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From New York, London to Israel Integrating SEO, PR Creates Potent Marketing By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Tel Aviv, Israel ---- September 9, 2009 ..... Once upon a time, when you wanted your business products and or services to be known one would either hire an advertising or PR agency. Having full color print display ads appearing in general and trade magazines and editorial stories placed about your services was the only route. The ad agency would send out an insertion order and the public relations agency in New York, London or Israel would fax news releases. Yes, there...

For a president and an administration that seemed to play the PR and communications game better than almost any that preceded them, President Barack Obama and his staff appear to have lost control of the messaging in the health-care reform debate, the first big policy test of his administration. And according to a number of communications professionals, the irony in all of this is that the president's opponents have managed to define the issue and take control of the conversation with tools -- such as grassroots marketing and e-mail communications -- that he used to near perfection during the election....

Organizing demonstrations in front of Iranian consulates worldwide, staging mock stonings and hangings in public, and launching a massive media campaign against Iran - these are just some of the steps Israeli diplomats have been told to take in the coming weeks. The goal, according to a senior Foreign Ministry official, is "to show the world that Iran is not a Western democracy" in the run-up to the country's presidential election on June 12. About a week ago, the head of the ministry's Task Force on Isolating Iran sent a classified telegram to all Israeli embassies and consulates, titled "Activities...

Dana Perino, President George W. Bush's last White House press secretary, will join Clinton administration adviser Mark Penn at public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller, where she will be "chief issues counselor." Mr. Penn, the firm's CEO, said Ms. Perino's experiences in Mr. Bush's second term make her a valuable addition to the team of battle-tested public-relations veterans he is assembling. . . . Ms. Perino, 36 years old, likely will focus on communications strategies for clients in the looming Washington policy debates over issues such as energy, climate change and health care. She may also develop business among newer defense and technology...

Israel's Cyber WarriorsBy Lucy Tobin The Jewish Chronicle London --- February 12, 2009 ... When Joel Leyden speaks about Israel, 90,000 people listen. His name may not be familiar, but if you have ever used Google to look up anything on the Middle East, then you have probably had your search results influenced by him. And if you are one of the 150 million users of the social networking website Facebook, then it is likely that you have read something written by him. You might even be one of the almost 100,000 members of his group called “I Support the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As it fights two wars, the Pentagon is steadily and dramatically increasing money spent on winning what it calls "the human terrain" of world public opinion. In the process, concerns have been raised that this is spreading propaganda at home in violation of federal law. An Associated Press investigation found that over the past five years, the money the military spends on winning hearts and minds at home and abroad has grown by 63 percent, to at least $4.7 billion this year, according to Department of Defense budgets and other documents. That's almost as much as it...

Israel PR Reaches Gaza Arabs Through Facebook, YouTube By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem --- January 9, 2009...... As in every war, the battle for hearts and minds is a critical one. Public opinion has a direct effect with lives on the ground. In the current defensive war in which Israel has been forced to defend herself from Hamas terrorists, rather than focusing on conventional print and broadcast media, both official and non official Israel spokespeople are using Web 2.0 social networking applications such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Hamas has been attacking Israel almost on a daily basis...

SEO Guru Taps Facebook To Support Israel in Gaza War By Laurie Sullivan Online Media Daily Marketing and SEO Guru Joel Leyden is reaching out through search engine optimization and social media to help Jews and Christians express their support for the Israel Defense Force and Israeli civilians. The Facebook forum, "I Support the Israel Defense Forces In Preventing Terror Attacks From Gaza"--created about three hours after the first strikes were made in Gaza--explains Israel's position to the world, Leyden said. "The stickiness makes it a medium that lets people feel, rather than remain passive," he said. "You can put...

The National Republican Congressional Campaign played a sorry game of defense in the 2008 elections. The net result in Florida was the loss of one House seat (Republicans lost two and gained one). Nationally, our net losses totaled 21. If one side is playing only (or primarily) defense and the other side has their offensive strategy down pat, the offensive team will almost always win spectacularly. That’s true in just about any field; business, national defense, exercise, politics, chess, you name it. The inefficiency of the GOP to communicate its ideas to the public is now as legendary as it...

The Presidential campaign in the United States is going to won this year by public speaking skills, and the ability to deliver clear, simple-to-understand and crisp messages. The race ultimately is not debate over the economy, healthcare, terrorism, Iraq, or any other issue, I believe, but who can best deliver messages that resonate most favorably with the most voters versus who cannot. That explains the closeness of both sides in the polls, in my opinion. Very simplistic-sounding but I’m afraid it’s the case. Who is more qualified or more experienced or who might do a better job leading the country...

