Reputation

Communicating brand content, in all its shapes and sizes, is a people business. PR and the messaging you are creating is anchored in how to reach, attract, inform, educate, often sway—and most importantly, influence—people. Is your brand making a human connection?  If so, how deep?  What’s your secret sauce or your go-to method to humanize your brand, draw meaningful connections, and land squarely on the map of authenticity?

Nike has doubled-down on its relationship with Kaepernick by taking his advice and deciding to pull the release of its limited Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July shoe, which was to be released this week to commemorate Independence Day. For communicators wondering what a true spokesperson partnership should look like, here are some teachable takeaways.

It’s critical to keep a vigilant eye on your audience and frequently take its temperature. For example, based on the negative media coverage of big tech, you’d expect the industry’s reputation would be abysmal. Instead of assuming, a researcher used data to test that assumption. Some of the results were surprising.

With the unofficial start of the summer on July 4, Americans break out their grills. Demand for beef rises as a result. How can a vegetarian staple like hummus compete at this time of the year? Sabra Hummus did its homework and combined its research with humor for a campaign that goes to the heart of customers’ anxieties.

We rarely cover live events in this publication. PRNEWS senior content manager Sophie Maerowitz gave us a reason to make an exception. She attended a PRSA session featuring former Hearst executive Joanna Coles, who offered so many interesting tips and tactics that we had to share them with you. Here are some gems from the sharp yet blunt mind of Coles.

Companies like Nike and Ben & Jerry’s have demonstrated the power of brand activism in marketing. With consumer expectations shifting in a tumultuous political environment, what happens when a brand decides to take a neutral approach? Online home furnishing company Wayfair is right now finding out the hard way.

If “purpose” is to last as one of PR’s top buzzwords, brands need to step up their game. Already in the past few weeks we’ve seen Nike forced to adjust its purpose concerning treatment of pregnant spokespeople. Now Google, which espouses free speech, among other lofty values, is warning staff there will be repercussions should they protest as Google employees during this weekend’s Pride festivities in San Francisco. Apparently for Google, free speech has its limits.

Brands taking a position on social or political issues has been all the rage. Alan Jope, the new Unilever CEO, might be pushing things to the next level. At Cannes Lions he said Unilever will “dispose” of brands that lack purposeful messaging. Is this strong statement a shot across marketing’s bow?

On July 16 PRNEWS will honor some of the best female communicators in healthcare during its Top Women in Healthcare Communications awards luncheon. NY’s Yale Club will be the venue. Ahead of that gala event, we asked a trio of healthcare communicators, who also will help us present the awards, about how to break through the noise of the internet and maintain the human touch.

In this business, change is the only constant. It’s a truism, but it’s for real. Will you be stuck with the minions defending the indefensible? Or will you be in the change vanguard? It’s an easy choice. All you have to do is forget everything you learned.