Stories by Matthew Schwartz

Apparel company Under Armour and Northwestern University had to see this one coming. Under Armour designed Northwestern University’s flag-themed football uniforms to honor veterans and raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. But now critics are crying foul, saying the design—appearing to splatter the helmet, gloves and cleats with streaks of blood—goes too far.

During PR News Digital PR Awards Tuesday several attendees were asked what their number one rule is when it comes to proving the value of social media and digital communications.

The Cap’n Crunch brand, with the help of agency HUGE, was able to capitalize on a Reddit item saying Cap’n Crunch was not a real captain, using the online “controversy” to boost the brand’s online presence and garner international media coverage.

Co-Winner: AMD – AMD Radeon HD 7990 eBay Stunt In April 2013 AMD was about to roll out AMD Radeon HD 7990 graphics card, the world’s fastest graphics card at the time of its release.… Continued

To change the perception about the brand among its customers, utility company Ameren Missouri and agency partner Weber Shandwick launched a Facebook campaign designed to reward unsung heroes who instill positive change and community progress.

The “Catdance Film Festival,” featuring a dozen cat videos, helped to reel in consumers and change their attitudes about Fresh Step’s premium priced cat litter.

Resistance is futile. Visual storytelling is fast moving to the core of marketing communications, as PR pros migrate many of their messages to the visual medium from the written word.

Yes, press releases often suffer from flowery writing and an overabundance of industry jargon. With practice, PR pros can overcome such obstacles. But there’s no excuse for failing to insert any hyperlinks in your press releases, according to Ben Lincoln, writing director at GolinHarris, who adds that press releases should be treated like a “mini website.

I attended the Public Relations Society of America’s annual meeting this week in Philly, and as so often happens when you get out into the field to listen, think and discuss things with your peers, I came back to the office with some valuable new perspectives. The event itself left few stones unturned regarding the […]

This was inevitable. Twitter has added photo and video items that users see when they log onto the social network from the Web or a mobile device. The move comes just ahead of Twitter’s I.P.O next week, as the company looks to feature more multimedia elements and expand its appeal among consumers.