The Associated Press Stylebook is an essential tool for connecting to journalists and audiences alike. While many of these style suggestions have been in place for years, they change over time as culture does.

Mignon Fogarty, better known as “Grammar Girl,” noted that the latest update to the AP Stylebook ventures into AI for the first time, laying out definitions and offering general advice about ethical use.

To help communicators stay up-to-date, Fogarty joined Ragan recently for a webinar on the latest changes to the AP Stylebook.

Hyphens

The AP used to hyphenate most words with “semi” prefixes like “semi-automatic” and “semi-autonomous,” but now they write these words without a hyphen.

“The guidance is to use hyphens when they’re needed to avoid confusion,” Fogarty said. “They (AP) provide some great real-life examples to illustrate when hyphens are necessary, like the difference between a ‘tiny house fire’ and a ‘tiny-house fire.'”

The stylebook provides a list of prefixes and suffixes that almost always take hyphens:

• Prefixes: self, all, ex and half
• Suffixes: free, based and elect

AP style recently got rid of some hyphens, such as those in words where the letter “e” repeats, like “preempt” and “preexisting.” But it still recommends them for words that could be hard to read with double or triple letters, like “anti-intellectual” and “shell-like.”

Sometimes, there end up being little inconsistencies, Fogarty said. There’s a hyphen in “co-worker” but not in “coworking.” The AP says that’s because the hyphen makes it easier to understand. However, the coworking industry widely uses no hyphen and the AP wants to be in line with what the industry calls itself.

The AP Stylebook is more likely to recommend using a hyphen than not, Fogarty said. Ultimately, it comes down to using best judgment while maximizing readability and clarity.

“When you do decide how to write your word, add it to your house style guide so you can be consistent in the future,” she added.

Oxford comma

The AP has long recommended avoiding the use of Oxford commas (or serial commas) in simple series, such as “red, white and blue.” However, the AP continues to stress the importance of using them when they can improve the clarity of a list or sentence.

For instance, use the comma when the sentence has multiple elements that use conjunctions – “peanut butter and jelly, ham and eggs, and macaroni and cheese.” Also use it even if only one of the items has a conjunction: “I like peanut butter and jelly, ham, and cheese.”

The serial comma is also useful in simple sentences that can benefit from added clarity, Fogarty said. She provided the infamous internet meme as proof: “They invited the strippers, Stalin, and JFK.” Without that serial comma, it sounds like Stalin and JFK are the strippers.

Pronouns

In the last few years, most style guides, including the AP, have accepted the use of “they” as the singular pronoun in most cases. Its use has grown recently, especially among people who don’t identify as “he” or “she.”

“The AP notes that the singular they can sometimes confuse readers, but at the same time, trying to write without pronouns to avoid confusion can make people feel censored or invisible,” Fogarty said. “So, you have to balance these priorities.”

When using the singular “they,” make sure readers understand that it refers to just one person. If needed, add an explanation, like “Morales, who uses the pronoun they, said they will retire in June.” The AP says not to say someone’s pronouns are “preferred” or “chosen.”

If the copy requires a reflexive pronoun for someone who uses the singular “they,” the correct form is “themself,” not “themselves,” Fogarty said. But the word “you” takes a plural verb when used as a singular pronoun.

In general, writers should use the names and pronouns provided to them, Fogarty said. But the AP Stylebook discourages use of neopronouns such as “ze” or “zir” because of their infrequent use and likelihood of causing confusion.

“You could use them if you were using a direct quote, if you were directly quoting someone else, if it were in a direct quotation,” Fogarty said. “But you might want to explain the word choice to your audience in that case.”

Quotes

When quoting someone who’s speaking, format what they said in AP style as much as possible. For example, use “II” in “World War II” rather than the number two. In an address, still use the abbreviation for “street.” But when quoting a written source, use the exact wording, even if it doesn’t match AP style.

Fogarty advised not to use “sic” to call attention to misspellings or grammar errors as it’ll make the quoted person look bad. If a quotation requires a “sic,” paraphrase it instead.

A notable exception is when it comes to dialect spellings, like “gonna” or “wanna.” Change it to “going to” or “want to”.

Social media posts and text messages often include emojis that can provide important context. In those situations, describe them using words. For example, “Chavez posted a photo of Beyoncé with the goat emoji, suggesting the musician is the greatest of all time.” Don’t describe the emoji or meme in parentheses because it could make the reader believe the person wrote out the description, Fogarty said.

Again, it’s all about being clear.

“Be wary. Get other people’s input if you can,” Fogarty said. “When you use memes without understanding their origin… you could be conveying something you don’t mean.”

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.

The post What Grammar Girl wants you to know about AP style appeared first on PR Daily.

Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday after losing more than $2.2 billion since the start of the pandemic, failing to restructure its debt and unsuccessfully attempting to merge with JetBlue at the beginning of the year. It expects the process to be completed by Q1 2025.

Positioning the move as a reorganization bankruptcy to provide Spirit with legal protections, the company published a press release framed as an “open letter” to travelers and a separate investor relations release.

Each announced an agreement with bondholders that the company claims will help it restructure debts and raise the funds it needs to operate during the process. Each offers solid examples for crafting bankruptcy comms, and change comms in general, delivered in a language and messaging style germane to each audience.

What the open letter got right

Spirit’s letter to travelers and customers, distributed by PR Newswire, is short but sweet.

It begins by stating the intention of the message: “We are writing to let you know about a proactive step Spirit has taken to position the company for success.” It then announces the agreement wit bondholders as a means to reduce total debt, give the company more financial flexibility and “accelerate investments providing Guests with enhanced travel experiences and greater value.” The opening also frames the bankruptcy as “prearranged” to hammer home the idea that this is a strategic plan and not a last resort (it’s both).

This opening effectively couches the financial news in language that general audiences can understand, then ties the changes back to things that matter to guests — how it affects their travel experience. Whether water will become free on future Spirit flights remains to be seen.

The letter then bolds and underlines the point it wants those scanning the message to take away: “The most important thing to know is that you can continue to book and fly now and in the future.”

This is followed by assurances that travelers can still use their tickets, credits and loyalty points as normal, join the airline’s loyalty program and expect the same level of customer service from Spirit.

The letter ends with a few more best practices:

• It shares the estimated date of Q1 2025 when the process will be complete, an accountability play.
• It alludes to other airlines that have navigated bankruptcy and emerged stronger (American Airlines an Delta filed after 9/11, but Spirit is the first airline to do this in a decade.) This makes Spirit seem like less of an outlier, even though their debt and case is extreme,
• It offers a landing page to learn more about the company’s financial restructuring. This is a tried and true tactic for any change message—stick to the key points in the message, and direct interested audiences elsewhere to learn more.

“I applaud them for trying to communicate directly with their customers, reinforcing that they can book and fly now and in the future without disruption,” said Vested Managing Director Ted Birkhahn.

“However, they need to ensure they deliver on this promise because mass flight cancellations or service disruptions during this period put them at risk of breaking any remaining trust between the brand and the consumer.”

While Spirit’s open letter captured many best practices of change comms, it avoids some other questions. Birkhahn also pointed out that the statement doesn’t mention any strict adherence to safety standards during the bankruptcy proceedings—a concern on the minds of any traveler following Boeing’s recent crucible.

“When considering flying with an airline in bankruptcy, my main concerns are whether it might be distracted or understaffed, potentially compromising its ability to meet FAA standards, and whether it can maintain normal operations,” he added.

“I realize all airlines are under strict FAA oversight, but consumer perception is Spirit’s reality, and if consumers are fearful of flying the airline, they will likely book elsewhere.”

Glossing over your past mistakes and pretending they never happened is bad PR, while owning them and positioning a financial restructuring as an opportunity to rectify past operational failings is a chance to turn an opportunity into a cornerstone of future success.

How the IR release frames things differently

While the open letter had the boilerplate cautionary legal language in its forward-looking statement, the investor relations release goes into more specific terms using business and legal language.

Four takeaways are listed up top before the press release begins:

• The first says that “Flights, ticket sales, reservations and all other operations continue as normal,” expanding on the commitments in the open letter to include operations.

• The second notes that the restructuring agreement was signed “by a supermajority of Spirit’s bondholders”, explicitly noting that bondholders have agreed to the plan.

• The third defines the Chapter 11 proceedings as “voluntary” and says they have officially commenced “to implement the agreed deleveraging and recapitalization transactions”.

• The fourth gets into the financing details Spirit will receive from existing bondholders and specifically notes that vendors, aircraft lessors and “holders of secured aircraft indebtedness” will be “paid in the ordinary course and will not be impaired.”’

These points anticipate the most likely investor concerns and address them first — always a best practice when crafting business comms. They are consistent with the ideas in the open letter but go into deeper detail, which makes sense for the audience closely invested in business operations and performance.

This release also included the first indication of how Chapter 11 will affect employee compensation, claiming it will not impact team member wages or benefits “which are continuing to be paid and honored for those employed by Spirit”.

A statement from Spirit President and CEO Ted Christie closes the IR note, contextualizing what this news should mean for the company’s bottom line and ending by thanking his team.

What this means for employees

While Christie thanked the Spirit team and the IR release said that employee compensation and benefits would remain unaffected, the question of layoffs still looms. Spirit furloughed hundreds of pilots over the summer and into the fall after announcing pay raises for four executives in a July 8-K filing.

On the heels of the bankruptcy news, a story about Christie’s $2.5 million Florida home isn’t doing any favors for the company’s employer brand, either.

Spirit is at an inflection point—not just over how it communicates with unions, but with employees directly to educate them about what bankruptcy means for their role and business operations in the months ahead.

We don’t know how Spirit communicated this news with employees, and a request for comment from Spirit was not returned at the time of publication.

Cat Colella-Graham, internal comms lead and coach at Coaching for Communicators, believes that foundational change comms best practices can be applied at Spirit to mitigate internal confusion or backlash.

Those include:

• Holding an all-hands meeting and following up with an email. “It’s important to share the what, why, and why it matters to employees first and fast,” reminds Colella-Graham. “To avoid any misinformation, follow up with an email that recaps the facts, offers a resource if you have questions, and a reminder to direct press inquiries to the appropriate media rep. The law firm assigned to the case may require this for compliance.”
• An intranet FAQ. This should include:
  • The roles that are immediately impacted, if any.
  • What employees can do to prepare for next steps.
  • Any resources, support or professional services the company offers employees to help the process.
  • A commitment to communication, including who they can go to with additional questions.
  • Regular updates ahead of developments hitting the news. Finding out bad news about your organization from external sources before hearing it internally is one of the biggest change comms sins you can make— it corrodes trust and can transform employees from advocates to activists.

Colella-Graham also sees this as an opportunity for Spirit’s leaders to demonstrate humility, empathy and consideration for how difficult it is to process this news so close to the holidays.

“Many employees will be essential in this deal,” she said. “If leaders want to retain those essential team members to work the best bankruptcy deal they can including a sale, merger or other administrative remedy, they need to walk shoulder to shoulder with the team.”

Justin Joffe is the editorial director and editor-in-chief at Ragan Communications. Follow him on LinkedIn.’

The post A closer look at Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy comms appeared first on PR Daily.

Michelle Olson remembers the early days of her PR career, when researching a complex crisis communications plan would take hours. It was worth it to the client, she said, which is why they were OK with having it all billed back to them.

Today, however, thanks to AI, that initial research can happen in just a few seconds. While Olson or her teammates at Lambert by LLYC still need to fact-check for accuracy, they can complete many tasks faster than they did even two years ago, thanks to ChatGPT, she said.

None of her clients are asking for adjustments to their rates right now, Olson said. But given the rapid advancements in these technologies, she feels now is the time for firms to start thinking about not only how they’re billing clients but also how they’re proving their value to them.

“It’s really about viewing this opportunity to highlight that we’re much more than just ‘doers’ of tasks,” said Olson, Lambert’s chief client officer and a fellow at PRSA.

A discussion 20 years in the making

Olson’s firm still bills “pure,” or the actual time it takes to complete a work item. “If we have a retainer-type arrangement with our clients, we still (build) an hourly rate into that retainer.”

But she and PRophet founder and CEO Aaron Kwittken both said there have been conversations for more than 20 years about finding models to replace billable hours as the dominant method.

“I think the reason for the use of billable hours is that we’ve either been scared of or can’t define what success looks like,” said Kwittken, a “recovered agency guy” who pivoted to comms tech in 2022.

Olson noted that a much-discussed concept has been the value billing model based on the impact of the work rather than the time it takes to complete.

For instance, a quality pitch to the Wall Street Journal may only take a five-minute phone call – or about $5 on a $100 per hour rate – but the value of that placement could be “priceless” to a brand, Olson said.

It’s common for agencies to build in a certain number of hours per month, but Olson noted that this approach has flaws. “Our services aren’t utilized that way,” she explained.

“We’re crisis communicators. We’re issue managers. There’s something that happens every month that we don’t count on, that a communicator needs to help with,” she continued. “The hours are going to ebb and flow.”

How to readjust retainers

On the client side, teams want as much value as possible, Kwittken said. As such it’s about ways to rethink the billing process to highlight the works that’s taking place beyond press releases and website copy.

