This week's PR Roundup looks at ways to interact with employees during times of uncertainty and stress, how Waffle House can be seen as an example for price-increase communications, and what brands are leading the social media conversation before the Super Bowl.
A Tidal Wave of News and Employee Wellness
What happened: With all of the recent news washing over everyone every day—the economy, government, DEI, rising prices, travel safety—there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty. Some groups of people can become anxious or upset with the shifting of the status quo.
That anxiety and stress can affect anyone at any time, particularly when trying to get through the work day. Therefore, internal and employee communication needs to be made a priority during trying times.
And in this current news cycle, this could be especially felt in the PR, communications and media industry.
Communication takeaways: An organization only succeeds when employees are in a good place. Amanda Lucey, CEO of The Partnership, and co-author of “Upheaval: Crafting A Culture & Managing Your Message Through A Crisis,” understands the power of managing crises and putting employees first. Lucey offered some best practices during stressful times.
- Listen to your team—establish consistent feedback loops and structures to stay attuned to employee engagement.
- Provide ongoing exercises that foster psychological safety, and regularly discuss the organization's mission, vision and values.
- If your organization is implementing changes, explain why and lead with empathy. If your organization remains steadfast in its programming, clearly communicate that commitment. Listen, learn and communicate the appropriate messages as needed.
Waffle House and Egg Surcharge
What happened: If you aren’t hearing any conversations about egg prices right now, you must be cracking up.
But seriously, with eggs a diet staple for many, their prices (as well as those of gas and housing) tend to serve as a barometer for the country’s inflation and economic woes. Currently, the egg supply is suffering due to an outbreak of bird flu in the United States, and unfortunately, when that occurs many infected and exposed chickens, including egg-laying hens, must be terminated.
The result is that the price of eggs and products made from eggs will rise. And restaurants and other services that use eggs will adjust the cost of their items and services. This week Waffle House, which offers a very egg-based menu, announced a temporary surcharge of 50 cents per egg for menu items containing the ingredient. Signs posted at the restaurants and on menus describe the increase as due to a “nationwide rise in the cost of eggs,” and thank the customers for understanding.
Waffle House issued a statement to CNN saying, “The continuing egg shortage caused by HPAI (bird flu) has caused a dramatic increase in egg prices. Customers and restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions.” The restaurant also noted that it is “continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.”
Communication takeaways: Times like these require a gentle yet simple and effective connection with consumers. Daniella Alkobi, SVP at Marino, works with many food-based clients and says communicating price increases or surcharges due to external factors requires transparency, empathy and clarity.
“Restaurants and food brands can maintain trust and minimize frustration by explaining the situation openly and honestly, expressing appreciation for customers’ support and understanding, and framing the price increase as a temporary measure, as the Waffle House did,” Alkobi says.
Lessons from these types of announcements could apply to any price-increased product or service.
“A good approach should reassure customers that the decision was made thoughtfully and emphasize the brand’s commitment to quality without compromising the overall customer experience,” she says. “Clear and authentic communication fosters loyalty even (or especially) during challenging times!”
Super Bowl Teasers Provoke Conversation
What happened: The Big Game airs this weekend, but the business and advertising worlds have been celebrating the Super Bowl for almost two weeks now. Sprout Social released a top eight list of the most-mentioned and engaged-with brands on social media in regards to Super Bowl chatter this week. The data comes from a search of mentions of Super Bowl, #superbowl, Superbowl, the big game and #SuperBowlLIX across social media, with brand names and handles filtered from that search.
Many of these brands have released Super Bowl teaser ads and promotions, allowing for a longer narrative to roll out in the public eye.
The top 8 (as of 2/4/25) include:
- Bud Light
- Uber Eats
- Tubi
- Doritos
- Budweiser
- Meta
- Mountain Dew
- Hellmann’s
Looking for more up-to-date Super Bowl social trends? Check out Sprout Social’s micro-site on The Big Game.
Communication Takeaways: It’s not easy to break through the noise of Super Bowl messaging, especially from big brands with big budgets. It takes a lot to be memorable. Rachael Goulet, Director of Social Media, Sprout Social, says today’s consumers crave creativity and cultural relevance from brands and gave some pertinent examples.
“This year’s advertisers are tapping into social trends to display relevance and authenticity and to engage with fans in a fun, refreshing way,” Goulet notes. “In the Uber Eats’ teaser with Martha Stewart and Charli XCX, the two partake in the viral TikTok trend “we listen and we don’t judge,” replicating the type of content that social media users are accustomed to engaging with.”
Goulet also gave the example of DoorDash working with comedian Nate Bargatze by utilizing “girl math.”
“[This] trend, popularized on social media, [is used] to calculate the potential savings of DashPass in a fun, relatable way.”
Good luck to the refs, ahem, both teams this weekend!
Nicole Schuman is Managing Editor at PRNEWS. Follow her on Bluesky.