Playmaker’s Blog

 

Protecting Our Fourth Estate: The Plunder of Politics and PR

December 10, 2016

Last month, when President-Elect Donald Trump convened a meeting of American news elites, he shocked us with another dissection of our precious Fourth Estate. You’re all liars, he snarled. A better word might be dupes. After all, the same media he claims to be dishonest propelled his candidacy and, in the process, traded their obedience to facts for entertainment. Just think of the countless face-offs between campaign pundits, Jeffrey […]

Hillary’s High-Friction Plays Are Prologue for High-Fit Marketers

October 13, 2016

Regardless of the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, marketers, communicators, social media mavens, sales people and others of the influence industries can draw moral and object lessons from the phenomenon of Donald Trump and the counter-intuitive plays Hillary Clinton ran to best him. What Clinton figured out is that debate more than dialog and counter-intuition […]

Saving Arthur Page: Telling the Truth About PR

September 6, 2016

Among its many uses, the U.S. presidential election is filling a less recognized but critical need: It’s a showcase to the opaque game that’s played in every industry of influence — from advertising to sales, marketing, public affairs, politics, military information operations and, especially, public relations. More than other political cycles, 2016 raises issues of transparency, truth and principle, […]

Stop Being Ridiculous: We Agree on Animal Alternatives

August 23, 2016

While watching the games of 2016 — not the Olympics, the U.S. presidential election —  I am reminded of the stare-down between drug companies and animal rights activists. Of this mounting conflict, you’d think the answer is simple — that animals can and should eventually make their exit from so many labs and testing facilities. Alternatives are in the […]

Recast Redux: It’s Like a Cover of a Classic

August 8, 2016

The Recast is one of four influence plays in the framing category of the engage class of The Standard Table of Influence. Are you asleep yet? Okay…here’s a simple way to think of it: It’s like covering a classic. Take, for example, the Simon & Garfunkel hit, The Sound of Silence.  There’s this original (top). And then […]