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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Why Creativity and Emotion Matter in PR

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

Walk into almost any industry and you’ll see the same problem. Companies describe themselves with similar words and repeat similar talking points. From the outside, they blur together. That’s why I believe emotion, ideas and individuality are some of the most important ingredients in public relations. These three elements influence how people experience a story, and ultimately whether they remember the company or person behind it.

Andy Warhol demonstrated this principle in a completely different medium. A can of soup is one of the most ordinary objects imaginable. Millions of people walk past Campbell’s soup cans in grocery stores without giving them a second thought. Warhol didn’t invent the soup can or change what was inside it. He changed the context and, in doing so, made people look at something familiar in an entirely different way.

Great public relations can accomplish something similar. The raw material might be a company, an executive, proprietary data, a customer experience or an idea. Creativity doesn’t require changing the facts. It requires recognizing the unexpected, emotional or individual element within those facts that can make another person see them differently.

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Are Your PR Expectations Realistic? How Long Media Coverage Really Takes

Posted on September 15, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

One of the most important conversations I have with new clients happens before we pitch a single reporter: What should you realistically expect from a PR campaign, and how quickly should you expect it?

Every business wants media coverage quickly. I understand that. Maybe a product is launching next week, a conference is approaching, investors want more visibility or the CEO suddenly decides this is the month the company needs to be in the news.

But there’s an important reality about earned media that businesses need to understand: Just because your company waited until the last minute to start PR doesn’t mean a journalist will suddenly work on your calendar.

Reporters and editors work on their own schedules. And unlike advertising, you can’t buy your way onto their editorial calendar.

That’s why realistic PR expectations aren’t about lowering the bar. They’re about understanding how earned media actually works—and giving your PR strategy enough time to produce the best possible results.

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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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How PR Makes CEOs and Executives More Interesting

Posted on September 6, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

There’s a joke in public relations: behind every interesting person is probably a good publicist. The joke works because there’s some truth behind it.

Most successful CEOs have accumulated interesting experiences, industry knowledge and opinions. It’s partially what they learned and saw along the way. But having interesting things to say doesn’t automatically make an executive interesting to journalists.

The difference is often positioning.

At MACIAS PR, much of our work involves identifying the expertise, experiences and insights inside a company that can be developed into credible media stories. The objective isn’t to manufacture an interesting executive. It’s to recognize what is already interesting and position the executive in a way journalists understand.

What Makes a CEO Interesting to Reporters?

Tech CEO tells a reporter what you do but it doesn’t explain why you belong in a story.

Journalists generally become more interested when an executive can bring context to a story or issue. The insight might revolve around data trends or firsthand knowledge of an emerging trend. Whatever the unique perspective is – this is where media positioning begins.

During my years as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York, I evaluated stories and experts from the newsroom side. I saw plenty of accomplished people with impressive credentials who weren’t necessarily right for a story.

The executives who stood out usually brought something more than a résumé. They brought perspective. And I’m not talking about boring stats or history lessons. Context is needed for stories.

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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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There Is No Template for Great PR: Why Every Strategy is Different

Posted on August 21, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

There is a recurring mistake in public relations that rarely gets discussed: companies often buy a PR process when they should be buying a strategy.

The PR process sounds reasonable. Develop messaging, write a press release, build a media list, pitch reporters, follow up and repeat. Those steps can organize a campaign, but they don’t explain why a journalist would cover one company instead of another.

After working inside newsrooms at NBC and CBS and later founding MACIAS PR, I’ve seen the same principle from both sides of the editorial equation. The path to coverage changes with the company, the story, the audience and the moment in the news cycle.

There is no template for great PR because there is no template for a great story.

Why One PR Strategy Doesn’t Work for Every Company

A healthcare startup, hedge fund, drone manufacturer and consumer brand might all want national media coverage. That doesn’t mean they should pursue it the same way.

Healthcare reporters frequently need evidence, patient relevance, clinical expertise or data that demonstrates why a development matters. Financial journalists are looking for market implications, investment insight, economic trends and credible analysis. A technology company may have an opportunity when its product illustrates a much larger change taking place across an industry.

Consumer PR introduces another set of considerations. Culture, behavior, visual elements and trends can become more important than technical expertise. The mistake is assuming the media outlet is the strategy.

“We want to be in the Wall Street Journal” is a goal. It doesn’t tell you what story the Wall Street Journal has a reason to pursue.

A stronger PR strategy works backward from the editorial opportunity: What is happening in the world right now, where does this company intersect with it, and what can it contribute that a journalist cannot easily get somewhere else?

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The PR Multiplier: Why One Great Story Creates More Value

Posted on August 14, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

The image E = PR² started as a play on Einstein’s famous equation, but the more I looked at it, the more I realized it captures something fundamental about public relations.

Effective PR multiplies.

A great media story doesn’t reach only the people who read it on the day it’s published. It can influence prospective customers researching your company, investors conducting due diligence, journalists looking for sources, job candidates considering your business and even the information that surfaces in search and AI platforms.

That’s what makes earned media different from most forms of marketing.

Before founding MACIAS PR, I spent years inside newsrooms, including as an Executive Producer with NBC. I saw thousands of story ideas compete for a limited amount of airtime. The companies that broke through weren’t necessarily the biggest or the ones with the largest marketing budgets.

They gave journalists a reason to tell their story.

Today, I see the other side of that equation. When the right strategy produces the right story, the impact can extend far beyond the original media placement.

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When Should I Hire a PR Agency? Earlier than you think

Posted on August 13, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

It’s one of the most popular questions I hear from founders and CEOs: When is the best time to hire a PR agency?

Usually, they’re asking because something big is approaching. A product is launching, or the company is preparing to raise capital. Suddenly, leadership realizes competitors are generating media attention while their company remains invisible.

By that point, you’re already behind any strategy.

PR requires more preparation than most executives realize. A PR team must identify the strongest story angles, develop the messaging, research the journalists covering the topic, determine which reporters are appropriate for the pitch, begin outreach, follow up, coordinate interviews and prepare executives for those conversations. That doesn’t happen overnight.

Before founding MACIAS PR, I spent years as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York. That newsroom experience taught me something that still guides our campaigns today: the best time to develop a story is before you need the coverage.

Recent industry commentary makes the same point. Entrepreneur reported in June 2026 that founders who wait until a launch or fundraising campaign is imminent lose the runway required to build familiarity with journalists and the market. Media relationships and visibility compound over time rather than appearing instantly when a company suddenly needs them.

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