Public Relations

Creating A Social Media Plan

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 30th, 2010

Sarah Hartshorn has a good post on Social Media Today that outlines 5 Steps To Create A Social Media Plan. If you are considering including social media in your communications plan, it’s worth a read.

In the past few months, in our Vancouver PR agency, we’ve had the opportunity to develop several social media plans for clients. And Sarah’s first point on picking your marketing objectives is where we always start – although we focus on identifying your communications objectives.

A few months back, we had a meeting with a client in Vancouver…

Crisis Communications In The Age Of Social Media

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 24th, 2010

I read (and reread) The New York Times article on crisis communications with interest. I want to repeat what I wrote yesterday – for anyone who works in communications, this article is worth a read.

I don’t agree with every expert quoted in the piece, but not agreeing is a good thing. It makes you step back and review why you think the way you do.

One of the experts in this article explains that sometimes, there is nothing you can do when a crisis hits except take your hits and get…

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…

Defining What You Need In A Social Media Consultant

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

Kevin Barenblat has a great piece on how to choose a social media partner on Imediaconnection.com.  He outlines 10 questions to ask if you are considering working with a consultant or agency for your social media outreach. It’s a good article and worth reading if you are considering bringing on social media assistance.

I think that we, at AHA, bring an interesting perspective and specific expertise to our approach to the social media initiatives that we develop for clients. We are a PR agency, not social media marketers, and we view…

Do You Have A Social Media Policy In Place?

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on August 04th, 2010

There is a very interesting article in the Detroit News about the challenges of having employees say things on social media networking sites. It cites several high profile examples, including the YouTube PR nightmare faced by Domino’s Pizza in early 2009. (If you aren’t aware of this issue and want to know more, the article does a good job of explaining it.)

At AHA, we followed the Domino’s issue and several others quite closely and spent a great deal of time deconstructing the challenges that are now common place because of the widespread adoption of social media.

This article is…

Writing A Good Press Release

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

There is an excellent article on openforum.com that showcases how to write a compelling press release that is of value to a journalist. We’ve all seen our share of bad press releases. This piece is worth a read.

PR On Facebook

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on July 28th, 2010

Love it or hate it, you have to admit, Facebook has created a global online community that offers huge opportunity (and equal risk) for many brands. Recently, Facebook launched a PR on Facebook page that provides some great information on how to use Facebook to connect with your stakeholders, consumers and community.

This is an excellent resource if you are interested in finding out if Facebook would be of value for your organization. And if it is of value, there is lots here that can help you to engage on Facebook.

AHA Flip Cam Friday – PR Isn’t Broken

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on July 23rd, 2010

In today’s video, Ruth talks about how social media has positively influenced PR.

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…