Halloween can be a scary time of year, and I’m not just referring to the ghouls and goblins preparing to roam my neighborhood in search of sweets. PR executives at national retailer Target got quite a fright a few weeks ago after an offensive costume appeared on the company’s Web site. Alongside the pointed witches […]
Category: Advice
Applying Economics to Communication Strategy
This week, Elinor Ostrom, a distinguished Indiana University professor, won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. She works for the same university that I do. But, that’s where the similarities stop. I still haven’t won the distinction of chief bottle washer, so I won’t even try to suggest we are on equal footing. But, […]
E-mail and Texting May Get Unwanted Results
College students using the miracle of modern technology to reach out to professors and potential employers may be doing more harm than good. E-mailing and texting are efficient and convenient, but drawbacks include potential misinterpretation of the message or a negative reaction from the recipient. Somewhere in the e-revolution, we found that short-form messages, delivered […]
America: Regional Differences Mean Diversity
For the past month, I’ve been traveling back-and-forth across America on a government-sponsored project. It’s been a lot of cramped, oversold airplanes and wide-open spaces. My trips to Washington state, Oregon, Texas, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada and Georgia have refreshed my understanding of what makes our country great. Besides the great variation in geologic environs, there’s […]
The Law of Opposites
Somewhere along the way, I was exposed to a wonderful public relations expression called the Law of Opposites. Although less familiar to the general populace than laws such as the Third Law of Thermodynamics, or DUI, or DWI, it has a place in our toolbox. This is the law that states: When you say something, […]