Ephraim Cohen is the managing partner of The Fortex Group, a New York based public relations specializing in using content creation and community building to drive communications programs for the media and high-tech industries.Ephraim previously was EVP and GM at Edelman and also held positions at the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), Digital Future Coalition and BusinessWeek.
An Awesome, PR-Worthy Commercial from Intel
TED recently awarded The Chase, an Intel’s commercial, as an Ad Worth Spreading. For all those looking for new examples of how advertising and public relations work together to build a brand story, this video is a perfect example by meeting three basic PR/social media objectives: It tells a story that not only entertains, but informs [...]
The TSA Commercial – When SNL Nails You, You’ve Lost the PR Fight
Nothing says you’ve lost a national, high-profile PR fight by having Saturday Night Live make fun of your side and then seeing the video go viral. SNL’s TSA Parody (watch it below) is showing up as a popular video on Hulu (on the front page as of 11/21 on 5pm) while quick Google search of [...]
Twitter vs. News Releases – A Tired False Argument Revisited…and Still Wrong
AdAge ran an opinion article citing the press release is dead and Twitter is the news distribution king. I had the usual thought. The press release targeting press is dead, the news release targeting the audience is alive and well, and the argument itself is false. On the last point, there are a number of [...]
Why are we trying to save the media industry; it’s doing just fine.
In reading Gigaom’s post on why Newstilt failed, I was struck by the fact that Newstilt’s core mission was trying to “save” the media industry. Perhaps trying to save an industry that’s doing just fine is what led it to fail. You can’t “save” industry that is going through a successful, albeit painful, transition. You [...]
Social Media is Dead…Long Live Media…oh, and the audience doesn’t care…
Way back in the day (circa 2003) there was media and this new buzz about social media. Now, social media had always been around in Internet time – discussion boards, email etc – but it was starting to grow not just as a method of communications, but as a generator of widely read/watched content (UGC [...]
O’Reilly on the View – Why tone can be as important as substance
I often watch O’Reilly to be amazed by how he consistently puts forward weak, shallow, inconsistent and factually incorrect/misleading arguments. What’s amazing is how he does so sounding so calm, confident, reasonable, and most important, factual (you can sound factual without actually using any real facts – it’s being a good story teller), that it’s [...]
Gartner Hype Cycle – What You Need to Know
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a good look at what’s being hyped, what moving past the hype and what’s actually being adopted. As new types of video services such as Over-the-Top TV are the rage, it’s worth taking a look at where hyped video technologies stand. The ones at the top of the curve are [...]
The Importance of Disclosure: A Lesson from The Economist’s Obama vs BP Cover
Image: New York Times The Economist is taking a lot of flack for putting an edited picture of Obama on the front cover. The picture shows Obama alone whereas the original picture had Obama with several other people of prominence. The Economist seems to think it was a small infraction as they were simply trying [...]
Nike’s Simply Awesome Commercial – Why Advertising is so Important
The next time I get into an “advertising vs. PR” debate, I’ll have this commercial handy to show why it’s not an either-or situation. Just watch it this great story with a strong message – told only the way a commercial format can tell it…and then leveraged by PR the way only PR can leverage [...]
Spirit Airlines and Baggage Fees – Make it a Pay-for-Use Conversation
![images[1]](http://fortexmedia.com/blog/wp-content/themes/antisocial/thumb.php?src=blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/images1_thumb.jpg&w=280&h=150&zc=1&q=90)
Spirit Airlines has been pummeled by everyone from consumer groups to news commentators to Senator Charles Schumer for announcing carry on baggage fees. Surely they saw this coming. But perhaps their problem was not announcing the fees, but not being aggressive enough in doing so…with a twist (or, yes, a spin). Spirit Airlines is aiming [...]
Recent Comments