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On Oct. 6, Ocean Spray CEO Tom Hayes posted his version of the latest viral video craze to hit TikTok, which has since racked up more than 1.3 million views. His video is a spin on a Sept. 25 video posted by TikTok user 420DoggFace208, the handle of Idaho warehouse worker Nathan Apodaca, 37. Squeezing some extra earned media juice, Hayes’ company donated a red pickup truck filled with bottles of Ocean Spray to Apodaca. The surprise gift video has seen more than a million views on Instagram, exhibiting cross-channel appeal.

It was one of those rare weekends. Just about any news story was getting crickets from the media except for one. Indeed, there were several examples of moderate PR crises, but few noticed. Basing your crisis strategy on other stories crowding out media coverage of your company’s PR crisis is a gamble that hardly ever pays.

One of the most difficult aspects of crisis communication is deciding when and how to respond. In the case of truck start-up Nikola, which a short-seller attacked as a fraud, it chose to respond almost immediately to a short-seller’s allegation-filled report. Now with Nikola’s CEO gone, the company must be as transparent as possible in combatting allegations.

The US armed forces have a proud PR tradition. A look at its history shows that the services nearly abandoned PR. A panel discussion at the Museum of PR later this month will look at military PR and public affairs past and present.

As we head to Nov. 3, brands and organizations are touting get-out-the-vote efforts. While these non-partisan efforts are the norm, will consumers’ desires for brands to take a stand lead companies to begin endorsing candidates?

It’s not news that 2020 seems destined for the history books. A global pandemic, protests against systemic racism and a critical election are some of reasons consumers insist brands take stands. Ben & Jerry’s and… Continued

Sephora has a competitive program for influencers that includes mentoring, education and other opportunities. We look at several other trends that emerged from our annual social media conference, The Social Shake-Up, which was held virtually Sept. 28 through Oct. 1.

Our measurement column looks at another route to ROI. This one centers on the value PR brings to the enterprise when it helps maintain reputation in the wake of a crisis. It’s all about market capitalization.

There was a time when much of PR was about trade shows. They were crucial for product launches. With shows on hold for now, communicators must review their product-launch strategies.

The celebrity influencer, with millions of fans in tow, is dead, right? Perhaps not. Especially if you want to bolster a nation-wide campaign and can find an influencer like Eva Longoria, who has history with your cause.