It may seem counterintuitive, but playful teasing between brands and customers can produce unexpected benefits. Inspired by research from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, we explore why strategically “roasting” customers with humor and lighthearted banter can enhance brand loyalty and deepen customer connections. Discover how embracing a…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the practical uses and pitfalls of AI in agency lead generation and business development. They criticize the common misuse of AI for impersonal, high-volume outreach, which often results in off-putting and ineffective communication. Instead, they advocate for leveraging AI as a tool to enhance efficiency in ta…

In this episode, Chip talks with Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro about the challenges faced by solos and small agency owners in the current chaotic environment. They discuss the impact of economic, political, and societal issues on public relations and communications, emphasizing the need for adaptability in business strategies. They highlight the import…

For nearly 20 years, Steve Rubel was a key figure at the global public relations and marketing consultancy firm Edelman, shaping its approach to media strategy and digital communication. A pioneer in blogging and digital PR from the early 2000s, Steve has long been at the forefront of emerging media trends, helping businesses navigate the ever-evol…

As the digital age continues to evolve, communicators face unprecedented challenges in maintaining ethical standards. Recent incidents, from a PR agency spreading false stories about a client’s rival through social media channels to a New York Times reporter’s alleged breach of privacy within a private WhatsApp group, the challenges to ethical beha…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the transition from being a freelancer to an agency owner. They delve into the common fears and challenges associated with hiring employees and emphasize the importance of having structured processes and systems. The episode also explores topics such as the strategic direction of a business, handling pricing m…

“We are once again at a moment in time where things will not — and cannot — be the same again. However it unfolds, the only certainty is chaos will follow.” So wrote global PR practitioner Catherine Arrow in a post on LinkedIn. In this monthly longform episode, Neville and Shel discuss Catherine’s observation that communicators are caught in the th…

Leaked audio of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon reveals an executive who has dug in his heels and has no interest in listening to the voice of the employee. In the clip, he essentially tells employees, “My way or the highway.” While the return-to-office mandates don’t represent a majority of businesses, they have been high-profile, as have employee…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the importance of mentorship for small agency employees. They explore various approaches including informal and formal mentorships, organic development of mentor-mentee relationships, and bringing in external consultants for mentorship. Gini shares her personal experiences, highlighting the challenges of force…

Listen to communicators talk about their impact on their organizations and you would be forgiven for thinking that executives find their communication teams to be indispensable. Recent research says otherwise. As complexities mount in the worlds of business, media, and politics, less than 20 percent of senior executives are confident their communic…

Steve Guberman of Agency Outsight shares insights into setting realistic expectations with clients, avoiding over-servicing, and adjusting scopes and pricing appropriately. Continue Reading → The post CWC 104: How agency owners can avoid scope creep (featuring Steve Guberman) appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the complaint from owners that AI is preventing junior employees from learning how to do their jobs the right way. Continue Reading → The post ALP 260: AI no threat to agency employees learning fundamental skills appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

How AI is transforming communication beyond content creation to curation AI, including predictive analytics and sentiment analysis, is at the heart of this FIR Interview with Silvia Cambie, an independent communicator with deep expertise in journalism, internal communication, and AI-driven change management. Much of the conversation around AI in co…

Employees everywhere are using AI to save time and be more productive. The thing is, many of them are using tools their employers have not approved and they're not telling anyone. Companies are benefiting from this stealth approach to using generative AI, but there are plenty of risks, too. Neville and Shel look at the data and discuss approaches c…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the importance of satisfaction from the work you do for clients, both for agency owners and their teams. Continue Reading → The post ALP 259: The value of getting satisfaction from client work appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Change leadership consultant Caroline Kealey thinks change management is dead. Communication leader Sharon O’Dea thinks Enterprise Social Networking (ESN) is dead. That’s right: It’s time for another installment of “X is Dead.” In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel outline the cases these two communication thought leaders make and offer o…

In this episode, Chip and Gini address the topic of pivoting for small agencies in response to changing economic and political climates. Continue Reading → The post ALP 258: Should your agency pivot to a new focus amid economic shifts? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer characterized the current communication environment as one infected by grievance. Another commentator claimed that we are living in an age of ubiquitous malignancy. Communicating with a broad audience of stakeholders is especially challenging in this landscape. While the Trust Barometer identifies business as the on…

In this episode, Chip talks with Jody Sutter of the Sutter Company about identifying and leveraging agency owners' strengths for effective business development. Continue Reading → The post CWC 103: Building Effective Business Development Systems (featuring Jody Sutter) appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.…

In this short midweek episode, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson unpack the findings of the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, revealing a global crisis of grievance and eroding trust in societal institutions—government, business, media, and NGOs. Key topics include the impact of trust inequality, the rise of hostile activism, and the expectations placed …

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the pros and cons of agencies doing subcontracted work for other agencies. Continue Reading → The post ALP 257: Should your small agency be subcontracting for larger agencies? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

2025 is sure to present a new set of challenges for communication professionals. Solving them will require creativity, innovation, and new thinking (which is not something AI can do!). This team of Fellows from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) explored breakthrough thinking in a January 16, 2025, live stream, sharing i…

The media landscape is in turmoil. It may not be exactly the turmoil we hear about, though, based on research release in a new Poynter Institute report. For example, it is taken as gospel that "people don't trust the media," but a survey finds that's not necessarily accurate. Local news reporters, for example, are highly trusted, mainly because the…

Chip and Gini discuss a Reddit user’s question about managing a $2 million account and emphasize the importance of involving key team members throughout the business development process, rather than afterward. Continue Reading → The post ALP 256: Mastering Client Staffing for Small Agency Success appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.…

