How do world consumers see the U.S.? According to a recent report called the Nation Brands Index, people believe that it’s a great place to do business, but that our culture is not attractive. This reinforces our call for the need for an effective, credible and pro-active public diplomacy policy to be quickly developed and implemented in Washington to better address global public relations issues.
Recent news has been rife with corporate scandals and Sarbanes-Oxley repercussions that have led to a new corporate mantra: transparency. While executives ponder what they want to share – and how – public relations should figure prominently into the mix.
What’s news? That should be one of the most important questions a PR person asks. Many times stories are pitched and press releases are sent that have no legs. Why? Because what the company thinks is earth-shaking news is actually less than a blip on the public’s radar. Companies today need to know what their target audience wants to know.
A recent article in BusinessWeek noted that the traditional brand-building methods of mass advertising don’t work in today’s society. Media fragmentation and consumer control over media consumption are forcing companies to become more creative.