“(Clients) want to fix their costs and don’t want them to creep because they have a budget,” he added. “They want to pay for performance, not just activity reports. They want to know what we did to help them achieve their goals, like sales or shareholder valuation.”

The emergence of this tech may give PR agencies a chance to “productize,” not commoditize, what they do and assign specific costs or values to each task, service or deliverable against objective success goals, Kwittken said. He gave the example of tying PR’s impact on sales, employee morale, shareholder value, etc. directly into their client’s CRM.

To that end, Olson sees the potential for PR agencies to go back to the negotiating table and really drive home what they bring to the table in terms.

Olson’s hope is that while they may bill fewer hours for a particular project, AI is creating more time “to be in our clients’ heads about what they worry about every day.” That means there’s more time to do the analysis of social media audiences or strategize about campaigns.

“With those extra two, three hours we can figure out how to make a bigger impact for the client, so that the client benefits from us,” she said. “Maybe that’s another brainstorming session about an issue that they hadn’t told us about yet, because we’re not scoped for that.”

As part of the process, Olson suggested asking clients things such as what’s keeping them up at night and how they can help.

“We have a chance to become bigger strategic partners as an agency,” she said.

Finding the right solution for your firm

Olson noted that there’s no true challenger to the billable hour system. In fact she’s known only three agencies that have gone to the value billing model.

Two of them don’t even exist anymore.

That doesn’t mean value billing or another system won’t work, she said. It also doesn’t mean teams should avoid AI for the sake of taking longer to complete a job.

In fact, it’s just the opposite, Olson said. She believes the new data and insights that AI can provide will improve strategy and measure performance.

Firms need to evaluate their business operations and find ways where they can improve their high-level offerings. Doing so, Olson believes, will lead teams to hire more strategists, writers and data analysts.

“This is our moment to take the lead,” Olson said.

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.

The post AI may require PR agencies to reevaluate billing models appeared first on PR Daily.

Working through the maze of FDA, FTC and other regulations that govern communications around pharmaceuticals and other healthcare items can be challenging for even the most experienced human to handle.

But an AI will never get tired, rarely get confused and can be updated with just a few clicks of a mouse.

Matthew Snodgrass, AI innovation lead at Syneos Health Communications, is currently testing a custom GPT that will help create cleaner drafts of regulatory-compliant content – but that can never fully replace the discernment and judgment of a person.

Here’s how AI helped him.

Responses have been edited for style and brevity.

One of the thorniest problems for communicators in regulated industries is figuring out what the heck you can and can’t say legally. Tell me how this idea came about and how you’ve been working on this GPT.

At Syneos, the other, larger, half of our family is in clinical trials. So dealing with patient information has very strict rules and regulations that we deal with internally, very strict privacy policies, data retention and collection policies that we have. On the communication side, which is typically a little bit more free to experiment and communicate, we’re still beholden to those strict rules, which, in a way, is very good, because it puts us in the mindset of, we have to be very responsible, both from a data privacy and an ethics standpoint on how this is used.

I’ve been working with my colleagues to find out what problems do you have, what issues can be solved? Were there things that could be sped up or done better, faster? I decided to turn inward, because one of the other hats I wear is counsel on rules and regulations as it comes to pharma marketing, for rules and regs from the FDA, FTC, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. I thought, if I can combine all of the actual regulations and rules from federal entities, along with my expertise and knowledge and interpretation of those rules, could we create a GPT that kind of mimics the interpretation of them so that we could use it to look at and analyze proposed content before it gets to the client.

What happens a lot of times is the MLR — medical legal, regulatory —  teams at pharma clients will look at a piece of content and send it back and say, ‘you can’t say this, and if you say this, then you have to say that, you can’t use this picture with this’ and so on and so forth. So if we can create a tool that helps to get ahead of that and produce a better product, just speed up the process and have us be able to scale beyond just having content flow through just one person or a couple people.

So this is not replacing human oversight. This is helping just get a cleaner draft to the client, essentially,

Exactly. You effectively hit the nail on the head of summarizing how I recommend using AI is use it as draft only trust but verify. It’s always going to need the human element to verify.

What I’m hearing is that (people) fear that AI takes over everything. And that’s not going to be the case. What I hear some clients may want is that humans are involved a little bit, but AI speeds up everything else and everything’s cheaper and quicker. And that’s not necessarily the case either. It’s going to be a mixture where we will work together with an AI on things like research, drafting things that, together with the context of a person and the speed and volume of information with an AI, you can produce a better output. We’ll hand off to AI those elements that they can just simply do better, like analysis, summaries, looking at large volumes of information and distilling it down. But we’ll keep the elements that currently only humans do well, which is strategy, creativity, content development, the truly, very human-centric elements.

Have you gotten to the point where you’re talking with clients about this GPT, and if so, what’s the reaction?

The conversations that we’re having with clients are very similar to the ones we had 15 years ago with social media. Some of them are really pushing because of internal champions to be at the forefront of experimentation and trying it out. Some are behind because they may be a small biotech that’s really focused on their research and development and just don’t have the resources to push the AI envelope yet. It’s very similar.

Have you had anyone at the other end saying, I don’t want AI on any of the materials you’re working on for us? Have you gotten that reaction?

Yes, and it’s been for different reasons. One, they’re not so sure about it. Or what I see often is they may hop into Copilot, they ask a very simple prompt that may not be a comprehensive prompt, and they get a non-comprehensive answer. They go, ‘oh, that’s not good I don’t want anybody using it.’ Or it’s the comms team that really want to push the envelope, but it might be their legal team that is not ready to let them get to that point yet, because they don’t have their ducks in a row yet.

Tell me a little bit more about how you’re going about building your regulatory GPT. What phase are you in with that process?

I would say we’re in the alpha phase right now, as we have a proof of concept built, and I’m continuing to train it. I created a 16-page missive on how I interpret FDA and FTC and U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, rules. I keep testing it with queries, and it may come back with something that’s not quite right. So then I go back to the document. Update the document, re-upload. I feel like I’m opening its brain, tinkering with it, closing it again. And then go back. I feel it’s confident enough that it can help our colleagues and help clients. Then we would unveil it as an internal usage tool. It’s getting there.

For more on the fast-changing world of AI, join us at Ragan’s AI Horizons Conference in February! 

The post How AI helped Syneos Health’s Matthew Snodgrass improve client first drafts appeared first on PR Daily.

Businesses have used artificial intelligence in their everyday workflows since the early 1990s with the creation of spam filters for email. But in recent years, generative AI – or AI that creates text, images or codes rather than simply sorting data – has exploded.

Change can be scary, admitted Rebecca Simons, communications manager at Cisco. She noted that conversations around AI often feel like they “need a degree in computer science to understand.”

One way to overcome any fears about AI is through education. Simons led a recent webinar during Ragan’s AI Virtual Conference for Communications, aiming to provide a clearer understanding of common AI concepts and their applications.

“The whole idea here is we’re going to work together to demystify AI jargon,” she said.

Here are some of the key points she covered:

• Deep learning: A form of machine learning system trained to make decisions like the human brain by recognizing patterns and learning from large data sets. YouTube and Spotify, for instance, use it to analyze user preferences to make personalized suggestions. “It’s basically analyzing what you are doing and then trying to provide you with recommendations based on your behavior,” Simons said.
• Large language models (LLMs): A deep learning model trained on massive data sets to understand and generate human language in a coherent way. For instance, Grammarly uses an LLM to analyze text for grammar, tone and clarity, providing advanced suggestions to improve writing quality.
• Natural language processing (NLP): Allows machines to understand, interpret and generate human language. For example, Google Translate uses NLP to analyze the structure and meaning of words and phrases to accurately translate text.
• Hallucinations: This occurs when an AI generates plausible sounding but factually incorrect information or content, like a hand with six fingers. She provided an example of an attorney who nearly got disbarred for using AI to produce case law citations. When it couldn’t find an example, it made one up. “Basically, it doesn’t have the data or information, so it’s trying to piece together a story to generate content,” Simons said. She believes AI tools are valuable for brainstorming and drafts, but the content will likely require diligent fact-checking.
• Agentic AI: A way of combining automation with the creative abilities of an LLM. Users can create a system that provides the LLM with access to external tools and algorithms that supply instructions for how the AI agents should use them. Simons believes agentic AI will significantly influence comms in the next wave by helping with “strategic brand reputation management driven by personalized user preferences.”

The best way to learn, Simons said, is by picking up the technology and trying it out. She recommended doing it at home and getting comfortable with it before moving toward any professional applications.

“I would say the most important part is really like getting in there, giving it a try,” Simons said. “It’s just a trial-and-error situation.”

Watch the full video below.

The post What AI terms really mean appeared first on PR Daily.

With a strong background in writing for large, diverse audiences, Lanetta Williams, is passionate about driving employee engagement and the communications experience for global above-restaurant employees at Yum! Brands. As associate manager of communications, Williams supports employees across KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill, leading initiatives like the launch of a global omnichannel communications platform and crafting messaging for the company’s Equity, Inclusion and Belonging strategy.

With over 20 years of experience, the comms pro began her career in journalism, working as a reporter for The Detroit News before moving into TV news production and employee communications. 

My first comms profession was:

I started my career as a journalist. Most notably, I was a reporter for The Detroit News and later an associate producer for WDIV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit. It was in newspapers that I honed my storytelling skills, learning how to ask the right questions and thrive under tight deadlines. Working in one of the top media markets, I had the privilege of learning from some of the best journalists and writers in the country. The skills I gained during those early years helped me learn how to share critical and complex information in an understandable and relatable way with diverse audiences.

The moment I’m proudest of in my entire career is when I:

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to work on a messaging strategy around Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Yum! Brands. This role gave me greater visibility and a voice in shaping how we embody one of our core values, “Believe in All People.” I wanted to express what I desired to hear and stay true to our identity as the world’s largest restaurant company. With my leaders’ support, I crafted a simple yet powerful statement: “We’re making room for all people and voices at our tables.” Today, this statement is proudly displayed on our company’s website, T-shirts, pens, and an internal video, serving as a guiding light and reminding all of us of our responsibility to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging where everyone can be their authentic selves.

The thing I’m most excited about for the future of my profession is:

I attended the Ragan Internal Communications Conference in October, and one line stood out: “Don’t be worried about AI replacing you. Be worried about the person who knows AI replacing you.” In internal communications, there’s a lot of anxiety about AI’s role in our future. However, I believe AI, when used correctly, can transform our work, increase efficiency, and improve the final product. We’re just beginning to explore AI’s potential, and I’m excited to see where it will take us and the new opportunities it will create.

The most underrated skill in my profession is:

One of the key skills I’ve honed is a strategic mindset. We’re not just order takers or copy-pasters; we’re the dot-connectors who see the bigger picture. We understand where the business is headed and where it’s been, balancing the strategic vision with employee needs. Our broad perspective across the organization gives us insights into decisions and projects that most employees aren’t aware of, making us valuable thought partners. We can spot potential issues and add value in unexpected ways. To do this, we need to believe in ourselves and trust our instincts, which come from experience and a willingness to step into uncomfortable situations that promote growth.

The key to excellence in storytelling is:

Authenticity and our humanity are the key ingredients to our success. I learned to write before AI, mastering what makes a good lede, building a story to its crescendo, and following through to a logical conclusion. The human element in writing is innate, and the authenticity of one’s voice should always shine through.

The most rewarding part of my job is:

I love having a seat at the table and being able to influence key decisions. We’re often invited into rooms where critical discussions happen. Companies that value communicators as thought partners and recognize our ability to drive positive business outcomes are the ones leading their industries.

Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn.

The post How I Got Here: Lanetta Williams of Yum! Brands on the key ingredients for successful storytelling appeared first on PR Daily.

Tools are only as helpful as how you use them, and generative AI tools are no different — the outputs of tools like ChatGPT are only as useful as the prompts you feed them.

Levar Cooper, communications director at Lake County Government in Florida, is optimistic about the future of communications and how automation will inform it.

“I’m on a mission to help as many people benefit from the power of AI as possible,” he told attendees Wednesday during his opening workshop at Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference.

After Cooper acknowledged the current limitations of AI, including cognitive biases, adoption barriers, and policy and regulation proposals that keep people from diving in, he shared several AI prompting tips to open Ragan’s flagship CommsWeek event.

Here’s what stuck out.

Selecting the right tools

Cooper recommends communicators resist the shiny allure of technology itself to consider how these tools actually meet their needs.

“It’s not enough just to use AI — you’ve got to have a strategy behind it,” Cooper said.

Considerations should include:

• Business alignment. This means ensuring that the tool aligns with and supports your organization’s strategic goals.​
• Data privacy and compliance. You should always confirm the tool meets data privacy and security standards to protect sensitive information from the outset.​
• User experience and integration. Assessing each tool’s ability to integrate smoothly with current workflows and its ease of use will encourage buy-in across functions and move you along the adoption curve. “We often think of user experience as customer experience, but it’s really everyone at your organization who has to use it,” said Cooper.
• Scalability and flexibility. Make sure to choose a tool that can scale with your organization and adapt to future needs. This may mean that it includes some features and functions you aren’t ready for yet, but can work toward implementing down the line.

Prompts to scale use and meet content needs

Cooper explained what you need to give AI to be successful. “When talking about the prompting identity, I give it an assignment and then give it context,” he said.

