Latest Posts

4 Ways to Reform the Influencer Market and Hold It Accountable

July 13th, 2018 by

One of the main themes at Cannes Lions a few weeks ago was the need for brands to reexamine the use of influencers. Craig Greiwe, SVP and head of Rogers & Cowan’s digital group, argues influencers are not the problem, the market is. The solution is relatively straightforward: treat the influencer market the way you do any other: with thoughtful, careful planning, clear accountability and proper creative messaging.

PR Pros Weigh In on Papa John’s and It Has Nothing to Do With Pizza

July 12th, 2018 by

A tenet of internal communications is that whatever you say internally eventually will leak externally. That dictum probably applies to nearly everything that happens in corporate America. Anything an executive says, writes or does is liable to be discovered, savvy PR pros would argue. But what about media training sessions? The Papa John’s case opens a can of worms.

Social Media Just Got Meaner: 4 Guidelines for Wary Brands

July 11th, 2018 by

A Nicki Minaj critic recently learned the hard way that bullying on social media is now the norm. Brands will increasingly find it harder to engage in this hostile playground without getting bruised. Here are some best practices your social team can use to keep this negativity at a minimum.

It’s 7-11 Day, So Pass the Soy Sauce, Except If You’re Down Under

July 11th, 2018 by

Newsjacking, or piggybacking, on a news story or event about another brand to generate publicity for your brand, is a perfectly acceptable practice in PR. Yet it must be done with care and insight. A soy sauce brand managed to do this well on 7-11 Day. Fear not, though, the brand, Kikkoman, was savvy enough to dis the idea of a soy sauce-flavored Slurpee.

Amazon delivery box, next to Snapchat loading screen on smartphone

Buried Snapchat Code Reveals Amazon Integration to Come

July 10th, 2018 by

Would you rather your audiences use their smartphones to point and click—or point and buy? Given the pressure on communicators to tie their efforts to the bottom line, we’d wager that the latter is preferable for most. And now, if a rumored Snapchat-Amazon integration is any indication, social media audiences will soon be able to point their smartphones at objects in their native environments and purchase those products directly through Amazon.

A 7-Point Checklist for Evaluating Your Crisis Plan

July 10th, 2018 by

Not all crises are created equal, and thus a crisis plan that was effective for one situation may not work well for another. Given how quickly new technologies emerge, news travels and opinions of communications strategies change in 2018, a plan that was crafted five years ago may be woefully out of date for a current crisis. As such, regular evaluation of your crisis strategy is crucial for success during a stressful time.

Smart PR: Nissan Owns Its Mistakes in Testing Incident

July 9th, 2018 by

It’s possible the world has become immune to emissions-cheating scandals. The latest perpetrator, Nissan, hopes so. Still, it’s practicing nearly picture-perfect PR to reduce its chances of a long-term scandal erupting. Little doubt it has taken notice of steps Volkswagen failed to enact when Dieselgate erupted in September 2015.

Twitter Escalates War on Fake Profiles and Bot Accounts

July 9th, 2018 by

Twitter has deleted more than 70 million accounts engaging in suspicious and “trolling” behavior throughout May and June, and shows no sign of slowing down in July. This should make the platform more trusted by users and brands, but the effects on its stock price and opportunities for user growth are up in the air.

Shine Appointment is Authentic to Trump’s Revision of PR

July 6th, 2018 by

President Trump’s selection of William Shine as deputy chief of staff for communications is another example of how the commander-in-chief continues to rewrite traditional PR tactics. For the most part, the revisions have served the president well. The same cannot be said of their effectiveness for ousted EPA chief Scott Pruitt.

glasses, reading code, machine learning

What Facebook’s Latest AI Acquisition Means for Communicators

July 6th, 2018 by

Facebook’s acquisition of Bloomsbury AI spells big things for communicators as they increasingly rely on automation tools in order to better interface with audiences. But there are two applications of Bloomsbury’s tech in particular that will help Facebook regain its recent lapse in trust with communicators and consumers alike.