Managers: Should Your PR Budget Stress Tactics or Strategy?

A good PR campaign is a constant battle for both time and money, but when should you prioritize tactics over strategy? In the article, “The 37 Best Websites to Learn Something New,” Stephen Illes discusses the importance of balancing these two things in your PR efforts. Managing a PR campaign successfully takes knowledge of which tactics are most effective and only spending as much money on that particular tactic as needed. Spending too much time on a specific tactic may be less effective than investing in more strategy-driven activities. Michael Burgett also talks about how managers may want to spend their budget strategically with influencers like partners or celebrity endorsements rather than going after cheap posts that might not work anyway. Strategies that use influencers should be tested before they are implemented in a campaign to ensure their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

Source: "The 37 Best Websites to Learn Something New" - Stephen Illes - Medium.com

Date: March 7, 2018

Author: Michael Burgett, PR Strategist & Director of Communications for The Building Community Co. LLC

Although the concept of storytelling has been around for years, it's only recently that I believe it has entered the public consciousness and become accessible to more people. Perhaps it's because of the rise of social media, but whatever the reason, it is becoming more and more important to understand story and how to tell one.

While the concept has been around for some time, Peter Guber is credited with first making reference to "story telling" publicly in a speech at Columbia Business School given in 1987. Guber was describing his efforts as CEO of Sony Pictures in making movies. He said "The greatest asset that Sony has in its entire company-exceeding even the ability to make money-is its tellable stories. Sony's logo is a mechanical horse running".

Yet it remained largely unused until the release of William Rosen's book "The Elements of Dynamic Storytelling" in 1997. Rosen defines a story as "a composite of five equally important elements: plot, character, voice, theme and storyteller." In his book he discusses each element in detail with concrete examples from movies that have worked and those that have failed.

In 1999, Robert McKee released his book "Story: Substance, Structure and Style for Film & The Screen". Unlike Rosen's book, which provides concrete examples from film only, McKee applies the same principles to visual media like television. Both books are essential in helping writers develop their story telling skills.

The idea of story telling as a concept has changed significantly in the last several years and is now attracting more attention. Many people are recognizing the importance and power of story telling. The National Endowment for the Arts has named "Storytelling" one of their top five media priorities. The "New York Times" profiled six storytellers who are having an impact on our culture today at www.editions24hours.org .

And the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences lists storytelling as one of its top five cross-genre projects. 

Storytelling appears frequently in the media of many countries. It is not uncommon to see storytellers performing or video-recording their performances. This article lists some of those who have been making those performances available on the Internet with articles that are either in English or in other languages.

"The World Storytelling Project", founded by British director Richard Perry and run by author, educator and storyteller Alan Shorter, is an international organisation building a global creative community based on sharing stories through drama, music and performance. It provides opportunities for storytellers to communicate with other such storytellers via web conferences and face to face meetings in locations around the world.

The World Storytelling Project website is the site of the project.

"Storytelling in Motion", founded by Regula Kremp, is a cooperative of storytellers in Germany. The objective of this organization is to bring together storytellers from all over the world and support their cooperation.

Regula Kremp runs the website of "Storytelling in Motion".

"Storytelling Journal", founded by Nathan Johnson, is an online magazine that publishes articles on storytelling from around the world. Its main focus is on children's storytelling, but it also contains articles about community storytelling, children's storytelling and others with a story telling focus.

"Seattle Storytelling News", founded by Amy E. Devitt, is a free community newsletter that publishes articles and resources related to storytelling.

The Seattle Storytelling News website is the site of this publication.

"Christopher Thurman's Storytellers", founded by Christopher Thurman, is an online magazine that publishes articles about storytelling from around the world. It also has a monthly podcast called Storytellers Podcast.

"Children's Storytelling Magazine", founded by Martin D'Amico, is a downloadable e-magazine where published stories are provided in both entertainment and education value for children from preschool to teen years.

"Storycom", founded by Béatrice David and Renée Hershkowitz, is an online magazine that publishes first-person articles about storytelling and related topics. The site contains information on storytelling competitions and awards as well as resources on writing, performance, the business of storytelling, etc.

"The Podcast: The Storytelling Show", founded by Rhonda Jo Harmon, is an online magazine that publishes articles about storytelling from around the world. The site also has a podcast called "Storytelling Podcast".

"StoryTelling.com", founded by Richard J. Coe and Phyllis J. Coe, is an online magazine that publishes articles about storytelling from around the world. It also has a podcast called "Storytelling Podcast".

"Storytelling World", founded by Tim D. Smith, is an online magazine that publishes articles about storytelling from around the world. They also have a podcast called "Storytelling Podcast".

"Canadian Storytellers Magazine", founded by Alf Marshall, is an online magazine that publishes articles about storytelling from around the world. They also have a podcast called "Storytelling Podcast".

Conclusion

"Storytelling" is often an integral part of celebrations around the world. The storyteller provides a focal point for others in their community to gather and share their stories.

In Brazil, the storytellers are called "cantores" (singers) and serve important ceremonial functions throughout the year. In some communities there are specific celebrations related to particular types of stories ("música lírica", "música de cântico", etc.). The history of these celebrations can be traced back to the first settlers of each place where they settled ("Inês de Castro", "João do Nascimento", etc.).