These are the prompts he’s applied successfully for each use case:

1. Content planning. “Please act as my content coordinator and create a December social media calendar for Lake County Fire Rescue’s Facebook page that leverages data-supported best practices. Incorporate national holidays and area events where practical.​”
2. Content drafting. “Please act as my political consultant and draft a speech for the groundbreaking of a new Leslie B. Knope community center in Pawnee, Indiana in the voice of Mayor Gergich.” This is an example of how AI can reference broader events and culture, in this instance, the popular show “Parks & Recreation”.​
3. Event planning. “Please act as my event coordinator and create an event plan using the framework of the attached document for the grand opening of the new Braised Bison Bistro location in Denver, Colorado.” Cooper said that “uploading that framework allows AI to adapt to my framework, and not the other way around.”​

Working with custom prompts

Custom prompts allow you to harness the output of these tools for more strategic purposes.

“Many of these platforms allow for custom prompts, which really helps supercharge what you’re doing in a repeatable context,” Cooper said, but urged communicators to embrace the DRY mantra — that’s “don’t repeat yourself”— as a reminder to ensure your workflow is dynamic and iterative.

His tips for custom prompts include:

• Define objectives and context. Cooper recommends clarifying the purpose of the prompt and providing relevant context such the target audience, tone and format.
• Be specific and test iteratively. Giving your tool precise instructions and refine the prompt based on trial and error to improve results over time. The more you spell these details out, the better your tool learns them.
• Use examples and boundaries. Including examples and specifying output constraints (those can also be tone, style or format) will help you guide the AI response to more effective outputs.
• Break down complex tasks. For multi-phase projects, you can chain prompts in stages to build structured, aligned outputs for each part of the task.​ This will minimize the likelihood of your tool getting confused and allow you to train it at multiple points in the project.

Prompts to optimize engagement

Cooper also shared ways to get Claude to analyze data and provide insights, including:

• Audience insights. “Please act as my strategic communications consultant and provide a sentiment analysis in the form of a report on posts related to debris collection following Hurricane Milton and include trend insights beginning on Oct. 10.​”
• ​Platform insights. “Please act as a business analyst and make recommendations on the optimal times for posting content based on the provided data.​” Cooper said this business inquiry is especially powerful because it’s giving you insights that demystify algorithms and tell you why things aren’t working as well.

Cooper went deeper into using AI to craft compelling visuals, train systems on executive voice, engage internal stakeholders to move them along the adoption curve and more during his full workshop, which will be available in the coming weeks to Ragan Training members. Subscribe today!

Keep your eyes peeled from more coverage from #CommsWeek2024

The post Mastering AI: How to craft persuasive and productive prompts appeared first on PR Daily.

Earlier this week, members of New York Women in Communications came together at the Empire State Building for a morning of discussion to answer some of the most pressing questions facing comms pros in an ever-shifting world.

The event, hosted by Ragan and held as a part of Communications Week, spoke about the changing perception of DEI, innovations in comms and more. Between technology, politics and social issues to navigate, it’s clear that communicators face a rapidly changing world in which to do their work.

New York Women in Communications President Laura Brusca praised the unity and power of the women who work so hard to make the comms profession so vibrant.

“Seeing all my sisters here today has made me feel so good inside,” Brusca said. “Even when we’re feeling a little down, we can unite as sisters, and that’s what it’s all about.”

The power of purpose in communication

Patricia Tanaka, founder and chief joy officer at Joyful Planet, kicked off the morning’s events with a keynote that shared her perspectives on her 35-year career in comms. She told the audience that her greatest achievements in the field came when she aligned her on-the-job skills with her sense of purpose. Living her sense of purpose was directly tied to her founding multiple award-winning comms agencies and penning two best-selling books.

“Discovering and living our purpose is the single most powerful and efficient thing that we can do to unleash our leadership potential,” Tanaka said.

Tanaka added that without purpose, being an effective communicator or a workplace leader who can help others grow is a nearly impossible task.

“In the absence of purpose, we’re just doing triage, responding to others’ priorities rather than our own. Purpose-driven individuals create healthy, sustainable communities that work beyond the workplace.”

The future of DEI and how comms pros can approach it

In the wake of last week’s election, there’s been renewed talk of what the future of DEI efforts will be in the modern American workplace. In a panel titled “Overcoming the Backlash: Getting DEI Back on Track”, a group of seasoned DEI and comms experts prognosticated on what lies ahead, emphasizing the need to embed DEI in organization structures so it’s able to withstand the political winds of the day.

Christena Pyle, director of diversity at Omnicom, said that organizations need to stick to their principles when communicating about DEI work, and it needs to come through the authentic lens of the company’s mission and values.

“DEI is evolving,” she said. “What doesn’t evolve are the principles of representation and diversity.”

E.T. Franklin, global chief strategy officer and cultural fluency officer at Spark Foundry, told the audience that companies can’t just be silent and try to avoid picking a side in the fight for (and backlash against) DEI initiatives.

“There’s no going back to a time when brands could play it safe and sit on the sidelines,” she said. “Audiences today demand to know where you stand. If your leadership isn’t ready to declare a position, they’re not prepared for the realities of today’s consumer expectations.”

Singleton Beato, chief DEI officer at McCann Worldgroup, capped the discussion by saying that backlash to DEI programs often comes from fear of change, but a forward-thinking mindset that embraces that change is necessary to make a material difference.

“Rather than spending time on what has already happened, we need to make room for the other side of this conversation and be more inclusive as we architect our way forward,” Beato said.

“The way forward is not just about programs; it’s about embedding equity and inclusion into the structures and processes, creating lasting change.”

The strategies carrying comms forward

With all the technological and societal changes in the world around us, employees and leaders rely on communicators to keep them updated on the company line. As these changes arrive, so too must comms strategies change.

During the day’s final panel, the discussion turned to the changing communications landscape and how comms pros can adapt to keep their audiences engaged.

Nicole Moreo, director of customer insights for North America at LinkedIn, believes that these changes make it doubly crucial for communicators to have touchpoints across the organization, including connections in marketing, HR and finance, to make a tangible and informed difference.

“Orchestration is key. You need the conversations at the table to access the right information and data,” she said. “We’re the first people leaders call for advice, but they still don’t give us the budget to match our strategic role. It’s on us to show why communications deserve a real investment.”

As dispersed workforces evolve and technology changes, comms pros must also rethink their channel cadence to get the right eyes and ears on their messages. Liz Song, senior communications manager at Substack, urged communicators to give every messaging platform at their disposal a proper look, especially as consumption tastes change.

“Good media relations is good media relations, whether it’s a traditional outlet or a Substack newsletter,” Song said. “Treat it with the same respect, understand the audience and show up authentically.”

The panel closed out the morning touching on the role of AI in comms in the months and years to come. Yasamin Hagshenas, director of communications at American Express, said that comms pros need to be vigilant and ensure they’ve got the facts straight.

“With AI-written articles on the rise, it’s more important than ever to make sure our digital channels are up-to-date with factual, clear information,” Haghshenas said. “AI may draft the piece, but accuracy is on us — and that starts with clarity in our own content.”

Haghshenas added that the same vigilance that communicators approach AI with can help handle crises, especially in our rapidly evolving world.

“Crisis comms is a critical skill, but don’t be afraid of it. It’s scary, but it’s also fun, and knowing how to handle a crisis will set you up for long-term success.”

For more on CommsWeek events, click here.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time, he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.

The post Highlights from New York Women in Communications’ CommsWeek event appeared first on PR Daily.

Knowing the rules of engagement with reporters is one of the most important things a PR pro can do – and counsel their clients on. But within the realm of on the record, on background and off the record, there can be a great deal of nuance and considerations.

We asked communicators on LinkedIn to share their best practices for navigating these treacherous waters. Here’s what they said.

Answers have been edited for style and brevity.

On background

Mike Nachshen is president and owner of Fortis Strategic Communications.

First, it comes down to trust. Do I trust the reporter and do they trust me?

Second, rules have to be established and mutually agreed to BEFORE the background or off the record portion of the conversation begins

Third, make sure everyone understands what they are agreeing to. Off the record is different than background. And background can be for or not for attribution.

E.g.:

Me: “Great question… I’d like to give you some context before I answer. OK if we go on background, not for attribution, first?

Reporter: “Can I list you as an ‘a contact close to customer X’?”

Me: “Sorry… no. No attribution at all, I’m afraid. But I’m giving you enough to go out and find this in the Congressional record if you need attribution.”

Alex Dudley is principal at Principal, Cloudbreak Communications.

I have found the “on background” tool very useful throughout my career. Often it is a way to help a journalist work a nuance into their story that would otherwise not make it because it is too difficult to source. This is particularly true in an era where the bland corporate statement rules the day.

Janice Mandel is a podcast host and founder of Janice Mandel.

A rationale of mine for going on background would be:I’m asked a question by a reporter and the answer requires context not directly relevant to question at hand. If I want to ensure the reporter understands that context I may ask if we can go on background. I find this helps communicate nuances the reporter may not know.

Off the record

Parry Headrick is the founder of Crackle PR.

Never say anything to a reporter that you wouldn’t want splashed on a neon sign in Times Square.

 Kevin Nolan is VP of marketing at Sagility.

This may be a basic step, but make sure you clearly state you’re going off the record before you do. Ensure the reporter agrees. Something like “this next sentence is for background and should be off the record.” There should never be a “why did the reporter write that? I thought we were off the record?” moment. Ever.

Mary Beth Popp is vice president, Corporate and Brand Communications at FIFCO USA.

I always say, remember that if you share information off the record – the reporter always knows it. So for example, if you go off the record about making a product for another company (contract manufacturing), and something happens with that product — they know you made it. You never know how it may impact your organization in the future. I only go off the record to provide context and background.

Linda Zebian is head of communications at Muck Rack.

Even if you say, “I don’t know,” that can be used in the story and attributed to you, which has implications, so be very careful to establish where you are on the record at the start of a conversation.

I really appreciate all of the comments here suggesting “nothing is off the record,” but I respectfully disagree. Investigative journalism would not exist if journalists did not commit to keeping conversations with sources private and sacred. Off the record interviews are a cornerstone of a free and independent press.

Katie Heinz Pfingsten is manager of media relations and training at Public Communications Inc.

In media trainings, we’ve been asked by spokespersons if there are any legal ramifications if they agree to speak off the record and a journalist publishes the material. Some have been surprised to learn that a verbal agreement to speak off the record or on background isn’t legally binding. We also remind them that anything that’s said before the camera is rolling or in an email exchange with a reporter — no matter how informal — could be quoted/published.

Erik Sherman is a freelance journalist and writer.

If you are considering off the record or on background, remember that it has to be negotiated in advance and both sides must agree on the exact definition to avoid unintentional misunderstandings.

Ben Craft is vice president of community engagement at the Center for Human Development.

Asking to go off the record too much or on trivial or irrelevant details punches big holes in credibility.

Sarah Kissko Hersh is founder of Type A Consultancy.

Don’t say it if you don’t want it published.

Erika Leigh is public relations account manager at LeadCoverage.

Ask yourself, “would it be OK if this actually got out and my name or my organization’s name was attached to it?” If yes, then proceed. If not, don’t disclose it no matter the circumstances.

Rebecca Burn-Callander is a freelance journalist, podcast host and director of communications at Build Concierge.

Over the 20 years I have been a business journalist, I have never printed anything that was told to me “off the record.” This means that find people tend to be extremely candid. They explain why something happened, how much it cost, how they felt about it — things they would never want published but can massively impact the tone of the final article. It’s a way of giving the journalist a glimpse of the struggle, the stress, and your personal feelings, knowing that your comms team would never allow it

The post ‘It comes down to trust’: Communicators on when to go on background, off the record appeared first on PR Daily.

If you’ve stepped into a Target or a Starbucks lately, the wave of bubblegum pink and emerald green is impossible to miss.

Taking a page out of the “Barbie” movie’s successful playbook, the upcoming adaptation of the Broadway smash “Wicked” is filling stores – and capturing headlines – with quirky merchandising that plays up the main character’s iconic color palettes: the bright pink of Galinda, who will become the Good Witch of “Wizard of Oz” fame, and the vivid emerald of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.

CNBC reports that collaborations include makeup collabs with r.e.m. beauty, Lego sets, color-changing Betty Crocker cake mixes and even two custom wrapped Lexus luxury cars. The color blocking even extends to the press tour for the film, with stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo swathing themselves in vivid shades that instantly evoke the film. Again, this seems to be an extension of the strategy pioneered by Margot Robbie during the press junket for “Barbie,” when she wore a cavalcade of looks inspired by the doll’s wardrobe – many of them also in a trademark shade of pink.

Why it matters: Licensing and merch are, of course, great ways to earn some extra cash for a major film. But the press being generated by these collabs – and the social media buzz – is just as powerful.

The Daily Dot posted a story about a hack to get that Betty Crocker mix to change colors just right. Lifestyle sites like Town & Country and Women’s World posted roundups of the best “Wicked” merch. Even Vogue is diving into the clothes from the premiere. And of course, social media is paying attention as well, amplifying and reamplifying the messages.

