Let me paint you a picture I’ve seen play out a thousand times. A PR director walks into a Monday morning meeting, armed with a stack of media clips. “Great news!” they announce. “We got 147 mentions last week!” The CEO looks up, raises an eyebrow, and asks the question that stops everyone cold: “So […]
Crisis in the Making: Ubisoft’s CEO Blames Player “Sensitivity”
Criticizing your customers is a risky play. Regardless of the venue, when a CEO speaks about those who buy their products, there’s risk of alienation. Take, for example, an investor presentation for Ubisoft that GamesRadar spotted, where Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot labelled feedback from customers as “bashing” and that the “toxicity in games and services” […]
Barcelona Principles V4.0: The Complete Guide to Modern PR Measurement for Today’s Professionals
The Barcelona Principles V4.0 represent the most sophisticated evolution yet in PR measurement standards. Released in June 2025 by AMEC (International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication), this latest version arrives at a crucial moment when artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming how organizations measure and demonstrate communication impact. For PR professionals navigating an […]
How Poppi Hijacked Love Island and Beat the Brands Who Paid to Be There
When Love Island USA Season 7 aired this summer on Peacock, it wasn’t just a dating show—it was a masterclass in brand marketing, cultural relevance, and meme momentum. With millions tuning in and even more scrolling through TikToks, tweets, and Reddit threads, Love Island has solidified itself as one of the most valuable cultural platforms […]
Media Analysis 101: Seven Essential Things PR Pros Should Know
Over my decades in this industry, I’ve witnessed the evolution of media analysis from simple clipping services to sophisticated intelligence operations. What hasn’t changed is this fundamental truth: most PR professionals understand that media analysis is essential, but many still aren’t quite sure what separates good analysis from simply collecting a bunch of articles and […]
Pop Mart Case Study: Labubu Mania and Global Brand Strategy
Forbes recently highlighted an astonishing milestone: Pop Mart’s founder Wang Ning has joined China’s top ten billionaires, thanks to the runaway success of a quirky toy named Labubu. What began as a small collectible figurine has exploded into a “Labubu mania” – a global trend that is more than just savvy marketing. This phenomenon offers […]
Alerts Ain’t What They Used to Be
Media alerting needs a deep rethink, providing more than just a clip notification. The problem I have with alerts isn’t that they aren’t useful, they are, it just isn’t enough. News alerts were created by media monitoring vendors to replace human alerting workflows. The idea was that automated boolean and NLP capture applied against a […]
Why Smart PR Teams Are Ditching DIY Media Monitoring in 2025: The Real Cost of Managing Your Own Executive News Briefs
It’s 5 AM, and while most of the world sleeps, someone on your PR team is frantically scrolling through hundreds of articles for your executive news brief. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. As someone who’s spent years optimizing media monitoring workflows and implementing AI solutions for crisis communication, I’ve witnessed how the landscape of executive […]
Top Pharma News in June 2025
This month’s healthcare and pharmaceutical headlines reflect increased scrutiny of public health decisions, regulatory actions, and funding priorities. Changes in advisory panels, shifts in government spending, and the adoption of new technologies influence how treatments are approved, funded, and perceived. These developments underscore the growing intersection of science, politics, and public opinion. As healthcare policy […]
The New Search Ecosystem: How AI Overviews Are Reshaping Brand Visibility in 2025
The Bottom Line: Google’s AI Overviews now appear in over 13% of searches, with click-through rates dropping 30% year-over-year. For PR professionals, this means traditional SEO is becoming less effective while AI-powered content discovery is becoming essential for brand visibility. The search landscape has fundamentally changed, and most PR teams haven’t caught up yet. While […]