Media Relations

As a communicator, you can have a powerful impact on just about every corner of your organization by using the platforms, relationships and knowledge that you and your PR team are uniquely positioned to leverage.… Continued

Unilever is threatening to pull ads from the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Google—but the way the consumer goods giant conveyed that message has been as powerful as the message itself. The company’s CMO Keith Weed planned to use his keynote at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting today to call for improved transparency, accountability and consumer trust in digital platforms. But in a masterstroke of messaging, the company managed to humanize itself and score earned media, while also positioning Unilever as a thought leader, by releasing the speech strategically.

A day after experiencing the biggest one-day point drop in its history, the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues its wild ride—and investor relations pros are likely working overtime to minimize the damage. So, how should communicators calm jittery stakeholders? We asked five communicators who specialize in investor relations and crisis communications how they’re approaching messaging during today’s stock market crisis.

In her nearly two decades as a PR pro, Maire Griffin, VP, global communications for the Wyndham Hotel Group, has been a witness to many changes in the PR pro/reporter relationship. What hasn’t changed is the need to work equally hard on relationships with internal and external stakeholders. One feeds into the other, and back again.

Failure, my friends, is the F word I am referring to and the word that so many business leaders tout as the holy grail to get ahead. You’ve heard it so many times: fail fast, learn… Continued

With continuous pressure on journalists to produce clickbait, PR pros may feel that providing sensational content is the only way to get a reporter’s attention. That’s not entirely true, says Nisha Morris, executive director, communication, for Providence St. Joseph Health, but there are some essentials to keep in mind.

Bitcoin and blockchain have become buzzwords that everyone has likely heard, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who fully, confidently understands the concept. Communicators need to be prepared to discuss the subject with the C-suite, and we’re here to help give a short overview that will help you help your executives.

For both NBC and Time’s Up, using the beginning of the year to announce a fresh start was a deft move. For Time’s Up, the announcement served to capitalize on, and breathe new life into, the momentum built by #MeToo in the closing months of 2017. And for NBC, which saw a ratings surge in December, the announcement was a silver lining emanating from the darkness of Matt Lauer’s ouster, one way to turn a new leaf in the new year.

To get a broad sense of some common New Year’s hopes and dreams, we asked eight communicators—all of whom will be speaking at PR News’ DigiComm Summi in Huntington Beach, Calif.—to share their PR resolutions for the coming year. Their answers ranged from better time management and recruiting talent to building relationships and creating more personalized content.

The veteran PR pro Arthur Solomon begins his annual review of lessons for communicators pulled from the year’s headlines and news reports. In this initial installment, the lessons involve crisis communications, media relations and internal communications. There’s also advice about the best way to handle a difficult boss.