PR: Done & Doner – Details, episodes & analysis

This episode was recorded from a LInkedIn live stream AMA with inudstry AR guru Robin Schaffer, of Schaffer AR.

It was great having Robin on again, to discuss the state of AR and answer a wide range of questions from the audience.

Topics we covered included:

• AI impact on analysts and AR
• When is the right time to engage AR firms?
• When shoud you consider investing in them?
• How much budget to allocate.
• Evaluating metrics and ROI.
• How to choose the analysts and vendor evaluation reports to pursue.
• Using AR to boost PR, marketing and sales.
• The 3 key things to get from your AR efforts.

In addition, Robin shared pro tips on working AR for optimal advantage.

Thanks, Robin, for joining and sharing your insight and answers.

In this episode, we invited four experts on to discuss how to use AI and take it to the next level in PR - that means in generating results, not just streamlining work.

The panel included the following guests:

Participants:

• Elena Davidson, CEO Liberty Communications
• Emily Fang, VP Greenough Communications
• Katie Passarello, Director, The Pitch Club; Cofounder, Pitchwell
• Milos Eric, Co-founder, GM at OysterLink

They brought a range of experiences, everyone was eager to share and compare notes; there was great chemistry - we agreed more often than not. Here are some of the topics we explored:

• The importance of the human touch vs. overreliance on AI
• The tension between avoiding AI for wanton content generation and using it to improve pitches and results.
• Katie, Milos and Emily shared proprietary tech their firms have developed; with Pitchwell, Katie and her team have launched a commercial offering that uses AI to boost results with podcasts and other media.
• Favored GenAI and agentic platforms
• Ways to improve targeting and "road test" messages
• Sought answers to questions like: can AI help you guess what a journalist will respond to; and what PR content helps boost "share of model"?
• Several shared quantifiable results they achieved

Thanks, all, for joining and sharing your insight!

Shahar Silbershatz, CEO of reputation management and analytics firm Calber joined the podcast in a fascinating conversation about the impact of executive brands on company reputation and business. That was the just the main course; the 30 minutes were crammed with useful and actionable info across a number of topics that should be of great interest to comms pros. We discussed:

• Comparisonn of brand measurement methods.
• The emergence of always on, real-time surveys and panels.
• Connection between CEO and company reputation.
• How to convert data into PR results.
• The decline of the tech and CEO brands, and what to do about it.
• How to be an effective and visible thought leader in today's hyper-polarized, perilous world.

Shahar shared interesting case studies, especially around a PR campaign regarding Elon Musk and Tesla's business performance that got covered in Reuters, CNN and others.

He also dished on survey data about the reputations of tech CEOs, answering:

• Which ones are most recognized and liked/disliked?
• The two tech leaders who are most often associated with their respective companies.
• Which tech leaders are liked more than their companies and vice versa?

We think you will enjoy and get a lot out of this podcast, so check it out. And thanks, Shahar, for joining, and sharing your insight.

To get in touch with Shahar, you can connect with him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/silbershatz/

Caliber Website https://www.groupcaliber.com/

In Tech we Trust? post https://www.groupcaliber.com/in-tech-we-trust/

CNN story: What's wrong with Tesla? https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/07/business/tesla-ev-sales-slowdown-stock/index.html

Podcasts have taken off, and many are seeking to leverage the medium for brand building and thought leadership. 

Most PR teams have likely by now gotten involved with pitching podcasts and getting spokespeople on the shows. But what about launching a CEO podcast?

In this episode, PR, Done and Doner host Bob Geller spoke with Saul Marquez, the CEO and Founder of Outcomes Rocket, a globally recognized digital marketing agency and podcast of the name. Saul also hosts the show, which features interviews with the most inspiring leaders in healthcare.

We had a great chat in which Saul demysitified the process of launching a CEO/executive podcast, and shared interesting data and insights about the benefits and potential ROI. Here are some of the questions and points we discussed:

• The growth in CEO podcasters and listeners
• Podcasting to drive top of funnel awareness
• Steps to building a successful CEO podcast
• Goal setting, analytics, ROI
• Saul's 4 tips for executive podcasters

During the show, Saul shared some interesting third party research findings, e.g. 55% of business owners and founders listen to podcasts daily. You can download the report here:

https://lowerstreet.co/blog/reach-ceos-and-other-key-decision-makers-with-podcasts

We hope you enjoy the episode. Feel free to contact Saul at saul@outcomesrocket.com

Thanks, Saul for participating and sharing your insights.

For this end-of-year epsisode, we invited a roundtable of comms experts to critique high profile videos of interviews that went off the rails in 2023.

We discussed what went wrong, what went right, and offered tips (and yes, maybe a little snark), through the lens of long time PR pros.  Participating were:

• Bob Geller, host
• Jordant Chanofsky, Fusion PR CEO & Founder
• Olga Shmuklyer, Fusion PR SVP
• Mark Prindel, Fusion PR Director

It was a lot of fun (not that we take great pleasure in painful interviews; spend a lot of time helping clients avoid or navigate such situations). 

