PR Insiders

‘Bring your true self to work’ is an often-used phrase. For David Brown, it’s a lesson he learned as a youth and carried with him into adulthood. Today, he imparts it daily to students and fellow PR professionals. Yet, he’s constantly reminded of its importance. For example, during the country’s recent racial reckoning and on a visit to his 100-year-old grandmother.

No company, not even timeless luxury brands, is immune to today’s social, racial and political movements. While luxury brands once were able to float above social issues, that’s not the case today. How should these ‘timeless classics’ navigate the current landscape? In short, much the same way other brands do.

We had a good feeling about Linda Thomas Brooks, who was named PRSA’s CEO today, before we met her. The last line of her bio did the trick.

Finding ways to authentically share news of your CSR programs with key audiences can be a challenge. It’s not as simple as just telling people what you’re doing. Communicators need to personalize their brand’s CSR activities to key audiences and explain why they matter.

Those who thought PR crises were finished for the year probably hadn’t counted on Hilaria Baldwin’s identity issues popping into the news just days before 2020 ended. OK, so Ms. B. isn’t who she’s claimed. Instead of coming clean, she and her husband have made things worse. Fast, someone, get them a PR pro!

It’s said that life sometimes imitates art. For many PR pros in 2020, it was difficult to separate life at home from life at work. For at least one PR pro, the confluence of home and work was beneficial as she learned that training in PR helped her stage a wedding during the pandemic.

You thought 2020 was difficult? It was. But what about 2021? Successful communication amid the coming year’s highly sensitive environment will require more authenticity, empathy, and innovation to meet new and evolved expectations.

This holiday season will be different from others. As a result, the margin for error is slimmer. This means if you employ influencers, vet them a bit more than normal. Perhaps even restructure their contract to reflect the moment.

Vaccines for COVID-19 have arrived and logistics for distribution seem to be in place. Now another hurdle exists: convincing enough of the public that the vaccines work as advertised and that they’re safe and necessary. Reciting data and statistics to bolster trust will work only to a point. The communication piece of the vaccine effort must proceed carefully, speaking to people in language they can understand.

In a sense, the public has become inured to data breaches. Everyone seems to have one. Yet when one of the world’s top cybersecurity companies gets hacked, it’s a very serious situation. Fortunately, cybersecurity leader FireEye was transparent in communicating its breach, which it said occurred “recently.”