Unique insights and actionable ideas from The Darnell Works Agency’s daily quest for greatness.
Roger Darnell 
Over the past few months, I’ve met with several fellow writers who were either considering starting their own freelance businesses or had recently taken the plunge. In each instance, I found myself advising my friends that they needed to focus on distilling the essence of their own personal brand identities, and then use that information … Read moreLeadership brand-building in one easy step…
As a public relations (PR) professional, I see a lot of edgy cross-chatter about my field in the blogosphere, and while I normally don’t leap into the debates, occasionally, something will get under my skin. That happened a few weeks ago when Rohit Bhargava wrote a piece on his Influential Interactive Marketing blog with the subject line of “The Future of PR Means Dumping The Inferiority Complex.” Rohit backed-up his antagonizing claim by writing that PR is rising in importance at least in part because “…it is about more powerfully articulating where a client needs to go and becoming the partner that gets them there.”
Next week, I will be off on vacation with my family, giving thanks for a sensational 2007. Due in part to this virtual jab from Rohit, the process of gathering my thoughts for this post has led me to realize that my knowledge, expertise and talents in the field of public and media relations definitely are worth shouting about.
Read moreRoger D’s tips for superior public and media relations: Getting started…
Read moreFriends, passionistas and influencers… shall we roar?
Here’s my take on his keys to making the most of change.
BusinessWeek’s Aug. 2006 issue features some great advice and ideas on the subject of winning. The introduction is written by Joe Torre, who as the Manager of the New York Yankees, has led his club to the Major League Basebell playoffs for ten consecutive years. Personally, my first memories of Joe go back to when he was a player for the St. Louis Cardinals, the team I grew up following. My father was formerly an airplane pilot and the manager of a private, St. Louis-based charter service, and according to his own report, back in 1969 or so, he had tossed Mr. Torre out of his office for littering it with his cigar ashes. By virtue of this tale, which may very well be a tall one,
by Roger Darnell ..Challenge.. In hindsight, it’s clear that few films in the history of motion pictures have been as successful as “Shrek 2” from DreamWorks Animation SKG. When development and production began on the film, closely following on the heels of its big green 2001 “Shrek” predecessor, a global marketing workforce was spurred into … Read moreMarketing Case Study: “Shrek 2”
They had hidden cameras, water and Mars bars. It was inspiring, scary, enlightening and stupid (at times). See how it turned out.
..Challenge.. From all reports, the feature film (and marketing) phenomenon that is known as “The Blair Witch Project” began with a group of dedicated, talented and resourceful filmmakers who were intent on using every asset at their disposal to make a successful film under their banner of Haxan Films.
by Roger Darnell ..Challenge.. Although modern studio films often have a marketing budget that exceeds $20 million, the marketers behind “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” had to make due with only $1 million. The executive team included IFC Films’ Bob Berney, producers Paul Brooks, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, plus Cynthia Rhea and her colleagues … Read moreMarketing Case Study: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”