The entire campaign is showing the power of marketing tactics building atop one another. Merchandising becomes part of the messaging. The messaging gets picked up by fans who amplify it. The media picks up on the fan excitement. The cycle repeats.

But it hasn’t all been bubbly and easy. Erivo lashed out at fans for an edit that made a movie poster look more like the playbill of the Broadway musical, dubbing it “offensive,” which can tamp down on the free viral marketing fans are likely to do. While Erivo didn’t quite apologize, she did later acknowledge she “probably should have called (her) friends, but it’s fine.”

And over the weekend, the public discovered that the wrong URL was featured on the packaging of Mattel “Wicked” dolls. Whatever you do, do not search “Wicked.com” on a work computer – it is an adult site, not the site for the film.

Still, even that unfortunate misprint is more likely to generate additional press than to scar children in the long-run. It’s a funny, relatively harmless misprint.

We’ll see if all this PR is enough to make the movie popular.

Editor’s Top Reads:

• During the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, FEMA had to fight back hard against misinformation on a variety of fronts. One of the rumors, which the agency strongly denied, was that assistance was being withheld from supporters of Donald Trump. But it appears that in at least one case, that was true. A FEMA worker was fired for instructing response teams (reportedly but not confirmed to have been stationed in Florida) not to render aid to homes with Trump signs in the yard. The worker has been fired and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell called the actions “reprehensible,” but the damage has been done. The agency was already widely mistrusted and now critics have concrete proof of discrimination. FEMA must continue a full-on crisis communications blitz here, explaining in detail, every step of the way, how the lapse occurred and how they will ensure everyone is treated equally. Their challenge of combatting misinformation during uncertain times just got much, much harder.
• OpenAI has provided some insight into how its groundbreaking ChatGPT was used during the first truly AI election. The company revealed in a blog post that in the days leading up to the election, 1 million answers directed users to CanIVote.org, a nonpartisan website that helps people figure out how, when and where to vote. An additional 2 million answers pushed queriers away from ChatGPT and to reputable news sites like the AP and Reuters. ChatGPT refused 250,000 times to create images of the presidential or vice presidential candidates in a bid to stop deepfakes – a move the company itself says was largely successful, with no “evidence of U.S. election-related influence operations attracting viral engagement or building sustained audiences through the use of our models.” Naturally, we can’t see the full impact of AI on the election, but on the surface, fears of a deepfake-driven disaster did not come to pass in 2024.
• British chef Jamie Oliver has pulled copies of his fantasy children’s book, “Billy and the Epic Escape,” after accusations that the book perpetuates stereotypes and contains misleading information about Aboriginal Australians. Critics of the book say it contains language errors, boils down complex beliefs to “magic” and that a kidnapping plot is insensitive, given the pain of Aboriginal children being removed from their homes. Oliver apologized, saying he was “devastated” by the pain he’d caused. While Oliver had apparently requested a consultation with Aboriginal leaders, his publisher, Penguin Random House UK, said it had not occurred due to an “oversight.” This seems like a large oversight. Always check in with your audiences, especially when they’re different from your own identity. Get feedback, make changes and avoid embarrassment down the road.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post The Scoop: Why Wicked’s merch blitz is good PR appeared first on PR Daily.

A year of ‘yes’ led Sara Ng to join ING Americas in 2019. As Vice President of Communications and Brand Experience, Ng initially focused on managing internal communications for the Amsterdam-based bank. “It was the tail end of my year of yes and it was one more yes for the year,” Ng shared with Ragan. “I thought, we’ll see where it goes.” 

Her work has centered on creating touchpoints that reflect ING’s values, such as championing the company’s new hybrid work model and promoting best practices that support employee wellness. Ng’s role has evolved to include executive communications, supporting both local and global leaders. “Dedicating a lot of my time now to executive communications is far different from managing our internal communications channels, our editorial calendar and doing executive comms in the background,” she shared. “It’s a different head space to get into because I’m talking to people in a different way.”

I’m inspired by:

My children.  I say that because they see things with a different lens. They talk to me as if the world is growing. And I think sometimes that’s what helps me bring myself back down to earth  when I’m really stressed with a project. I realize that their world is still so small and it’s constantly expanding in different ways. And if I see it through that lens, I could approach a project a different way. I think I could look at it differently, because if I kept on looking at the way that I looked at it, it might just seem redundant, repetitive, kind of boring after a while. So I think, as cliche as it sounds, my children actually inspire me quite a bit. 

But also I think the work that I do can be quite inspiring in itself, because communications, I think, is changing so much, and the way people not just receive information, but absorb it. Oftentimes, I talk to my senior leaders about tone all the time, because it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. I think my work, inherently, is quite inspiring, because the way that our workforce is changing. I see so many new hires that are of different generations. When I think about inspiration, I look at our colleagues who do a ton of things outside of our day to day, who generally have a need or want or willingness to help each other, which I think is really nice to see. I think it’s just being able to adapt, be agile, and be open. I think you can find inspiration everywhere if you’re open.

The key to excellence in storytelling is:

Finding purpose. I think oftentimes we can tell a great story but we need to understand what do you want your reader to leave with or your audience to leave with. People can write and talk all day, but by the end of it, if you have nothing to leave them with, if they don’t remember anything of substance, then I think you kind of failed. I also think about channels, and the proper ones to use so our work and storytelling doesn’t get lost. It’s understanding what the purpose is and what the takeaway is because you build the story around what you want to leave your audience with.

A lesson I learned the hard way is:  

The first thing I learned the hard way, which I don’t think was a bad thing, is finding out what I didn’t like, experiencing what I didn’t like to do or didn’t want to do. And for me, I took four years of fashion school to realize in my fourth year, I didn’t want to be in fashion. I think I needed to go through that process to realize I didn’t want to do it. But ironically enough, I just realized I didn’t want to be in fashion in the traditional sense, to be a designer, for example, or to be a buyer. I think where I found my calling was in communications, such as comms in fashion, comms in this space. It took me four years to get to that point, but it also took me fours of what I need to know to continue. It took that time to help me hone my comms skills in a different way.

When I’m feeling overwhelmed at work, I:

Chip away at it. I never used to love lists. Initially, that used to overwhelm me, but I found that when I do have a list, especially now, when I’m juggling different stakeholders and they have different needs and they work in different time zones, I actually find that really helpful, because then I can then look at each item on my to do list and I can chip away at these small things. It lets me see what my top three priorities for each of these things are.

I think for me, it was understanding that I can’t finish everything at once, but I can make progress over the course of time when I need to get it done. That mindset helped me. And you know what? I’m not a doctor. I’m not saving lives. It’s understanding what my role is, and understanding the difference I make, but putting it into perspective. It’s not like my job is  life-changing, but it’s important. So I think just keeping perspective is really helpful, and not letting other people add noise to your head. 

I also find that giving myself my own deadlines helps to manage my own workload. So even if something’s not ready or doesn’t need to be done until Monday of next week, if I tell myself Thursday of this week, I’ve given myself a goal in mind so I don’t have everything piling up next week.

One piece of advice I would give other people in my profession is:

You are your own best competitor. Professional growth and development can be quite straightforward as your career progresses, but striving to be a better person, both at work and in life, isn’t as linear. Self-improvement can take on so many different forms, and it’s this mindset of continuous learning that I find inspiration and motivation.   

My professional motto/mantra is:

I can do anything, but not everything.

Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn.

The post How I Got Here: Sara Ng of ING Americas finds inspiration in colleagues, evolving communications appeared first on PR Daily.

The dust is settling from the 2024 U.S. elections. The news environment that surrounded the ballot casting was, in many ways, as contentious as the election itself, with rows about endorsements, debates about covering Trump’s firebrand of politics and more taking center stage and dividing both journalists and consumers.

But amid all those controversies, where did Americans get the news that helped inform their voting decisions? Even though the most intense period of interest in politics may have passed for another few years, understanding the news sources Americans use to help make big decisions can likewise help PR professionals better target their pitches.

Research conducted by Pew Research in September sheds light on the most popular political news sources. Here’s what PR pros should know.

Other and none

In this survey of 8,000, respondents were allowed to name any sources they chose. The open-ended nature of the survey means that the top two responses weren’t a network at all – they were people listing sources too unique to be listed in the overall findings or they didn’t list a primary source at all.

Nearly a third of respondents chose a niche outlet as their primary source, putting their responses into the “other” category.

This should be a massive wakeup call to PR professionals. Long gone are the days that a front-page newspaper hit or a mention on the nightly news would make your brand. Instead, people are looking to a plethora of different sources that more precisely fit their news wants and needs. Pew Research did not share precisely what these “other” were, but if you’re curious, just ask a friend. Or better yet, ask your target audience. The myriad sources they name will show just how dizzying the media landscape will be – and just how savvy communicators must be to wade through it to find the most meaningful sources.

The second largest category in the survey was people who did not name any main source. Again, we don’t know exactly what they said here. It could have been “I don’t follow the news” – a Pew Research poll from 2023 found that about 9% of Americans don’t follow the news at all, a number that very much could have increased in the last year as the news became more acrimonious.

Or it could be pointing to another problem with the news media: a lack of name recognition. As more and more Americans cite sources like “social media” as where they get news, the exact journalists behind that work can fade into the background, struggling from poor branding until all journalistic content seems homogenized in a tweet or a TikTok.

Regardless, the fact that nearly half of Americans are in their own media bubbles – or none at all – should ring loudly in the ears of media relations professionals.

What people pay attention to

Among those respondents who chose a news source, television reigns supreme. Of the top 10 named news sources, seven are TV stations, and all of the top five.

The most popular news sites for political news are:

• Fox News (13%)
• CNN (10%)
• Local TV (6%)
• ABC News (5%)
• NBC News (3%)
• NPR (3%)
• MSNBC (3%)
• The New York Times (3%)
• CBS News (3%)
• X/Twitter (2%)

In other words, a full third of Americans list a television news source as their primary way of getting political news.

This is not to say that they aren’t also getting news from local newspapers or influencers or the Wall Street Journal. Only that their top choices tend to gravitate toward television.

What is ‘the mainstream media’

Since Trump burst onto the political scene in 2015, there has been a great deal of discussion about “mainstream media.” What is it, is it bad, is it biased against Republicans. Pew Research asked about whether Americans consider their news source of choice to be part of the mainstream media. And overwhelmingly, the answer is “yes.”

Whether it’s MSNBC on the left end of the political spectrum or Fox News on the right, the majority of both stations’ viewers say they’re mainstream (88% and 61% respectively). Only 57% of viewers said that local TV was mainstream media, only 8% said it wasn’t – the remaining 34% said they weren’t sure. Of course, this is to be expected when dealing with a nebulous term like “mainstream media” which is entirely in the eye of the beholder. Is anything not on national television “mainstream news”? Or is it the prominence, prestige and power of a news source what makes it “mainstream”?

There is a strong political divide here. While 60% of all respondents said their favorite news source is mainstream media, only 48% of Republicans agreed, compared to 72% of Democrats. This is understandable given President Elect Donald Trump’s antagonism toward the mainstream media.

Regardless of political party, this survey shows a deeply fractured media environment with few clear winners. Clever PR professionals must truly understand their target audiences on a deep level to choose the right outlets – because there is no one size fits all.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post By the Numbers: Where Americans got election news appeared first on PR Daily.

As the final results of the 2024 US Presidential Election came in, a seeming win for Trump of the most contentious American election yet means that roughly half of voters are disappointed. Whether your workforce skews blue, red or purple, all employees will share a sense of unease, anxiety and stress until the dust settles. Many will for the foreseeable future, too.

While some leaders choose to stay silent during this period, those who understand how to communicate in times of ambiguity reclaim an opportunity to strengthen trust with employees while reinforcing values and redirecting focus to their organization’s big picture.

Integral’s latest research found that the younger employees are, the more they want to express their political views in the workplace. It also found that senior leaders are more comfortable having political dialogue than other levels of managers—and more concerned about political tension, too.

Those insights suggest an opportunity for  communicators and leaders alike to set expectations for respectful political discourse, acknowledge, align and assure employees amid uncertainty, and unite the workforce  around a shared mission.

“This election is a historic moment for businesses and society alike,” Golin Global President of Corporate Affairs Megan Noel told Ragan.

“Communicators considering a post-election communication should be prepared for heightened emotions and various reactions to the outcome. Avoid speculating about the potential impact of the election results, especially prior to any official decisions being made.”

Noel recommends that all post-election communications reinforce five things:

1. The importance of civic engagement and respect for the democratic process. While that’s normally been positioned ahead of election day, keeping that message alive matters now more than ever.
2. Commitment to your purpose and values “that guide [your company’s] behaviors and actions, such as integrity, respect, care, and inclusivity.”
3. Support for employees, customers and communities regardless of political affiliation or stance. This should explicitly mention “the permission to not engage in political discussion, especially during the immediate days following the election.”
4. Company benefits that support mental and physical wellbeing, “including access to resources and tools as well as inclusion networks/ERGs gatherings.”
5. Safety and security measures in place at any office locations close to polling places, demonstration sites or campaign HQs. “This will be important should demonstrations or protests break out.”

Reinforcing these messages consistently also requires tweaking them as employee sentiment evolves. “Communicators should continuously monitor conversations and dialogues that may impact their companies and brands and use that information to correct, adjust or inform key audiences as needed,” Noel added.

