Jeopardy’s PR lesson
This was initially posted in the August 25, 2021 issue of SIDEbar, a weekly PR newsletter distributed by gpublicity. When game show Jeopardy! set out to find a replacement for its late legendary host, Alex Trebek, it looked like it was doing everything right. Several guest hosts stepped into temporary auditions of sorts. Each generated a healthy […]
Endorsements are more than PR props
This was originally posted in the July 20, 2021 SIDEbar newsletter. To subscribe, visit gpublicity.com and click on the envelope in the lower right-hand corner of the page. George Clooney is true to his acting and tequila. Although Casamigos was acquired by Diageo in 2017, his story is of product lore because he and a friend did […]
Social media presents opportunity for young athletes
[This post was previously featured in the June 22, 2021 issue of the gpublicity newsletter, SIDEbar. We repost as college athletics prepares for monumental change in just a few hours.] As we approach July 1 when Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) laws kick in for college athletes in several states, it’s worth mentioning how important […]
Four years after his last NFL game, Colin Kaepernick’s protests appear in the “win” column
Protests against racism came to a ferocious boil this year after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery at the hands of law enforcement or others who had no right to put their hands on anyone let alone innocent citizens. In years past we’d hear only one side of similar stories. Today […]
The best and worst in PR this week
Like a lot of people who follow and help produce news for a living, some of it was tough to read and hear during the last few months. From sports to politics, the COVID-19 outbreaks got worse, people got uglier in how they dealt with it and then … the elections. So, it’s all over […]
NFL invites socially conscious fans to its game
When Jim Trotter and Steve Wyche talk about the National Football League, thousands of people listen. So it came as little surprise that they recently spurred an “oh yeah” from here while listening to them talk with Richard Deitsch on the Sports Media Podcast. Trotter and Wyche, who recently launched their own podcast called Huddle […]
Sports making necessary trouble
If 2020 was a movie, I would have walked out months ago. From COVID-19 that continues to hammer our communities to social horrors to powerful voices (including congressman, John Lewis, to whom I nod above) silenced too soon, this year would be headed straight for TV reruns. There’s hope, though. Among other things, sports are […]
Small-market NBA team makes noise and history
In PR, we talk about the splash move; the hook of a story. What can we do or say to attract the most eyes and ears? Can we create a message that will go viral? Sometimes what’s in your heart will drive you to do what feels right. Sometimes your actions unintentionally make national, even […]
Clarity and consistency could have prevented college football conundrum
In public relations, consistent communications help audiences remember you. Create a message that’s easy to recall; repeat the message, emphasize the message and weave that same message into the end of conversations so it’s the last thing people hear. It’s the same theory as marketing’s Rule of 7. The problem with college, which is at the […]
A request to athletes to join the maskerade
We the people ask a lot of athletes. Even when sidelined for COVID-19 precautions sports airwaves were back-to-back-to-back questions of “when will they come back?” and “what are they waiting for?” often without concern to how the virus might affect them as well as their families. As the U.S. sees alarming increases in positive coronavirus cases at […]