Topics

It’s not often we get a close-up look at how communicators handle crises. Brad Ross, executive director of communications for Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), takes us through a difficult week, day by day. In the end, TTC feels that being honest and transparent and apologizing will re-build the reputation hits it absorbs after a difficult week on the rails. It might take a little bit of time, though.

Twitter delivered a profitable quarter for the first time in its history, beating Wall Street’s expectations with fourth-quarter net income of $91 million. But the cheery news was tempered by the fact that its user growth is stagnant, and even falling in the U.S. Meanwhile, in a tale of two platforms, Snapchat is still bleeding money, yet its user base, particularly among Gen Z, is on the ascent.

By turning to short-form video via channels like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, brands can capture—and keep—the precious attention of their target audience. “As social feeds continue to be overwhelmed by a never-ending influx of content, brand storytellers must embrace a less-is-more approach,” says PwC’s Larissa von Lockner.

Legendary Hollywood director John Huston was fond of saying that he didn’t direct actors—he cast them. He would cast actors because they were right for a particular role, and that judgment alone was the limit of his direction of their performances. You can apply this same approach to the ways in which your brand works with influencers. The bulk of the job is in finding and vetting the right influencers.

Comedian/actor Jim Carrey has begun a campaign to dump Facebook due to the company’s profiting off fake news and ads it sold to Russian agents during the U.S. presidential election. Part of Carrey’s beef is that Facebook still isn’t doing enough to stop it. He’s removed his Facebook page, given up his Facebook shares and urges concerned investors to do the same. Should Facebook consider Carrey’s actions a crisis or a bad day?

Kevin Elliott, U.S. director, risk & crisis communications practice at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, has a favorite aphorism about crisis management: “If you treat a bad day like a crisis, you’ll turn it into one. And if… Continued

For those unfamiliar, blockchain is the underlying technology of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies that enables open, anonymous and secure transactions. As traditional businesses and enterprises were introduced to blockchains, however, their visions for applications have ranged far and wide — as has the hyperbole of its promises. Now, before we go any further, I have to get something out of way: Blockchain is not a cure-all. It will not revolutionize every facet of human life. Now that that’s covered, let’s focus on how the hype came to be, and how communicators should really be talking about it.

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.

If the fragmented media environment is a sick patient, machine learning may be the cure. That was the proposition Andrew Heyward, visiting scholar from MIT’s Media Laboratory and former president of CBS News, outlined in his presentation, “Can Robots Solve Your PR Problems?” at the New York offices of agency Makovsky on Feb. 6.

Is there anything new under the Sun when it comes to PR crisis management? Absolutely a pair of veteran crisis communicators tell us. One is to upgrade your planning and take an holistic approach. What you’re not planning? Oops.