Why One Media Placement Isn’t a PR Strategy

Posted on September 23, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Is it worth hiring a PR agency for just one media placement? This is a real question we got from a business today: “I’m looking for help getting our founder one credible TV interview. Do you take on fixed-scope, one-off broadcast projects?”

The value of public relations isn’t simply appearing on television. It’s what happens when credible media coverage begins establishing a pattern around your company, founder or expertise.

One interview can certainly be valuable. It can introduce an executive to a new audience and give the company an important piece of third-party credibility. But by itself, it doesn’t build a brand.

Brands are built through repetition and association. You want journalists, customers, investors and eventually search engines and AI platforms to repeatedly encounter your company in credible contexts.

Maybe a CEO first appears in a trade publication discussing an industry shift. A few weeks later, a national reporter interviews the executive about breaking news. Another outlet cites the company’s proprietary data. Eventually, a television producer sees that body of coverage and recognizes the CEO as someone who has already contributed intelligently to the conversation.

Each placement reinforces the others. That is very different from saying, We need one TV interview. Who can get it for us?

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Clarity and Focus: The Two Disciplines Behind a Strong PR Story

Posted on September 10, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

You receive two love letters. One takes an entire page to explain an emotion, while the other uses only five words: “I can’t live without you.” Both communicate affection but only one forces you to immediately understand what the writer is trying to say.

That distinction reminds me of something I learned during my years approving stories as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS: a story can contain great information and still fail because nobody has identified its center.

I see the same problem today in public relations. Companies have plenty to say. They have data, products, executives, customer stories, research, milestones and industry expertise. The challenge is deciding which piece deserves the spotlight and then framing everything else around it. At MACIAS PR, we call that clarity and focus.

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Are You a Good Candidate for PR? The Answer Isn’t Only About Your Company

Posted on September 9, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Several years ago, I wrote an article for Entrepreneur titled “Are You Wasting Your Money on PR?”. The premise was fairly straightforward: contrary to what some publicists might tell you, not every business is a good candidate for PR.

Some companies naturally possess the ingredients journalists want—expertise, compelling data, interesting characters, disruption or insight into a larger trend. Others may get a better return from advertising or other forms of marketing.

After running MACIAS PR for 17 years, I’d add another factor that I didn’t address in that article.

Your company can be a great candidate for PR while you can still be a bad candidate for PR. The difference frequently comes down to how you work with the people you’ve hired.

PR Is a Human Capital Business

Public relations is usually evaluated through outputs: How many reporters responded? How many interviews did we secure? Which publications covered us? But behind every one of those results is a person.

There’s the publicist researching and developing the story. The reporter deciding whether to pursue it. The producer pitching it to an executive producer. The editor deciding whether it deserves space. And frequently a CEO or founder who must trust the process long enough for all those people to do their jobs.

In that sense, PR is a human capital business.

And human beings generally do their best creative work when they’re respected, trusted and motivated—not when every decision becomes a confrontation.

That doesn’t mean clients shouldn’t challenge their PR firms. They should. If you’re paying a monthly retainer, you deserve answers, accountability and a strategy you understand. But there’s a difference between challenging the strategy and fighting the people executing it.

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What Andy Warhol Can Teach Entrepreneurs About PR, Creativity and Business Growth

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Andy Warhol built his reputation as an artist, but his approach to creativity, collaboration and publicity offers lessons that still apply to entrepreneurs and business leaders today.

I originally explored these ideas in an article I wrote for Forbes, which you can read here. But here is a different take on what we can learn from Warhol in this new era of AI.

Warhol was a great publicist as much as he was a great artist. He knew how to attract attention to his work, and every publicist today can learn from him. He understood how to frame ideas in ways that made people want to talk about them. More importantly, he repeatedly converted that attention into greater value for his work and his brand.

The media landscape has changed dramatically since Warhol’s era but the principles behind his success haven’t disappeared. Here are four lessons entrepreneurs can take from his approach.

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What Makes a PR Agency One of the Best?

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Companies frequently search for the best PR agency, top PR firm for startups, or a public relations firm capable of securing national media coverage. Those searches tend to focus on what an agency can deliver tomorrow.

A better way to evaluate a PR firm is to look at what it has consistently built over time.

Yes, awards matter and media placements reinforce your ability to secure coverage. Newsroom experience plays a critical role in securing media coverage since editorial drives story flow. But none of these exists independently. The strongest indicator of a PR firm’s capabilities is whether it can repeatedly turn strategy and storytelling into meaningful media coverage across different clients, industries and news cycles.

That’s the foundation we’ve been building at MACIAS PR since 2009.

What Should You Look for When Choosing a PR Agency?

Business owners often ask: How do I choose the best PR agency for my company? Start with the work.

Look beyond promises about media relationships and ask which stories the agency has actually secured. Examine whether the coverage appeared in publications that influence the client’s customers, investors or industry. Review case studies to see whether the firm can explain the strategy behind those results.

Recognition from independent organizations can provide another signal.

