The days are gone when earned media clips and social media likes alone satisfy the executive leadership team.

The C-suite wants to know what communicators are doing to improve the organization’s bottom line. While PR has inherent value in raising brand awareness and creating positive sentiment, those things can be difficult to quantify – especially to those who don’t have an explicit comms background.

For that reason, it’s vital to speak in business language that makes sense to leaders across the org chart. To Brandy Jones, chief communications and marketing officer for the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, that means highlighting return on investment when talking to the CFO. If she’s in a meeting with her CEO or development team, she’ll focus on community impact.

“You really have to make sure that you tailor your message to those folks in the C-suite and what matters most to them,” Jones said. “And that starts with awareness – having those conversations upfront to understand business priorities and objectives, learning what stats are meaningful to them and then making sure that when you’re pitching your PR approach, you’re speaking in those same words to those individuals.”

Jones delivered her comments during Ragan panel discussion “Talk the Talk: Build Your Business Acumen and Speak the C-Suite’s Language.” She and the other panelists stressed the need to think strategically about how to tie the communications team’s efforts into the organization’s broader goals.

A part of that is showing cross-organizational collaboration. She said she can do a big campaign and even add in some marketing efforts. When promoting a new bus route, for instance, Jones didn’t just issue a press release. She worked with the marketing team to develop a multi-faceted campaign to highlight the financial value of riding the bus. It included billboards, TV interviews and even advertisements on screens on gas pumps that emphasize the financial benefits of riding the bus.

But she knows PR/marketing integration alone won’t present “the full picture” – the bus still has to show up, the driver has to be friendly and it has to be a good experience for the customer. To that end, Jones and her team work with transit analysts and the planning team to figure out what metrics the executive team would want to see. They’ll then tie that information into specific PR strategies.

If the goal is to increase ridership, Jones may create videos along the target corridors that feature local businesses or collect testimonials from partners. They may even host pop-up events to raise community excitement and awareness, Jones said. Afterward, they’ll analyze the new ridership data. If the numbers went up, PR has now proven that its work is driving bigger picture business goals.

“Measure, measure, measure,” Jones said. “Marketing’s bread and butter is being able to show that if you invest $1, you’ll get $10 back in return, along with awareness, action or whatever that means for your business model. And for PR we have to be very intentional to measure everything we do.”

Once they start to see the impact of those numbers in broader business terms, things “kind of click” for the C-suite, Jones said.

“I don’t think we need to discredit the role of PR if we can’t take all the credit, but speak to how that partnership created the perfect environment for those results,” she added.

The post How to speak the C-suite’s language appeared first on PR Daily.

The challenges communicators face are growing more complex. Understanding how to address increasingly divided audiences, blurred lines between internal and external communications and integration of AI into workflows requires preparation, adaptation and the ability to build bridges.

These ideas were recurring themes at Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference, the flagship event of CommsWeek 2024.

During a webinar recapping takeaways from the event, Mike Prokopeak, director of learning and council content for Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council, spoke to two council members and winners of Ragan’s inaugural Vanguard Awards — John Cirone, senior director of global employee and executive communications at Microsoft, and Tara Darrow, vice president, corporate and financial communications, values and reputation and executive brand at T-Mobile — about the lessons that stuck with them.

Communications priorities in the new year

As organizations brace for 2025, communicators must focus on aligning with corporate priorities while embracing new tools and techniques. This means:

• Aligning communications with core business goals. This will require balancing internal and external messaging priorities while making room to try new things and innovate alongside new products and org structures.
• Dedicating time for experimentation with emerging tools like AI.
  • “It’s about making AI a daily habit,” said Cirone. “Carving out space to experiment with tools like Copilot allows us to uncover ways to work smarter while staying aligned with the company’s priorities.”
  • “AI streamlines the repetitive tasks so we can focus on higher value work that truly drives business outcomes,” Darrow agreed. “It takes the busy work off our plates.”
•  Staying agile and anticipating external challenges.
  • Darrow’s focus at T-Mobile is guided by a three-year strategic plan that emphasizes agility to fulfill a dual mission of both driving and transforming the business.
  • Both leaders spoke to the urgency of being prepared for shifting regulatory environments and emerging social issues. “We need to be ready to engage where it matters most while staying true to our values as a company,” Darrow said.

