The Sounds of Silence from John Henry's Office

One of the most interesting moments in the painful September saga of the Boston Red Sox's collapse was owner John Henry's surprise visit to the 98.5 The Sports Hub radio sports show. Without entourage, he just showed up and accepted an interview, in effect indicating he was tired of hearing all of the criticisms their on-air hosts were hurling his way regarding his role, and wanting to give his side of the story. It wasn't a great interview, but it...

Six Rules for Announcing "Solutions" in Today's Communications

"In the world we live in, somewhere between 80 percent and 95 percent of new product introductions fail. It’s not that hard to postulate that you must do virtually everything right to successfully launch new products." Jack Gordon, CEO of AcuPOLL Research Inc One of the greatest challenges solution providers face is how to package and present their new offerings in a way that will generate interest from the media. Historically, the media has tended to focus on products rather...

In the Real World, Who Cares about Search Plus?

This week's announcement by Google of "Search Plus Your World" was one of those times where Silicon Valley is great spectator sport. In case you missed it because you're at CES, or getting ready for NRF, or heads down after the holidays, Google rolled out its deepest level of integration of Google+ -- content and social signals from Circles, +1's and reshares -- to core Google search results to date. The bottom line, as Danny Sullivan put it, is that...

5 Resolutions for 2012 for PR and Social Media

Well, it is that time of year for reflecting on 2011 and looking ahead to 2012. If 2011 proved anything, it was that social media has crossed the chasm into the mainstream -- worldwide. (Tip of the hat to Geoffrey Moore.) From the democratic revolutions of the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street Movement to the Japanese tsunami to the death of Steve Jobs, social media played a central role in not only communicating the news, but also being...

The Best and Worst PR Moves of 2011 : Part II [#WorstPRMoves]

We've already given you the #BestPRMoves of 2011. And, as is always the case, our list of the #WorstPRMoves is always longer and, frankly, a lot more fun to compile. Let's see if our list matches your memories of the year's communications faux pas. Best in Class Individual #WorstPRMoves of 2011 This gets a split vote this year. It was a closely fought race between sitcom star cum rabble rouser cum new sitcom star Charlie Sheen, and the "what was...

The Best and Worst PR Moves of 2011 : Part I [#BestPRMoves]

It's always fun to look back at the year with a communications lens and determine the best moves that individuals, companies or organizations made from a PR standpoint and then, of course, the most bone-headed moves of the year. The latter list is always easier to compose (why is that?) A few of our intrepid PR team members, who are busily finishing up programs for 2011 and furiously planning to start 2012 with a bang, picked their heads up briefly...

5 Reasons Why Companies Shouldn't Dismiss Google Plus

There is a pattern to the responses I hear when people first try out Google+. "I'm on Google+ but I don't know what to do with it." "I'm not sure why we need to spend time on this when our audience isn't on here." "Why should we dilute our social presence when we have Twitter and Facebook?" It all sounds awfully familiar. That's because it's the same thing we heard when Twitter got started, and a little bit with Facebook...

The Shoemakers' Children Refresh Their Brand

We've always been focused first and foremost on our clients -- on their announcements, their messaging, their branding, their return on investment. Our efforts on growing and evolving our business are always driven by how we can provide our clients with the best resources and services available. This focus has helped us successfully navigate 25 years in the constantly shifting world of strategic communications. But now more than ever there is a major shift in the communications landscape, a shift...

What We Are #Thankful For – and NOT!

One thing for which social media is great is providing a platform for anyone to share with the world what they are thankful for at this time of year. We agree and have been doing that on Beyond the Hype for five years. In 2011, we have many important reasons to give thanks: Our loyal clients and long-time friends of the agency that have been the most important part of our success and the reason we could celebrate our 25...

Snippets on Social Media from @PubClubofNE Event #pubclubofne

Last night I attended the Publicity Club of New England's panel discussion, "Tools and Tips for Social Success: Taking Your Social Media Program to the Next Level." The panel was moderated by my colleague, @TedWeismann. The panelists were: Janet Aronica, Head of Marketing at Shareaholic (@JanetAronica) Eric Leist, Emerging Technology Strategist, Allen and Gerritsen (@EricLeist) George Snell, Senior Vice President of Digital and Social Media, Weber Shandwick (@HighTalk) Andrew Teman, Vice President, Social Media Strategy, Hill Holliday (@andrewteman) Anne Weiskopf,...