Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The fantasy world of merger announcements bears no resemblance to the reality of mergers. Michael Dell’s post about the Dell-EMC merger is a fine example.

Why do companies merge? There’s always language about “complementary skills and assets,” but that’s always bullshit. There is always language about “serving customers better” but that is also bullshit.

Companies merge for growth — period. It’s not about customers. It’s about money.There are two basic merger scripts, none of which you will ever read, and both of which are bad for customers....

'Fiscal cliff' and 'whatever' top the lists. Don't roll your eyes. I'm just sayin' that these words are, like, so yesterday. Or maybe not. YOLO.

Political observers may have been ambivalent about Tuesday night's House of Representatives vote to halt mandatory tax increases for all but the United States' highest earners, extend unemployment benefits, and fend off other potentially damaging, self-imposed economic consequences.

Language lovers, however, had to be delighted, because it meant they were one step closer to never again hearing the phrase "fiscal cliff." That term topped Lake Superior State University's annual list of banished words....

Before you start writing anything for a PR and marketing audience, here are 20 questions you should ask. Consider it a template for a creative brief specifically for writing projects, if you like....

[Mark Tosczak offers a thoughtful checklist for PR, content marketing pros and bloggers - JD]

Who fancies a game of Buzzword Bingo? Here are five words to get you started that I’ve noticed being used with increasing regularity inside communications agencies and at industry conferences…

...One has to look no further than the pages of a USA Today to see just how the charticle has taken its rightful place as a journalistic vehicle for today’s time and attention-starved news consumers. A few minutes with quick visual coupled with scannable text and we know just about everything going on in the world.In fact, some writing sites even advise would-be writers to skip the feature article and submit a quick-impact charticle for consideration.

What is a Charticle?

Charticles – as defined by Omaha World-Herald Deputy Presentation Editor Josh Crutchmer – are combinations of text, images and graphics that take the place of a full article. They are often used by bloggers and journalists alike to express one big idea with a bit of narrative provided by the supporting text that follows or sets up the big visual or chart that’s usually the feature in the post. In many cases, the chart featured in the charticle could likely stand on its own, as in, the data is typically that compelling. Moreover, that’s also what makes it worth writing about. The charticle is singular in focus and offers a great opportunity for expressing a succinct thought leadership point of view on a relevant bit of data....

[This post features a really good list of smartphone apps for photos, photo editing, video, audio, recording calls, writing and social network tools. Useful for PR, journalists or anyone producing content and stories. ~ Jeff]