Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street
Kara Alaimo’s texbook about global communication, Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street, offers a modern guide for how to practice public relations and strategic communication around the globe. Drawing upon interviews with public relations professionals in over 30 countries as well as the author’s own experience as a global public relations practitioner in the United Nations and in U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, this book explains how to adapt public relations strategies, messages, and tactics for countries and cultures around the globe. The book begins by explaining key cultural differences which require practitioners to adapt their approaches, before discussing how to build and manage a global public relations team and how to practice global public relations on behalf of corporations, non-profit organizations, and governments. Then, the book takes readers on a tour of the world, explaining how to adapt their campaigns for Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Along the way, readers are introduced to practitioners around the globe and case studies of particularly successful campaigns – from a public relations “siege” that successfully ended an epidemic of violence in Kenya to the remarkable P.R. strategy adoted by Bordeaux wineries in China that led to a staggering 26,900 percent increase in sales.
The second edition of Kara Alaimo’s book on global public relations was published by Routledge in December 2020. Use the promo code HSM20 for 20% off the book on Routledge’s website.
Companion Website to the Book (Professors: Request a token to access the instructor section of the website, which offers a free guide for developing and teaching courses in international communication/PR, with a sample syllabus and lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations for every class session).
What People Are Saying About the Book
“The breadth and depth of this book are amazing. Kara Alaimo combines her extensive international experience with a thorough review of relevant academic literature. The book combines theory and practice; applies to corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies; provides lessons from every continent; and always makes culture and ethics central to the discussion.”
James E. Grunig, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland
“You need to read this book if your business plan involves growth across international markets. Today, business success in local or regional markets is increasingly dependent on communications that can scale globally while understanding the importance of cultural nuances. Kara Alaimo has finally cracked the code for how to manage multi-national communications campaigns that drive real business results.”
Rowan Benecke, Global Technology Practice Chair, Burson-Marsteller
“In our increasingly connected world, we cannot understand effective strategic communication without understanding cultural differences. This book makes a valuable contribution by bringing together the latest theory and research with real-world applications. We have adopted this book for courses in our Master’s in Strategic Communication program at Columbia University.”
Rebecca Heino, Ph.D., Executive Director, Communication Division, School of Professional Studies, Columbia University
“The world of the world has changed inexorably. Global citizens now turn to Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Snapchat before they bathe in the morning. Kara Alaimo has lived international public relations at the highest levels. Hers is the only book you need to navigate the global social media thicket.”
Fraser Seitel, President, Emerald Partners; author of The Practice of Public Relations and former spokesperson for the Rockefeller family
“Professor Alaimo’s book Pitch, Tweet, or Engage on the Street masterfully combines the theory and practice of contemporary global public relations…A must read for anybody looking beyond the backyard.”
Dejan Verčič, Ph.D., Professor and Head of the Centre for Marketing and Public Relations, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
“Alaimo brilliantly captures the zeitgeist of digital nativity and elegantly divines its meaning for contemporary public relations practice across the globe. This is a must read for anyone who seeks to understand the media revolution and how it has radically changed how we consume information.”
Harlan Loeb, Global Practice Chair, Crisis & Reputation Risk, Edelman
Academic Journal Articles:
Women Governors in the United States Use More Communal Language Than Male Governors in their State of the State Addresses and Tweets and Achieve Greater Policy Success
Communication and the Public, 2025
Design of X’s Platform Masks Discontent With Presidential Social Media Posts Instead of Reflecting Public Opinion
Communication and Democracy, 2023
Measuring the Boundaries of America’s Permanent Campaign
Journal of Public Affairs, 17(4), 2017
Increased Efforts by Modern States to Improve their Reputations for Enforcing Women’s Human Rights
International Journal of Communication, 10, 2016.
The US President’s Most Effective Spokespeople
Journal of Communication Management, 20(2), 2016.
Which Government Officials Leak Unauthorized Information to the Press in Washington?
Journal of Public Affairs, 16(1), 2016.
How the Facebook Arabic Page “We Are All Khaled Said” Helped Promote the Egyptian Revolution
Social Media & Society, 2015.
Public Relations as Personal Relationships: How Top Bordeaux Wines Are Promoted in China
Case Studies in Strategic Communication, 4(3), 2015.
Book Chapters:
New Challenges for Political Public Relations Professionals in the Era of Social Media
In Political Public Relations: Concepts, Principles, and Applications (2nd ed.)., edited by Jesper Strömbäck and Spiro Kiousis, Routledge, 2019
The Public Relations Strategies of the Global ‘Hacktivist’ Group Anonymous
In The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice (3rd ed.), edited by Krishnamurthy Sriramesh and Dejan Verčič, Routledge, 2019
Social Media for Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations
In Communications Writing and Design: The Integrated Manual for Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations by John DiMarco, Wiley, 2017
Press Relations in President George W. Bush’s Treasury Department
In The George W. Bush Presidency. Volume 2: Domestic and Economic Policy, edited by Meena Bose and Richard Himelfarb, Nova Science Publishers, 2016
Encyclopedia Entries:
Social Media in Mainland China: Weak Democracy, Emergent Civil Society
with Jingsi Christina Wu
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication, 2018
The Bully Pulpit
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Political Behavior, 2017
Issue Brief:
How the United Nations Should Promote the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Center for Governance and Sustainability, September 2014.
