Stories by Bill Novelli

The coronavirus vaccines were supposed to bring an end to the pandemic. Yet vaccine resistance continues to claim a significant portion of the population. Former Porter Novelli president Bill Novelli says communication can work, but it must overcome politics, distrust and misinformation.

The author argues that post-pandemic communication should feature empathy, compelling digital experiences and positive messaging to induce behavior change.

We often forget what the letter R in PR entails. ‘PR is a relationship business’ flows off the tongue so smoothly we sometimes fail to think about the phrase’s meaning. In this post timed for Pride Month, UNC assistant professor Joseph Czabovsky discusses how the importance of relationships was cemented in his memory.

Some companies might have kept quiet about an early-morning internet outage. Instead, Fastly communicated consistently and clearly, offering updates on social. The result was that its version of things became the narrative. With the plethora of cyber attacks and data breaches, companies, especially service providers, should heed Fastly’s example of prompt, clear communication.

A healthy media-PR relationship is existential to the communication sector. Given that some publishers accept payment for placing thought-leadership articles, the business case for journalists is decreasing. As a result, PR pros should follow media relations best practices, assisting journalists as much as they can.

PRNEWS and sister brand, The Social Shake-Up, announced the winners and honorable mentions for the PRNEWS Digital & Social Media Awards, which honor the year’s most outstanding digital and social media communicators and their campaigns.

In some cases, companies remain ignorant about how to mark Pride Month. Thing is, there is no one correct way to do it. Take a stand, be authentic and engage queer members in your community and staff. No queer staffers? Begin there.

While it’s unclear what comes next, it seems certain change is imminent. Moreover, building and maintaining a corporate culture, or, perhaps rebuilding one for the post-pandemic environment, will occupy a large majority of businesses and organizations. Among the tasks ahead for internal communicators will be gaining, or regaining, employee trust. In addition, motivating and engaging staff will occupy internal communicators. Of course, none of this will happen overnight. And leadership buy-in is critical.

We’re human and make mistakes. How we recover from them is important. In this series about lessons PR pros learned early in their careers, Cindy Villafranca of Southwest Airlines discusses how she grew after making an embarrassing mistake.

It seems inevitable that prices for raw materials, labor and other fees will rise as the pandemic recedes. Consumers usually bear the pain of such price increases. Companies can either hide the fact that consumer/customer prices will rise or discuss it openly. There are a few ways communicators can try to ease the pain in these unpleasant situations.