It’s that time of the year again—yes, the end of it—when we are supposed to look back at the past 12 months and act like it all made sense. The media produce rankings. Time announces its person of the year. Texas Monthly designates its Bum Steer. And tech companies deliver retrospectives derived from harvested user data to tell each of us more about, well, ourselves. Since 2015, Spotify has refined its own recap of users’ behavior, Spotify Wrapped, into a viral phenomenon, leading to huge increases in revenue. Last year’s launch appears to have boosted its Q4 app downloads by 21%. The Swedish streaming service has won praise for the irresistible elegance of Wrapped’s graphic design but has also caught flack for having produced what others term (shockingly!) a marketing ploy meant to garner more users across social media platforms.  Spotify Wrapped

Hardly any Twitter trend is off limits to brands. If it’s humorous, all the better—provided your brand is in on the joke. Last month, brands from all over the world tested their knack for irony by latching onto the new ‘red flag’ trend. While many succeeded at it, at least one San Antonio organization may have unintentionally raised its own red flag to followers. In an ideal world, we would all get along with each other and only meet kindred spirits. But the reality is that some of us simply rub others the wrong way. Fortunately, there are “red flags,” or warning signs we receive from newfound acquaintances. At best, they betray a mismatch of personalities or taste. Worst case scenario: the interlocutor cannot be trusted. For instance, if someone says to you on a first date, “Austin makes the best

Public Alliance was retained by the San Antonio Police Officer’s Association (Client) in August 2020 to plan and manage an integrated city-wide campaign with the goal of defeating Proposition B, which was on the May 1, 2021 San Antonio municipal ballot, and if approved by voters would have repealed collective bargaining rights for San Antonio police officers. BACKGROUND The subject of “police reform” and “police accountability” have been hot topics throughout major cities in the United States for many years. The summer of 2020 saw a series of incidents that galvanized police reform activists to accelerate the push for reform measures through legislation in state capitals or through the ballot box at the local level. Since the summer of 2020, there were at least 20 measures placed on municipal ballots throughout the country. Every one of them passed by no less than 18%.

Public Alliance is well known for our award-winning marketing and advertising, but during election season, we’re also sought out for our political campaign planning, strategy, and creative services. For the May 2021 elections, one of the political clients we were proud to work with was school board candidate, Clay Page. Making his first run for elective office, Clay is the owner of a successful San Antonio-based construction company and he came to Public Alliance when he and his wife made the decision for him to seek a position on the Alamo Heights Independent School District Board of Trustees. Alamo Heights is an incorporated city with a population of about 8,000 and located entirely within the city limits of San Antonio, TX. As he prepared to launch his campaign, we met with Clay to lay out his campaign strategy and develop a comprehensive plan,

Is your Google ranking suffering and you’d like to know how to improve it? If you already have an established website, let’s start by analyzing and troubleshooting it to see if you’re following Best Practices according to Google. Best Practices include high-quality content (especially on your home page), quality link building, visibility in search queries, and a clear hierarchy within your web navigation. Conducting your site under the suggested Best Practices according to Google is the foundation of developing a high-performing website. If your site is already developed there are several tools you can utilize to properly assess it. ‘Lighthouse’ is an extension you can add to your web browser. Once added, you can generate a report grading your performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO. Some of these carry more weight and importance than others. Let’s start with SEO. There are three

Social media platforms are a great tool for building and sharing your brand. So, you’ll want to take advantage of multiple platforms without spreading yourself too thin. You’ll need a strategy to help you pick the platforms that are going to be most beneficial to your business. To do this you’ll need to figure out which platforms are going to give you the most exposure to your targeted audience and help you achieve your marketing goals. Here are the key factors of each platform that you need to know. Instagram Instagram can be a great tool for you if your goal is brand building. If your message is best shown, then Instagram is your platform. By creating engaging photos and short videos, you can reach a large audience to build a massive following. The top industries on Instagram are beauty, fitness, food,

2020, what a year! Businesses have been forced to adapt to new realities. Consumers likewise have changed how they shop, socialize, get news and frankly, spend their money.  The pandemic has in many ways just accelerated the timeline of consumer trends already in motion. So even when the effects of the pandemic recede, businesses should continue to adapt and innovate, creating new ideas, concepts, and processes to meet new consumer demands. As always, effective marketing is key to profitability and staying ahead of the competition, so consider these marketing resolutions for your business in 2021.Evaluate PerformanceBefore you can commit to being better in 2021, it’s important to understand your performance in 2020. Whether your marketing content focuses on blogs, social media, podcasts, or anything else, evaluating results and setting new goals based on them should be a top priority. Consider your

Green Bean Casserole - Account ExecutiveEven during the holidays, you go towards the healthier options. You are the only one at the table to not go back for seconds and maybe even skip dessert. Yikes. You also feel obligated to make sure everyone gets along- facilitating the conversation and steering away from the controversial subjects. If you worked in an agency you’d probably be an account executive. You are motivated, organized, and a great listener. When the family asks how work has been you sound really smart and put together when in reality, you’re stressed beyond belief. Mashed Potatoes - CopywriterThe safest side on the table. Potatoes in any form are usually good. If your go to is mashed potatoes then you love the comfort food. You are easy going, and just like potatoes, you get along with anyone. If you