Stories by Nicole Schuman

In an area not exactly used to dealing with snow, ice and frigid temperatures, the utility infrastructure crumbled, leaving millions without power, heat and fresh water for days. Getting important information out to those who need it can be extremely difficult for audiences who primarily depend on electricity, internet and wifi to power their communications needs. 

While cleanliness was on most peoples’ radar, the threat of COVID-19 elevated concerns about germs to a more common topic of conversation. Enter the American Cleaning Institute, whose communication team suddenly found itself at the center of a hot topic. Here’s how it handled a bevy of queries from media and the public and spread its message.

It seems like every day there’s another brand—this time a publication—getting called out for short-sighting diversity. Today “The Hockey News” (THN), featured on SI.com thanks to an editorial partnership, tweeted about what could have been… Continued

PRNEWS Live welcomed Michael Kaye, global communications and public relations manager at OkCupid. We discussed the dating site’s inclusive messaging and bold Valentine’s campaign.   You can view PRNEWS’ library of free LinkedIn Live streams here.

The PRNEWS staff encounters many examples of brand communication.  We compile assessments of some of the best and not-so-great examples. Our intent is to provide a learning experience about what works or doesn’t. You can find previous examples here. In this Valentine’s edition, we examine some of the sweetest brand campaigns.

From a PR standpoint, highlights of CBS’s Super Bowl pregame show didn’t come from Miley Cyrus’s performance for essential workers or the moving piece celebrating the 30th anniversary of Whitney Houston’s performance of the national anthem. It came from a simple interview that many viewers may have missed while preparing their game-day spread. 

On Feb. 7, the U.S. will see a first during the pandemic—22,000+ ticket holders attending the Super Bowl, in-person, at the actual venue, Raymond James Stadium, which holds 75,000 people. This of course, brings a whole new set of challenges—maintaining the health and safety of attendees. 

Much like people, brands and organizations can find themselves in a funk, putting out the same messaging year after year, which, while reliable, can lose the attention of a fickle populace. 

Societal unrest during the summer of 2020 led many businesses to take a hard look at what they represented to their audiences in terms of diversity and inclusion. Since then we’ve seen many organizations make statements and promises to practice greater inclusivity on everything from hiring to campaign content and representation. Whether or not these promises resulted in real change remains to be seen.

PRNEWS Live welcomed Matthew and Tammy Tsang, co-founders of &Humanity, an inclusive marketing agency. We discussed the importance of diverse perspectives in messaging and communication.