Putting it all together

During Ragan’s Internal Communications Conference at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, WA last month, Microsoft Director of Employee & Executive Communications and Employer Brand Amy Morris, and Senior Manager of Communications and Reputation Management Sarah Shahrabani, showed how Microsoft’s values plug into a communication framework to help the matrixed comms function manage political discourse across internal channels.

They also emphasized the importance of having messages of unity come from leaders as another mechanism for reinforcing trust, while Morris explained how her team prepares leaders with pre-vetted talking points that emphasize Microsoft’s values and equip the leaders to address timely, topical issues as they emerge.

Similarly, Noel’s recommendations serve as smart reputational guideposts for any leader, or communicator crafting messages on a leader’s behalf, to follow.

Applying her five post-election points to an employee message looks something like this:

Got any other tips for executive messages that acknowledge, align and assure employees during moments of unease? Let us know in the comments below.

Join us next week for post-election therapy as we look to 2025 and beyond at Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference.

Justin Joffe is the editorial director and editor-in-chief at Ragan Communications.  Follow him on LinkedIn.

The post An employee communications template for addressing post-election unease appeared first on PR Daily.

In marketing, there are so many activities that are tedious. Whether that’s updating dozens of banner ads to reflect new legal disclosures or writing a marketing brief,  AI is increasingly a way to reduce the tedium and increase the creativity in any marketer’s day.

Chris Cullmann, chief innovation officer at RevHealth, and Douglas Barr, AI lead and founder at PixieDust Labs, worked together to create a tool that would cut down on some of these headaches while also understanding the unique regulatory challenges in healthcare. So AgencyOS was born.

Here’s how the idea came together – and here’s what’s next.

Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

How did you come up with the idea for an AI that could give a marketing brief in seven minutes?

Cullmann: In conversations with Doug, we were forecasting the role artificial intelligence is going to play into not just the search market, but the experiential market for any industry where access to accurate information is important. In our exploring ways to build out structures around accuracy, removing hallucinations and limiting the data sets a manufacturer wants access to the most relevant information about their therapies in the context of treating patients, we started talking, very casually about, what if you know we could do this? What are the challenges inside of an agency that we could leverage these same technologies for? And from that, Doug built a prototype that was fascinatingly close to the iteration that that launched us into the solution that you’re talking about.

Barr: When we started thinking about our understanding of healthcare, healthcare data and content generation, there was a perfect lead-in to generating quality, solving some of the more complex problems within healthcare and content generation.

Obviously regulatory needs were top of mind. Data privacy, I’m sure, was a huge issue. Walk me through how you addressed some of those issues.

Barr: We put safeguards into place and privacy protection, more on the code side of things, that allowed us to maintain privacy and make sure that we were compliant with all the privacy acts and HIPAA. So that was actually a very complex problem to solve … So we had to develop a couple of intellectual property models to help prevent the hallucinations from occurring and make sure it didn’t divulge any private data, things that weren’t into market. We began with using in-market, publicly available content, and Chris and the partners there allowed us to consume that type of knowledge, which lessened the restrictions on what we had to what we were getting out of it, and to make sure that again, it wasn’t out of compliancy. So that was the beginning of how we began there.

Cullmann: I also think the partnership between RevHealth and Pixie Dust allowed us to be able to explore models that worked with incremental steps to a potentially automated future, but more importantly, one where we’re allowing our team members to completely interact and inform that model.

This allows our team members, when they’re working with the platform, to review and verify the information that’s coming out of the artificial intelligence, and one that allows us to be able to have our teams augmenting this. The brief process itself, timelines for all the individual projects that go through, especially in a regulated industry like ours, all of them need due diligence. It’s incredibly repetitive, and for organizations like ours that thrive on creativity and strategy and the human spark combating the fatigue of that day-to-day work with the achievement and the creative process is one that needs to be balanced. AgencyOS allows our team members to really focus in on the creative process, strategy process and being able to interact with our clients to be able to refine what the best solution is for them. From a communications standpoint, by removing a lot of the repetitive actions, we really are creating an opportunity for much fertile exchange of ideas and to challenge those more complex jobs, to have more time and for us to explore more challenging ideas.

Barr: The other aspect of it that’s remarkable is the fact that we’re able to take that human feedback and adjustment and through what’s called a reinforcement learning, or an RL, algorithm. That feedback goes back into the model as part of the human in the loop.

So tell me, what is the output of AgencyOS like today? You put in your parameters, you get out a brief, what does that look like? How much time do you have to spend editing and refining it? What does that process look like?

Cullmann: When the internet was much, much earlier on, I think there was a lot of nuance around search. The quality of the search returns you got were very much related to how we were able to put in search. The same thing is true when we begin working with prompts. Doug’s team has built out a process inside of agency OS that automatically refines some of the prompts through an engineering process.

It will prompt you for additional information if you leave out deadlines or requirements. It understands some of the nuances of medium. It understands what an email is, what a banner ad is. It understands the requirements of Facebook, X, TikTok from a structure standpoint. It understands what marketing objectives look like. It also understands, when trained against a specific clinical claims library, those libraries of the disease state that allow a client’s product to have a unique value in the marketplace, and all of the justification for an FDA approval that’s associated with that. All of the due diligence is folded into that claims library, which means, when trained, it can not only create emails, but also be able to create emails that are pertinent to our clients’ unique value proposition in the marketplace and its unique value proposition to a physician as to how they might choose that for a specific patient, assuming the patient meets the profile.

Barr: One of the differentiators between our platform and something like ChatGPT, where ChatGPT is a single agent. What we what we’ve done with our platforms is that we have multiple versions. Each represents a separate role within an organization. We have a senior project manager, we have a creative director, we have just a straight-up project manager, we have a strategist involved, and we have a programmer. And then we can scale these. They all communicate with each other to accomplish a specific task.

Cullmann: A product may change the indication, the solution or the patient that would be approved for the FDA  for it, … we could quickly iterate on many different changes that could be through those tactics, thus changing the speed of response we can have in making this more compliant as an industry.  When you’re a person and you spent the last year working on a specific indication, it’s very hard to pivot when you’re doing a lot of these repetitive tasks. If you had to update 20 or 30 banner ads with the label information, the likelihood of a mistake dramatically increases as you go through those repetitive tasks.

So what’s next? Now that you’ve got this tool, how are you going to keep building on it? And how do you see AI helping in that?

Barr: At Pixie Dust, we actually have two challenges that we’re looking to solve in the future. The first is more immediate. We’ve demonstrated a platform to people, and the truth be told, some of them have pulled me aside and said, “the team’s terrified.” So we have to educate people to understand what it does correctly, what it doesn’t do correctly, how people are still involved and need to be involved. We actually have to spend a lot more resources into educating people on the technology, which is kind of surprising to us. We thought, we developed this, and everyone’s gonna jump on board and use it, but there’s that fear that’s involved in, what does that do to our business model?

And the second thing was, we want to focus on what are called V]vision models. So currently, large language models are exactly that. They’re language models. It essentially predicts the next word and it writes it out. But that’s only one half of the world. The other half of the world is vision based. It’s through video, or it’s through images. So vision models are models that allow us not just that creative output, like Adobe Firefly, where it generates images. What I’m really describing is how these models see and interpret the visual world around them. For example, you can upload an image of a graph and start asking the model questions about the data points in the graph from an image. We can do that work today. That world needs to be expanded upon to make better use of it.

Cullmann: As businesses begin to use this, I think there’s a lot of initial fears: we can’t put our proprietary data into the cloud for general collection. So there needs to be a lot more nuanced understanding as to data and data rules as to, this is my company’s data. This is my client’s data. This is public data, and managing that and what platform you choose to manage that are all important elements to the decision making process as to how you’re using this to the risk and reward benefit.

The post AI Helped Me: Creating a tool for marketing briefs in minutes in a regulated industry appeared first on PR Daily.

As we lumber out of the election and into the end-of-year holiday rush, we’ve got a light week of updates – but still some significant changes. From X block updates going into effect to YouTube rebranding “comments,” let’s see what we’ve got.

X

X has at last instituted an Elon Musk-driven change to how the block feature functions. The previously announced change means that users can still see posts from users who have blocked them, though they won’t be able to interact with them. Musk says the change was made in the name of transparency and to protect blocked users from potentially harmful information; opponents of the change expressed concerns over potential stalking and privacy concerns.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is changing chat filters into more formal Lists. Now, users can group chats into self-defined categories to make it easier to find the most important conversations. Both one-on-one and group chats can be added to Lists.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is getting rid of some of the celebratory animations users can post around various life events. Say goodbye to the Appreciation, Welcome and Skill Assessment templates. But you’ll still have access to more popular animations, including New Position, Work Anniversary and Project Launch.

The app is also reportedly testing a new mobile UX, that switches the nav bar from the bottom to the top.

YouTube

YouTube announced a number of tweaks, including:

• Updates to the mobile YouTube Studio interface, including easier filtering and adding analytics directly to the content tab.
• The comments tab is being renamed “Community.”
• New audience metrics will make it easier to keep track of comments. Community Spotlight will also enable creators to interface directly with their top commenters.
• Updated, improved AI suggestions for comment responses. These responses can be edited.
• Expanded rollout of AI-generated summaries for videos. YouTube stressed that these will not replace creator-penned descriptions.

Instagram

Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced new filters to make it easier for creators to parse through DMs sent to them. Creators can filter to only see messages from other creators, businesses, people they follow, people who follow them and so on. Users can also see just responses to Stories in the inbox. Mosseri noted there was more to be done to improve the inbox, so you can expect more changes in the future.

Netflix

Netflix doesn’t usually make an appearance in our social media roundup, given that it’s not a social media platform. But this week it’s done something interesting enough to warrant inclusion. The streaming service has rolled out My Moments, which will allow users to clip and save their favorite portions of Netflix content. Those clips can then be shared with a tap to Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. Netflix notes that this new ability coincides with its new “It’s So Good” campaign. Their move to make users their primary marketers by sharing social media excitement is clever: it will not only generate buzz on social media, but it will also enable the streamer to get a whole new type of analytics to show what content is most interesting to its audiences.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post Social media updates and features to know this week appeared first on PR Daily.

From the sixth grade, Heidi Otway knew she would become a professional journalist one day. Growing up with the Miami Herald, she delved into big words, discovering their meanings along the way. As a writer for her school’s newspaper, she inspired her classmates to explore the dictionary through her articles. “I remember that moment,” Otway shared with Ragan. “I learned the power of what it means to be a journalist.”  Her innate curiosity propelled her from a budding writer for the school newspaper to an associate producer, eventually leading her to a successful career in PR and her role as president and partner at SalterMitchell PR.

With decades of experience, the president has experience in media, communications, marketing and audience engagement. Otway has spearheaded public relations initiatives, managed the reputations of leading corporations, and crafted targeted campaigns for diverse stakeholders across Florida. 

Otway also finds time to mentor the younger generation, often reminding them: “PR is not about publicity. It’s not about being an influencer. It’s really about shaping people’s lives.”

My first profession was:

My career started almost right after I graduated. I was one of the youngest members of the Florida Capitol Press Corp. in Tallahassee, Florida, covering the legislature in the governor’s office with big cameras on my shoulder, and doing interviews with policymakers. I didn’t know anything about policy, but I knew I was a reporter and I was having a great time. 

I stay on top of trends by:

I read so much. I follow everything PR Daily and PR Newswire I try to not become an expert (for every industry) but enough to be dangerous for whatever industry cause or issue that we’re working on.  I always try to stay on top of what’s happening. It’s like drinking from a fire hose, but I’m a nerd and I want to know.  I don’t like not knowing, so it’s always my goal to know enough to hold a conversation or I ask for them to tell me more.

One thing that worries me about the future of my profession is:

It’s important for people to believe that you’re genuine, especially with the rise of AI. There are challenges here, as many people see things they don’t trust anymore, even if they appear real. The media landscape has changed significantly, and I remind my clients that when we’re making news, it’s crucial to ensure our message isn’t misrepresented or just to attract clicks or eyeballs.

I like to spend my free time by:

Enjoying football. I’m a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I have three amazing kids and a wonderful husband of 34 years. We travel, and we’re having our best life. I also have my first grandchild. Family is everything to me. I am also involved in issues and causes that I believe in so I serve on a lot of boards in Florida and beyond. I just became the Americas regional president for IPREX and that has been fun. I get to be a voice for them in the global network.

A book or song that changed the way I think about my career is:

The song is “Positive” by Erica Campbell. I listen to it every morning on my drive to work. I drive in silence to prepare for the day, and then I put the song on. I sing it at the top of my lungs, and I don’t care who’s watching me. I’ve listened to that song for the last two and a half years, and that’s because I’m leading the firm. Running an agency is not easy. Thankfully, the founder trusts me enough. I take this very seriously, and I love what I do.

One piece of advice I would give other people in my profession is:

I’m big on mentoring young people. I just started a program at Florida A&M University to get more students of color into PR agencies because we don’t have a lot of people of color leading or running agencies. I tell them: ‘Go out and get as much experience as you can. Be a sponge. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Find a mentor.’ All of those things have gotten me to where I’m at. I have not gotten here by myself. I am a curious person. I ask a lot of questions. I am not afraid to ask for help. I’m not afraid to be vulnerable because I’m human. I know a lot, but I don’t know everything. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn.

