Al Maag has a unique background having worked on the manufacturing, distribution, publishing and agency side. After a unique career spanning four decades, Al retired in 2013 as chief communications officer for Avnet, Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest technology distributor. Today his PR agency focus is supporting the non-profit sector’s marketing efforts.
Recent Highlights :
• In 2010 named The Phoenix Business Journal’s Executive of the Year in the Community
• Served as Chairman and Executive Director of the Business Marketing Association
• Serves on the boards of the Miracle League of Arizona, MVP Foundation, Steward of Taliesin West, and has organized the Maag Toy Foundation for 25 years.
• Formed agency Maagcommplus and media company focused on nonprofits, starting with GivingHope.TV
• Author of Social Media isn’t Social…Amazon.com
A public relations (PR) crisis can spread in a variety of ways today — especially on TV, online and through social media — that will impact your brand forever. How quickly you respond is critical. Without giving you a lecture: When things are calm I strongly hope you are establishing your brand mission, attributes, and creating goodwill in…
I have always strongly recommended folks should get out and support your community by being on a nonprofit board. It’s great for you physically and mentally, wonderful for your company brand as a representative, and in most cases you will make a difference. When you join, most nonprofits will share a list of things you…
I took this from an online source: Branding is an “attempt to attach higher credibility to a new product by associating it with a well-established company name. Unlike a family-branding (which can be applied only to a specific family of products), corporate branding can be used for every product marketed by a firm.” My take…
The ex-CEO of Avnet, Roy Vallee, always said be a lifelong learner and I must admit it took me a long time to understand the meaning. At some point (in my late 40s) I got off my butt and joined the Business Marketing Association (BMA) and it was best move I made. I attended local and…
1. Show personality, and send out a signed holiday card in the mail (not with your name imprinted). If snail-mail is out of the question for you, create an email with a nice graphic or even a video message. 2. Accept invitations and attend the holiday events you are invited to, even if it’s a…
The Chicago Cubs playing in the 7th game of the World Series – it’s like your first Christmas morning on steroids. Winning was surreal vs Cleveland. It was exhausting and jubilant. So, what’s the big deal? Chicagoans understand but my out of state friends just wonder why? Let me try to explain. My parents were…
Individuals and businesses both can play a role in supporting the men and women that serve and protect the United States and its allies. At the airport, you take a moment to thank a solider in uniform who is returning home. On Veterans Day, you hold up a sign at your town’s parade to let…
It’s the election year, so I might as well pull out the often used John F. Kennedy inauguration phrase, of “Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.” So what are you doing these days? Me? Zip for our country because we are too screwed…
To set the stage for the context of my growing up and any social media commentary, I thought I would give you a look back on what was happening in the first decade of rock and roll. During the ‘50s people were building America and starting families after World War II. Hence, the post-war baby…
Ten years ago, Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook and Twitter started its 140 character services. Both platforms changed the world as we knew it on how we communicated, and impacted everything from the news to showing what we were doing and eating. The ball game changed, it started social media. The individual was heard vs. corporate…