Adapting to the ‘shattered glass’ media ecosystem

Both Darrow and Cirone agreed with the metaphor of today’s media landscape feeling like “shattered glass,” with news and information flowing from endless platforms, voices and nontraditional outlets like podcasts or Substack sites.

Navigating this will require:

• Integrating traditional and emerging media platforms into a cohesive, holistic strategy.
  • Traditional PR methods like solely relying on press releases no longer cut it. Balancing an ever-expanding array of channels and platforms requires going where your intended audiences are most active in a way that feels like an authentic fit for the brand.
  • “News is coming from everywhere—TikTok, Instagram, podcasts, social media and traditional outlets,” Darrow said. “This fragmentation forces us to integrate across platforms, from influencers to customer voices, in ways we hadn’t before.”
• Making sense of external messaging for internal audiences.
  • As employees look for internal messaging to find clarity amid the noise, communicators become the translators of this ecosystem—and how their organization exists within it.
  • “A decade ago, employees cited external sources as their most trusted information channels. Today, our internal channels dominate, which reflects a shift in how employees prioritize trusted communication from their organization,” said Cirone.

Addressing the internal-external overlap

Cirone’s point illustrates just one example where the line between internal and external communications blurs. When this happens, communicators must adapt their approaches to address changing employee demands. Employees can be your most vocal external stakeholders and move from advocate to activist pretty quickly when they feel unheard and unsupported—even amplifying internal messages on public platforms.

You can mitigate this by:

• Creating a messaging strategy that aligns internal and external narratives.
  • “The internal world is the external world now, and vice versa,” said Darrow. “It’s critical to create cohesive messaging that reflects the nuances of both.”
• Training your comms team to approach each challenge with a holistic mindset.
  • “Specialization can make it harder to see risks across the broader communication spectrum,” Cirone said. “We’re upskilling our teams to think holistically and consider multiple perspectives.”

Building bridges in a divided world

Communicators today serve as bridge builders, conveners and dot connectors who engage disparate and divided audiences through empathy and narrative.

This is made easier by:

• Using storytelling as a tool to connect and unify.
  • Darrow believes that the power of words is strong enough to bring adversaries together. “Through storytelling, we help connect people across divides, shaping conversations in ways that resonate deeply with our audiences,” she said.
• Developing frameworks that identify and evaluate strategic engagement opportunities.
  • T-Mobile’s “Lean Team” framework helps the comms team assess whether to lean into or out of conversations based on an established set of criteria.
• Grounding your comms strategies in data.
  • Darrow emphasized that this framework is ultimately a data-driven exercise. “We rely on data to understand the value and risk of engagement, ensuring we’re present where it matters and silent when it’s best,” she explained.
  • Cirone agreed and explained that data-driven decision-making moves the comms function from a tactical to a strategic place. “Communicators need to show their impact, not just their value, by grounding strategies in data and aligning them with organizational goals,” he said.

The future is unwritten

As communicators prepare for an uncertain future, there’s certainty in building skilled, diverse teams with the ability to navigate change.

“The impact of communications lies in its ability to drive change and act as a trusted advisor to leadership,” said Cirone. “Focus on building teams that complement your strengths and amplify your goals.”

Darrow agreed, boldfacing the idea that seeking alignment across stakeholders and staying agile will keep comms in the mix.

“If your feet are planted, you’re not contributing,” she said. “You have to keep moving, shifting and evolving to stay relevant.”

Register now to access the full, free webinar here.

Darrow and Cirone are both members of Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council. Learn more about joining here. 

