This week's PR Roundup features an analysis of Jason Kelce's crisis response, advice on how brands should respond to the X blocking lift and a link to the latest Muck Rack State of PR Measurement report.
Jason Kelce Falls Off the Pedestal
What happened: Last weekend, retired NFL player and current sports media and advertising darling, Jason Kelce, gave into his emotions and found himself in a reputational crisis. A heckler at Penn State University called his brother, current NFL player Travis Kelce, a homophobic slur. Jason responded by grabbing the taunter’s phone, slamming it on the ground and using the same homophobic slur.
Naturally, in our always-connected culture, the incident was caught on video.
The Kelces took to their “New Heights” podcast to address and discuss the situation. Jason admitted his actions were “out of line” and he expressed his regrets.
“Me reacting gave him the time of day, and it also gave the situation notoriety,” Jason Kelce said. “That’s what I regret. It didn’t deserve attention. It’s really stupid… it just perpetuates more hate.”
Jason also apologized for the incident during ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown.”
Communication takeaways: Some may say that it’s easy to forget we are all human—even rich, football player celebrities—and that the taunting in a public arena created a high pressure situation for Jason Kelce. Walking away is easier said than done in the heat of the moment.
Eric Yaverbaum, CEO of Ericho Communications, says the difficulty of the situation shouldn’t excuse his actions, and Kelce should have taken a deep breath and ignored the harasser or walked away.
“Aside from exhibiting problematic behavior, given Kelce’s celebrity status his choice to respond by smashing the person’s phone opened him up to a world of criticism from the court of public opinion,” Yaverbaum says.
From a PR perspective, Yaverbaum says Kelce did take the high ground by owning his actions on ESPN.
“His statement did come across as genuine, and by Kelce admitting that he “fell down to a level that [he] shouldn't have,” it shows that he knew what he did was wrong and that he shouldn’t act like this again.”
However, Yaverbaum thought Kelce’s statement could have used some strengthening.
“He doesn’t actually say the words “I’m sorry” or “I apologize,”" he says. “It might’ve also benefited Kelce to make this statement on his social media or a different medium than a sports commentary show. Doing this would’ve made Kelce’s statement come across as more genuine, less scripted and more down to earth.”
Overall, while there are plenty of PR lessons to be learned from Kelce’s statement, Yaverbaum says. He made the right decision to own up to his actions, and he made it clear that he understands what he did was wrong and that he’ll do better in the future.
X Lets Blocked Users See Blocked Posts
What happened: Engadget reported on a new development this week at X, formerly known as Twitter, regarding the safety and privacy of users. Blocked users will now be allowed to see the posts of the accounts that blocked them. However, they will still not be able to interact with these accounts.
X previously said blocked accounts could originally get around blocked content by just starting a new account. On the platform, the company is now saying that blocking could be used to “share and hide harmful or private information about those they’ve blocked,” so now the platform allows for “greater transparency.”
Communication takeaways: For brands and public figures utilizing the X platform, this may be a cause for brand safety concern. While X claims it's about transparency, the update seems contradictory to the purpose of a block feature. The action raises concerns about the platform’s commitment to user protection and appears as a de-prioritization of safety and privacy.
As a result, X users (and brands) have cited safety concerns and considered switching to other platforms, such as Threads or Bluesky. So on top of safety considerations, brands and power users need to pay attention to a decrease in followers and audience reach.
Kelly Hudson, VP, Social Media, KWT Global, says the agency is advising clients still active on X to review their privacy and safety settings on the platform, as well as to keep this update in mind when determining what content is shared on the platform.
“The main concern is that by allowing blocked users to view public posts, X is inviting harassment, stalking and the spread of private information—and more visible users like public figures, influencers and brands could be more susceptible," Hudson says.
Muck Rack Releases State of PR Measurement 2024
What happened: This week Muck Rack released its fourth annual State of PR Measurement, which PRNEWS covered extensively earlier this week. The survey showed that while practitioners recognize the value of metrics for demonstrating PR’s impact, many lack confidence in the data produced by existing tools. Survey responders named sentiment analysis, pitch performance and revenue attribution to be the areas of least accuracy for reporting.
Half of those surveyed said their budgets are affected by whether they reach their goals, which are translated through those metrics. And those numbers are proving their department’s worth—and their own—to the C-suite.
Communication takeaways: If communicators cannot explain the impact of their work through reliable metrics, resources could be reallocated. So it’s important for PR pros to be able to trust the data provided in order to tell the complete story of a campaign, for example.
Gregory Galant, CEO of Muck Rack, says communicators should strategize for and against this by managing the expectations of stakeholders ahead of time.
“Describe the actual function of PR and outline a mix of reporting metrics that include both qualitative and quantitative measurements of efforts,” he says. “This allows for more flexibility in interpretation of impact.”
Nicole Schuman is Managing Editor at PRNEWS.