public relations

It’s said that you get only one chance to make a (good) first impression. One might think that no one would understand this more than a public relations agency.

Earlier today, I was browsing the web sites of a dozen Canadian public relations agencies. Eleven of these web sites not only failed to make a good first impression but they also failed to practice what these agencies preach to their own clients.

• Only three sites had pictures of their key employees. The portraits on one of these sites were amateurishly done: it’s painfully obvious that each person used whatever picture they had handy of themselves from snapshot to computer screenshot to out-of-focus cell phone photo.

Continue reading →

Yet again, another large organization decided to save a few dollars on its marketing by buying cheap stock pictures. Yet again, it has backfired into the daily papers and TV newscasts. Yet again, another organization is scrambling to explain its short-sightedness and to minimize the ridicule.

In three months, Ontario will have a provincial election. The provincial NDP party has started its campaign with a 48-page booklet telling voters that it will put Ontario citizens first, create and protect Ontario jobs, make sure public money supports local business, help Ontarians put more money in their pockets and above all, “Buy Ontario” and “help small businesses”.

So how did the NDP decide to show that it means what it says? By ignoring Ontario photographers and buying cheap pictures from US stock photo agencies. (Hint to NDP: cheap stock pictures are instantly recognizable for what they are. Studies have shown that readers hate them.)
Continue reading →