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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. It’s on you to get your head around these trends and make something of them.

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

With more than 48,000 tweets and counting, the #BoycottNRA hashtag is trending and brands are listening. In response to the outcry following the Feb. 14 Parkland, Fla. school shooting, several national brands have rescinded their NRA membership discounts in support of gun control, including Best Western, Wyndham Hotels, Alamo Rent A Car, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and First National Bank of Omaha, among others.

With the 24-7 news cycle, the speed of social media and the demands of the C-suite, it sometimes feels as if PR pros move from crisis to crisis. Nisha Morris, executive director, communication at Providence St. Joseph Health, offers five tactics that can help communicators escape this roller coaster and promote their brands through proactive media activities.

There’s an old courtroom expression: “Never ask a question if you don’t know the answer.” But after last night’s CNN town hall debate about gun control—when survivors of last week’s Parkland, Fla. school shooting met with Sen. Marco Rubio, Parkland Rep. Ted Deutsch, Broward County sheriff Scott Israel and National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch—perhaps a new version of that quote is in order: “Never answer a question without first reading the room.”

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has had a rough week. On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated published a bombshell investigation that detailed a culture of sexual harassment among the Mavericks’ corporate culture for the better part of a decade. The report seemed to catch Cuban—and the Mavericks organization—off guard, highlighting the need for all organizations to engage in crisis planning. And it’s yet another example of how all brands need to be prepared for allegations of this nature in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

KFC ran out of chicken in Britain earlier this week, closing over half of its 900 U.K. locations Monday in a move that will likely keep some stores closed throughout the week. But KFC got out ahead of the issue and practiced the tried and true “acknowledge, align, assure” mantra—a go-to blueprint for brands needing to engage in efficient, actionable conflict resolution.

While Snapchat’s redesign has caused a fierce resistance among its user base—prompting an online petition with 1.2 million signatures asking Snap, Inc. to revert to the original design—creators and brands are poised to benefit from the facelift. Over the last month, the platform has rolled out a suite of analytics, started growing an e-commerce platform and opened up its advertising API while offering new advertisers free credits to give Snapchat a test drive.

APCO spent 6 months asking 1,000 of what it called “hyper-aware and influential U.S. consumers” how much credence they put in corporate social responsibility. As you might expect, 90% of those surveyed said it was highly important. One of the more interesting takeaways is that the public judges a company’s social goodness by how well it treats employees.

So many communicators tell us that internal communications just might be the most difficult assignment for a PR pro. This article provides real-world examples of how two brands, Slack and Dropbox, build engagement and excitement within their ranks with the ultimate goal of creating brand advocates.