The post Breaking through in 2025: Microsoft and T-Mobile leaders share CommsWeek takeaways appeared first on PR Daily.

Someone insists on using the Oxford comma no matter how many times you tell them not to. Brad overuses hyphens like they’re going out of style. And Janet, for some reason, insists on using British spellings..

AI can help.

If you’re using a set style, such as AP  or MLA, you can simply ask your AI of choice to edit according to that style guide. Or if you have an in-house document that guides your style use, you have two options.

For a quick and dirty method, you can simply upload or copy and paste the style document, then upload the document you want to edit and  check against that style. You can simply repeat this process every time.

Or you can create a custom GPT that only requires you to upload the style document(s) once. You can then share it throughout the organization. This requires marginally more setup on the front end but can pay off in time savings down the road. You will need a paid ChatGPT account to create a custom GPT.

When editing, ask the AI to highlight the changes it’s making so you can doublecheck its work. Never trust AI without verifying – in some instances, it may swear up and down it’s removed all the Oxford commas while it hasn’t removed a single one.

Trust but verify, always.

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

The post One Big AI Idea: Make AI your style editor appeared first on PR Daily.

From changing technology and volatile business conditions to rising internal and external scrutiny and elevated expectations despite a flat budget, the challenges are many for communications leaders. But every challenge comes with opportunity.

On that note, Mary C. Buhay, Ragan’s chief growth officer and head of councils, kicked off a Nov. 13 roundtable discussion at Ragan’s Future of Communications conference in Austin, Texas. The hourlong conversation, sponsored by Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council, focused on how communicators can assert their position as strategic value creators.

Communicators are at the forefront of change, Buhay told the group of more than two dozen communications leaders, and the opportunity to share practices and learn from one another is essential to success.

Highlights of that conversation are below. Insights are unattributed to allow the group to share freely and candidly.

How communicators demonstrate value

Buhay asked the group of internal and external communicators to share how they express the value of their work to the organization.

Responses ranged from specific performance indicators like followership on social media and growth in the number of employee brand champions to less concrete factors like a lack of negative publicity and a lessening of impacts from a crisis.

Quantitative measures are critical to proving value, said one roundtable participant.

“Define the outcome that stakeholders would like to see and then work forward to measure against that,” they said. “It’s a success if you can get business leaders to see that we are bringing forth those outcomes and changing behavior.”

The biggest challenge, another communicator said, is how to show value internally. They are working with HR and IT teams to show progress to shared business goals, such as how communications helps drive higher productivity or recruits qualified job candidates.

Communications as an intangible asset

The prevailing notion of how value is created in the organization doesn’t do communicators any favors in that effort. The classic value chain model ignores the role of communications entirely. Functions like logistics, operations, financing, product development, marketing and sales dominate.

“Communications should be integrated throughout but it’s often an afterthought,” said one communicator.

Communication is about moving a critical piece of information from one place to another, said another roundtable participant. The value is created in moving that information from point A to point B.

“It’s difficult to record long term value of things that aren’t traded in a marketplace or lack physical dimensions on income statements,” Buhay said. “Communications falls into this category. Relationships are hard to quantify.”

The language of the C-suite reflects the short-term results that investors care about, she added, but the work of communicators is long term and measured in how they increase the value of intellectual property, grow corporate reputation, and build strong relationships with customers or top talent.

Those assets can be assigned a value and help a business command a premium from customers or a potential buyer sizing a company up for an acquisition.

Establishing communications currency

Leaders care deeply about how they are perceived, said one roundtable participant. Their company conducts an annual leadership survey and sends a report to every leader’s organization with a comparison of how they perform against their leadership peers.

“Leaders really care whether their year-over-year metrics are increasing,” they said. “There’s direct value when a leader moves up because direct reports place more trust in them.”

Leaders wear their employee engagement score like a badge, they added, and other team leaders will often approach the communications team to find out how they can improve their results. That trust becomes a valuable commodity.

