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Despite – or because of – this recession, there’s still clearly a hearty appetite for designer duds at discount prices.  Target‘s recent launch of Missoni, an upscale Italian label with wild, colorful, geometric patterns, was a huge success on many fronts.  Even though their website crashed from the sudden surge in traffic, I’d call it a PR success story for lots of reasons. Lydia Dishman reported in Forbes (The Genius of Target’s Missoni Madness) “Two full hours before Target threw open doors…to offer rabid fashionistas a lower priced collection of haute Italian label Missoni…the discount chain allowed shoppers to buy

I flew Virgin America to California this past weekend, and couldn’t wait to get back to my desk to write about the unique marketing muscle behind this flying experience.  It’s hard not to look at my own customer service experiences through a marketing/PR lens, and this was no exception. Initially, I thought I was flying on one of those “off brand” airlines, and wasn’t sure what to expect, if anything!  Instead, I couldn’t believe the swank, nightclub feel on board.  Black leather, comfy seats, decent leg room, magenta-ish track lighting, a safety video cartoon-style with some attitude & humor (didn’t

As a publicist, I see virtually every commercial message through the PR/marketing lens.  Was that a good idea…a brilliant idea…an embarrassing idea (who came up with that one?)…The marketing wheels turn, and I realize it’s not safe to presume that every marketing professional thinks about strategy and how the customer will perceive a message.  With the ongoing influx of viral/social media, it seems almost anyone can be a producer, a director, a writer.  But to be a really brilliant producer…that takes skill and perspective. One example from this past year really struck me as as “stand out marketing.”  I wrote

Couldn’t resist a quick piece on the logistics and marketing angles of Super Bowl 2013.  With brothers coaching opposing teams (wow!); the Ravens in the game (I’m D.C./Baltimore-based); Beyonce singing live after the Inauguration Star Spangled Banner question (btw – who really cares as long as it sounds good?!); and a 34-minute blackout, the night was clearly memorable.  As PR professionals, we’re always writing the Plan B, the “what if,” the contingency plans so events go off without a hitch.  A blackout at the Super Bowl was just…well, I’m just blanking out on how to evaluate this “mishap.”  The wildly