Army Deploys 'Experience Center' The high-tech launch in a Philadelphia mall features giant TV screens, helicopter simulators and a cafe Aug 29, 2008 -By Andrew McMains   NEW YORK The U.S. Army today opened an "Army Experience Center" in a major mall in Philadelphia with the goal of explaining how the modern Army operates and becoming a hub for community outreach programs. But unlike recruitment centers in office complexes, the center is surrounded by retail stores and designed to look hip and modern, with giant plasma screen televisions, brushed stainless steel fixtures, interactive displays, helicopter and Humvee simulators, a gaming...

In 2006, after the Lebanon war, Israel's foreign ministry decided that the country had a p.r. problem on its hands. The solution? Let the world know that Israel, far from being a place of war and terror, was in fact a land of sunny beaches and beautiful women: in other words, a country that was fundamentally normal. And, so, Israel retained the p.r. firm Saatchi and Saatchi, which promised a campaign to help the Jewish state build a "narrative of normalcy." Then, last July, the Israeli consulate in New York arranged for the men's magazine Maxim to publish a spread...

I got a note from Mr. Moran, the PR guy at Absolut. It reads" "The ad has been down -- have you not seen the Pears ad in its place?" Jeffrey A. Moran Corporate and Brand Communications The Absolut Spirits Co., Inc. 401 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 CONTACT email: jeffrey.moran@absolut.com direct dial: +1 212.641.8720 main: +1 212.641.8700 fax: +1 212.641.8703 mobile: +1 917.609.2463

"I Have the Pleasure of Being the First Arab to Write About the Bright Side of the CIA" When we in the Arab world look at others we are accustomed to projecting our own faults onto them. We pull out rash and gratuitous ready-made judgments that are without basis in reality. In so doing, we do wrong to ourselves and to others. "When the subject of the CIA comes up, [we] fling out a handful of descriptions and accusations that have nothing to do with reality. The CIA is a national [security] apparatus whose mission is different than that of...

If there's one question I've heard a thousand times from Jews all over, it is this: Why is Israel so bad at PR? I know that when Jews ask me that question, they're also saying, "Suissa, you're in the business, can't you do something?" Jewish emotion never ceases to move me. I look at the pain in people's eyes when they see how the world hates us even after thousands of bombs land on our cities; I see our collective grief when Jews are murdered; I read the passionate e-mails exhorting us to stand up to our enemies, or those...

Israel Tourism Ministry Creates Interactive PR Forum By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- March 13....(INA) - A new online community from the Israel Ministry of Tourism website will connect users from all over the world. The Israel Ministry of Tourism has uploaded over 300 attractions and about 500 accommodation options in Israel to Google Maps and Google Earth, the Ministry told the Israel News Agency. The Israel Ministry of Tourism has launched a new Internet community forum - http://community.goisrael.com - which allows global users and potential visitors to Israel to ask questions and receive recommendations and information about...

Israel PR Finds A Friend In YouTube Videos, SEO For Sderot By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- March 12....(INA) - The Israel public relations machine, which has been ignored, battered, bruised, abused and sent out to committee by several Israel prime ministers, may have finally found an ally in YouTube. Founded in February 2005, YouTube describes itself as "the leader in online video", and "the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience." People can see first-hand accounts of current events such as the hanging of Saddam Hussein, US F-16's as they attack...

HUMA Abedin, the traveling aide who is rarely out of Hillary Rodham Clinton's sight, has been seen with bachelor Rep. Anthony Weiner

Hamas, Gaza, Iran - News Censorship By PR, Terror, Murder  By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel ----- January 24, 2008 ....... Nowhere can one find democracy to be more alive, more vibrant than in the Fourth Estate. A few years after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, 'Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.'The Fourth Estate are working journalists. Whether it be print journalism, broadcast journalism or Internet journalism, the Fourth Estate both informs and keeps in check the First...

TEXARKANA, Texas — The biggest construction project ever attempted in Texas comes under public debate beginning Tuesday in the first of a series of town hall meetings about a proposed 4,000-mile network of superhighway toll roads. The Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, as it's become known, was initiated six years ago by Gov. Rick Perry. It's rankled opponents who characterize it as the largest government grab of private property in the state's history and an unneeded and improper expansion of toll roads. Texas Department of Transportation officials, and Perry, have defended the project as necessary to address future traffic concerns in...