Sometimes leaders are too far into the weeds, said another communications executive. As strategic advisors, communicators ask good questions, clarify goals and analyze results to build trust. But that’s not enough. Communicators need to network and actively market their services inside the company.

Find executives you helped and demonstrate to others how communications became the problem fixer, said one roundtable participant. That includes translating qualitative data to quantitative results and showing a throughline to communications.

Communications may not appear on the classic value chain model that is commonly taught in business schools, Buhay said, but the way that value is created and exchanged is different than it once was.

“If we don’t assert the value of communications now, will we be squandering our golden opportunity?” she asked.

Mike Prokopeak is director of learning and council content for Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council.  Follow him on LinkedIn.

Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council offers an array of in-depth resources and networking opportunities for communications leaders. Learn more about joining here.

Future Comms Playlist

As an icebreaker, roundtable participants shared a song that described the challenges and opportunities of their work in 2025. Here are their recommendations:

The post Behind-the-scenes look at members only roundtable: Using your communications currency appeared first on PR Daily.

We may be heading into a long holiday weekend, but social media apps are still hard at work. Meta in particular seems to be working overtime to stay a step ahead of Bluesky as its momentum builds, threatening to upend Threads’ hold on the title of Twitter successor. But it’s far from the only update this week. 

Here’s what you need to know.  

Threads 

Threads’ behavior seems to be a direct reaction to the meteoric rise of Bluesky, an app that seeks to occupy the Twitter replacement niche in the social media spread. 

Among the features that seem to be drawing inspiration from the upstart are: 

• Changing the algorithm to show more content from users you actually follow rather than suggestions the app thinks you’ll like.  

• Testing new feeds that are arranged around topics. 

• Allowing users to set any feed, including Following or a custom feed, as default rather than the algorithmically driven For You.  

Threads has a head start and numbers on its side, but will it gain ground by simply replicating the features people love about Bluesky? The tactic has proven successful in the past, including holding Snapchat at bay. Right now at least, Bluesky has the buzz. We’ll see if it lasts. 

Among other changes to Threads this week are the announcement that users will no longer be encouraged to simply follow everyone they already follow on Instagram. “It looks like people actually prefer their experience if they build a different graph on Thread than the graph that they had on Instagram,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said.  

Threads has also introduced updates to search, including allowing search within a date range or from a specific user’s account. Trending Topics will also now offer up AI-generated summaries of why that topic is in the news. And in a small tweak, you can now turn your phone to watch video in landscape.  

Instagram 

Instagram is working on allowing users to completely wipe their algorithmic recommendations clean and start with a fresh slate. The move, they said, is aimed primarily at teens as they roll out new tools to protect these younger users, but will be available to all. As we saw with Bluesky and Threads, we’re seeing a move toward great algorithmic control over content and away from the strict black box content drip that became popular in the early 2020s.  

Also still in the testing phase are more tools to allow creators with crowded inboxes to better filter messages. Mosseri shared a screenshot of a number of potential filters, including by people you follow, businesses, verified accounts, creators and subscribers.  

Instagram is also testing moving the DM button to the center of the Instagram nav bar rather than create. “Messaging is used a lot more than the create button,” Mosseri said.  

X 

X has introduced the option to hide all interaction buttons on iOS and interact with the app purely through swipes. Elon Musk teased this UX change earlier this year, but it appears the app is being a bit more measured in its rollout, offering it as an opt-in rather than a large-scale change.  

YouTube 

YouTube is experimenting with a new popularity signal: Hype. Users can hype a video for free up to three times a week. Most-hyped videos will make their way onto a new leaderboard designed to improve discoverability for up-and-coming YouTube creators. The platform is also experimenting with methods for allowing users to pay to hype additional videos. Currently, this is being tested with a small pool of Brazilian creators.  

Messenger 

Messenger, Meta’s texting and calling app, has rolled out a number of improvements to calling and video and audio messaging. These include: 

• Use AI to create backgrounds for video calls. 

