Blogs
Tell me something I don’t already know. Isn’t that why you’re here? Crawford blogs focus on trailblazing trends and emerging tech titans. Timely. Bleeding Edge. Far-Reaching. Read on.
For expert commentary on PR strategy and how new tools suit timeless purposes, see company president Jim Crawford. For critical assessments of new media in PR — from corporate blogging to press relations via social media — see vice president Kate Schackai.
Razorsight CEO Charlie Thomas Named Top Entrepreneur by Center for Innovative Technology
The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) has named Razorsight CEO Charlie Thomas a winner of the 2012 GAP 50 Award. Tech CEO peers selected the Top 50 entrepreneurs from over 800 nominations. See story. The CIT award is the latest in a string of honors for Razorsight. In late October, Frost & Sullivan named Razorsight the global leader in cloud-based analytics for communications service...
read moreTech PR Watch: Sprint Grows Wings
The other day I had grim news. Acting on youthful impulse, a neighbor’s son jumped over a jersey wall on a bridge, oblivious to the 30-foot drop that awaited him. Remarkably, and thank God, he survived. When the word came, I’d been immersed in The Wall Street Journal’s excellent profile of Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, the Japanese billionaire who recently acquired Sprint. It’s curious how personal and world events of no relation sometimes intertwine in the mind. As Mr. Son prepares Sprint for a leap into what the Journal...
read moreTech PR Watch: A Voice From the 47 Percent
Covering the communications and inbound marketing side of the technology business, it’s easy to fall into the habit of focusing entirely on the industry and its major players, overlooking the fact these behemoths succeed or fail based on their ability to appeal to mass markets in the 10s of millions. But once in awhile you get a peek at a real live technology customer from the ranks of ordinary women and men. Such an opportunity came my way yesterday while standing in line to vote at a fire station in rural Virginia. The subject —...
read moreIn Praise of Negative Advertising and PR
Another political season has come and (almost) gone. Once again, media pundits bewail the cost and use of negative ads/PR, questioning whether the strategy of casting barbs at political opponents works, or instead turns off voters. A program airing on NPR this weekend suggested we return to a more harmonious era of political jingles when music and positive messaging seemed enough to win the day for a candidate. The reality: There is no lost “age of innocence” in U.S. politics. Negative campaigning harkens to the days of the...
read moreBack to Basics: Should PR Be as Easy as (Pizza) Pie?
For many a business technology PR agency, the job of continuously developing cutting edge ways to promote clients can make a body jaded. Established social media venues like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin seem run-of-the-mill. Now no PR plan looks complete unless it includes Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, or depending on the industry, any among hundreds of other sites. While no one doubts the value of social media as a sales-driving branch of PR, the greater issue is whether clients have reached overload. I got wind of this lately in a discussion...
read moreTech PR Watch: The Search for Google’s Earnings
Outsourcing has its good and bad days. When it comes to releasing earnings, I’ve always preferred to push the “go” button myself versus delegate the task to an outsider. Google may have learned this lesson the hard way when it entrusted a 3Q earnings report filing to R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., a company best known as the inventor of the yellow pages, but today the nation’s top filer of SEC reports. Donnelly flipped the switch at 12:30pm ET instead of after market closing — the time Google requested — and...
read moreTech PR Watch: Alcatel-Lucent’s China Mobile Win – Political Sensitivities
Put two photos side-by-side: China’s political leadership today versus a generation ago, and what difference do you see? Pierre Cardin has replaced the once mandatory Mao jacket. To many in the technology business arena, the change in style signals China’s amazing shift to a market economy through the liberalizing influence of the West. But companies who turn a blind eye to the political ideology beneath those new neckties may be in for a PR comeuppance. Alcatel-Lucent is the latest Western technology giant to win a massive deal in...
read moreThe Undecideds: Rule by the Wishy Washy?
A common refrain of this year’s tightly contested Presidential election is that undecided voters will determine the outcome. Because this small but apparently influential group is so important, organizers of last night’s Town Hall debate at Long Island’s Hofstra University screened the 82 audience members to ensure they included only voters without a clear opinion. It’s good that the Commission on Presidential Debates sought to emulate a jury selection process devoid of bias. But when did indecision become a virtue? If...
read moreTech PR Watch: Can Softbank Save Sprint?
Sprint is a brand name frequently accompanied by the words “struggling” or “troubled.” For those with a memory of such things, the problems extend decades back to the company’s roots as a competitive long distance provider. Although Sprint won kudos then as the first to deploy a nationwide fiber optic network and to experiment with voice recognition, these successes were undercut by late, inaccurate billing that infuriated customers. Later, after its transition to wireless, Sprint’s acquisition of Nextel led...
read moreWhat the ExactTarget/Pardot Merger Means for Inbound Marketing
Up til yesterday, the inbound marketing industry was “the mouse that roared.” Primarily focused on the SMB technology business segment, the inbound marketing arena had cumulative annual revenue of just over $325 million, though great PR may have made it seem larger. But with ExactTarget’s acquisition of iGoDigital and — particularly — of Pardot yesterday, the landscape just shifted. As one of the world’s most respected marketing automation firms takes over Pardot, a pioneer and innovator in lead nurturing,...
read more