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With emergency approval of vaccines, the need to communicate the importance of prompt vaccination seems obvious: Without 75-80 percent of Americans vaccinated, herd immunity, leading to a return to normalcy, will not be reached. And now, with the discovery of an additional, more contagious virus strain, getting Americans vaccinated promptly seems even more critical.
In years past, launching product was a boon for publicists. It was fairly easy. In 2020 and beyond, not so much.
In addition to breaking through the noise of COVID-related news, brands with product launches were forced last year to compete with stories about social justice and the election. Combine that with shrinking newsrooms and an inability to host live events and the appetite for product launches was just not the same.
To succeed in 2021, we recommend “the Landscape Analysis” as the best way to catalog, evaluate and improve your situation. Even if you think you know the answers, the current atmosphere indicates a need to reassess the communication environment.
It seems safe for communicators to assume live events won’t return, at best, before late summer or Q4. That leaves some eight to nine months for companies to continue to stage virtual activities, including trade shows, press conferences, media interviews and other events.
If 2020 taught media relations professionals a lesson, it’s about the importance of relationships.
Meeting media contacts in person, securing press tours and catching up over coffee have taken a backseat amid the COVID-19 pandemic. For savvy practitioners, though, continuing to build relationships with the media endured, and in many cases, thrived.
If you are a crisis consultant, 2020 was your banner year. When we look back at the year, clearly there were societal changes that contributed to a proliferation of attacks on brand reputation.
While 2021 may promise a return to previous practices, SEO and the online landscape are permanently altered. We see the below as major themes for 2021. Many spring from forced changes brought about in 2020.
Though PR service companies are underrepresented in our industry’s history, they are responsible for much innovation in the sector. In fact, a few services companies date back to the late 1800s. Let’s look at some of the people behind these successful businesses that helped shape PR.
Excluding healthcare providers and media (the most obvious entities to post about the vaccine), the top poster by volume of content was AARP. Confusion over who is next in line for the vaccine continues, and with older adults as one of the highest risk categories, it’s not a surprise that AARP content reigns over these platforms.
The questions for communicators: Do you craft messages differently, internally and externally, when you know the country is divided politically, and in other ways? In addition, do you change communication to adapt to the fact that a significant portion of the electorate believes the election was rigged, and, by extension, the true winner is not scheduled to be inaugurated next week?
There was a time when much of PR was about trade shows. They were crucial for product launches. With shows on hold for now, communicators must review their product-launch strategies.
Nobody enjoys having difficult conversations. Sometimes, as PR pros, we have difficult exchanges with those who pay our salary and can influence our career. Being direct, empathetic and solutions-oriented can help make such exchanges less difficult and, most important, help build trust and understanding.
It seems a good bet that many PR pros will work virtually, long after the pandemic ends. The pandemic has proven businesses can exist in a virtual setting. The concepts of remote working and limited budgets permeated today’s PRNEWS webinar, “How to do More with Less: A Holistic Approach to PR.”
While everyone waits on Biden’s VP decision, the articles and takes assessing the possible pick are piling up. The public loves a good build-up, and a growing sense of anticipation really creates some excellent public relations results. While Twitter floods with hot takes and debates, the curiosity continues to heighten.
It’s great when brands and organizations have purpose. On the other hand, a survey of your target audience might show that this moment calls for garden-variety fun, purpose be damned. Several aviation companies are earning revenue by pushing the experience of flying, not the destination. And one carrier boasts full aircraft though their tires never leave the tarmac.
As you prepare to sit down for Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving, chances are cranberries will be on the table in some form. For the Cranberry Marketing Committee (yes, there’s really a Cranberry Marketing Committee), the challenge was to ensure that cranberries got a seat at both tables and year-round, despite its heavy association as a holiday treat. The Committee chose to re-invent the cranberry. On social media.
A soccer trade show sounds like a decent idea, but in Canada? Here’s how Rich Padulo took his idea from conception to reality. He shares what he learned along the way.
We enjoy learning about brands using unusual communications methods. Capital One bank is well known for its “What’s in Your Wallet?” tagline and sponsorship of sporting events. One of the country’s leading issuer of credit cards, the bank leaves its cards home for its latest communication effort. Instead, it concentrates on conversations with customers about purposeful travel.
Previously, to raise awareness of its sunny surplus, Arizona deployed mostly traditional paid media: print advertising, television and radio, billboards. Then a PR firm urged it to spread the sunshine via social media. Targeting Chicago and NY residents who were tired of winter, Arizona has mounted a clever campaign whose main goal is to associate the state with happiness.
While you might not like the buzzword phrase “the new normal,” it signals that attitudes and behaviors have changed, at least in some areas. As PR pros need to gauge the zeitgeist as they craft tactics and strategies, it’s fortunate that a slew of surveys and polls are appearing during the pandemic. We offer a brief survey of surveys relevant to communicators and marketers.
A team of international researchers used AI to detect patterns in how real news and fake stories propagate. The team discovered several signs about how stories spread that may help to determine authenticity. Fortunately, these signs can be detected early, before a fake news story spreads too far. Learning to spot some of these signs can benefit PR pros, argues Michael Burke of MSR Communications.
Modern media outreach has evolved to the changing needs of today’s communicators, who are juggling many more roles with leaner staff and smaller budgets. According to findings from a recent News Direct market survey, 79% of… Continued
Our latest survey of PR pros found them working harder than before the pandemic, but for a reason that left them thinking the future looks bright. In addition, more than 80 percent of survey respondents said the industry will rebound to its pre-pandemic size and that PR’s prestige has risen during the past five months. The pandemic has illustrated that businesses need strategic communication, respondents said.
A new survey from PRNEWS shows the industry upbeat about the future. In the survey of 200 PR pros last month, 88 percent told us PR and communication will come back as strong if not stronger after the pandemic. Still, there’s concern for the future and diversity & inclusion content is lacking in industry messaging.
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