Latest Posts

What Facebook’s ‘Watch’ Will Mean for Brands

August 10th, 2017 by

Facebook’s unveiling of Watch should come as little surprise to those who’ve been following the moves of the world’s largest social media platform. It’s a further blurring of the line between traditional TV and online video. It will also provide a place where brands can deposit their long-form content. But a warning: Watch allows viewers to comment on its “shows” in real time, so the bar should be high.

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5 SEO Best Practices for Crisis and Reputation Management

August 9th, 2017 by

When a crisis breaks, users inevitably Google the brand in question (or, for smaller brands, look them up on Yelp). But the last thing communicators want is negative headlines or reviews topping the list of search results for their brand. Here are five ways to make SEO an integral and immediate strategy when developing a crisis management campaign or handling Yelp customer reviews.

Agency Elite Award Winners and Honorable Mentions to Be Celebrated in NYC on Sept. 14

August 9th, 2017 by

PR News will announce the winners of its 2017 Agency Elite Awards at the annual Platinum PR & Agency Elite Awards luncheon at New York’s Grand Hyatt on Sept. 14, 2017. The Agency Elite Awards benchmark excellence in PR agencies’ key practice areas, from advocacy, crisis communications and social media to internal communications, media relations and reputation management.

50 Game-Changers of PR: Bruce Hennes

August 8th, 2017 by

PR News recently asked its community to tell us who should be listed among the top game-changers of PR in the last few years. Here, we look at game-changer Bruce Hennes, founder and managing partner of Hennes Communications. He has been a confidant to scores of CEOs, executive directors and other leaders who trust his expertise in preserving and protecting an organization’s reputation. His long experience has convinced him that honesty, fairness and transparency must be at the root of all effective crisis communications.

The Week in PR

August 8th, 2017 by

Our weekly roundup of trends, news and personnel moves in PR and marketing. This week’s stories include news from Washington, where President Trump played communicator and weighed in on a statement for his son, Donald Jr., that presidential lawyer Jay Sekulow insisted weeks earlier that the president knew nothing about. Also stories on Google’s diversity issues, Uber’s trouble with leased cars and more speed for Facebook’s News Feed on mobile devices.

Google’s New Diversity VP Tested by Internal Controversy

August 7th, 2017 by

A long “manifesto” decrying efforts at addressing diversity has been making the rounds inside Google via internal message boards and social networks. The author, a male software engineer, argues that there are inherent differences between men and women that account for perceived gender gaps. Thus Google’s Danielle Brown, who took up the mantle of vice president of diversity, integrity & governance at the end of June, already finds herself in a delicate internal communications test.

For Southwest Airlines, Culture Determines Who Owns Social Media

August 7th, 2017 by

A few years ago, each of Southwest Airline’s departments used social media in their own way, independent of each other. But the firm quickly moved to create “an enterprise-level function with multiple players and dotted lines back to operational units, while still maintaining a master strategy,” according to Linda Rutherford, Southwest’s CCO. To her, the question of who should own social media centers around how an organization approaches customer engagement.

How Hershey Encourages Employees to Show Off Their Sweet Jobs

August 4th, 2017 by

Hershey is embracing employee advocacy programs as a way to pull back the curtain on life at the company, helping to improve recruitment, retention and reputation. The giant chocolatier has devoted an Instagram account (@HersheyCompany) to celebrate its employees, who in turn use the platform to celebrate the company. Here are some examples of successful posts, as well as four tips to keep in mind when crafting your own advocacy program.

PR Lessons from a Stylish Tech Brand’s Un-Stylish Crisis Response

August 4th, 2017 by

All that glitters is not gold. That seems to be true with MixBin. The brand recalled nearly 300,000 of its glittery mobile phone cases after an unnamed liquid started dripping from them, burning customers’ skin. While MixBin responded quickly to the situation, offering a full refund, its written statement seems tone deaf and unapologetic.

kids, eating, watermelon, #nationalwatermelonday

For National Watermelon Day, 3 Seeds of Brand-Relevant Content

August 3rd, 2017 by

This season, you’ll find your Trending tab awash in bizarre holidays like National Watermelon Day (Aug. 3), National Lazy Day (Aug. 10) and National I LOVE My Feet Day! (Aug. 17). We took a look at three brands in different verticals who saw high engagement around their #NationalWatermelonDay posts, and pinpointed how each contender entered the conversation in a relevant way.