• Quality improvements for video calls including HD video, background noise suppression and voice isolation. 

• Leave audio and video messages when the caller doesn’t pick up. 

• Siri can now make Messenger calls. 

It’s definitely a robust refresh for Messenger.  

WhatsApp 

WhatsApp is now offering autotranscription of voice messages.  

LinkedIn 

LinkedIn Audio Events will sunset. The feature, which was created in the brief Clubhouse boom days, allowed users to livestream audio to audiences. Now, audio-only streams will have to be handled via a third-party platform. Video events can still be hosted through LinkedIn Live. 

Audio Events will no longer be able to be scheduled after Dec. 2 and the last day to hold Events is Dec. 31. 

LinkedIn has also announced Lead IQ, which will help provide salespeople with insights into the specific leads they’re pursuing. AI will help summarize “a lead’s experience, achievements, interests, commonalities, and activities,” LinkedIn said.  

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

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

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.

It’s common to think of disinformation campaigns as complex efforts heralded by world governments or shadowy organizations, seeking to advance nefarious agendas and subtly manipulate us all.

But in at least one case, it involved a group of Redditors fed up over long lines to purchase their favorite sandwich.

The Wall Street Journal shares the bizarre story of how Angus Steakhouse, a tourist trap restaurant comparable to Applebee’s, suddenly topped Google searches for the best restaurants in London. It all started with Reddit user Flonkerton_Scranton sharing his frustration over long lines at his favorite sandwich cart after influencers started touting it as London’s best.

So, London Redditors banded together to create a new “best” sandwich in London: those at Angus Steakhouse, which sports five locations in London and is “byword for tourist-trap mediocrity,” according to the Journal.

The conspirators began flooding online review sites from Google to Tripadvisor with fake praise, one claiming they loved the steak sandwich despite being vegetarian. The campaign bore fruit: The Journal said that Angus appeared in the top 10 Google search results for “best steakhouse in London,” though PR Daily could not replicate this search, save a Reddit thread that offered a thread of unanimous praise.

Angus Steakhouse confirmed that they’ve seen a bump in diners  since the campaign began. “We enjoy a good joke as much as the next person and appreciate the creativity and humor that sparked this love-bombing,” said CEO Paul Sarlas.

Why it matters: It all sounds very funny. Annoyed Redditors steer hapless tourists to anoverpriced restaurant. No one really gets hurt.

But the implications are far-reaching and frightening.

This incident shows just how easy it is to manipulate the algorithms that drive the modern internet. Reddit has become more important to Google search results in the last year: the two companies struck a deal that allows Google to train its AI on millions and millions of user-generated Reddit posts, which also appear to give it exclusive access to surface Reddit posts in search results. So Redditors – or bad actors posing as Redditors – can do quite a lot of damage to the web in the name of humor.

We’ve seen this in the past with the far-reaching impacts of meme stocks, or stocks that Reddit has decided to pump up. They can roil markets and turn companies on their head. And all of this can leave PR pros scrambling.

Even in the relatively benign case of Angus Steakhouse, people going to the restaurant expecting to eat the best steak sandwich of their life and instead getting one that’s “a hellish, tough, teeth-testing beast,” as a London restaurant critic dubbed it, can create problems. Beyond the disappointed reviews sure to follow, this creates a bad situation for restaurant servers and staff who now must deal with confused, angry customers.

Unfortunately, there is little way to counter this. Once a group of people put their mind to overwhelm the algorithm, there are few safeguards in place. And no restaurant is going to chime in with “actually, we serve mediocre steak at inflated prices, don’t come here expecting the best.”

But a strong social listening campaign can help serve as an early warning sign that can allow communicators to put together strategies to help formulate strategies for responses, flag front-line workers and help weather the storm until Redditors get tired and move on to their next big joke.

