This May will mark 25 years since I was an eager college student embarking on an internship at MP&F Public Relations. Little did I know then that it would be the start of a rewarding career in communications. After a few years of client work under my belt, I began to manage our intern program and did that for seven years. For the better part of the last decade, I’ve been screening and interviewing all of our firm’s job candidates. Needless to say, I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years regarding skills that make a successful PR practitioner. …

You often hear the phrase “the customer is always right” in industries ranging from fast food to public relations. This comes from the understanding that, without a strong base of consumers, a business will die. So the importance of knowing what a consumer wants and values is paramount to building a brand. Studies by Cohn and Wolfe and the Boston Consulting Group  have identified brand authenticity as one of the top factors in attracting customers. While it looks different for everyone, brand authenticity is the proximity between the image a brand projects and the reality of what that brand represents. …

When the Marine Corps needed a few good PR folks to provide strategic communications support for its annual Marine Week activities, the brass turned once again to the crack team at MP&F Public Relations. For the second year in a row – Nashville in 2016 and Detroit in 2017 – MP&F provided the Marines with a wide range of services, from event logistics and execution to advertising to media and community relations, as part of an integrated campaign promoting the Corps’ largest outreach program of the year. Throughout, we analyzed and reassessed to see how we could adjust and continue …

This has been a remarkable year for MP&F Public Relations. We have celebrated our 30th anniversary, in ways large and small, all year long. It has been the best year in our history, with more than $8 million in billed fees. The future is bright, and as long as we can continue to attract the smartest, most motivated, effective and caring people, I know that the company will continue to prosper. It hasn’t always been like this. I wanted to look back over the past 30 years at some of the major challenges, and successes, that the people at MP&F …

Earlier this month, MP&F coordinated a Holiday Home Tour with 15 social influencers from across the country on behalf of our client Kirkland’s. It was a huge success, and we loved the Christmas décor inspiration our blogger partners provided us! As part of the home tour, each social influencer was given a Kirkland’s gift card to shop for seasonal, on-trend products to style and photograph in their homes. Throughout the week, they linked to the other influencers’ posts to invite readers to hop from one blog to the next. To gain excitement and engagement, Kirkland’s gave away a $1,500 gift …

We are intentional about the attention we give to our office culture. We want our team to be happy and fully engaged in our business. In the end, our clients reap the benefits. One centerpiece of our culture is our annual staff retreat. It is, and I say so confidently, the most highly anticipated MP&F event of the year. Retreat gives us a chance to take a collective breath to celebrate our clients’ successes, to bond and review the ups and downs of the past year. Perhaps more importantly, as a group that is obsessive about planning and delivering results, …

“Keep typing until it turns into writing.” – David Carr (RIP), New York Times When I think of writer’s block, I mostly envision some great mid-20th century literary figure chain smoking Lucky Strikes, drinking shots of cheap bourbon and staring blankly at a Royal manual typewriter. But it’s an equal opportunity affliction that on occasion can strike anyone, from veteran communications professionals to engineers, to people writing a note on their Christmas cards. (Lawyers seem to be immune.) Fortunately or not, I learned to write as a reporter working for a morning daily newspaper. There was no such thing as …

We’re very deliberate about our office culture and place a high value on the health and well-being of our staff. After all, our motto is “Do Great Work, Have Fun, Make Money.” Whether it’s our just-held annual Halloween party, which many MP&F alumni attend, or the golden-toed Hackin’ Flacks showering glory on the office by winning the Mid-State Sports League’s Kickball Championship, we know how to have fun. Here is a blog in photos. MP&F Halloween Party                   The Hackin’ Flacks The Hackin’ Flacks in their championship glory celebrating a late-night 7–2 …