B2B marketers and B2C marketers alike can certainly learn a thing or two from this list of 2009’s Top 10 PR Blunders (thanks to Fineman PR in San Francisco for sharing). I recall quite a few of these mishaps from the past year and even blogged about one of them. These blunders serve as good reminders of some PR basics. Here’s a quick look at my takeaways from others’ mistakes:

1. If you say it, be prepared to see it in a headline
2. Social media has changed the game for crisis communications; prepare and respond accordingly
3. Everyday moms can access reporters more easily than ever before and they are a motivated group
4. If you set out to create buzz, be prepared to receive it and deliver on it

Ultimately, these blunders show that you can’t “spin” your way out of everything (by the way, as a PR pro I hate the word spin more than anything). Sometimes it’s just better for individuals and companies to take a big bite of humble pie.

What PR blunders do you remember from 2009? Do you hate the word spin too?

Photo courtesy: www.flickr.com/photos/andraspfaff/

As Christmas is quickly approaching, you always tend to hear the phrase “It is better to give than to receive.” This cannot be more true for the Canyon family. This year, instead of doing the typical white elephant gift exchange, we decided to give back to the community. Each Canyonite bought a gift to donate to Toys For Tots. Did you know approximately 13 million American children live in poverty today?

Beyond giving back to the community, Canyon also likes to help Valley charities throughout the year. For a few years, we have been helping St. Joseph the Worker, an organization that assists homeless, low-income and other disadvantaged individuals with their efforts to become self-sufficient through permanent, full-time employment, with its marketing and communications efforts. Rather than just giving a homeless person money, St. Joseph the Worker helps them find a job and gets them off the streets by teaching them life skills.

If your office is looking to do something different this holiday season, just remember that it is truly better to give than receive.

So the question is…what are you doing this holiday season to give back?

We’re currently in the midst of finalizing the 2010 marketing communications plan for our agency. One of the most interesting exercises we’re going through is interviewing our current clients to find out not only what they think about working with Canyon, but also what information sources they use to stay sharp on marcom and demand gen topics (I promise one of them cited this blog)

This process is providing us with a wealth of information on how we’re perceived in the marketplace, and what communications vehicles we should use to reach B2B marketers just like them. As far as positioning our company with prospective clients, finding out what our current clients think of us has been extremely valuable. I can’t think of a better way to determine how we should be positioning ourselves. In short, our clients look at us as strategizing solutionizing superstars that build smartnerships with them. Pretty much an “s-storm.”

What are you doing to listen to your customers? Are you doing any VOC or NPS research? When’s the last time you called your best customers to just chat about how they view you and your company. Try it out and post what happens.

Tiger Woods is probably getting a lot of advice right now. Advice from friends, family, legal pros and most definitely his PR pros.

We all know the story; it started out fairly innocent. But, the crash, coupled with Tiger’s inability to provide a logical story about his behavior that night, unleashed the media—which many believe led to a quick destruction of Tiger’s previously flawless image.

However, in my opinion, it’s the events that followed the crash and Tiger’s silence, not the media, that led to the downward spiral of his image. Failure to talk, respond and “non-action” and the resulting spin leads to embarrassment, humiliation, prolonged visibility and a series of negative outcomes. Come on, it’s crisis communications 101.

After nearly a week of silence, Tiger’s PR pros advised him to tell his story—and quickly. Tiger issued a statement that said, “Personal sins should not require a press release and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.”

Ordinarily, I’d agree. However, Tiger, you’ve been living in the public light for years, your life hasn’t exactly been private—and now you want to pull the privacy card? It’s no surprise that media is digging for more details. It sounds like you’re hiding something—and media thrives on telling accurate stories to the public, it’s their job.

Now that Tiger has spoken, do you think the media storm will calm down? I personally don’t think it’s over. I think the media will bring this up again and I think the truth will come out. The only question is, will it be too late for Tiger to rebuild his reputation? Yet another celebrity scandal brings to light the importance of crisis communications planning.