Research & Whitepapers

There is a slew of caveats in a new study about fake news and its influence on the 2016 U.S. presidential election from three academics at Ohio State University. While it is incorrect to deduce fake news won the election for President Trump, the paper argues fake news influenced many members of one important group and they made a difference in a close election. Imagine what fake claims about your product or a competitor’s product could do to your business.

We take another dive into the new PR News Salary Survey to look at where nonprofit communicators and PR firm staffers rank in terms of base salary. We begin by looking at integration of communications and marketing. It turns out that integration of the two units is a bit farther down the road than you might think.

It is obvious that who buys what is of critical importance to marketers and communicators. Statista’s newest consumer survey looked at that question from a gender perspective and found plenty of traditional assumptions remain valid. It also found a surprise or two, meaning the quest for knowledge of your audience remains an important challenge.

Is the glass half full for communicators? The just-released PR News Salary Survey of some 900 communicators shows PR pros seem to be a satisfied group in terms of the money they make for the work they do. Base salaries best the average for American professionals and raises are rewarded often, although most are modest. On the other hand, more than a few communicators told us they weren’t completely satisfied with their salary. Finding the right balance of salary, bonuses, soft benefits and intangibles to recruit and retain the most talented staffers is an issue that adept communications leaders will continue to address.

As a communicator, you can have a powerful impact on just about every corner of your organization by using the platforms, relationships and knowledge that you and your PR team are uniquely positioned to leverage.… Continued

As a communicator, you know what you and your immediate colleagues think of you. But what about the C-suite? Do its members consider PR highly valuable or would it take a reputation crisis to make them realize communications is a valuable part of any company? That’s what we asked some 200 communicators.

Failure, my friends, is the F word I am referring to and the word that so many business leaders tout as the holy grail to get ahead. You’ve heard it so many times: fail fast, learn… Continued

There’s a line in the movie “Molly’s Game” I think you’ll appreciate. As the young and future Olympic-level skier Molly Bloom was learning the sport from her father, he gave her this advice on the… Continued

Communications executives have begun in earnest to make their way into boardrooms, C-suite meetings and the critical business conversations at their organizations. But the pace is not fast enough and the courage of their convictions… Continued

When Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg took a trip to DC last week to assure politicians that Facebook was taking serious the claims about Russian meddling in our elections, it was referred to as a “PR Blitz”… Continued