City & State New York named Mark Macias to its list of the Top PR Power Players in New York, recognizing the communications professionals influencing the media and political landscape in New York. MACIAS PR has also received multiple industry awards over the years, including recognition from Finance Monthly and ACQ Global Awards.

Those honors are appreciated, but the more important question is what produced them.

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Where Do Great PR Stories Come From? Everywhere

Posted on August 17, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Great stories rarely begin with a press release. They can come from a conversation with a customer, an unexpected piece of internal data, a cultural shift, a competitor’s mistake, a frustrated employee, a changing regulation or even something happening thousands of miles away.

The challenge isn’t finding information. Every company is surrounded by information. The skill is recognizing which pieces contain a story.

Before founding MACIAS PR, I spent years inside newsrooms, including as an Executive Producer with NBC. One of the most important lessons I learned during that time was that journalists see the world differently. A reporter can walk into an ordinary situation and notice the one detail everyone else overlooked.

That same curiosity should drive public relations.

The best PR professionals don’t sit around waiting for companies to announce something. They constantly look at business, culture, data and the news cycle and ask: Where is the story hiding?

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What Journalists Actually Look For in a Startup Story

Posted on July 17, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

“How do I get reporters interested in my company?”

It’s a popular question from all startups. Our conversation usually begins around a product launch, funding announcement or new partnership. These milestones are exciting for founders, but journalists rarely care about those topics.

Before founding MACIAS PR, I spent years approving story ideas as Executive Producer with NBC and CBS. Every day, we evaluated hundreds of pitches competing for a limited number of broadcast segments. The overwhelming majority never made it to air—not because the companies lacked innovation, but because they lacked a compelling story.

Understanding how journalists evaluate news is one of the biggest advantages a startup can have. Once founders begin thinking like reporters instead of marketers, media coverage becomes much more attainable.

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10 Things I Learned Approving Stories at NBC and CBS

Posted on July 3, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Before I launched MACIAS PR in 2009, I spent years approving stories as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York. Every day I reviewed dozens of story ideas from reporters, producers and publicists. Most never made it on the air.

What surprised me most wasn’t that publicists lacked media contacts. It was that many never understood how journalists actually decide what becomes news. The technology has changed since my newsroom days.

AI, social media and digital publishing have transformed journalism. But the fundamentals of what makes a story worthy of coverage haven’t changed. Here are the ten biggest lessons I learned from sitting on the other side of the pitch.

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Should I Hire an In-House PR Person or a PR Agency?

Posted on July 2, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

One of the biggest decisions growing companies face is whether to hire an in-house public relations professional or work with a PR agency. The answer isn’t always obvious.

At first glance, bringing PR in-house may seem like the logical choice. An employee understands the business, sits in meetings and becomes immersed in the company’s culture. An agency, on the other hand, works from the outside.

That comparison overlooks one important reality. The most valuable part of public relations isn’t writing a press release. It’s everything that happens before and after the press release.

Having spent years as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York – before founding MACIAS PR – I’ve learned that successful media campaigns depend on strategy, timing, persistence and execution. Those responsibilities require far more time than most executives realize.

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Marketing Case Study for B2C Service Sector

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Mark Macias

MACIAS PR led the PR and marketing campaign for Provident Loan Society – an alternative lending organization based in New York. We leveraged the media, social media and content to grow their consumer brand with consumers.

Over the course of our 5-year partnership, MACIAS PR helped grow their customer base with college students, business owners, immigrants and consumers with no credit. Our targeted media campaigns in Spanish and Mandarin also introduced their services to new immigrants who had no credit and were prime customers.

Their former CEO and CMO of Provident Loan Society both credit MACIAS PR with increasing their revenue and growing their customer base. You can read their testimonials on Linkedin.

Earned Media Exposure

MACIAS PR led the entire media campaign from conception to execution. Our team identified stories of interest, gathered the elements, pitched targeted reporters and news outlets, and coordinated the interviews.

Our media approach led to stories with: CNN, New York Post, ABC 7, FOX5, NY 1, PIX 11, Metro New York, Investors Business Daily, Crain’s Business Magazine, Univision, Inc., Entrepreneur Magazine and others. Here’s a closer look at some of that media coverage.

Digital Marketing, Social Media and Content Creation

In January 2017, Provident Loan Society expanded our scope of work and asked us to take over their content and digital marketing with the goal of increasing their organic web traffic. Our strategy was focused on creating engaging content around trending topics.

We saw immediate traction following our execution, growing their traffic year-over-year from 2017 to 2019. The increased web traffic began showing up in the first month.

You can review the entire case study by clicking here. Or if you’d like to schedule a call to discuss more, click here.

ABOUT MACIAS PR

Our founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. City & State Magazine named him a PR Power Player in New York in 2024 and 2022, while marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017-2020 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year.Posted in Client Case Studies, UncategorizedTagged best pr agencies consumer brands nyc, best pr agencies for consumer facing brands, best pr agencies nyc consumer products, best tech pr agencies, macias pr