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Massage Envy, the spa chain with nearly 1,200 U.S. locations, is under fire as a BuzzFeed investigation brought to light more than 180 allegations of sexual assault made against the company and its franchisees over a 15-year span. And its response to the crisis so far has served as a cautionary tale of bad planning, offering a lesson in what not to do to contain a crisis.

YouTube is once again facing a brand advertiser exodus for reputation-harming advertising placements. A recent investigation revealed that YouTube ran ads from “dozens” of brands with videos uploaded by children that were targets for predatory comments.

As all communications professionals know, technology, consumer behavior and content consumption are constantly evolving. So, as the year winds down, we reached out to eight friends of PR News to hear their thoughts on the skills and trends that will define communications success in 2018, from media relations to digital marketing to social engagement.

The thought of Black Friday brings to mind images of huddled shoppers braving the cold at 5 a.m., waiting for the doors of their favorite store to open so they can barge through, trampling anyone who gets in their way. This year, holiday shoppers are seeing Black Friday deals starting before Thanksgiving and, for the most part, remaining available until Christmas. Here’s a look at some of the brands turning the day into a week- or month-long affair, as well as a brand that is taking a strong stand against the madness.

Uber’s response to its cyber breach crisis has raised more questions than answers, allowing speculation and coverage to increase and brand equity to erode, according to crisis expert Sam Huxley, senior vice president with Washington, D.C.-based agency LEVICK.

We recently talked to Vince Wasseluk, video producer, and Clare Furman, associate marketing manager, at Klein Tools—who will be speaking about their video strategy and production tactics at the Video Boot Camp, Dec. 6 in D.C.—about what metrics they bring to senior leaders to prove their successes and earn more video budget.

Our weekly roundup of trends, news and personnel moves in communications and marketing. This week’s stories include analysis of Charlie Rose’s #metoo statement, growth at Weber Shandwick and Ruder Finn and Harlan Teller comes to APCO Worldwide.

This second article in a 5-part series about measurement we compile cases where communicators have moved beyond the fundamentals of measuring data to prove ROI and instead focused on using insights mined from data to change the way they operated their business. The series is produced with partner PublicRelay, a media monitoring and analytics firm.

UCLA’s and Pac-12’s extended media moment following the incident in China is nothing new in an era in which not responding—as UCLA did by declining to take questions from the press—is a form of response in itself. We can now add UCLA to the list of brands ensnared in our divisive cultural and political climate.

Measurement is said to be PR’s albatross. Heck, many PR pros entered the field specifically so they could avoid working with numbers. Fortunately, measuring and mining data for PR insights are far less complicated operations than measurement naysayers would have you believe. Advocating for measurement programs, our author says you can begin a measurement effort simply and inexpensively.