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Brand reputation is built on the public’s critical judgment, pro and con. And that feedback is coming from every direction, posted as comments and star ratings on review websites that have a big influence on potential customers. As most things are with the internet, online review sites are double-edged swords. Positive ratings slice through advertising and SEO clutter to bring new customers and life to your enterprise. But credible-sounding negative reviews can cut the heart out of your marketing effort before prospective clients have a chance to learn anything about you directly.

We’ve been put in positions where we’ve had to inspire our colleagues to soldier on, even when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have our game-time playbook and have had to adjust it in real time. While the Falcons played hard, the Patriots played harder when it mattered most. That’s a lesson for the times, for these times.

As the Super Bowl went into overtime and the Patriots took the lead and won the Vince Lombardi Trophy, my husband looked over at me and did not say “Wow, that was amazing!” Nor did… Continued

Uncertainty could be one of the handmaidens of crisis. So you can imagine the mood in Washington, D.C., as a new administration transitions into the White House. Presidential transitions often are bumpy, even when the new administration is from the incumbent’s party (think the balky path from the Reagan White House to the Bush team in 1989). The phones of brand communicators and PR firms alike are ringing a lot at the moment. Many of the calls are about crisis or potential crisis. As such, we asked communicators who will be speaking at PR News’ Crisis Management Boot Camp in Huntington Beach later this month for best practices to prepare for and react to crisis.

As it’s Super Bowl weekend we pull a bit of razzle-dazzle from our playbook and offer you two brand communicators who are heavily involved in activities around the big game. Each offers trends and their brand’s reactions to them in the form of Super Bowl communications and campaigns.

By now you know the score, but the real Super Bowl stakes were social. Shareablee data below shows brands with the most consumer engagement for the 2016 Super Bowl. Pepsi might reign this time. Talkwalker’s image-recognition software eyed 40K Super Bowl-related posts last week and told us consumers saw Pepsi’s logo more than that of any other brand by far.

Our weekly roundup of news items, trends and personnel moves from the past week. This edition highlights Snapchat’s IPO announcement, Volkswagen’s pyrrhic victory and a new book from Marian Salzman.

Is anybody paying attention to what’s happening on the gridiron? Who’s on first? Not so slowly the Super Bowl is becoming more and more about social media and brands and less and less about football. If history is an example, there will be far more talk online about the commercials than the game. And this year several prominent brands will be drifting away from TV ads in favor of social media. What can communicators take away from the developments influencing this cultural phenomenon?

Smart brands keep their separate channel audiences in mind and develop content with a specific purpose for each channel. One such brand, Boingo Wireless, uses Facebook to repost content that reflects its audience’s interests, Instagram to share behind-the-scenes moments, Twitter to showcase thought leadership and Spotify as a space for users to have fun and blow off steam.

Beyoncé announced on Instagram that she is once again pregnant, a revelation that sent the social media world into a frenzy. The post, a photo of the star posing nearly nude holding her belly, won 6.4 million likes and broke the record for most-liked post on Instagram (the previous record holder was Selena Gomez, with 6.3 million likes). While most PR pros probably can’t claim the nearly 100 million Instagram followers the pop icon boasts, here are a few major takeaways to consider the next time your brand has a big announcement.