Stories by Mark Sorenson

Since brands are trusted more than politicians, this dark moment is an opportunity for them to shine, argues creative director Mark Sorensen. He offers several ways brands and their leaders can help direct the public to do the right thing, proving that capitalism cares about more than profits.

As part of our series of interviews with senior communicators, we asked Aflac SVP, chief ESG and CCO Catherine Hernandez-Blades to tell us what she and her team have learned during the early stages of the virus.

When a crisis such as coronavirus hits, the volume of news can be overwhelming. Here are seven tips and tactics to manage and monitor the information flow during this difficult moment and future crises.

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rise, your organization likely will need to respond to media about an employee(s) testing positive. This is not a time to panic. To help you respond, we offer guidance from the law firm of Goldberg Segalla. Key points include communicating calm, being transparent and offering accurate information about the employee and your coronavirus procedures.

The PRNEWS staff comes across many examples of brand advertising and communications every day. We have compiled a weekly assessment, published Fridays, with staff members providing their choices of the most notable, good or bad. We hope these brief examples will provide a learning experience about what works and things to avoid during this difficult moment.

You’ve created your coronavirus messaging plan and advised executives to communicate authentically, transparently and from the heart. Your job is far from over, though. Perhaps the most important thing a communicator can do at this time is to be available and make plans for the day when the coronavirus ebbs.

The pandemic has thrown many of us into a frenzy. Now is the time for PR leaders to proceed with calm and rely on principles and tactics that have served you well throughout the years. Moving forward, creativity, transparency and management skills will be in demand.

[Editor’s note: In addition to some brands, organizations and individuals doling out acts of kindness (check here for that particular dose of positivity), several are changing their messaging to reflect the new reality. Below is… Continued

Resources PRNEWS put together a list of resources for easy access, along with links to all of our COVID-19 coverage. Helpful Links AP Style Guide for Coronavirus LinkedIn Group: Communicating about Coronavirus The Page Info… Continued

While some tenets of sound crisis communication remain, coronavirus has changed many of the best practices and benchmarks, perhaps irrevocably. Moving forward, communicators will need to consider mental health issues and be better able to identify stressors in the social conversation.