Ensure those Google alerts are up to date and that your social listening software includes Reddit. Consider creating a Reddit account for handling customer service issues as well – it’s often considered hostile to brands, but being a positive, responsive presence might head these issues off before they blow up into major meme campaigns.

Editor’s Top Reads

• Documentarian Christopher Rufo isn’t angling for a spot in Donald Trump’s administration. But he may still have a major impact in shaping federal policy around DEI for the next four years, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rufo, who has targeted both companies and universities for diversity hiring practices, is perhaps best known for uncovering plagiarism by former Harvard President Claudine Gay, which was one of several factors leading to her resignation. Now, he’ll present a plan to President-elect Donald Trump on how to withhold federal money from universities if they do not end certain DEI practices. “It’s time to really put the hammer to these institutions and to start withdrawing potentially billions of dollars in funding until they follow the law,” Rufo said. Universities and companies have seen for the last several years that DEI is changing and needs new branding and new tactics to survive. With the election of Trump as president, the urgency for those changes has ratcheted up significantly.
• The McRib is back, a periodic reintroduction to processed pork patties that garners massive headlines around the world. The latest return, which is accompanied by the sale of half gallons of sauce, shows the power of scarcity as a PR strategy. “If (the McRib) was something that was on the menu year-round, I think it would be one of those products that would probably be toward the lower end of McDonald’s menu items,” David Henkes, senior principal at food industry research and consulting firm Technomic, told CNN. But by trotting out the item periodically, the restaurant brings a thrill of excitement and nearly 13,000 headlines in the last week alone. McDonald’s obviously has a larger bully pulpit than most brands, but is there a way to incorporate a limited-time aspect into your PR?

New research from Google Workspace and the Harris Poll finds that nearly all Gen Z knowledge workers are using AI in the office – and most Millennials too. The survey found that 93% of Gen Z and 79% of Millennials use at least two generative AI tools at work each week. Eighty-eight percent said AI helps them when a task feels “overwhelming, while 88% also believe AI helps “strike the right tone in their writing.” With such strong adoption among the leaders of tomorrow, it’s certain that AI will be a lasting force in the workplace. It’s up to companies to strike the right balance between empowering workers to use these tools and setting responsible guardrails to protect the organization’s data and integrity. And it will be up to communications departments to ensure both internal and external audiences understand these rules.

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

The post The Scoop: Reddit disinformation campaign upends London dining appeared first on PR Daily.

Matt Purdue is senior strategist at Magnitude, Inc. 

On the morning of November 6, communications professionals woke up to a changed world. They learned that Donald Trump was returning to the White House, and the Republican party was on its way to taking control of the United States Congress.

Working effectively in this altered landscape has been a hot topic of conversation at Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference. Communicators who are not already preparing for the impact of this sea change in Washington risk being caught flatfooted when (not if) new policies and legislation affect their internal and external stakeholders.

A quick look at history shows that during the first 100 days of the Trump administration in 2017, the president signed 28 bills, 24 executive orders, 22 memoranda and 20 proclamations. This time around, expect more of the same beginning on Inauguration Day: Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.

Engaging with internal audiences

“Employees are now corporations’ loudest, largest, most active stakeholders,” Beth Archer, director of corporate communications for Constellation Energy, told the Future of Communications audience. Now is the time to connect with them to discern what political and societal issues they are most concerned about.

Joanna Piacenza, vice president of thought leadership with Gravity Research, offered a hint of what they may be thinking. She presented recent data from her company showing that executives feel most pressured to address LGBTQ rights, climate change, racial equity and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

At the same time, employees are increasingly discussing politics in the office. Gravity Research data saw a 9-point jump in these occurrences between the second and third quarters of 2024.

How to manage this rising tide while keeping employees happy and productive? Archer and Piacenza advise to establish consistent guidelines for when your organization will speak out to employees versus staying neutral. It’s also important to teach leaders and managers how to watch for and handle touchy political topics by flipping destructive internal discussions into constructive dialogue.

