Stories by Seth Arenstein

There’s much PR pros can learn about communicating the intricacies of AI from a story this week. It seems Amazon’s Alexa indeed is listening to our conversations. In fact, the hockey-puck-looking device has an army of 1,000 humans who listen to what it picks up in homes around the world. One lesson is that communicators need to urge brands to be transparent in their AI activities.

PR pros are always ready with a statement for the press. Well…maybe not always. What happens when a situation occurs that blindsides you, like when someone uses gasoline to dry a wet ball field? We asked a group of communicators. Their top response: Never say ‘No Comment.’ Use the opportunity to offer your version of the story or promise to get back to the reporter when you have substantive information.

As we look to next week’s PRNEWS Measurement Conference in Washington, DC, we asked several scheduled speakers to prognosticate about PR measurement’s future. Up ahead, they said, is more data integration and testing of well-established ideas. In addition, tools will be smarter and (thank goodness) easier to use, which will encourage the use of measurement for decision-making.

Knowing how and when to respond to a crisis and having the resources to manage a crisis and not allow the daily business of communications to fall through the cracks were some of the pain points communicators mentioned during a recent roundtable.

B2B brands are no longer cold, faceless entities. In fact, some of them have enough personality to do well on social media’s most personal channel, Instagram. Here’s a look at the top 10 most-active B2B brands on social in 2018.

For years, PR measurement suffered as the forgotten stepchild of communications. It’s a bit different now, measurement advocates say. In anticipation of PRNEWS’ Measurement Conference later this month, we asked several people scheduled to speak at the Conference about C-suite expectations of measurement and what they see ahead for measurement.

In each edition of PRNEWS we highlight takeaways from select articles as well as important notes for subscribers and additions to the PR News Subscriber Resources Center. This month we have takeaways from several articles and a reminder to PRNEWS subscribers to take advantage of the 33 percent discount on all PRNEWS events and webinars.

Sometimes the most difficult parts of PR crisis management are the basics, when and if to react to something and what to say. The billionaire owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots provides fresh evidence as he and his entourage mangle the sex scandal he’s battling. Was issuing an inauthentic apology the way to go?

Conventional wisdom urges brands to own their mistakes and be as transparent as possible with your explanation of them. Another maxim is that when you don’t tell your story, someone else will gladly do it for you, though that version may differ greatly from your narrative. Facebook said it exposed millions of users’ passwords to thousands of its staff. It discovered the issue in January. Why did it wait until the end of March to mention it?

By most accounts, PR is making progress on its measurement journey. Unfortunately, many PR teams focus solely on counting impressions to assess the effectiveness of earned media. PR data science company AirPR argues more context is necessary to form a truer picture of Share of Voice and how it contributes to business goals. Today it’s releasing a product to facilitate adding that context.