Communications

Crisis Communications – What To Do And When

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 23rd, 2010

The New York Times has an excellent in-depth article focused on crisis communications. For anyone in communications and PR, it’s worth a read. It’s long – 5,200 words – and it’s interesting. That The New York Times would produce an article this long says something about the importance and value of this topic and, of course, the flat out interest in it.

Get a coffee or tea and settle in. It will take you some time to read this, but it is worth the read.

I will weigh in tomorrow on what we think of the advice…

AHA Flip Cam Friday

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on August 20th, 2010

In today’s AHA Flip Cam Friday video, Ruth talks about communication. It’s more about what your audience hears, than what you say.

Can You Write?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 26th, 2010

Shel Holtz has a very interesting piece on whether writing is a core skill for a professional communicator. He did a round up, asking several strategic communications professionals for their take and their responses are thoughtful and relevant. It’s an interesting topic and this piece is definitely worth reading.

There are some communicators who focus more on the actual craft of writing in their day-to-day work than others, but I can’t imagine that a professional communicator doesn’t need solid writing skills to do their job. Communication is at the very foundation of what…

How Social Media Has Changed PR

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 20th, 2010

We had the opportunity recently to speak with Glen Korstrom of Business in Vancouver about the impact that social media has had on the world of public relations. In fact, we’re quoted in his article this week. (You need a subscription to read the piece online.) We were thrilled that we were quoted as a thriving Vancouver PR agency that has embraced social media as a part of our offering.

I wanted to share a little more of what we discussed. As mentioned in the article, while there are many who do think…

Old Spice Man Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 19th, 2010

There has been quite a bit of buzz recently about the Old Spice social media campaign that has the Old Spice Man replying via video to tweets. (Here is a good post on WebProNews.) The campaign is funny, it’s smart and it showcases just what can be done with social media when you develop a kick ass strategy and identify what the right tools are to deliver on it.

I am sure that a case study on this campaign’s success will appear somewhere in the near future. It would be great to hear from the people who created…

No Matter What, Great PR Is Still About The Relationship

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on April 29th, 2010

We recently had a U.S. client visit us in Vancouver for planning meetings and media updates.  At AHA, we’re very fortunate that we have clients in the U.S. and Canada – on both the east and west coasts. That AHA is based in Vancouver – with our head office in Gibsons (a short 40-minute ferry ride from Vancouver) isn’t an issue with our clients or with media. We communicate on a regular basis by telephone, email, and online chat. The world has evolved enough that where we are based isn’t relevant, the work we do is.

Having said that and,…

The News Release

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on April 05th, 2010

The news release is still a part of what we, as communicators, use. It is a tool in our tool belt. How we use it has changed, however. That means that how we develop a news release has had to evolve as well.

There has been a great deal of talk about the social media news release over the years since it was first introduced in 2006. This is a release that may include podcasts, video, images, links, and contact information for potential interviews, among other components.

At AHA, we connect with journalists on a regular basis. We often take…

The Nestle Crisis Keeps Going

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 23rd, 2010

There doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for candy maker Nestle. I just checked their Facebook page and the negative comments are still being posted on a regular basis. I also checked out their Twitter accounts (@nestle and @nestlecsv) – which stands for creating shared value. While there are plenty of comments to and at Nestle on Twitter, they aren’t tweeting much.

I found information on their website that announces that Nestle commits to using sustainable palm oil by 2015. It’s interesting that you can get this news via mp3 on their…

When A Brand Is Attacked – A Live Case Study

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 22nd, 2010

Jenn Riggle of The Buzz Bin has a great blog post on Seven Ways Hospitals Can Address Facebook Criticism. While Jenn’s post focuses on hospitals, her advice can be translated to any organization that faces public scrutiny and criticism.

Being attacked publicly is one of the main concerns that we hear when we speak with new clients about the potential of using social media as a part of their communications efforts. This is a valid concern and one that needs to be addressed, especially for those organizations that have outspoken critics—critics that understand and use social media and…

Social Media – What Works?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on March 18th, 2010

iMedia has a great article with the headline: Does Facebook Work? It goes on to showcase some of the purchasing stats of retail customers, stats that don’t quite live up to the hype of Facebook.

I think one of the challenges that we face in using social media is that we are looking for this magic thing to come along and replace all the stuff from the past that didn’t work. Currently, social media is being hailed as the best tool ever for sales people, for marketing people and for PR—as well as for consumers, non-profits, businesses and other organizations.…