While there are numerous examples of companies handling issues and crises poorly (read some of our blog posts about them here, here and here), we also like to recognize those companies that respond swiftly and appropriately to a potential PR catastrophe. Recently there have been two such instances, one involving Royal Caribbean and the other Papa John’s. Early on Memorial Day, a fire broke out on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas...

I admit it: I am one of those girls with a Pinterest wedding board – and I am not engaged. I love Pinterest, and I am not alone. Pinterest has, on average, thirty million monthly visitors. According to Nielsen’s 2012 social media report, Pinterest’s number of monthly PC users grew by 1,047 percent between 2011 and 2012. The number of monthly mobile app and mobile web users add an additional five and 14 million, respectively, and the...

“Fresh” is a great word. Everyone wants it. Bosses want fresh ideas, editors want a fresh set of eyes, diners want fresh food and hikers want fresh air. Where would Will Smith be today if he had started out as The Prince instead of The Fresh Prince? Fresh is great because it’s the opposite of stale, and it’s amazing how fast things in life get stale. You may love a funny commercial the first time you see it, but the fiftieth time?...

Brands that interact with their audience are more likely to sustain attention, build awareness and invoke a response from their target audiences. Although most of the Super Bowl commercials were lackluster this year, several of the ads used social media-based calls-to-action that helped poise the sponsoring brands for success.   While you may not typically enjoy Coca Cola and Oreos in the same sitting, the two food brands employed similar...

This week’s presidential inauguration is a reminder of the power of symbols. Not only was the inauguration (albeit the second) of the nation’s first black president held on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol was itself largely symbolic; the President and Vice President officially took their oaths the day before, on the date specified in the Constitution. The public spectacle was only that. And...