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It’s OK to be of several minds on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and especially at this time of year. Even communicators working in CSR can’t agree on exactly how to define it, a recent study… Continued

Outdoor grill brand Char-Broil struck social media gold in 2016 with a 60-second sped-up video that showcased its Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey Fryer. The video, posted about two weeks before Thanksgiving, spread like wildfire, garnering more than 1.9 million views, 6,291 shares and 1,281 comments on Facebook alone. So, what made it so successful?

Video is now king on social media, and Facebook Live has emerged as a crown jewel, a powerful way for brands to reach and engage a larger audience in real-time. One of the earliest and most successful adopters of Facebook Live is NASA. And here, John Yembrick, NASA’s social media manager, offers best practices to optimize your live-streaming efforts.

Building your business’ reputation and boosting revenues is all made possible through video outreach. But where do you begin when you’re just starting to dip your toes into video marketing? How do you know which factors will supercharge your video ROI and which components are critical for a stellar video marketing strategy?

End-of-year fundraising is important for nonprofits, but as we hear more and more bad news, it’s impossible for our empathy not to hit a ceiling. What can you do to overcome empathy fatigue and stand out among all the other nonprofits clamoring for contributions? Here are a few suggestions from a communications perspective.

IKEA, the Sweden-based furniture giant, agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit over deaths that occurred when its dressers tipped over onto children. It’s a significant black eye for the brand going into the holidays; one wonders, then, if another bit of related news was carefully timed to divert the conversation to something a bit more lighthearted.

If you’ve noticed more announcements at the top of your Facebook feed, it’s likely due to Facebook’s latest rollout, Moments. For various events, from lesser-known holidays to news to cultural moments, Facebook has added a card to the top of users’ feeds to keep them in the know and spark conversations. The feature is similar to Twitter’s Moments, but if 2016 has taught us anything, it’s that Facebook won’t hesitate to poach competitors’ most popular features (e.g. Instagram Stories, Facebook Live). Facebook has also unveiled an e-card feature for posting holiday cards to friends’ feeds.

Is there an industry more vulnerable to crises than the airline industry? On the one hand you have the usually catastrophic nature of airplane crashes and terrorist attacks; on the other you have on every plane aggravated, gaseous, claustrophobic passengers packed like Pringles in a tube, armed with smartphones, ready to broadcast to the world any provocation.

Is there an industry more vulnerable to crises than the airline industry? On the one hand you have the usually catastrophic nature of airplane crashes and terrorist attacks; on the other you have on every… Continued

Every brand under the sun wants influencers to act as ambassadors, but as with any partnership, the right fit is key. Influencers should have more than a large following—they should be able to lend an authentic voice to your brand’s story. But how to find the right match? John Walls, director of brand PR, luxury and lifestyle brands at Hilton Worldwide, makes use of influencers regularly, and notes that authenticity is all about understanding potential influencers’ aesthetic and tone. He discusses influencer relations with Doug Simon of D S Simon Media in this brief video.