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As public companies prepare annual reports, corporate communicators and investor relations also need to consider how their business narratives will change in response to the growing demand from institutional investors for disclosure about environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

Since President-elect Donald Trump is a controversial figure to say the least, it’s difficult to tell exactly what the impact of an endorsement on a brand’s bottom line would be. Is increased enthusiasm from Trump supporters canceled out by antipathy from his critics, or does one side weigh more heavily than the other—and is the equation different for a New England brand like L. L. Bean and one anchored in Trump country?

Given the rapid pace at which we digest information, expert crisis management is the best defense against a brand reputation meltdown. Managing the flow of harmful news articles and social media posts is a delicate craft, best handled by PR pros with a balanced approach—neither dismissing the seriousness of claims, nor issuing a hasty apology. One such PR professional, George Atallah, assistant executive director of external affairs at the NFL Players Association, spoke on crisis PR with Doug Simon, president and CEO of D S Simon Media, at PR News’ Media Relations Conference in December.

Facebook has announced several new features communicators can use to more effectively measure and broadcast quality content to engage audiences. The update includes six distinct features that will help stabilize footage, increase flexibility and collaboration for multiple admins and improve metrics and views post-broadcast. Here’s a breakdown of all six updates and a few ideas on how communicators can start putting them to good use.

Many organizations make the mistake of not planning for a crisis, thinking it’s either superstitious or somewhat futile. But when dealing with a crisis, you need to be fast, transparent and most of all, prepared, says Linda Rutherford, vice president and chief communications officer with Southwest Airlines. Here are three lessons she has learned from the airline industry and beyond.

Snap Inc. is testing two new ad features on Snapchat this month. The first feature addresses one of advertisers’ perennial complaints about Snapchat, allowing users to swipe up to be directed to another app; the second aims to make user sign-up processes for ad products more seamless via autofill.

Some brands can throw stars (celestial and Hollywood) at their live streams. Still, providing followers a behind-the-scenes experience is more important and it shouldn’t cost you a lot of money. And even big brands sometimes spend only a little to make themselves more human.

Every six months the Television Critics Association (TCA)—some 400 media folks who get paid to watch television and write, talk, tweet and blog about it—commandeers a Hollywood-area hotel for two to three weeks. During that time… Continued

What’s the secret sauce for injecting authenticity into today’s competitive college market? A solid influencer program, according to some. PR News spoke with Christina Sponselli, director of social media at University of California, Berkeley, about the school’s influencer recruitment and relationship-building strategy. Sponselli will be speaking at length on influencer marketing at PR News’ Digital Summit on Feb. 24 in Huntington Beach, CA.

Given their broad franchise networks and large customer base—and of course their huge social media audiences—fast-food chains can be seen as guinea pigs for how the public discourse is digitally evolving. Consider the latest high-profile example of how a single Facebook post led to the rapid closure of a Dairy Queen—within 48 hours of being posted.