Americans love keeping score. We pay attention to all kinds of rankings: richest people, top colleges, best restaurants, highest weekend box office sales…the list goes on and on. One that struck me recently was a headline for the History Channel’s super-popular miniseries on the Bible. It proclaimed: “The Bible tops American Idol in Nielsen ratings.” […]
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Mad About Your Message
It’s March Madness time. And even people who don’t have a clue about sports know that means the NCAA basketball tournament is getting underway. It should also be a reminder of how you can do better at “getting noticed” in the media. March Madness is one of the most popular sporting events in the country. […]
A Higher (Media) Power
I have to give the folks at the Vatican credit…they really know how to use the media! When I first heard that white smoke was pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, I immediately flipped on the broadcast of the breaking news from Rome (I actually checked out TV, radio and online coverage). Along with […]
Making Your Message Memorable
When the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to an all-time high this week, news reporters–as they are want to do when a market milestone is set–spent a lot of time trying to put the record in perspective. One of my favorites was from an old colleague of mine, Joe Connolly, a Wall Street Journal reporter […]
Winning Gold with the Media
It was one of the most memorable pictures of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. That face! American gymnast McKayla Maroney, after stumbling during her vault routine and only taking a silver medal, produced the now-famous “unimpressed” look on the medal stand. The picture was splashed all over the media, so much so that during […]
Painting Danica’s Portrait
One of the most important aspects of a successful media strategy is for you to control how you are portrayed…not the media. A great example of someone really trying hard to do that is race car driver Danica Patrick. Patrick of course gets tremendous media coverage because she is a woman succeeding in a male-dominated […]
Space. The Final Media Frontier?
“Luck is preparation and opportunity.” –Bobby Knight If you’re like me, you probably never heard of the B612 Foundation before. The group, founded by two former NASA astronauts, wants to save the world…from space rocks. Its mission statement says, “Our goal is to hunt asteroids that could hit the Earth and potentially cause human devastation.” Pretty […]
The Drink Seen ‘Round the World
Both my parents were born in the early part of the 20th Century and used a lot of old-time phrases. One of them was that when you were thirsty you needed to “wet your whistle.” I wonder if Marco Rubio’s parents said that, too?! The Senator from Florida created a major media buzz by reaching […]
Size Matters
No, this is not a blog about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s weight. It’s a blog about those who have wisely used the recent flap over Christie’s girth to get some valuable media coverage. The governor created national headlines recently by joking with David Letterman about being “fat” and then giving a public lambasting to […]
Goodbye to the Media Master
We lost a legend today. Former New York City mayor Ed Koch, who died at age 88, was not only a great guy and pretty darn good mayor, he was the best I have ever seen at using the media. I had the privilege of working with Mayor Koch on his weekly radio program for […]