I recently had the opportunity to attend an event covering industry issues such as tech in disaster zones and AI vs ethics. Apart from tackling highly fascinating and complex issues, the event also served as a valuable reminder that good storytelling is critical, not only to individual presentations, but to the event overall. Just as each session needs a strong beginning, middle and end, so too should the conference itself.

Engaging from the Beginning

The introductory speech, or the keynote, sets the tone of an event.…

In Part II of the Clarity Pumpkin Spice Index, the recent declines in pumpkin spice (PS)-related media coverage led me to hypothesize that, perhaps, people are remembering they like hot chocolate more. But the fact is, quantity of media coverage does not necessarily relate to consumption levels. To get a better idea of whether that is or isn’t the case, we decided to dig up some real people pumpkin spice season (RPPSS) data.

According to a survey conducted by spice brand Spice Islands, 46 percent of Americans consume more PS-flavored products during fall than they do chocolate products.…

Today, Clarity is proud to announce a few pieces of exciting news. First and foremost is the official launch of our Financial Services and Venture Capital Practice.

Under the leadership of industry veteran Michael Celiceo, the practice will operate globally in cooperation with our teams in London, New York and San Francisco. They’ve already signed on some fantastic clients, including BootstrapLabs, PIVA, Scrum Ventures, Even and Monzo.

In other news, we’ve added have some key hires joining our executive team.…

Believe it or not, Starbucks didn’t invent pumpkin spice. McCormick did. Still, Starbucks, or more accurately, their brilliant marketing of the pumpkin spice latte (PSL), is likely responsible for making it synonymous with fall. And with coffee.

As we delve deeper into the media coverage this Pumpkin Spice Season (PSS), we noticed that, from a brand perspective, Starbucks owns the PSS conversation. As the chart below shows, as far as quantity of coverage is concerned, Starbucks’ share of voice dwarfs that of other hot seasonal products.…

We all know about Christmas creep – and, in fact, it’s probably our colleagues in marketing who are behind it – but this year we had another “season” start prematurely: Pumpkin Spice Season (PSS).

It’s mostly Starbuck’s “fault” that we have PSS to begin with. Still, they’re certainly not the only brand pushing the taste (and smell) of that (in)famous blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

This year, I decided to take a look at the media coverage of all things pumpkin spice (PS) to see what trends I can schuss out.…

I was invited by my pal Jeanne Meyer, founder of Watch This Space and advisor to Venwise, a membership-based community for C-level executives, to join a roundtable for a number of CMOs. With me was my old friend, Laura Nelson, Chief Communications Officer at Nielsen, and Steph Tuck, VP of Comms at PopSugar, to provide an insider perspective on PR dos and don’ts.

With marketing leaders from innovative brands including insurance marketplace Policygenius, healthy dog food brand Ollie, home services marketplace Handy, flexible spending shop FSAStore.com…

Recently, I was lucky enough to be speaker at The PRCA’s first international event, entitled “PR and Communications in a Shrinking World – How to Make Best Practice Work Across Borders.” This one-day conference focused on topics relevant to communicators in the increasingly-globalized business environment, with discussions on diversity, cross-cultural communications, and, of course, Brexit.

My panel, “Going Global,” had myself and several other international agency executives sharing our personal experiences and advice on how to successfully work on international business.…

It was gorgeous and hot, just as you’d imagine the French Riviera to be in June, helped somewhat by the wretched weather back home.

The Mediterranean mercilessly calling you to ignore the sessions you said you would attend, the Croisette packed with the bold and the beautiful⁠—this is where the Maxi dress takes on an entire life form of it’s own. And the rosé really does flow all day. Locating drinking water was something akin to finding Wally in a sea of bubbles and straws.…