The publishers of Brand Republic, the UK’s leading online destination for people working in the advertising, marketing, media and communications industries, offer an editorial on their website entitled “What’s the secret of a long ‘marriage’?” In that, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO chief executive Farah Ramzan Golant offers these wise words: “The key to long-term client relationships is constant reinvigoration…. You should constantly be looking at how you can do things differently, keep freshening the account teams and stay ahead of the game.” As a PR practitioner providing ongoing, dedicated counsel to a small roster of clients, I firmly believe in these vows, and back in December, I participated in an enlightening webinar hosted by Vocus and presented by PR industry thoughtleader Deirdre Breakenridge, who is the author of “PR 2.0” and “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.” Entitled “Eight Techniques of the New PR Champion,” the knowledge and insights Deirdre shared really blew me away.

I have been handling PR for innovative business leaders and their (often relatively small) businesses for more than 20 years, and I’m very proud of my accomplishments helping my clients consistently achieve phenomenal success. There are many aspects of my experience which I feel play well into my role (a few examples include my training and background in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, my high-level contributions in the world of network television production, my writing, editing and pitching skills honed over the years, and my previous posts handling PR, marketing and sales internally and externally for ambitious companies), and I feel I’ve learned how to make myself especially valuable to my clients’ business ventures even when PR is not a top priority.

More and more, I am encountering opportunities among seasoned executives who place even greater value on PR and see it as Deirdre presents it — forming the mission-critical center of virtually all aspects of business operations.

If you have further interest in the evolving role of public relations in successful business ventures, I highly encourage you to read Deirdre’s books, check out her videos, and otherwise immerse yourself in the lessons she offers. In the presentation I attended, she described in detail these eight “new practices” that are key areas where PR professionals are adding immense value to businesses:
#1 The Policymaker
#2 The Internal Collaborator
#3 The Pre-Crisis Doctor
#4 The Reputation Task Force
#5 The Master of Metrics
#6 The Relationship Analyzer
#7 The Communications Organizer
#8 The Technology Tester

Even before detailing these areas and providing insights into the tools she has developed and used, the processes she has embraced, and more best practices and benefits that come from putting them to good use, Deirdre paused to make a key point: “PR people are perfect for handling social media.” With her encouragement and the confidence I’ve gathered in handling my clients, and with all the amazing insights into how to manage PR across organizations of all sizes, I am absolutely ready to rock for my clients in 2012.

Tommy and I are very proud to announce that our book “Ewasko: Days and Lights” — which was nominated for Blurb’s “People’s Choice Award” — is now available as an instant ebook download for Apple iBooks (iPad/iPhone).

We’re also very psyched to announce the release of the first wave of high-quality art prints and photographic products of images featured in “Ewasko: Days and Lights.” By visiting RKDfind Ewasko Gallery you can now order prints with mounting and framing services from Mpix Lab and Photobox, and specialty gifts and photo products from vendors such as IYP Photo Products and fotoflot.

If you have any questions on orders, please call me at 1.828.264.8898. Thank you very much for your interest in this project — we hope you enjoy these images and we look forward to hearing from you any time.

Starting last Friday and for the next month, shoppers in New York City and San Francisco can use their mobile phones to purchase toys for children in need at two new interactive storefronts presented by eBay and Toys for Tots. The initiative conceived and produced by advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners features interactive displays created by international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) and its School of Interactive Media.

As reported by TheInspirationRoom.com, all web-connected shoppers can experience the Give-A-Toy Store and make donations online by visiting www.eBay.com/GiveAToyStore and www.Facebook.com/eBay.

For his recent post on BNET entitled “The Death of Branding and the Scam of Storytelling,” ghostwriter and author Jeff Haden reached out to the illustrious David C. Baker, whom I have written about before. David is the head of ReCourses, which provides consulting services and educational events for marketing firms. In Jeff’s story, David says a lot about branding and storytelling, including this.

“Alignment is simply telling the truth: To your customers, to your employees, and to yourself. When you do that everything else falls into place. Then your brand makes sense and the stories you tell support your brand — because your brand is you.”

Personally, I have long admired the dedication of my clients at global creative agency ATTIK focusing in on these critical areas of business. I believe their work for Perkins+Will featured above is a solid example of David’s ideas at work. I hope he agrees with me.

To learn more, explore the ReCourses website, and this white paper entitled “Brand Development, Branding and Internal Adoption: Partners for Long-Term Business Success” from Cohn Marketing.

The Brand New Conference is a one-day event focusing on the practice of corporate and brand identity, organized and hosted by UnderConsideration co-founders Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit. A direct extension of UnderConsideration’s immensely popular Brand New blog, the conference will feature eight sessions offering a broad range of points of view from these prominent speakers.

The Brand New Conference will gather brand and identity designers and aficionados at the Marines Memorial Theater next Friday, September 16. Those who can’t attend in-person are invited to enjoy the live webcast and other event videos.

Advertising Age recently published its fifteenth annual Women to Watch Special Report. Then, on August 10, Ad Age partnered with Advertising Women of New York and sponsors Meredith and WeTV, at an August 10 event at New York’s Waldorf Astoria honoring the prestigious class of 2011, which includes Nicola Mendelsohn, who apprears in the video I’ve embedded here entitled “Keep Experimenting.”

. Maryam Banikarim, SVP-CMO, Gannett
. Priscilla Brown, SVP-Head of Marketing and Strategy, Sun Life Financial U.S.
. Lauren Crampsie, Chief Marketing Officer, Ogilvy
. Cindy Davis, EVP-Global Customer Insights, Wal-Mart Stores
. Carolyn Everson, VP-Global Ad Sales, Facebook
. Lauren Flaherty, CMO, Juniper Networks
. Katie Ford, EVP-Managing Director, Starcom Mediavest Group
. Georgia Garinois-Melenikiotou, SVP-Corporate Marketing, Estée Lauder
. Molly Garris, Director-Digital Strategy, Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide
. Beth Ann Kaminkow, President-CEO, TracyLocke
. Lesya Lysyj, CMO, Heineken USA
. Candace Matthews, Global CMO, Amway
. Nicola Mendelsohn, President, The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Chairman and Partner, Karmarama
. Trish Mueller, CMO, Home Depot
. Mary O’Connell, Director-Global Digital Media and Public Relations, Clorox
. Julia Oswald, VP-Strategy and Insights, Domino’s
. Lisa Price, Founder and President, Carol’s Daughter
. Desiree Rogers, CEO, Johnson Publishing Co.
. Janet Rolle, EVP-Chief Marketing Officer, CNN Worldwide
. Melissa Sexton, Director-Integrated Marketing Planning, Adult and Feminine Care, Kimberly-Clark Corp.
. Bonita Stewart, VP-U.S. Sales, Google
. Rebecca Van Dyck, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Levi’s
. Annie Young-Scrivner, Global CMO, Starbucks

Linda Ong’s Advertising Age article last week suggested this: “Drop the Words ‘Relevance’ and ‘Authenticity’ From Your Marketing Lexicon; Culture Is What You Should Be Focusing On.” While I feel that most people probably need to do a better job of tuning into all of those areas, Linda makes many fine points for executive marketers, and I also really appreciate this comment from Denise Lee Yohn: