By Kate Makowski As we walked across the park from the Bud Light to the Samsung stage, streams of music from bands playing at nearby stages passed through our ears. Thousands of happy teens and twentysomethings danced in the grass or sat on the side of the road, taking pictures and watching videos of artists…
By Kate Makowski I remember scrolling through my Facebook feed this past semester, and seeing posts about a high school friend covering the terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium. Her name is Hanna Knutson, and she was there on March 22, reporting from the Brussels airport. Apart from the sadness and shock over the attacks, I…
By Kate Makowski Last week Joe Truncale, CEO of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), visited Minnesota chapter members in downtown Minneapolis. Spong PR hosted the event. In his presentation, Truncale explained what he had learned about PRSA’s infrastructure after becoming CEO, and discussed upcoming changes in the organization. His most important learnings were: the areas…
By Aliki Vrohidis We recently wrote about why influencer marketing has become so important over the past couple years. Although it is a fairly recent trend, we are seeing brands succeed with this new marketing tactic. Here are five brands that have found success with influencers: Kate Spade Kate Spade took to Pinterest influencers for…
By Megan R. Auren Many people set a New Year’s resolution for themselves — so why not take a moment to do the same for your business? Set aside time Begin by setting aside time to reflect on the last year. Simply ask yourself what worked, what didn’t work, and how you can do better…
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 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…