This morning marked the passing of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch. We weren’t around when he was patrolling the city, and he didn’t go for the big-money advocacy of Michael Bloomberg or the “bad cop” bluster of Rudy Giuliani. But he was a master of media relations. Always ready with a quip for the press corps, he knew how to work reporters to get his message out. In honor of his life, we would like to join others in posting some of his best quotes.

• On public relations: “I’m the sort of person who will never get ulcers. Why? Because I say exactly what I think. I’m the sort of person who might give other people ulcers.”
• On damage control: “You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it’s good for one’s self-respect to be a punching bag.”
• On messaging: “Tone can be as important as text.”
• On career advice: “Enjoy what you’re doing or don’t do it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t difficult or won’t challenge you, but if you are involved in something that’s causing you to say, ‘Why am I doing this?’ then you’re in the wrong business.”
• On politics: “If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.”
• On falling out of favor with the public (and losing elections): “People get tired of you. So they decided to throw me out. And so help me God, as the numbers were coming in, I said to myself, ‘I’m free at last.’”
• On privacy: “Whether I am straight or gay or bisexual is nobody’s business but mine.”
• On Donald Trump: “Piggy, piggy, piggy.”
• On mortality: “I had a conversation with God: ‘Take me totally or don’t take me. No salami tactics.’ He’s been very good about it.”

We already told you that “PR Manager” is one of the most stressful jobs around. It’s a 24/7 lifestyle, right? But can we also count “PR Specialist” as one of America’s top jobs? According to U.S. News and World Report, the answer is “yes!”

The gig is right there at number 51 on the list of “The 100 Best Jobs” in America, stuck between “construction manager” and “middle school teacher”. We like the magazine’s flattering description of the position and its relatively generous average salary estimate, but the list leaves us with some questions:

• How can teaching middle school be a pleasant thing in any way (and why isn’t the median salary much higher)?
• What’s so great about dentistry, anyway?
• Who told marketing managers that they were so special?
• How is architect so low on the list (#70)? Someone call Art Vandelay!
• Do we really have to move to D.C., San Francisco or San Jose? (Please say no.)

U.S. News created the list by ranking individual positions based on “the number of openings, the chance to advance and be professionally fulfilled, and the ability to meet financial obligations”. What do we think, PR pros: why aren’t we #1? And how will we plan our revenge on the health care industry?

Today we came across a list of “America’s 10 Most Hated Companies” courtesy of Ragan’s PR Daily and 24/7 Wall Street, which compiled the worst of the worst based on “stock performance, employee and customer satisfaction, and management decisions.”

We were intrigued, so we figured we’d peruse the list and see what we could make of it. What are these brands, and what did they do to offend the American public (and their investors) so badly?

Here they are, along with our past and present theories on why they suck:

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PR Fail: Cinemark Invites Families of Aurora Shooting Victims to Theater Reopening

The World’s Greatest Brands: 2013 Edition

Our 12 Favorite PR Stories of 2012

Studio Screens New Star Trek Film for Dying Fan

Toyota Recovers from PR Stumbles with Hot Pink Rebranding

Welcome back, dear readers! We hope everyone had a great holiday and survived the crazy season in one piece despite hectic travel schedules, extended visits with the in-laws and borderline alcoholism.

The first of the many, many stories we accumulated over the break is an interesting one: a list of 2013’s 27 “World Champions” of the global branding game, brought to us by Citi and Business Insider.

According to Citi, these 27 brands have beaten all others when it comes to creating “significant and enduring business models over the long term”–and we covered quite a few of them in 2012. Our thoughts on some of the winners after the jump:

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Yesterday Boston.com, a property of The Boston Globe, ran a great listicle by PR man and 451 Marketing founder AJ Gerritson titled “7 PR Tips for Startups”. Since quite a few firms have startup clients, we think the piece is well worth a read–but we’ll summarize its key points here. Key question: what should startups do to make sure they’re ready to make the most of any and all exposure they receive after going public?

1. Make sure you’re prepared for the attention. Essentially, the time to ensure that your website looks good, works well and places highly in search engine results is before you put out a press release.
2. Build your PR toolkit. You may be excited to let the world know how great your company is/will be, but don’t do it without well-written summaries, executive bios, and jpegs (bloggers have to use something as the featured image, you know).
3. Know your Market. Seems like a no-brainer, but we take this to mean you need to truly know your market–don’t just guess at who your target audience might be. Figure it out through research.
4. Find partners. It’s much easier to navigate the media minefield when you partner with someone who knows how to do it. Gerritson advises startup PR folks to emphasize that relationship by posting on a partner’s blog or holding jointly sponsored events. Both great ideas. Read more