There were many cringeworthy moments, and unforgettable quotes, from interviews of Elon Musk, X CEO Linda Yaccarino, several Ivy League universtiy presidents, and Oracle CEO Saffra Katz.

So check it out, we'd love to hear any feedback and hope you enjoy. And thanks, panel, for offering your insights.

This is a special episode covering the situation in Israel, recorded one month after the terrible attack.

It is a time of tragedy and strong emotions; and it is not always clear how to best respond - how should companies communicate? Should they get politcial and react to anti-Israel sentiment?

We invited guests who work on the ground in the Israeli tech community, a Fusion PR partner and a client:

• Yotam Gutman: cyber marketing and business development consultant
• Shai Alani, VP marketing, Aporia

It was an intense, wide ranging and sometimes emotional discussion that sought answers to these questions:

• Impact on lives, families and the tech community
• How to best respond and communicate
• What should the message be to employees, customers, investors and the world?
• Thoughts on the US reaction

Also, Shai Alani spoke about an effort organized by Israeli marketing executives to bring stories to the media and counter anti-Israel narratives. If you want to find out more, and help, please contact Shai on LinkedIn.

Thanks, Shai and Yotam! Stay safe and strong.

This episode features a chat with Eric Yaverbaum, CEO of ⁠Ericho Communications⁠ and author of Public Relations for Dummies and Leadership Secrets of the World's Most Successful CEOs.

He uses the latest influencer scandals (e.g., with Twitch star Kai Cenat and YouTuber Mr. Beast) as a lens to view the state and future of crisis management. Eric speaks at length about crisis strategy with newer social platforms such as TikTok and Twitch, and impications for crisis comms in the next six months to ten years and beyond.

It was a fun and interesting conversation. Eric shared examples, citing some famous names he has worked with (celebrities, influencers and brands). He shed light on these topics and others:

• The new rules of crisis management
• Unintended consequences of working with influencers
• Advice on working with influencers
• The importance of being prepared for a crisis, having a plan
• Eric gets caught up in the Kai Cenat scrum in Union Square, NYC

Thanks, Eric, for joining and sharing your insight!

Host Bob Geller spoke with Stacey Ross Cohen recently about her new book, Brand Up (co-authored by Jason Shaffer and Alan Katzman), and the personal and company branding connection.

Stacey is an accomplished PR pro and entrepreneur who earned her stripes on Madison Avenue and at major TV networks before launching and growing her own agency, Co-Communications.  She is a frequent speaker at TedX and industry conferences.

We discussed the challenges and opportunities in personal branding, from the junior employee to the C-suite, covering these topics and others:

• Why it’s important to get started early on in personal branding
• The CEO as a brand asset
• Countering personal branding misperceptions
• The 3Ds of personal branding: discovery, development, and delivery
• Magnetic content: why you need to be your own communications channel
• How to encourage employees to advocate for the company brand
• Should brands get political?
• Managing the tension between personal branding and your work

Thanks for tuning in! And thank you, Stacey, for sharing your insights.

In this episode, PR D&D host Bob Geller interviews Gregory Hartley, a renowned body language expert and a panelist on the popular Behavior Panel YouTube channel. Gregory shares insights about human behavior gained from the battlefield and boardroom.  He got his start as an army interrogator and instructor and brought the expertise to the business world, where he has been advising execs about the art of mastering and reading body language.

It was a wide ranging discussion which covered these topics:

• Myths and misperceptions (spoiler alert, there is no foolproof liar's "tell")
• How to increase the power of your message
• 5 kinds of body language to watch and improve
• Why Trump's behavior is weird (and why Bill Clinton adapted his "illustrator" gestures)

We had a great conversation. Since body language is inherently visual, you may want to watch the video on video-enabled podcasts or our YouTube channel. Thanks for tuning in! And thank you, Gregory, for sharing your insights.

Here is The Behavior Panel website and a link to Gregory Hartley's books - he's written ten on the topic.

For more information or to suggest guests or topics, please email bob.geller@fusionpr.com

Last time the podcast covered ChatGPT and its impact on PR, media and other fields. In this episode, we invited a panel of experts to discuss the adoption of LLM, generative, and other forms of AI in PR. Two vendors and a PR tech blogger spoke at length about challenges, opportunities and use cases.  Host Bob Geller moderated the session which, included

• Frank Strong, CEO of Sword & the Script Media
• Zach Cutler, Co-Founder, CEO & Chairman at Propel
• Tressa Robbins, Vice President of Customer Onboarding, Burrelles

We covered these points and others:

• PR tech vendor landscape, adoption of AI
• AI to generate & analyze content, monitor media, and hone and target pitches
• Challenges

• Will AI take your job away?
• Avoiding quality pitfalls, ensuring responsible usage 
• Where are we going with AI in PR?
• Current and emerging use cases

Thanks for tuning in! And thank you, panel, for sharing your insights with PR, Done & Doner.

For more information or to suggest guests or topics, please email bob.geller@fusionpr.com