Latest Posts

Communications Week Highlights Challenges of the Fake News Era

October 13th, 2017 by

“Truth in Communications” is the theme for this year’s Communications Week, to be held Oct. 16-20 in New York City, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. In an age referred to as the post-truth era—when media outlets are under attack and “fake news” is a trending hashtag—the topics of transparency, integrity and ethics in communications increasingly need an airing out. And at this annual event, a collection of PR, communications and media pros will come together to dissect everything from media brand reputation to PR’s role in a world of spin.

Twitter’s Leadership, Judgment Questioned as Rose McGowan’s Account Suspended

October 12th, 2017 by

Twitter just can’t seem to get a handle on its moderation issues. Rose McGowan is the latest to get caught up in Twitter’s uneven attempts to enforce civility. The actress’ account was temporarily suspended without an immediate explanation—and the eventual explanation from Twitter only raised more criticism.

Three Must-Haves for Effective Customer Emails

October 12th, 2017 by

Say what you will about the latest social platforms, email continues to be the old reliable when it comes to marketing. Email yielded a median ROI of 122%—more than four times higher than other marketing formats, including social media, direct mail and paid search—per a 2016 US marketers survey. On the other hand, most peoples’ inboxes are more crowded than a subway train during rush hour. The challenge is breaking through the noise. We provide three tips to help your marketing email rise above the din.

2 New Desktop-Based Social Media Tools to Try

October 11th, 2017 by

Social media pros looking for ways to make their lives easier have some new options this week. Twitteriffic and Windowed offer users working on desktop or laptop more powerful and feature-laden experiences for Twitter and Instagram, respectively.

What ESPN’s Suspension of Jemele Hill Means for Your Brand’s Social Media Guidelines

October 11th, 2017 by

ESPN’s social media guidelines boil down to “if you wouldn’t say it on our TV or website screens, don’t say it in social.” That leaves a lot of room for interpretation, especially in today’s highly charged climate, but it’s a rule of thumb most of us understand. We all know it’s much easier and safer to express fury and strong opinions on social media than it is to express them in face-to-face situations or on, say, national television. But still—there’s that gray area between personal expression in one’s own social media accounts and one’s responsibility to an employer.

Snapchat Rolls Out Context Cards, a New Marketing Feature, Escalating Its Battle With Instagram

October 10th, 2017 by

The battle between Instagram and Snapchat for more users and marketing dollars continues its heated pace. This morning, Snapchat introduced a new marketing tool called Context Cards giving Snapchat users a way to get instant information about a business featured in a Snap. Meanwhile, Instagram announced a couple of new features in the last week, including an interactive polling sticker for Stories that closely resembles Snapchat’s third-party Polly feature.

At PRSA Conference, PR’s Big Umbrella Covers Dark Social, Alt Sites and Change Management

October 10th, 2017 by

The dark weather on Monday night in Boston was a perfect complement to some of the darker topics communicators need to wrestle with today, including dark social, rogue sites and hackers and executive terminations. Fortunately, good advice rained down on attendees as well.

The Week in PR

October 10th, 2017 by

Our weekly roundup of trends, news and personnel moves in PR, marketing and communications. This week’s stories include Cam Newton’s apology, Jemele Hill’s suspension and kudos to Brandi Boatner on her promotion at IBM.

PRSA Notebook: LEARNING, Technology Dominate; Spurlock Pushes Ideas Not Products

October 9th, 2017 by

The opening of PRSA’s International Conference featured a bevy of technology exhibitors, a plethora of PRSSA members and the wisdom of filmmaker and storyteller Morgan Spurlock. The super-sized presentation from Spurlock was highly entertaining and contained several good tips about content creation.

dove, ad, racist

Dove’s Latest Ad-Related Crisis and How Brands Can Avoid ‘Missing the Mark’

October 9th, 2017 by

Dove is in crisis mode after running a Facebook advertisement many are calling racist. The ad, a GIF which featured a black woman removing her shirt to reveal a white woman, was pulled after being widely shared on social media and covered in national news outlets. Given how many brands fumble in getting across respectful messaging around race and diversity, it’s crucial for all communicators to ensure their brands have an internal review process for all content, including an employee culture that nixes off-mark messaging long before it reaches the public.