The post How I Got Here: SalterMitchell PR President Heidi Otway on championing authenticity appeared first on PR Daily.

CNN has banned conservative writer Ryan Girduskyfrom the network after a contentious on-air exchange with panelist Mehdi Hasan for his support of Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas War. 

During a discussion about Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on “NewsNight with Abby Phillip,” Girdusky told Hasan, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” a reference to recent attacks where Hezbollah members’ pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in Lebanon and Syria, killing 39 people. Hezbollah blames Israel for the attack.

The heated encounter begins with Hasan saying to Girdusky, “If you (Republicans/conservatives) don’t want to be called Nazis, stop…” before he’s cut off. Hasan and Girdusky then have a back-and-forth, Hasan said he was used to being called an antisemite because he supports “Palestinians.” 

That’s when Girdusky made his comment.

Hasan, a Muslim, responded: “Did you just tell me I should die?… You just said I should be killed.” Girdusky apologized, but after the commercial break, he was removed from the panel. Hasan also left the panel during the break, but of his own choice – Phillip clarified that he was asked to stay but chose to leave.

On Tuesday, Girdusky responded on X, writing, “You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi,” but apparently can’t “if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.”

Why it matters: CNN needed to send a clear message to its guests and audiences that Girdusky crossed a line.

Viewers expect lively political discussions and disagreements, especially about politics. However, a heated argument featuring apparent wishes of violence against a panelist during a presidential election discussion is bad for the brand – and for public civility as a whole. 

Immediately following the Hasan-Girdusky exchange, a frantic scene erupted as all panelists talked over each other, with host Abby Phillip trying to restore some sense of decorum. Phillip quickly rebuked Girdusky, saying, “Ryan, that’s completely out of line. You know that.”

As Girdusky attempted to apologize, Phillip cut in, saying, “Don’t say ‘Then I apologize.’ You literally accused him…”. Phillip later stated during the broadcast: 

“A line was crossed there, and it’s not acceptable to me. It’s not acceptable to us at this network. We want discussion. We want people who disagree with each other to talk to each other. But when you cross the line of complete incivility, that won’t happen here on this show.”

After the show, Phillip apologized to Hasan and viewers on social media, stating that Girdusky had crossed a line. She also clarified that Hasan was invited back for the following segment and wanted to hear more insights, but he chose not to return. Hasan is welcome to return as a guest in the future as well.

Phillip did a great job of using her brief comments to not only diffuse a tense situation but also to shape the narrative about her program’s representation. CNN followed her lead with similar comments, showing support for Phillip while reiterating its organizational mission. The network made it clear that it has “zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air,” and explicitly stated that Girdusky would not be invited back as a guest.

“We aim to foster thoughtful conversations and debate, including between people who profoundly disagree with each other, to explore important issues and promote mutual understanding,” the statement continued.

Editor’s Top Reads

• Starbucks is stepping up enforcement of its return-to-office policy, warning employees that they must comply or face termination. Starting in January, the company will monitor compliance with the three-day-a-week policy. “We are continuing to support our leaders as they hold their teams accountable to our existing hybrid work policy,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ve made updates to our workspaces to make sure they work for the teams who use them.” This move is likely aimed at sending a message to investors that the company is working to get back on track by building culture and ensuring workers are pulling in the right direction. Even before new CEO Brian Niccol took over, the company had struggled with sales and its reputation. “This is not a game of tracking. This is a game of winning,” Niccol said during an employee forum. “I care about seeing everybody here succeed, and if success requires us being together more often than not, let’s be together more often.” While returning to office work may not boost sales figures, it will show that Niccol is making efforts to improve things. In its messaging, Starbucks has stated that its expectations for hybrid corporate employees have remained the same over the past two years. However, it’s sending a reminder to workers that they must follow these expectations. To make the policy more universal, Starbucks has tried to emphasize that no one is exempt, including Niccol, who is also a hybrid worker. The Starbucks has said Niccol would meet or exceed Starbucks’s in-office mandates. However, some workers have expressed skepticism of Niccol’s arrangement. Rob Sadow, who helped create an index that benchmarks remote-work policies, told the Wall Street Journal that workers may now wonder “do we still need to be in the office three days a week?” In light of this double-down by corporate, trying to convince mid-level employees that their daily commutes are equivalent to a millionaire like Niccol taking a private jet from Southern California to Seattle a couple of times a week might be a tough sell.
• At least 250,000 Washington Post readers have canceled their subscriptions since the news organization announced it wouldn’t endorse a presidential candidate, which is about 10% of its digital subscribers. This has sparked a crisis for both The Post and its owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, from a PR perspective. In response, some outlets, like Slate, have suggested that instead of punishing the journalists, people should cancel their Amazon Prime subscription to criticize Bezos. It was important for Bezos to send a message to customers about the reasoning behind the non-endorsement in an effort to stop the proverbial bleeding. On Monday night he published an op-ed in The Post titled “The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media.” It argued that endorsements don’t matter to voters. In the piece, Bezos aims to show that there was no quid pro quo and that he didn’t interact with Trump or the Harris camps before the announcement. While he admitted that Dave Limp, the chief executive of one of his companies, Blue Origin, met Trump on the day of the announcement, he made a point of highlighting that he didn’t have a role in the decision-making and wasn’t aware of the meeting. “I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision,” Bezos said. “But the fact is, I didn’t know about the meeting beforehand.” This statement aimed to show customers that the decision didn’t stem from a particular business interest. Bezos also tried to position the decision as a way to keep The Post an “independent voice amid a surge of misinformation. He said that, “While I do not and will not push my personal interest, I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight. It’s too important” before highlighting that his reporters are “the finest journalists you’ll find anywhere.” Makes it interesting then that he wouldn’t allow them to use their independent voice to do their jobs.
• The federal government plans to release its final jobs report before the November elections, and officials warn that recent hurricanes and strikes will skew the data affecting job growth. As a result, the picture of the economy will be unclear as many American voters head to the polls. The strength of the U.S. economy has been a key talking point throughout this election cycle, and the findings of this report will likely become a major talking point in the days leading up to Nov. 5. From a messaging perspective, Democrats need to emphasize the report’s finer points and paint a picture of the health of U.S. economy’s status. Most economists agree that the country has experienced positive trends in job growth and other economic indicators. However, some Democratic strategists, like Steve Jarding, have criticized Harris for not focusing enough on these positives and instead letting Trump get away with claiming “the economy is the worst it’s ever been” and criticizing unemployment and inflation numbers. “It’s almost like he lies so much you get tired of refuting it, and I think that’s a mistake,” Jarding said. If the jobs numbers are bad, Democrats will need to focus on explaining why they’re not as strong as they were in previous months and highlighting other economic positives.

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.

The post The Scoop: CNN sends clear message that it won’t allow hate speech on air appeared first on PR Daily.

Few brands remain at the top of their field forever. They can coast on your past reputation for a while, but eventually, it will lose its luster. Then, creative communicators need to find new ways to show their value to new generations who might see them as old-fashioned or not think of them at all.

Public relations should be at the forefront of any reinvention strategy, according to Jacqueline Babb, a senior lecturer at Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.

“Brand and reputation go hand-in-hand,” Babb said. “Being able to reshape stakeholder (customers and investors) perceptions is going to be critical to the success of any rebranding efforts.”

Breathing life into a tired brand

Sometimes a brand loses its cultural relevance – whether it’s because the imaging is a bit tired or perhaps the product itself feels antiquated.

That was the case for Anne Marie Squeo’s PR team while she was ​​chief communications and brand officer Xerox from 2019 to 2021. She described the company as having “receded from the zeitgeist for many years.”

In response, Squeo’s team decided to shift its messaging focus from its printers – “which weren’t very exciting” – to the colors they could create. With a series of videos that connected to relevant events, such as the US Open tennis tournament, holidays, fashion, etc., the team featured its print experts alongside external ones discussing various topics such as the perception of metallics and the real color of a tennis ball.

Taking a page out of paint companies’ playbook, Xerox announced it’d chosen “clear” as its 2020 color of the year. The revamped approach generated press coverage and brought a refresh to the brand, said Squeo, founder and CEO of Proof Point Communications.

Squeo said it aimed to “signal to the world that we were waking up the sleeping giant.”

Xerox experienced an immediate brand excitement, Squeo said. However, it struggled to sustain that success in part because the overarching brand failed to adapt its business model to consumer trends, leading to struggles and a “reinvention” of the company’s business operations.

This is a reminder that even great PR can only do so much in terms of driving sales. It’s important that communications objectives should flow from organizational objectives.

Reacting to a changed cultural landscape

One product Babb believes has done a great job reacting to changed cultural preferences is Crocs – the famously ugly, utilitarian clog that took the world by storm in the early 2000s.

The company originally found great success with its focus on comfort and practicality. However, after concerns about foot health risks stemming from the shoe and ridicule of  its no-frills design, the company was on the verge of going belly-up by 2009.

When Andrew Rees became CEO in 2017, he shifted the brand’s focus to making clogs cool and raising awareness about its other options, such as sandals.

The brand has turned to more over-the-top and silly product designs – such as clogs with heels and specialty themed footwear geared toward children, such as the “Wednesday Addams” edition. Crocs recently released footwear for dogs which sold out the same day.

“(Crocs) embraced ‘ugliness’ as part of its ethos, emphasizing joy and its unique style for leaning into a more unconventional aesthetic,” Babb said.

All social media images feature playful messaging that mirrors the relaxed, “who cares?” vibe of the products it now offers.  The company also tapped into a relationship with a range of influencers, such as musician Carter Vail and singer Post Malone – leading to a reemergence of the brand, especially among teens.

PR pros can use this as an example of taking a step back to look at their product and showcase how it best relates to the current cultural landscape.

The value of a brand

Babb described brands as “intangible assets with tangible value” for companies. A positive brand identity is likely the reason a consumer wants to associate with a company and makes them feel comfortable paying for a product.

A bad reputation will have the opposite, negative effect.

Abercrombie & Fitch is an example of a brand that has experienced both ends of that spectrum over the past few years.

After being voted America’s most hated retailer just eight years ago, Abercrombie worked to move away from an over-sexualized image, which didn’t resonate with Gen Z or even the millennials that had grown up with the brand. The brand’s PR leaned into shared media to announce #AbercrombieIsBack on social media, knowing the importance of changing customer perceptions of their reputation. Posts featured new, more relaxed fit clothing, such as sweaters and trendy cargo pants. 

And in that transition, the company managed to restore millennial love for the brand.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Abercrombie & Fitch (@abercrombie)

“They decided to dig deep into customer insights about the millennial audience that grew up with and loved Abercrombie and are now young professionals,” Babb said.

However, much of that good work is now being undercut by a scandal involving its former CEO, Mike Jeffries, accused of various sex crimes. Its stock price has suffered.

Abercrombie has sought to distance itself from Jeffries and his association with the company. In social media posts, A&F highlighted that Jeffries hasn’t worked there in nearly 10 years and the company also has moved on from the image he created for the brand.

Babb expressed a belief that those types of efforts to distance from unsavory elements of a brand’s history are important to withstand continued blowback.

“In a world where everything is an ad network, from the top of a taxi to the televisions in Walmart, authentic messages from humans are essential,” Babb said.

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.

The post Rebranding relevance: How PR can breathe new life into tired brands appeared first on PR Daily.

This week, we’ve got a sprinkling of new features from YouTube and Snap, some major price increases for X’s API and, of course, some Halloween fun across platforms.

Let’s see what’s new.

YouTube

YouTube has a flurry of small new features this week:

• Stickers for Shorts that allow viewers to complete a poll.
• A real-time channel filter in analytics to allow creators to better understand viewership across log-form content, Shorts and other content types.
• The ability to set goals in Super Chat, which will allow the community to come together to accomplish something, like a donation amount. Goals will come with a timer, a progress bar and rewards.
• Block certain kinds of advertisements from playing on your content at the channel level. Access this via YouTube Studio.

Ahead of next week’s U.S. elections, YouTube also reiterated its commitment to election integrity. There’s nothing really new here, save some information about sharing voter and candidate information, but the post re-states how YouTube combats AI misinformation, threats from foreign adversaries and more.

X

X has significantly increased the price of some of its API tiers. The monthly price for its Basic tier doubled, increasing from $100 to $200 in a move that is certain to price some users out of the market. The free tier includes the ability to post 500 times each month, and there is no fee for accounts that post weather, traffic or emergency services information.

The platform has also unveiled a redesigned Ads platform for SMBs. This new format incorporates AI targeting, automatic pixel tracking and bid optimization.

Meta

Meta is experimenting with the use of facial recognition in a variety of ways. First and most simply, they’re testing it to help people gain access to their accounts if they’ve forgotten a password or were hacked. The company said they’re seeing if video selfies, matched to profile pictures on the account in question, can help verify identifies and allow users to regain access to their accounts. Meta says they’ll immediately delete any facial data gathered in this process, regardless of whether or not there’s a match.

