Playmaker’s Blog

Congratulations Brands. You Caught the Car. Now Run Away.

THE NINE-MINUTE MURDER of George Floyd was real and raw, and it deserved real and raw response. But when sports gear maker Nike dropped its Just Don’t Do It video I had to wonder if the counter-intuitive spot was more about self-interest than public service. By most standards the message was pitch-perfect, but its speed […]

ANATOMY of a NEWSJACKING: Unilever’s Dove BeSafe Campaign

Newsjacking the Pandemic: The Rise and Ruin of Spinformation

Spin didn’t start the COVID-19 pandemic. And it’s not going to stop it either. Consider six cases and the strategies that power them and their players. Each amounts to the subtle but detectable exploitation (i.e., newsjacking) of our new reality. As though from Chernobyl, Chinese authorities shut down and slow-walked the novel coronavirus’ discovery, and […]

Podcast Plays with PRWeek: Strategic Comms, Taking the Front Foot, Zuck and Bernie

HELLLOOO! Thanks to @Steve_J_Barrett and @Washkuch for a lively chat on the @PRWeekUS podcast: In which we discuss the PR industry’s education-practice gap and how strategic communication puts us on the front foot. Also, my takes on why Mark Zuckerberg can only play offense and how Bernie Sanders can happen. #stratcom #strategiccommunication #corpcomm #PR Tap […]

Strategic Communication: Simulating a Ukraine Migraine

SIMULATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL in developed industries and professions. They help pilots, doctors and first responders execute with precision — not simply because practice makes perfect but because experimentation can be the better teacher. So why not simulate communications? And the strategies that drive it? At The Circle conference in Budapest, Hungary, I had the honor of engaging […]