogs have become the new magazine. Like magazines, there is a niche blog out there for everything: traveling, entertainment, cooking, parenting, fitness. People seek out and follow blogs and bloggers because of mutual common interests. For example, if you’re a Midwest bicyclist looking for trails, there’s a blog for that. If…
By Aliki Vrohidis In late October, nearly two dozen people reported having an E. coli infection after eating at Chipotle restaurants in the Pacific Northwest. Shortly after the incident, Chipotle closed 43 restaurants in the surrounding area due to food safety concerns. Although only eight restaurants were found to be contaminated, Chipotle closed additional…
Social media case studies, public relations research and tactics, and insights from Minnesota members of the PRSA College of Fellows were among the most popular posts on the Skogrand PR Solutions Blog in 2015. Here are this year’s most popular posts in terms of traffic: Social media case study: Sephora’s stand-out beauty video strategy Just…
Guest post by James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, Fellow IABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, BEPS Emeritus The 2016 presidential pre-primary campaign, often called the Silly Season of American politics, has been in the ditch, the dirt, and swimming around the edge of the bowl, circling the drain so to speak, much of the time. It might be a…
By Aliki Vrohidis This past weekend people lined up outside storefronts as well as waited patiently in online queues to score the best deals on home decor, beauty, clothing, electronics and more. Although there were still significant lines this year on Black Friday, more people opted to shop online instead of in store. Thanksgiving/Black…
By Aliki Vrohidis A MAT release is a fast way to deliver your message to a broad audience. The term MAT comes from the 1950s, essentially meaning camera-ready. During this time, newspapers were physically laid out and formatted. Although the layout process is mostly online now, the name remained. Today’s MAT release is typically…
By Megan R. Auren Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recently hosted the webinar “Learning Audience Behavior to Drive Stronger Results.” Founder and owner of Wax Marketing Bonnie Harris led the webinar and presented on the use of integrated marketing communications (IMC) strategies to learn and influence customer behavior. Harris began her presentation by bringing everyone up to…
By Megan R. Auren Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recently hosted the webinar “Collaborate with Corporate Brands for Fundraising Success,” in which presenter Cyndee Woolley, APR, discussed effective methods for nonprofits to strategically approach corporate sponsors. Woolley began her presentation by sharing the five driving forces that make a nonprofit fundraiser successful: 1. Successful outcomes…
By Aliki Vrohidis With an entertaining presentation featuring references to “Star Wars,” “The Godfather” and other pop culture hits, Steve Wehrenberg educated an audience on brand archetypes at a Minnesota PRSA event held at the University of Minnesota. Wehrenberg is a professor and program director at the University of Minnesota with more than 35 years of…
By Aliki Vrohidis As a brand, using a celebrity as your spokesperson can have a huge payoff. Celebrities have the potential to share your brand with millions of fans since they already have a high level of recognition. This awareness often translates into profits. . .but there are cases where celebrity spokespeople can hinder a brand. When…