Facial recognition may also be used to combat a wave of celebrity impersonations, either for fake endorsements of products or for use in romance scams. Similarly, they’ll compare the celebrity’s public photos to the profile photo or video ads and block if they determine a  match..

Instagram

Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video update that videos that receive fewer views over time will have their visual quality downgraded. Keep that in mind the next time your video starts to look a tad grainy.

Instagram is also offering up a cauldron full of Halloween effects, including key words that trigger spooky animations in DMs and Notes, new themes for DMs and Broadcasts, and more.

Snap

Snapchat rolled out its October product updates, which include:

• Launch Snapchat directly from the lock screen on iPhone 16.
• New lenses and Bitmoji costumes for Halloween.
• New stickers focusing on Gen-Z vernacular, including “slay” and “the infamous Gen-Z heart,” which we are too old to understand.
• Footsteps on the Snapmap will show where you’ve been in the past.

Loops

A new video-focused Fediverse app is in the offing: Loops As Mastodon is to X, so Loops will be to TikTok. The app will be open-source and integrate with other apps that are part of the federated group. At the moment, it’s accepting signups – so this might be a great time to snag that username, just in case it becomes the next big thing.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post New social media features and updates to know this week appeared first on PR Daily.

Friday, just 11 days before the U.S. election, the Washington Post made a decision not to endorse either presidential candidate.

Publisher and CEO William Lewis leaned heavily on history in explaining the choice, extensively quoting a 1960 editorial board missive describing that 64-year-old decision then not to endorse. However, the paper later reversed course and has endorsed in all but one race since 1976. Lewis framed the decision as a return to the paper’s roots.

“We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable,” Lewis wrote, with an air of resignation. And he was correct.

The choice has been met with condemnation both within the newsroom and from many of its subscribers. NPR reports that 200,000 subscribers have canceled since the decision — a huge 8% of all subscribers.

Indeed, much of the speculation about the true reasons for the lack of endorsement center around Bezos and his business interests, most notably his space company, Blue Origin. The New York Times reported that representatives from Blue Origin met with presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday, right around the time the non-endorsement decision was made, leading to some to wonder if a quid pro quo was in place. Blue Origin says there was not.

Bezos reportedly made the final decision to kill an editorial endorsing Trump’s opponent to Kamala Harris, which had already been drafted.

Besides public backlash, the Washington Post newsroom is also in turmoil over the last-minute choice. A group of Post columnists condemned the choice. Some resigned. Fabled reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein publicly criticized the choice, as did former executive editor Marty Baron: “This is cowardice, with democracy as its casualty.”

Why it matters:

Whether or not newspapers should endorse candidates is a matter for journalist trade publications to debate (and they are, especially as the LA Times also decided not to endorse). Here, let’s talk about how the decision was communicated.

One major factor was timing. With just 11 days before the election, it does not come off as a principled, long-planned stance. The news that an endorsement had already been drafted (though the paper denies that Bezos had read it) further raises eyebrows.

There would have been blowback regardless of when this decision was made. But the close timing to a close election makes the choice seem like a last-minute swerve rather than a strategic move.

The choice in Lewis’ column to tie the non-endorsement to history also raises eyebrows. Sure, the newspaper didn’t endorse prior to 1976, but that was generations ago and a vastly different world of newspapers, media and politics. Returning to a stance of 48 years ago is unlikely to impress many, but strike subscribers (especially younger ones) as out-of-touch with today’s world.

And finally, there’s the issue of the billionaire in the room. Bezos purchased the Post in 2013 for $250 million and has since improved the institution’s fortunes. But that brings complications, especially in the ultimate political city of Washington. His interests in Blue Origin and Amazon are far more lucrative than the paper, and Trump has made it clear he rewards those who like him -– and seeks to punish those who oppose him. Why would Bezos take on such a risk when it was already a bygone conclusion that the paper would support Harris?

The conflict of interests here are only set to grow. We’ll see how the Post attempts to navigate this sticky situation – and tries to win back subscribers at a pivotal moment.

Editor’s Top Reads:

• In other political news, Puerto Ricans are coming into focus as a key constituency after warmup comic Tony Hinchcliffe insulted the U.S. territory during a Trump rally Sunday. While citizens of Puerto Rico cannot vote, migration has made them an important voting bloc in the mainland, including all-important Pennsylvania, which is home to 500,000 people of Puerto Rican descent. Hinchcliffe’s crude comments, which called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” have mobilized that base. Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican rapper and singer, posted a video from Harris to his 45 million followers on Instagram, scoring a key win for the Harris campaign. The Trump campaign has attempted to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s comments, saying, “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” Whether or not it reflects Trump’s view, it happened on his watch. Organizations are responsible for what guest speakers say, for better and worse. This is a reminder to vet comments beforehand – especially from comedians.
• Sorry, we’ve got even more politics. Expect it for at least another week. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck has made it his job to take down DE&I efforts at major companies like Tractor Supply Company and John Deere. And now a cottage industry is springing up to help companies defend from him, the New York Times reports, with communications agencies and consultancies building new practices around this area of corporate defense. Some of the advice these companies are touting is incredibly specific (don’t look at Starbuck’s LinkedIn or you might draw his attention, as if he was a T-rex). Some of it is much more granular, looking through annual reports and websites for triggering phrases. Whether or not you hire one of these consultants, make sure the work of understanding your DE&I commitments is being done so you aren’t caught off guard.
• Hey, we did find one non-political story for you today! Instagram head Adam Mosseri confirmed that videos that gain less traction on Instagram have downgraded quality. “In general, we want to show the highest-quality video we can … But if something isn’t watched for a long time — because the vast majority of views are in the beginning — we will move to a lower quality video,” Mosseri said in a video, as reported by The Verge. “And then if it’s watched again a lot then we’ll re-render the higher quality video.” After a user raised concerns about how this might impact smaller creators, Mosseri said that people interact with a video because of its content, not quality. Still, it’s something to bear in mind when uploading.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post The Scoop: The comms decisions that went into Washington Post’s non-endorsement disaster appeared first on PR Daily.

Bill Hicks serves as the senior associate director of leadership engagement for the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) central division, which spans 16 states. In this role, he is instrumental in cultivating leadership opportunities and actively seeking out and nurturing individuals committed to championing the organization’s mission. Through his efforts, Hicks is empowering a new generation of leaders to drive meaningful change in their communities.

Hicks joined the ADL in 2019 as the associate education director, where he played a pivotal role in shaping and delivering a dynamic range of anti-bias training programs for Pre-K through 12th-grade institutions across the Midwest. Driven by a passion for fostering inclusive environments for students and educators, Hicks embodies the belief that “at the end of the day, I can only control the effort, not the outcome.”

My first profession was:

 My first nonprofit role was front desk assistant at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne, Indiana. In this role, I managed all aspects of the front desk from answering the phone, checking kids in and out of the facility, overseeing membership records, etc. In my mind, I had one of the lowest-level positions in the organization, but I had a great supervisor who emphasized the importance of my role and would call me the “director of first impressions.” It was a pivotal moment in which I learned that regardless of title or position everyone within an organization/company has a key role in helping to advance the mission or goals of the organization.

One way I stay creative and motivated is:

 I have spent over 25 years working in the nonprofit sector and still consider myself more of a continuous learner versus a content expert on any topic. Being a continuous learner allows you to navigate changing job markets and better adapt to internal or external challenges. Beyond the professional benefits, continuous learning has been my impetus for personal growth.

Someone who has helped me be successful in my career is: 

My mother was a labor and delivery nurse for over 40 years. I can remember as a child, her waking up early each morning to prepare for her shift, and that work ethic, skill development, and focus on helping others is a model that has been present in my career journey. When she retired her colleagues (doctors and nurses) didn’t just speak about all of the babies that she helped to deliver but about how she showed up as a person each day for work. I want to add that same value to the colleagues and various stakeholders that I work with.

The key to excellence in storytelling is:

To be effective in storytelling takes consistent work and effort to not only be skilled in sharing the story but also knowing how to convey it in a way that evokes emotion in others. I often remind myself that “connection” before “content” can go a long way with an audience. Whether it is written, verbal, one-on-one conversation, small group, or large group presentation, putting in the effort to know the audience and what messages would resonate best with them is crucial. Authenticity is another aspect of storytelling that I believe is essential and a value that I try to center myself in for everything that I do.

A book or song that changed the way I think about my career is: 

About 15-20 years ago, a mentor recommended the book How Full is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Donald Clifton. It was a simple yet powerful message about relationship building. The metaphor of a dipper and a bucket helped me profoundly view the impact of our daily interactions with family, friends, colleagues, and customers.

A lesson I learned the hard way is: 

There was a point early on in my career journey in which I was a workaholic and prioritized climbing the career ladder over my own mental and physical health. Burnout is a real thing and can have significant consequences on one’s well-being. After several years of attempting to navigate professional and personal challenges, I hit my wall and had to step away from a leadership role to focus on my mental health. It was a hard decision and one that changed the trajectory of my career but also one of the first moments that I put myself first personally and professionally.

Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn.

The post How I Got Here: Anti-Defamation League’s Bill Hicks on the key to personal growth appeared first on PR Daily.

When Donald Trump steps foot into any establishment, it instantly becomes a political lightning rod.

That was the case for a McDonald’s franchise in Pennsylvania, where Trump spent a few moments serving fries in a carefully constructed political photo opp.

The location was immediately bombarded with one-star Yelp reviews, prompting the site to temporarily suspend reviews. McDonald’s corporate, thrust into the political conversation, sent a lengthy statement to franchisees, which has (predictably) become the public-facing statement for the event.

The statement notes that Trump is a longtime fan of the brand, and that Kamala Harris worked at a store in the ‘80s (a fact that the Trump campaign baselessly doubts).

“Upon learning of the former President’s request, we approached it through the lens of one of our core values: we open our doors to everyone,” the statement read. It also reaffirmed their apolitical stance and refusal to endorse a candidate.

This is an internal statement to the McDonald’s system from the US Senior Leadership Team regarding today’s visit by the Trump campaign to a local franchisee in Pennsylvania. The statement outlines the origins of the event, the company’s response, and an invitation extended to… pic.twitter.com/1GntbmDbbY

— McFranchisee (@McFranchisee) October 20, 2024

Just as the news cycle was beginning to shift away from the campaign stop, McDonald’s found itself squarely back in the media spotlight as an E.coli outbreak stemming from Quarter Pounders left 10 sickened and one dead in the western U.S. The revelation sent the restaurant’s stock price plummeting to its worst levels since COVID.

McDonald’s released a statement pointing the finger at slivered onions and pulling Quarter Pounders from stores in a number of states, “out of an abundance of caution.”

But that’s not all.

Democratic senators this week also slammed McDonald’s for price hikes, reigniting a political battle over inflation, pricing and corporate profits.

McDonald’s struck back with a blunt statement, saying the letter “demonstrates a lack of understanding of our franchise business model and contains contortions of facts and many inaccuracies.”

Three crises, and it’s only Wednesday.

Why it matters: McDonald’s is currently a perfect storm of three of the biggest storylines in America today: a polarized nation, food safety handling risks and price hikes. All three hit on the same week, and we’re sending a shoutout to the communicators at corporate. Take care of yourselves.

McDonald’s handled the first two crises with statements revealing grace and empathy. The franchisee letter is a masterclass in branding and consistency, finding reasons to welcome both Trump and Harris into the fold while also making it clear that “We are not red and blue – we are golden.” Likewise, the statement regarding the E.coli outbreak contains phrases like, “it’s the right thing to do.” They’re plainspoken but full of pathos and earnestness.

Meanwhile, the clapback to the Democratic senators contains more teeth, defending its pricing and pointing to new meal deals designed to save customers money. It’s a tonal pivot, but sometimes that’s what’s needed.

McDonald’s is working through a complex period and is far from out of the woods. But the initial work from communicators is strong and offers lessons in empathy and understanding for us all.

Editor’s Top Reads:

• The CCO of Intuit asked The Verge podcast “The Decoder” to delete portions of an interview with its CEO, fully Streisand Effecting the interview and ensuring it got far more attention than it otherwise would have. The section of the conversation in question dealt with how Intuit has lobbied to keep free tax preparation tools off the market, which got slightly heated with raised voices and overlapping conversation. Pretty typical interview stuff. After the interview, however, CCO Rick Heineman emailed The Verge, calling the interview “inappropriate,” “egregious,” and “disappointing” and asking for a portion to be removed. The Verge, which has a notoriously strong ethics policy, said no, published the emails and the interview in its entirety. This is a cardinal sin for any PR pro. If your CEO was unprepared for tough questions, you have to take your lumps. There’s no deleting after the fact and going in swinging by calling an interview “inappropriate” is unlikely to win you any friends – but likely to win you a bunch of additional attention to that interview.
• AI startup Perplexity is facing a lawsuit from Dow Jones, parent company of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, over what Dow Jones calls “massive freeriding” on its content. Perplexity bills itself as an “AI-powered answer engine” that provides digests of information rather than Google’s classic list of links. “Perplexity proudly states that users can ‘skip the links’ — apparently, Perplexity wants to skip the check,” said Robert Thompson, chief executive of News Corp., owner of Dow Jones. Perplexity is also facing a cease-and-desist letter from the New York Times over similar allegations. This all shows how seriously the news industry is taking the threat of AI. They saw the mistakes they made with the rise of the internet and search engines and aren’t going to do the same this time. In the long run, this is good for PR: news needs money to survive, and the more people read the full article with context and quotes, the better. We’ll see how it plays out in the courts.
• American Airlines has agreed to pay a $50 million fine for mishandling of wheelchairs and wheelchair users in transit. The airline tried to come out strong with a lengthy statement about how it’s improved their services with $175 million in investments and reduced complaints by 20% in the last two years – all admirable work. But despite their best comms work, the headlines all focus on the negative fine, burying the good work. In a world where many people only read the headline, the PR battle may feel lost. But consistently highlighting improvements long beyond this one tough day can change hearts and minds long-term.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post The Scoop: McDonald’s wild comms week appeared first on PR Daily.

