What would you do if you found out you had a life-threatening disease? Another question: What would you do with your life if you’d overcome the disease, at least for the time being? About two-and-a-half… Continued
Corporate Social Responsibility

IBM Study Urges Brands to Talk Online About CSR
December 5th, 2016 by Dave ArmonA study warranting attention was unveiled during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation conference recently. Backed by sentiment analysis software from IBM, the objective was to see if companies that were vocal about their CSR received a reputational lift online and, if so, by how much. Part II: Many of us talk about corporate social responsibility (CSR), but can we define it? A recent Aflac study, shared with PR News Pro exclusively found executives in the CSR space have many definitions for it.

6 #GivingTuesday Campaigns to Watch
November 28th, 2016 by Ian James WrightIn the wake of Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday, a counterpunch to consumerism started in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation. People around the world are encouraged to donate to worthy causes, and some noteworthy names have been leading the charge
9 Great Ideas From Award-Winning Communicators
October 21st, 2016 by Diane SchwartzBrands, in an effort to get out a shareable tweet or a super-likeable post, are often caught in a daily trap of shallow engagement with its communities. Your stakeholders — humans just like you and… Continued

Digging Deeper on the EpiPen Crisis
August 31st, 2016 by Seth ArensteinYour first inclination when hearing the story about Mylan and its EpiPen is to categorize it. Put it in a place alongside similar tales. That’s normal. It’s what the human brain does to make sense of incoming stimuli. The EpiPen saga seems like an easy one to handle. We who follow news of brands, particularly in the pharmaceutical space, have seen it before.
Digging Deeper on the EpiPen Crisis
August 31st, 2016 by Seth ArensteinYour first inclination when hearing the story about Mylan and its EpiPen is to categorize it. Put it in a place alongside similar tales. That’s normal. It’s what the human brain does to make sense of… Continued

How Much Is Too Much? Tips for Striking the Right Balance With CSR
July 18th, 2016 by Melissa SchwartzWhen a company does something good and no one notices, what is the impact? Companies create philanthropic or charitable initiatives as part of their CSR programs for many reasons. Because there is the notion that CSR campaigns are created to cover up bad behavior, some corporations shy away from publicizing these efforts to stakeholders. They worry that if they do, they are signaling that there is a reason behind the strategy and will come under attack.
Your Half-Year PR Leadership Checklist: 7 Important Reminders for Communicators
June 26th, 2016 by Diane SchwartzYou’re halfway through what’s been a rather interesting year in business, politics, brand successes and blunders and Game of Thrones developments. Which is to say: you still have another five solid months to make this… Continued

10 Tips for CSR Dialogue Building
June 9th, 2016 by Steve GoldsteinCorporate social responsibility programs simply can’t have any real lifespan without the work of professional communicators. The best PR pros breathe life into CSR programs by creating ongoing dialogues between a program’s creators and a company’s employees and C-suite, journalists, the public at large on digital channels and communities that stand to benefit from the program itself.

6 Tips to Help Your Brand Shape and Manage Public Policy Issues
May 30th, 2016 by Tonya ParkerThe topic of issues management has been around for decades. It’s examined and debated regularly in the PR industry mainly because it can be a very broad, overarching concept.
When the pressure of crisis management and an often-thorny public policy process are added to the mix, a conundrum can develop, especially for communicators with little to no experience in one or all of these areas. Issues management around public policy must be woven into an organization’s culture early, not just when things are tanking.