Stories by Justin Joffe

Pandora, the largest streaming music provider in the U.S., published a list of the most notable instances when users added songs to their personal Pandora stations around specific events, showing just how strongly audiences associate music with milestones.

You’ve heard this a million times, but it’s still true—the majority of the tools you need to make your images pop on social are already in your pocket. Smartphones have an endless number of apps and native tools to improve image quality or highlight certain colors and textures, but there’s still no substitute for taking a well-composed, well-lit and well-realized photo to begin with.

Brands are still learning how to assess positives and risks when working with influencers. In light of this report, however, new questions emerge: How do brands protect themselves by properly vetting influencers, and what do they do when someone is falsely posing as a legitimate brand influencer?

“Our decision to return the donation to Facebook and logging out of the platform for a week is part of a strategy to bring attention to Facebook ‘s failures in protecting the integrity of both our privacy and our vote,” NAACP’s Aba Blankson told PR News.

When it comes to developing a sound PESO strategy, building out audience personas creates a smart roadmap for honing your media relations strategy. Audience personas don’t need to come exclusively through fictional characters. In Lockheed Martin’s case, they actually first came through a writer.

Offering up someone from your C-suite for broadcast interviews is a great way to earn media coverage, but how can you be sure that executive is ready? Given that broadcast no longer only refers to television and radio, but also incorporates Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, podcasts and on-demand video platforms, PR pros have their work cut out for them as they prep spokespeople for broadcast interviews. Here are some tips for masterful preparation.

Sundar Pichai smiled and looked genuinely human, in contrast to Mark Zuckerberg’s awkward, stilted testimony in September. Moreover, he was artful in response to Congress’ many pointed questions, deploying tactics that helped his brand emerge from the chaos looking measured and thoughtful.

Tis the season for listicles. With every holiday party or cup of eggnog poured comes a treasure trove of lists recapping significant marketing and communications developments from the last year, along with forecasts for 2019. Among them, Boston-based agency Pan Communications has shared a roundup of what 19 notable CMOs and influencers are expecting for their fields in 2019. Here are some of the list’s top takeaways.

PR News honored a fresh class of young communicators as Rising PR Stars at our 2018 PR People Awards Luncheon on Dec. 5 at the historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

A stellar lineup of communicators who routinely go above and beyond the call of duty were honored at the 2018 PR People Awards Luncheon, held Dec. 4 at the historic National Press Club in Washington, D.C.