Lean on your ERGs

Employee resource groups (ERGs) can be invaluable for successfully navigating internal communications. Piacenza pointed out that 73% of companies use ERGs to communicate internally on societal issues.

However, only 41% hold regular meetings between ERGs and leadership to talk about these topics. And only 11% have ERG representatives on leadership groups that make decisions about these issues. It’s smart for organizations to buck these trends, strengthen ties with their ERGs and use them to help make tough choices.

“Use ERGs to gut-check your communications strategy and statements,” Archer said. “Hold internal focus groups with your ERG leaders to ensure effective partnerships.”

Readying for external pressures

Communicators also need to focus on reputational risks with external audiences in what’s sure to be a polarized environment. Organizations are much more liable to be criticized for seeming to support particular politicians, candidates or issues.

To mitigate these risks, the key is to boost a company’s goodwill now before a problem bubbles up. Scott Radcliffe, global director of cybersecurity with FleishmanHillard, explained that if an organization is wrongly criticized for something it didn’t do, “proving a negative” can be very difficult. “That’s why it’s important to build up brand reputation ahead of time,” he said.

Simultaneously, companies must take a hard look in the mirror to identify their potential political and societal vulnerabilities and prepare crisis communications plans in case external stakeholders call them out. “So many companies say, ‘We are good. We don’t have any issues.’ But it’s malpractice to not do anything,” said Eleanor McManus, co-founder of Trident DMG. “You need to prepare and put your policies in place.”

McManus added that conducting a “crisis audit” involves pinpointing at least the top five issues that could cause problems for the organization, then developing protocols to communicate about them. Identify which external audiences you should engage with (media, business partners, regulators, shareholders, community members, etc.) and craft messages appropriate for each group.

The experts also advised assembling a group including communications, legal and human resources teams to evaluate risks and agree on crisis communications strategy long before it’s needed – with the comms team taking the lead. “Legal tends to not want to say anything. HR tends to say things that no one understands,” said McManus. “It’s up to us as communicators to be truthful, clear and authentic.”

The post Communicating successfully amid political and social dissent appeared first on PR Daily.

Braden McMillan is director of communications at the Business Council of British Columbia. 

“We need a press release!”

It’s a request that those of us in PR and communications hear all too often. If it’s not a press release, it’s “this should be on our website,” or my favorite: “this will go viral on TikTok.”

Whether in a corporate boardroom or on a call with a client, the fast-paced world of PR is rife with big ideas and demands for fast action. Yet, amid these pressures, it’s crucial to remember one thing: It’s strategy that delivers results, not tactics.

Tactics are an essential part of any strategy, but they should never be the sole focus or lead decision-making. Pursuing tactics without a strategy is like throwing spaghetti at a wall and hoping it sticks. It might or might not work, but either way, you’re left with a disconnected mess.

While this might seem obvious in theory, it’s surprisingly easy to forget in practice. Even seasoned communicators can fall into what I call the “tactic trap,” where shiny, novel ideas overshadow strategic thinking.

Let’s be honest: who doesn’t want to jump at the chance to try something new or fire off a quick press release to appease a client? But at the end of the day, is that really what we’re here to do? I’d argue not. Our greatest value lies in the strategic insight we bring to the table. After all, even a baby can throw spaghetti at a wall.

So, how do you avoid the tactic trap? 

The answer lies in one word: Pause.

• Does your client want to showcase a new art collection exclusively on Bluesky? Pause — is that the right platform?
• Does your boss want a 30-second video on the history of brick architecture? Pause — is that the right format?
• Does your aunt want to invite media to her second wedding? Pause — is that something the media wants to attend? Is that something you want to attend? (I guess it depends on who they’re marrying, but probably not.)

Regardless of the ask, taking a pause and referring to your strategy will do wonders in keeping you on track. Ask yourself:

• Does this tactic align with my goals and objectives?
• Does it deliver the right message to my audience at the right time?
• Does this compliment the other tactics in my plan?