It’s looking like a tough year for toll roads in Texas, and no one could be happier about that than Terri Hall, the San Antonio woman whose group is leading the grassroots fight against the controversial pay-to-drive roads that Gov. Rick Perry and others want to see crisscrossing the state. In September, Hall and her group, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), filed suit in the state district court in Austin against the Texas Department of Transportation, alleging that TxDOT has broken the law by using public funds to lobby legislators for laws favoring toll roads. TURF and Hall...

AUSTIN -- House Speaker Tom Craddick has asked lawmakers to review the Texas Department of Transportation's multimillion-dollar ad campaign promoting toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Craddick, R-Midland, included a review of the Keep Texas Moving campaign on a list of topics that the House State Affairs Committee will study leading up to the 2009 legislative session. Craddick also asked the Appropriations Committee to review transportation spending over the past five years and study alternatives for funding future transportation needs. The transportation matters were among the "interim charges" that Craddick assigned last week. Other matters to be reviewed in advance...

AUSTIN — Two state lawmakers are requesting formal inquiries into whether the Texas Department of Transportation is improperly spending money on advertising. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, question whether an estimated $7 million to $9 million TxDOT is spending on its "Keep Texas Moving" campaign is a proper use of resources. The lawmakers have asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick look into the matter. Paxton said he is concerned that the transportation department is spending the money to argue its case before the public in response to lawmakers' questions about projects such...

Some readers have asked me to re-visit a few of my concerns regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor or TTC, because I have mentioned the project in my last two columns. Recently, I introduced what I like to call Nosygate. I think that is an appropriate name for the advertising campaign and subsequent information gathering effort, by a private company, on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation or TxDOT. A brief re-cap is probably in order. Unsuspecting motorists had their license tag numbers photographed while traveling and minding their own business. Their tag numbers were then traced to their home address.Their...

Middle East tensions ramp up oil prices Larry Elliott, economics editor Monday October 15, 2007 Guardian Unlimited The price of oil rose above $85 for the first time in London trading this morning as tension between Turkey and Iraq intensified concerns about shortages of supply over the winter and sparked fresh speculative buying. US light crude was up by more than $1 a barrel and hit $85.19 a barrel before easing back to $84.88 by mid-morning. Brent crude was up $1.25 at $81.60.

TexDOT: No Money to Build New Hghways Agency blames diversion of state gas tax money, curbs on privately funded toll roads By Jim Forsyth Friday, September 28, 2007 At a time the Texas Department of Transportation is defending spending thousands of dollars on a public relations campaign designed to convince you to support toll roads, the department says it has no money to pay for highway construction, 1200 WOAI's Robert Wood reports. "The bottom line is, we're running out of money very quickly," TexDOT's Chris Lippincott says. Lippincott blames decisions by state lawmakers to spend more than $1.5 billion in...

Monitoring the court fight between activist Terri Hall and the Texas Department of Transportation is a lot like staring at a buffet line full of warmed over hospital cafeteria food. On the one hand, you're hungry and interested in eating. But on the other, you really can't get excited about the choices before you. It's tempting but unpalatable to root for Hall, who has adopted the noble cause of trying to stop TxDOT from spending millions of dollars on a PR blitz to build support for toll roads. Despite Hall's impressive gifts of organizing, public speaking and rabble-rousing, she is...

AUSTIN — A judge has refused a toll road opponent's request to block the Texas Department of Transportation from spending money on a campaign that promotes toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Terri Hall of the San Antonio Toll Party and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom argued the "Keep Texas Moving" campaign violates a prohibition on state officials using their authority for political purposes. On Monday, State District Judge Orlinda Naranjo denied Hall's request for a temporary restraining order. The judge noted another law cited by state lawyers that allows the department to promote the development and use of...

AUSTIN — An activist outraged over state transportation officials' multimillion-dollar campaign to promote toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor is taking her fight to court. Terri Hall of the San Antonio Toll Party and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom wants a state court order to halt spending on the "Keep Texas Moving" campaign because, she contends, it violates a state prohibition on state officers or employees using their authority for political purposes. "Unlike purely educational public relations efforts such as the 'Don't Mess with Texas' campaign, the KTM campaign is a one-sided attempt to advocate one political point of...

An armada of companies has descended on New York to brand Denmark as a hotbed of creativity When Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik rings the bell to start trading at Wall Street on Wednesday morning, he will also be making a symbolic wake-up call to America. As part of the Creative Nation trade delegation visiting the United States the Crown Prince and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, will spend the next week telling the Eastern Seaboard that there is more to Denmark than butter cookies and the Little Mermaid. Looking for an elegant evening gown? Danish design can be found at...