The rise of generative AI technology has proven to be a reckoning point for communicators over the past few years. Whether you fear that it could come for comms jobs in the future, or that it’ll free up communicator workflows for increased creativity and productivity, nearly everyone has an opinion on what AI means for the future of communication.

Microsoft Chief Communications Officer Frank Shaw kicked off Ragan’s Internal Communications Conference at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Washington by demystifying the company’s AI innovations with Microsoft Copilot and explaining what tools comms pros can implement now for smoother sailing along their communications journeys.

Applying AI to key parts of the workflow

Shaw emphasized that workflows are central to every internal communications role. The opportunity lies in identifying the parts of those workflows where AI helps fill in the gaps.

Shaw outlined a simplified internal comms journey that always begins with a directive or news item that needs sharing. He said that AI can help work on the granular bits of those processes, allowing communicators to focus on the bigger picture.

These areas include:

• Creating a comms strategy and campaign plan.
• Revising the plan following feedback.
• Writing and designing content and communications.
• Revising based on review.
• Refining the comms based on audience feedback.
• Analyzing and compiling a metrics report

Frank Shaw’s workflow chart, as shared at Ragan’s 2024 Internal Communications Conference. [Image courtesy of Microsoft.]

“You’ve got to break processes down to their atomic steps,” Shaw told the crowd. “There are some things that will remain uniquely human, but other areas in which you can get an assist from AI. It can help us as communicators focus on the most important things.”

Shaw explained how AI can help pick up the day-to-day rote work that can bog down a communicator’s busy schedule, enabling them to focus on the projects that have tangible impacts on their employee audience. For one, AI can pick up many messaging responsibilities that currently fall on comms pros, including reviews and refinements.

“It’s a dream space that we’re driving toward,” he said. “We’re seeing a 20 to 30% improvement in total time to task that allows people more ability to do what they want to do.”

AI as a companion through the entire comms journey

True to its name, Shaw described Copilot as an assistant that’s able to navigate the waters of internal communications. He told the audience that just like any other part of a working person’s routine, to be effective, AI usage needs to become habitual.

“We’re all here because we’re good at our jobs — but if there was a way we could build net new tools and change our workflows through AI?” Shaw said. “For that to work, we need to make AI a habit and reconfigure how it fits in.”

Beyond the more well-known tasks it can handle like content creation and editing, Shaw suggested that communicators should implement AI as a source of feedback as well, sharing how Copilot can provide alternative ways to present a message or provide an alternative point of view for ideation. You could ask for feedback on a given thesis for a piece, or ask if there are alternative ways to engage an internal audience, another set of steps on his shared comms journey.

“Think about AI as a persona, as a sparring partner, as a brainstorming buddy,” Shaw said.

When used the right way, AI can also serve as a complementary tool that helps employees feel better about their job performance. Shaw said it’s helped teams streamline their sense of productivity and sense of satisfaction at work.

“People who like their jobs tend to perform well in their jobs and stay,” he said. “With this program, we really like what we’re seeing so far.”

Along for the entirety of the comms trip

The last steps of the internal communicators’ journey involve sharing the content at hand, monitoring it for feedback and analytics, and reporting the results back to your relevant stakeholders

Even with the help of an AI assistant or agent, a communicator’s influence is central to considering the needs of people and culture — particularly a culture of opportunity and trying new things.

“When you have that culture of opportunity and excitement, people will experiment,” Shaw said. “They will try new things, share how they failed and what they learned along the way. That’s the culture we want to build with all the new tools that come our way.”

With its reusable steps, Shaw’s map of automation’s influence along the comms journey applies to nearly any situation. Reminding communicators of the rapid decisions and judgments they will make in the upcoming election, Shaw ended with a hopeful note that leaning into the workflow while thinking about these specific AI inflection points can help comms pros breathe a little easier.

“When you’re in the hot seat, it’s good to have a set of tools that can help you a little bit,” he said.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.

The post Microsoft CCO on how AI can enhance internal comms appeared first on PR Daily.

There’s no such thing as surefire homerun when it comes to a product launch or campaign. No matter the quality of content or the product its promoting, sometimes things just don’t resonate with the target audience.

While no one likes to admit failure, there are important lessons that a PR team can learn from these situations. By understanding what went wrong, there’s a chance to make fixes that can salvage the effort.

“If you’re thinking about a PR campaign that’s supporting a product launch, but the sales aren’t there, then you’ve got to ask yourself why,” said Anne Marie Squeo, founder and CEO of Proof Point Communications.

Squeo experienced one of those challenges firsthand while a vice president of communications at IBM. By the time she joined the company, it had already  issued what Squeo described as “hundreds of press releases” about Watson, its AI-based offering. The focus of those communications was to highlight the company’s thought leadership in the still-emerging artificial intelligence space.

The technology famously beat trivia masters on Jeopardy in 2011. By 2016, then-IBM CEO Ginni Rometty boldly stated that Watson was on track for use in some form by a billion people by the end of the following year.

That didn’t happen.

The product was expensive to adopt, and it wasn’t the industry-changing, do-everything solution that it was made out to be. In fact, it didn’t work very well. As a result, clients openly expressed their disappointment to the press, and the narrative surrounding Watson as a breakthrough in artificial intelligence quickly turned into a PR and business issue.

“We really had to move quickly to understand why this was happening, what we had said, and how we had fallen short of our promises,” explained Squeo, a former vice president of corporate communications for IBM. One of her assignments had her oversee Watson, cloud & technology communications.

First things first: Determining where things went wrong

When facing a struggling campaign or product launch, the first thing to do is to perform a root cause analysis to diagnose why things didn’t go as planned.

At IBM, Squeo and her team started by examining all of its previous releases, public statements and advertising language related to Watson. The goal of the “autopsy” was to understand the extent of the problem and where the disconnect lay between marketing claims and actual product performance.

In the case of Watson, the product simply wasn’t meeting the hype surrounding it.

Often, companies blame marketing and PR when sales don’t come through, Squeo said, but if “you’ve got an amazing product, no amount of marketing and PR can hide its appeal.” She gave the example of the almost-overnight success of Dollar Shave Club.

“PR can’t fix it unless we understand and work to address the reason the story appeared in the first place,” she added.

Scale back communications to avoid brand damage

When facing a difficult campaign or product launch, Squeo emphasized the importance of limiting public messaging while working to address those internal issues to avoid doing additional damage to the brand.

Generally, if a product launch isn’t getting traction or is receiving criticism, the PR team should turn its outward-facing messaging to the successful business areas while reworking its approach to the field product, Squeo said. Any messaging about the struggling product or campaign should focus on facts and clarifying information.

Squeo left IBM in late 2018, so she wasn’t there for all the aftermath of the Watson fallout. From the outside, it felt like the company had stopped talking about Watson almost entirely. She agreed with the approach.

“I didn’t see many ads for it, and when I watched IBM’s investor days, they barely mentioned it,” said Squeo. “So, I think that’s a clear sign they’d moved on. They were focusing on other parts of the business instead.”

Don’t be afraid to try new things

Just because a campaign doesn’t hit right away, it doesn’t mean the product is bad or there isn’t a market for it. PR teams need to test and iterate, adjusting media strategies and messaging as needed based on data and feedback.

If traditional PR and marketing haven’t gotten many hits, it may be time to shift to a paid approach, where you don’t need to convince someone to promote your product, Squeo said. If the paid approach is done well, it might help the other side and make the media more receptive to pitches.

In some instances, the best strategy is simply giving more time for the campaign or product to find its audience. Some campaigns or products take longer to have an impact, especially if the product or service is expensive or a longer-term investment rather than a short-term necessity, Squeo said.

“If one thing isn’t working, you can try shifting your focus to see if you get better results by shifting your approach,” she said. “You should always be looking to learn and adjust.”

Be a thought leader, not just a ‘doer’

Rather than simply executing orders, Squeo stressed the need for PR professionals to take a more involved approach in the campaign analysis.

“It’s our responsibility to take that expertise and make it actionable and explainable to our internal partners, whether it’s the product development team, sales team, marketing team or CEO,” Squeo said.

“We need to clearly explain why we’re recommending a particular course of action, what results we expect to achieve,” she added. “If those results aren’t delivered, why that happened and how we’re addressing it.”

When facing a campaign or product challenge, it’s vital to collaborate across departments. PR teams should work hand-in-hand with the product development, sales and marketing teams to fully understand the challenges and to develop effective solutions.

“I don’t think you can do that alone,” Squeo said. “All those things play a role. It’s not just marketing and PR.”

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.

The post How PR teams can help a brand rebound from a product flop appeared first on PR Daily.

In the last month, more high-profile media personalities have announced they’re taking their talents to Substack.

From creator economy journalist Taylor Lorenz to bestselling media mogul James Patterson to magazine legend Tina Brown, these disparate professionals have all cited creative freedom as a reason for striking out on the email platform.

“I write about the attention economy, and I write about the content creator industry, and I just want complete autonomy to write and do and say whatever I want, and engage a little bit more directly with my readers, with the public, when it comes to my work,” Lorenz, a former Washington Post columnist, told The Hollywood Reporter. Other factors leading to the rush to Substack include continuing layoffs and the rise of young, Gen-Z journalists ready to make a splash on their own terms.

Substack now boasts a cumulative 35 million readers of its diverse slate of newsletters, 3 million of whom pay for content (Substack takes a 10% cut of any subscription fees creators receive). And those millions of readers are engaged and activated around thousands of newsletters on topics ranging from politics to beauty, from religion to movies.

“The engagement is higher because people have opted in, they’re welcoming it in their inbox and they’re getting it pushed to them,” said Meredith Klein, former Pinterest and Walmart communications executive who has successfully pitched Substackers.

Here’s what you need to know about this platform, successful pitches and the road ahead.

Convincing clients of Substack’s importance

One of the biggest issues Klein has found when it comes to pitching Substacks is convincing her clients that this is worth their time. After all, even big Substacks don’t have the cache of The New York Times or TechCrunch. But it does include many journalists who used to work at those outlets.

That resistance can be overcome by simply pointing to the many prominent people who have been interviewed by Substack journalists. Patterson, for instance, already has Bill Clinton lined up as an interviewee on his new Substack. So, if it’s good enough for the likes of a former president, it’s probably good enough for your principal.

Sharing metrics can also help overcome wariness — though nailing those down can be tricky. It used to be easy to share viewership data or newspaper circulation, but getting that information is harder in a digital world. Substacks are no exception.

Some newsletters do share media kits, Klein said, that include their circulation figures, open and clickthrough rates and more. But even absent those concrete numbers, there are a few ways you can reverse engineer data points. Looking at social shares and the engagement there, for instance, can help give you an idea of how the content spreads beyond its core platform. She also finds that frequently, Substack will create its own ecosystem, with creators sharing content from one to the next.

“I think that Substacks are somewhat akin to a syndicate,” she said, likening it to Yahoo and even the old days of Scripps-Howard.

The risks of a Substack

While Substacks have many benefits, they also have some drawbacks from a PR perspective. The same freedom that writers crave from the platform can mean a lack of checks and balances, without the traditional editorial heft to rein them back in. It also means that each Substack can be very personality-driven, relying on the personal brand of each journalist to get readers. That might mean a looser tone than you could expect from traditional media.

“You might get some of those one-line zingers … because they’re able to do that where (before) that might have get gotten edited out,” Klein said.

Because of that, Substacks might be a better fit for pitching more B2C or less regulated industries. It might be worth a pause before going all-in with your pharmaceutical or financial services client, Klein said. But it all comes back to researching and knowing the outlet you’re pitching.

“You might test and learn with a smaller announcement, not a C-suite executive, just to start,” Klein said.”

Good media relations is good media relations

Substack is essentially a platform, like TikTok or Instagram, that is home to thousands of individual newsrooms. There is no “pitching Substack,” but rather pitching the many publications that call the platform home.

And the same principles that apply to pitching Substack authors also apply to pitching most other media sources.

Just like traditional journalism, Klein said, Substackers cover different topics in different ways. Some might lean toward reported features, while others might do more Skimm-esque roundups that link out without doing an interview. Some might be open to being pitched while others are not.

“Do your research,” Klein urged. “Identify the Substacks, understand their format, flow, cadence. Are they analysis versus feature versus commentary versus roundup? Then reach out.”

Then, it’s a matter of nurturing that relationship into the future.

Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post What you need to know about the rise of Substack appeared first on PR Daily.