Media outlets around the world -- and in particular in the U.S. -- are strategizing how to cover the incoming Trump Administration. Some are even planning to shift their focus to more soft news in order to retain readers and avoid drawing the president's ire. We look at the implications for the media relations industry in this short midweek episode…

In this FIR Interview, recorded on 19 December 2024, Shel and Neville chat with Martin Waxman about the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on public relations. From relational AI and synthetic personas to crisis management and ethics, the discussion highlights opportunities and challenges for PR professionals. Martin shares insights f…

For Immediate Release launched on January 3, 2005. Episode #1 explained what podcasting is, then looked at the role blogs played in the tsunami tragedy in Asia. On our 20th anniversary, Neville and Shel recall FIR's origins and the many changes the show has undergone in two decades, some significant milestones, memorable moments, some of the challe…

Astroturfing, smear campaigns, social media manipulation, unauthorized release of private information, defamation, character assassination, whisper campaigns, media planting, and gaslighting. These activities are undertaken by the seamiest, most ethically challenged public relations practitioners. While there are far more PR professionals who abide…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the findings from the SAGA quarterly survey of small agency owners. Continue Reading → The post ALP 255: What the Q4 SAGA Survey tells us about agency talent appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The world’s biggest PR agency laid off five percent of its global staff. It’s a sign of the headwinds facing the industry, including reduced opportunities for earned media, which is what PR agencies spend a lot of their time trying to achieve. We’ll explore what’s happening in the PR agency world in the long-form FIR... Continue Reading → The post …

The communication function offers practitioners a rare opportunity. It is one of the few roles in any organization involved in every aspect of the business. In this Circle of Fellows panel, you will hear international perspectives on how the role of communication extends beyond the exchange of knowledge and information. The panel shares thoughts on…

Even when they know it has been rigged, people assign a lot of credibility to experiments. When they see the experiment produce favorable results, for example, potential customers might be more inclined to buy. Experiments can also influence decision-makers in your company -- again, even if they assume you put your thumb on the scale. The phenomeno…

In this episode, Chip and Gini delve into the importance of empathy in agency management. Continue Reading → The post ALP 254: Agency owners need to put themselves in other people’s shoes appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

There is a common thread among many of the predictions and trends posts that typically blossom across the web as the year draws to a close: AI agents are poised to revolutionize (a word we don't use lightly) work in 2025. The frontier AI models -- ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Llama, and a few others -- have captured imaginations and led to various uses…

Chip and Gini explore whether agencies should charge more upfront for initial work and creative approaches to managing client expectations and financials. Continue Reading → The post ALP 253: Should your agency charge new clients a startup fee? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It doesn't seem to be a big deal at first glance. A Google AI Overview answers a search query at the top of a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Beneath it, all those traditional links and snippets are still there. However, analyses reveal that many people are reading the AI Overview and calling it quits -- they never click a link to visit a websit…

Research finds that corporations no longer see AI as a novelty; it's a full-blown business tool, one that is so critical that its development is mostly being done in-house. In the November long-form episode of "For Immediate Release," Neville and Shel review new research about AI's place in the business world and among employees. Also in this episo…

Bluesky -- the Twitter-esque social network that has suddenly started attracting refugees from Elon Musk's X -- had its start when Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey asked software engineer Jay Graber to introduce federation to Twitter. She told him she couldn't, but she could create a new social network based on a new federation protocol called AT, a …

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss PR professionals wanting a seat at the table when it comes to business decision-making. Continue Reading → The post ALP 252: Strengthening your PR agency’s role in business decisions appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Few communication disciplines are as challenging as executive communication. These professionals ensure that organizational leaders communicate effectively, whether making a speech or delivering testimony to a governmental body. In the November 2024 installment of Circle of Fellows, our panel explored executive communication challenges like rebuild…

When executives justify their return-to-office mandates, they almost universally cite the collaboration and innovation that results from serendipitous encounters between employees. They also point to the need to boost productivity. The problem with these arguments is that the evidence does not support them. In this short midweek FIR episode, Nevill…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the common challenges agencies face in obtaining timely feedback and necessary information from clients. Continue Reading → The post ALP 251: What to do when clients don’t get your agency what it needs to succeed appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Among the many post-election analyses flooding media channels are reports that mainstream media and social media wielded far less influence than they have in the past. Instead, influencers and podcasts held sway. In this short midweek FIR episode, Neville and Shel break down the reports and discuss the impact on communicators far beyond the electio…

In this FIR Interview, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson speak with Monique Zytnik, a business communicator and author of Internal Communications in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Monique delves into the transformative impact of AI on internal comms, highlighting the need for experiential, audience-centered engagement over a flood of generic conte…

In this episode, Chip and Gini share specific examples of agency owners breaking or ignoring rules that they don’t like — or that clients may pressure them to bypass. Continue Reading → The post ALP 250: Are you playing with fire as an agency owner? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Blogs have been with us for 30 years, which qualifies as "something old." In this long-form episode of FIR for October, we'll examine the state of the oldest social media category. We'll also examine the state of generative Artificial Intelligence, which has been around, for all practical purposes, since November 2022, which makes it "something new…

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss strategic planning for growing an agency in 2025. Continue Reading → The post ALP 249: Planning for agency growth appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

CEOs and other senior executives are increasingly expected to nurture a presence on social media—especially LinkedIn, which has seen a 35-percent increase in C-suite professionals in the U.S. over the last five years. These executives are also expected to be authentic in their online engagements, even sharing some details of their personal lives. P…

Change management is among the most critical of communication skills. As organizations face unprecedented challenges and opportunities, the ability to navigate and implement change effectively can mean the difference between an organization thriving or struggling to survive. The pace of change has been accelerating dramatically, driven by technolog…

This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Dagmar Fleming. Continue Reading → The post #758: Dagmar Fleming On Mitchell Levy Presents Leaders Living Their Values appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.