Rethinking Reputation: How PR Trumps Marketing and Advertising in the New Media World

Good public relations is no longer just icing-it's a strategic imperative more important to your competitive success than even advertising or marketing. This is true whether you're a century-old multibillion-dollar corporation or a penniless startup. In Rethinking Reputation, public relations guru Fraser Seitel and John Doorley, founder of the Academy for Communication Excellence and Leadership at Johnson & Johnson, examine a fascinating new set of case studies-including the BP oil spill and the launch of CitySlips-to glean the PR dos and don'ts for the new media world, covering both standard reputation maintenance and crisis management. They also show start-up companies and entrenched organizations how to use the power of word-of-mouth to jump-start business like never before. This is a wake-up call from two industry legends-for public relations professionals as well as entrepreneurs, CEOs, and anyone else tasked with representing their organization to the world.

These new media lessons include:

* Remember that research is cheaper, and more critical, than ever.
* Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good-launch your idea before someone else does.
* Don't get so excited about social media that you forget about traditional media.
* In a crisis, you are never offstage.
* Never lie, never whine, and never try to predict the future!

Fraser P. Seitel is a public relations consultant, author, lecturer, columnist, and media commentator, appearing frequently on the Fox News Network and other outlets. He is the author of The Practice of Public Relations, which is used in universities worldwide and has sold over a million copies in eleven editions.

John Doorley is the founding academic director of the Master of Science in Public Relations degree program at New York University. He also founded and directs the Academy for Communication Excellence and Leadership at Johnson & Johnson, with multiple course offerings in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Until 2000, Doorley was head of corporate communication at Merck & Co., which was named America's Most Admired Company. He has been the chief speechwriter for CEOs of major firms and copyrighted a program to help firms manage their reputations.