Digital & Technology

In our weekly feature about PR trends, C. Mondavi & Family VP Marketing Paul Englert tells us he’s seeing a blurring of the lines between PR, brand communications and social media. As we reach out to a younger audience, and as society continues to evolve the way it communicates, we need to evolve our communication strategies. Much of what we once shared via press release, direct email and phone now is sent via myriad social media platforms and text. Our consumer-facing print and web messages are evolving in acknowledgement of the immediacy and brevity with which people demand information from us.

Mars Inc., owner of the Skittles brand of candy, waited five hours to release a statement in response to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. that used an image of a bowl of Skittles and the brand name in a political message posted to Twitter. Those five hours were put to good use.

With 8 billion average daily video views on Facebook, 4 billion+ on YouTube and one hour of video uploaded to YouTube ever second, the path ahead for brand communicators seems clear: commit to video. But with that much video in the social ecosystem, how can you compete, especially when videos taken during a Beyoncé concert September 10 showing a pre-arranged marriage proposal for her dance captain receive more than 5 million views? We asked PR pros with video expertise and restricted the conversation to brand video on Facebook and YouTube.

It’s true – a lot of people just don’t understand what PR people do. They think it’s about pitching the media, chasing positive coverage, then rinsing and repeating. Certainly media relations is an important component… Continued

Do hiring practices change when building a digital team? We asked ESPN’s Paul Melvin, senior director, communications, what he seeks in a digital hire. Here’s what he said: “I think people make a mistake if they hire for a ‘digital’ or ‘social’ communications role based on the idea that criteria are fundamentally different than what you look for in any communicator. I always look for the ability to write, passion, a combination of self-confidence and self-awareness, and emotional intelligence.

An infographic can be a great way to share your story—provided it’s the right story for the medium. As we know, there’s no silver bullet when it comes to info-delivery methods. You might feel that you have an intuitive sense of what’s appropriate for an infographic, and you may be right. But it’s helpful to think it through more thoroughly, and you owe it to your brand to do so.

A weekly look at the latest trends in PR and communications with a key leader in the industry. This week we speak with Karen Moore, an advocacy PR specialist, who points to data-driven communications and social media as trends in advocacy PR.

Harnessing the potential of the communications/IT nexus is all about authentic relationship building and professional respect. Being a great teammate makes all the difference, regardless of your position. At the very least, PR pros should work on their (yes) communications skills with their IT counterparts so they can establish a true partnership with common goals.

How does a brand, perhaps lacking a big budget for video production, enter the world of video on social platforms? Many experts say brands can produce videos relatively inexpensively. And while outstanding special effects and editing are no doubt attractive, many believe a creative concept and excellent storytelling can overtake expensive production values.

This story has two parts and both are germane to communicators. Facebook said it’s working against ad-blocking software, making it more difficult for users to block ads. Basically Facebook says it will be making it more difficult for ad-blocking software to decide what is an ad and what is not. The social media giant also has updated its ad preferences features, allowing people to tell Facebook not to send them ads from particular companies.