After conducting business as though it were a private entity rather than a public trust, the Texas Department of Transportation is now trying to turn the tide of public opinion in its favor. The Keep Texas Moving campaign is a $7 million to $9 million effort designed to promote various transportation projects in the state. According to the campaign site, www.keeptexasmoving.com, Texans can learn more about such projects as the vast Trans-Texas Corridor and "its promise for Texas." Unfortunately, TxDOT has a history of not being entirely forthcoming about transportation plans. Last year, agency officials and the road-building consortium Cintra-Zachry...

With all the madness in the world, I meditated Tuesday on two matters of great gratitude. One is that through vigilance and good fortune we have, so far, gone six years without another major attack on U.S. soil. The other is that I wasn't one of the Texas officials who was forced to attend a workshop in Austin in which PR flacks would try (under a $20,000 contract) to teach me techniques for selling Gov. Perry's massive toll road boondoggle. It was a small part of a $7 million to $9 million campaign that will include feel-good ads pushing Perry's...

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) says it needs to spend $9 million in taxpayer money to sell its vision of transportation policy to the public. Maybe if TxDOT pursued rational transportation policies, the public support would follow, and it could spend that $9 million building and maintaining roads. Here’s why Texans ought to be concerned. Borrowing carries a price tag. The Texas Constitution has traditionally eschewed deficit spending and required existing revenue to pay for existing spending. Now, the state wants to build most of its roads by borrowing, either publicly or by getting a private firm to agree...

Let the fracas continue over Texas transportation policy. It's important to keep people alert to the Legislature's failure to address the state's glaring highway needs, and a new dustup is one way to accomplish that. The latest is over the Department of Transportation's developing "outreach" campaign to advocate for the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor and other proposed toll projects. The price tag could reach $9 million, and some lawmakers have badmouthed the idea. Good. Along with their complaints, maybe we'll see a rare thing come out of the Capitol – realistic solutions for meeting demand for new roadways in the face...

Even if it's just for a moment, let us give credit where credit is due. The Texas Department of Transportation has realized — finally — that it has an image problem when it comes to convincing Texans of the need for a vast network of toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. The realization, however, comes with a price tag of $7 million to $9 million that, rather than going to build highways, will fuel an advertising campaign centered around a memo titled, "Keep Texas Moving: Tolling and Trans-Texas Corridor Outreach." This is where I get off the track. Outreach? The...

AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Transportation, which complains about chronic underfunding, has launched a multimillion-dollar campaign that promotes the divisive Trans-Texas Corridor plan and toll roads. The campaign is anticipated to cost $7 million to $9 million, according to a memo titled "Keep Texas Moving: Tolling and Trans-Texas Corridor Outreach" sent to transportation officials by Coby Chase, director of the agency's government and public affairs division. Such use of state highway-fund dollars is drawing questions, but the department says it's an important effort to educate and engage Texans. "It's a waste of money," said Rep. Warren Chisum, chairman of...

China TV airs shows defending products By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer Mon Aug 20, 6:32 PM ET China has launched a new campaign to restore international trust in its products with a weeklong television series defending the country's safety standards. But new allegations of unsafe Chinese goods emerged Monday when New Zealand said it was investigating children's clothing found to contain dangerous levels of formaldehyde. The chemical is used to give clothes a permanent press effect and also as an embalming fluid and it can cause problems ranging from skin rashes to cancer. The new television campaign titled "Believe...

Communists disdain to conceal their views, aims... was before the age of public relations... Hamas leaders now write op-eds in the leading American newspapers either concealing completely or greatly distorting their group’s aims.. newspapers complicit in this process accepting articles.. nothing to do with the real Hamas or at least are full of demonstrable lies... Hamas pieces go far beyond other op-eds being published.... Recently, three main city-based newspapers in America — Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times - ran op-eds by Hamas leaders. First, identical article by Ahmed Yousef.. ..an extremely unusual development.. according to Washington Post...

Israel PR Public Relations Directory By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel ---- May 18, 2007 ...... Perhaps one of most challenging jobs in the world is promoting the State of Israel. PR professionals, governmental directors and academics integrate an accumulated sum of creative brain power to defend the tiny, democratic Jewish state through research, images, sound bytes and written words. Not always agreeing, coming from a rainbow of political, religious, academic and professional backgrounds, the Israel public relations and public affairs professionals are the unsung heroes who confront a well oiled and continuous slanderous assault of PR campaigns...

Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Regev To Leave IDF PR By Jonathan Schwartz Israel News Agency Tel Aviv---- May 11, 2007 ...... For many PR professionals who serve in the IDF reserves, the announcement a few hours ago that IDF Spokeswoman Miri Regev will be leaving the IDF after two years in that position, was sweet news. There had been a total lack of professionalism coming from the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson's office which led both to the demoralization of that office and the Israel Defense Forces. Regev was appointed to the post when former chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan...

Iran envoy Mottaki denies Iran's Holocaust denial while visiting Europe. Back home, I suspect he'll have to deny that very denial of the original denial. The article: "Iran's foreign minister was in Oslo on Tuesday, and he denied that his country's leaders doubt whether the Holocaust occurred. Nor would Manouchehr Mottaki claim that Israel has no right to exist. Iranian critics have often pointed to last year's seminar in Teheran for Holocaust skeptics, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's suggestions that Israel should cease to exist. But Mottaki, after holding meetings with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, claimed that Iran...

Puerto Rico's undefined political status is a serious national policy issue involving civil rights and democracy for four million U.S. citizens. Puerto Ricans were granted citizenship 90 years ago, Congress has not adopted a policy to legally determine the island's permanent status. This is a major deviation from the traditional procedure for clear and orderly transition of territories to full democracy through statehood or separate nationhood. As a result, a population of American citizens in Puerto Rico that is larger than that of 25 states endures an indefinite state of political limbo. This week Congress will hold a hearing on...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing a class-action lawsuit over alleged enslavement of boys as jockeys in camel races, has hired several top Washington lobbyists and PR firms to present their case to Congress and the public. The lawsuit, which the UAE seeks to dismiss, was filed in September and alleges that senior ministers from Dubai conspired to force thousands of underage boys to race camels. Having been hit by a public-relations disaster in Washington last year, the emirates are working hard to avoid another similar blow. “Dubai learned from the Dubai Ports World controversy how easy it was to...

Father, Son Paratroopers Serve in Afghanistan By Staff Sgt. Daniel W. Bailey Task Force Fury Public Affairs BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Feb. 22, 2007 -- As a boy, Jose Gomez would watch his father come home from work or being in the field and dream that one day that would be him. “I saw my father and fellow soldiers while growing up coming home from the field and knew I wanted to do that,” said Gomez, a native of Puerto Rico. “I wanted to jump, deploy; be a hero.” “I’m proud of what he’s doing following my footprints in the...

Gissin: 'Take The Israel Media War To The Enemy' By Herb Keinon and Joel Leyden The Jerusalem Post, Israel News Agency Jerusalem -----November 13 ..... The Palestinians have succeeded in turning battlegrounds into crime scenes and forcing Israel into the defendant's dock, Ra'anan Gissin said Sunday, adding that Israel desperately needs to be proactive and turn the tables. Gissin, a longtime Ariel Sharon adviser who served as an Israel foreign media spokesman during Sharon's tenure as Israel prime minister and serves as a reserve colonel in the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson's office, said a good example of how to do...

The Rally Comemorating 80th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Down with Imperialism Union (the Down with Imperialism Union: North Korea’s first revolutionary group organized by Kim Il Sung in 1926 to overthrow imperialism in Manchuria, China) Female N. Korean Soldiers Chatting at Yalu River A few days ago, several pictures of angry or boorish male N. Korean soldiers at Yalu River were featured at news services around the globe. I suspect that N. Korean authorities decided to do some damage control, trotting out decent-looking young female soldiers wearning spotless uniforms.:)

During the past week we learned a great deal about the nature of our enemies. We also learned a great deal about ourselves. If we draw the proper lessons from what we have seen we will go far toward winning the war. With their ghoulish presentations at the UN General Assembly, both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made clear their hostile intent, disdain for freedom and their foes, and their fanatical intent to use all murderous means toward their totalitarian ends. The men were so hostile that even their usual apologists in academia and the political...

This is story that would have made the front pages in ordinary times;but,happening as it did - on the 5th anniversary of 9/11 weekend - it went unremarked. Owing to the circumstances, Hugo Chavez might have been rather unhappy-and this might account for some of his snarky remarks this week !

FATIMA HUSSEIN waited on a plastic chair next to the bombed-out remains of her Beirut apartment block. With Hezbollah's clean-up operation of the city's blitzed southern suburbs under way, the pediatrician was hoping to salvage her medical certificate when bulldozers began shifting the rubble. Surrounded by towering mounds of concrete and the overpowering stink of garbage, Dr Hussein was upbeat about her losses. "It doesn't matter because everyone who has had their house destroyed … we get an amount of money from Hezbollah for one year to rent a place," she said of assistance now being offered by the Shiite...