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9/26/2015 0 Comments

Martin Shkreli is a lesson in how not to handle your company’s PR crisis

Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli is a public relations pro's worst nightmare and proof that no matter how good your PR company may be, if you don't listen to their advice, it's going to come back and kick you in the teeth.

In case you haven't heard by now, Shkreli's company has been called out in articles around the globe for raising the price of its recently acquired drug Daraprim from $13.50 to nearly $750 a pill. What reason, other than greed, makes someone take a drug that's been around for more than 60 years and jack up the price some 5,000 percent. Daraprim is used to treat a parasitic infection that can be life threatening to some including those with AIDS and cancer.

By doing what he did, Shkreli has been labeled, among other things, the most hated man in America. Even Donald Trump called him a spoiled brat.

And, every day the news just gets worse for Shkreli. After taking to Twitter and essentially giving anyone who criticized him the finger, Shkreli put his Twitter account on private and backed down in the wake of a tremendous backlash. He's since come out saying it was all a mistake and he would lower the price of the drug.

But it's too little too late. He's being blacklisted by a lot of people, including the drug and biotech industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which tweeted "@TuringPharma does not represent the values of @PhRMA member companies."

Big Pharma's efforts to distance itself from Shkreli is in a sense ironic since it too has been criticized for years for essentially doing the same thing. He's even prompted Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to come up with a plan to take on the entire pharma industry. So, not only has Shkreli given himself and his company a black eye, but he's shone a negative light on the entire industry.

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9/19/2015 0 Comments

Infographic tools for dummies

A lot has been written about the use of infographics. Just Google “Why use infographics” and dozens of articles appear. I don’t need anyone to give me five reasons why I should be using them, I know I should, the challenge has been how to start.

I will be the first to admit I am no artist, my stick men even need help, so I wasn’t sure that creating infographics was the way to go. However, I found a number of websites that have allowed me to become more creative, by either working with pre-existing templates or, as I have become more adept, creating my own.

Here are a few that I have tried. All are free, but do offer more if you pay.

One that I have been using a lot – mostly because of its simplicity – is canva.com. This website allows you to create not only infographics, but also posts for social media including memes, Facebook covers, Instagram posts, Twitter posts, magazine covers, etc.

I like this one because you can use an existing template, modify an existing template or create your own template. Changing backgrounds, fonts and layouts is simple and, although they offer a limited amount of artwork for free (you can get more for the paid version) you can upload your own art as well. I created this infographic using canva.com

Easel.ly is another free site that allows users to create infographics from scratch, or start from one of the pre-made "Vhemes." I have used this site as well and found it to be as easy as canva.com. What I like about it is that others share their infographics, which is great when you are looking for ideas for your own infographics. I created this visual with easel.ly.

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9/15/2015 0 Comments

Just What Exactly Does a PR Professional Do?

Click on infographic to enlarge.

If you are a hair dresser or a plumber, you generally don’t have to explain to people what it is that you DO for a living. But when you are in public relations, that’s not always the case. People often ask me what it is that I do each day. Some think I go to a lot of meetings, eat out a lot, or get my clients gigs on the Today Show.

Even my own children don’t exactly get what I do. The other day my daughter wrote in a school project that her mother “works from home.” When I asked her to write that I had a PR company she said no one would know what that was. She finally agreed to say I had my own company – enough said.

The dictionary describes public relations as “The professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person.” But it’s really much more than that.

Yes, PR professionals help clients maintain a favorable image, but unlike an advertising agency, we don’t do it through paid media, rather through what we call “earned” (or free) coverage. We do this in a number of ways, through press releases, media pitches, blogging, social media, events, and award nominations, to name a few.

We work as strategic partners with clients, learning about their business, creating a PR plan and develop key messages. If there is a product or service involved, our job is to create and build awareness. If there is the possibility of something bad happening, we work with clients to mitigate the damage. This doesn’t mean we try to whitewash a problem, rather we help them to find ways to respond in the best way.

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Martin Shkreli is a lesson in how not to handle your company’s PR crisis

Infographic tools for dummies

Just What Exactly Does a PR Professional Do?

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