WAINGER
WISDOM
In this blog, we explore what it takes to engage, inspire and connect whether you are building a personal or organizational brand.
Join us in this ongoing conversation about creating effective leadership communications with strategies and tactics that foster understanding and motivate people to act.
Join us in this ongoing conversation about creating effective leadership communications with strategies and tactics that foster understanding and motivate people to act.
All Tweeted Out?
I just logged into my Twitter account and was greeted by this happy whale with the message that “Twitter was over capacity. Too many Tweets.” I give Twitter credit for social media optimism. They didn’t take a doom and gloom approach to being out of service. They told the truth — what choice did they have? — and used a colorful image to illustrate their point.
Crisis Communications: A Spot on the Communicators’ Wall of Shame
BP’s Tony Hayward doesn’t get it. In crisis communications terms, his words are a like a giant oil spill themselves, coating the media waters with arrogance, stupidity and leaving the impression that no one really is taking charge of this extraordinary catastrophe. A New York Times article today suggests that he’ll probably be fired before this is all over.
Social Media Shortcut: Can You Tweet For Me?
Not too long ago, I was approached by a potential client looking for a PR firm to increase its visibility among target audiences. The first question they asked was “So Can you Tweet for me? We need to be on Twitter?” They might need to be but in my view that was the wrong question. What needs to be asked first are two basic questions: Who are you trying to reach and why?
Crisis Communications & a Disaster of Biblical Proportions
It’s official. The BP oil spill now is the worst in US history, surpassing the Exxon Valdez according to an article in today’s NY Times. The toxic oil spewing from the broken well for more than a month has damaged fragile wetlands and the [...]
Customer Service: Just Ask Me But Ask Right
Recently, I got a call from a survey company asking me “a few” questions about local hospitals (it was more like 30). As someone who often conducts such customer service surveys on behalf of clients, I decided to participate. It was clear after a short time that the survey was about a specific local hospital trying to understand its reputation in the minds of potential consumers and how they make decisions about which hospital to select when they need one.
Storytelling: The Power of Video
Last week I spent two days on a video shoot for a piece on the importance of affordable housing. Intellectually, I understood the arguments for affordable housing and for public policies that support it. However it was this digital storytelling about people–a bank teller, a medical assistant, a grandmother–all of whom were able to reshape their lives for the better once they had a safe and decent place to live–that helped me to fully grasp the issue. Seeing is believing.
Storytelling: What If You Only Had A Sentence?
The Twittersphere was abuzz today with several posts about a website called One Sentence. It’s a place where brevity and a quick trip to the essence of the story is celebrated and honored.
Public Relations: Does a Day (or Week or Month) Make a Difference?
Last Thursday was Earth Day and there were the usual wonderful and less wonderful actions on the part of marketers, nonprofits and corporations to get in on the celebration by aligning and promoting their brand. Nancy Schwartz highlighted a number of great nonprofit efforts. On the commercial side, Leslie Kaufman wrote a piece for the New York Times about Earth Day now being big business.
Media Relations: The Moment of Truth
The bill for my Washington Post subscription came in the mail the other day and I had a decision to make. To renew or not. Until now, not renewing had never crossed my mind. Keeping up with the news is a lifelong dedication, not just a part of my media relations work.
Crisis Communications: A Calm and Steady Face
In times of crisis, people look to someone to lead them through it. Joe Manchin, Governor of West Virginia has done that well throughout the horrible tragedy at Upper Big Branch Mine that killed 29 miners.
Liz Wainger says:
Liz Wainger says:
Liz Wainger says: