Eye-opening Always ad redefines the #LikeaGirl stereotype

By Ann Smith | Jul 9, 2014

The ad was uploaded to the Always YouTube on June 26th and has received over 30 million views all over the world. After watching the video though it makes you think, aren’t we over the #LikeaGirl insult? “I don’t think we are past the ‘run like a girl’ stereotype. Look at the women in this […]

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A Rose by Any Other Name…

By Ann Smith | Jul 1, 2014

You might end up calling your marketing and PR efforts by an entirely different name if the rest of the industry follows Procter & Gamble’s lead in renaming its overall marketing organization “Brand Management.” According to Ad Age, the new department now includes the functions the rest of us are still calling marketing, market research, […]

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Need a Quick Laugh? Twitter Now Supports GIFs

By Ann Smith | Jun 19, 2014

You can celebrate! Twitter announced yesterday that it will support animated GIFs on Twitter as well as on its Iphone and Android mobile apps. To be technical, the letters “GIF” actually stand for “Graphics Interchange Format,” which is a compressed image file format that can be quickly transmitted over a network or the Internet. In […]

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Small Businesses Benefit from Small Size, Authenticity

By Ann Smith | Jun 18, 2014

Living in Oregon, we are fortunate to be able to identify the provenance of many of the products we use and the produce and meats we consume. More so than anywhere else I’ve lived, there’s the ability to shop locally, with any number of locally owned and run businesses and services complementing the offerings of […]

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Drew Carney Goes Viral

By Ann Smith | Jun 17, 2014

For those of us in Portland, Drew Carney is a bit of a TV superstar. You might get ready in the morning while watching his antics, or catch him emceeing the annual Kells Smoker at the St. Patrick’s Day Irish Festival; however this week he cemented his place in national, viral infamy.  To try to […]

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Infographic: PR Then & Now

By Ann Smith | Jun 5, 2014

When it comes to effective communications, PR professionals tend to be the experts. That is what I love most about this industry. We are constantly one step ahead adapting to the ever-changing communication landscape. I came across the below infographic, PR Then & Now, from Inkhouse that is a great reminder of how our industry continues […]

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Which Words Made the Cut?

By Ann Smith | May 28, 2014

The influence of technology and social networking in our world couldn’t be more obvious with these  150 new definitions recently added to the dictionary by Merriam Webster, including “hashtag,” “selfie” and “tweep.” hashtag n (2008): a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text, such as a tweet selfie […]

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The Power of a Hashtag

By Ann Smith | May 27, 2014

On ongoing Twitter conversation is designed to draw attention to harassment, discrimination and violence experienced by women. Categorized under the hashtag #YesAllWomen, hundreds of thousands of women have shared their stories of date rape, misogyny and other examples of what women fear at the hands of some men, even if not all men (see also: […]

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A Beautiful Project, Indeed

By Ann Smith | May 22, 2014

Lately I have become captivated by the amazing A Beautiful Body Project by photographer Jade Beall.  I am not too proud to admit that my stomach does not resemble itself from nine years ago, before I’d birthed a 10 pound (no, that is not a joke or exaggeration) baby – and then three years later […]

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#StealthyFreedom for Iranian Women

By Ann Smith | May 14, 2014

Facebook is full of clutter, most of it noisy opinions and chatty gossip but then something comes along that matters. Women in Iran are taking to social media to peacefully defy the hijab law in Iran, posting photos of themselves hijab-less for a brief moment out in public. At the beach, in the countryside, in […]

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Does Beginner's Luck Exist in Public Relations?

By Ann Smith | May 8, 2014

I came across an article about beginner’s luck, and whether or not it exists in public relations. I think many businesses have had a streak of beginner’s luck with favorable results – but while results may be high right out of the gate, it may actually work against you too. Here is a prime example […]

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The NFL Draft: A Powerful Marketing Machine

By Ann Smith | May 8, 2014

Lessons in PR and marketing from the NFL draft We can all learn something about PR and marketing from the NFL draft. Johnny Manziel’s team includes a PR firm, and as Rick Burton, a professor of sport management at Syracuse University, told the Dallas Morning News, “He’s built a brand for himself as Johnny Football. He […]

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