If something feels off, then — as Ross Geller famously said — pivot!

Remember your value

You weren’t hired because you know all the tricks in the comms playbook; you were hired because you know which ones to use and when.

When a client, boss, or even an estranged aunt suggests a less-than-ideal tactic, don’t shy away from giving your professional opinion. Explain why a different approach might work better and show how it aligns with your strategy. You might be surprised how often they’ll appreciate the guidance and adapt their plans.

And if you don’t have a strategy?

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of saying, “But I don’t have a strategy to refer back to,” then it’s time to take another pause — and create one. Good results start with a strong framework. Without it, even the best tactics are no better than spaghetti on a wall.

The post Avoiding the tactic trap appeared first on PR Daily.

Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk plan to star in a new podcast to highlight their work as co-leaders of a new non-governmental agency – the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – focused on drastically slashing government spending over the next two years.

Ramaswamy posted a three-minute YouTube video late Wednesday saying he and Musk will discuss their efforts on the “DOGE-cast” to explain “exactly what we’re doing to the public to provide transparency.”

The former presidential candidate noted that the goal is to continue these podcasts about the “downsized American government” through the conclusion of the taskforce by July 4, 2026, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Why it matters: Podcasts offer a wide-reaching digital soapbox, including unfettered access between a spokesperson and a target audience in a way that traditional earned media can’t.

Through this platform, PR professionals can control the entire message while coming across to their audience as being transparent and unfiltered.

More people than ever are listening to podcasts: 47% of the 12-and-over population are monthly podcast listeners and 34% are weekly listeners, according to Edison Research. About 23% of weekly listeners spend 10 or more hours each week listening to the medium. The media strategies of both presidential candidates this go around leaned heavily into the power of the pod. 

Ramaswamy is no stranger to podcasts. He has hosted “The Truth Podcast” on YouTube for the past year, discussing a range of conservative topics  ranging from “Uncle Sam’s Welfare Trap” to debates about immigration.

In announcing his new podcast, Ramaswamy sprinkled in popular political cliches related to transparency and decision making: “We want to bring the public along with us to lift the curtain, take us behind the scenes of what actually that waste, fraud and abuse in government looks like.”

Those comments promise the prospective audience members the ability to hear about the situation firsthand. Rather than relying on a journalist to tell the story, they’re able to deliver a message with a specific goal in mind with no outside interpreter needed.

Developing an audience for a podcast isn’t easy. The value of earned media is the ability to lean into a proven platform with an established audience. But if the content is good and it’s positioned in a way that the audience wants, there’s clearly a market for organizations going directly to the public with their own podcasts. Expect this trend to only continue to grow.

Editor’s Top Reads

• As part of its effort to capitalize on growing dissatisfaction with X under Musk, the head of upstart Bluesky is calling her platform “billionaire proof.” CEO Jay Graber used this phrasing during a CNBC interview to set Bluesky’s decentralized, open source social platform apart from X. Bluesky backend development allows a user to create a standard digital identity that they can carry across various apps. “What happened to Twitter couldn’t happen to us in the same ways, because you would always have the option to immediately move without having to start over,” Graber said. Graber is sending a clear message to current and future users: Bluesky won’t become X but instead will become a better version of Twitter. Graber leans into the fact Bluesky began as a Twitter project during Dorsey’s second stint as CEO of Twitter. Bluesky is promises to put “much more control” in the hands of users and add more transparency, Graber told CNBC. Her media blitz around the fast-growing social network fascinatingly puts both a love and hate of the same platform at the center of its pitch. Bluesky wants to be the Twitter you loved in 2015, not the X you hate in 2024. It’s a risky strategy, and one certain to alienate some customers. But it’s obviously working for the millions of people who have joined the platform since the U.S. presidential election. 
• Controversy has erupted over the artificial food dyes in Froot Loops as longtime food dye critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to become the nation’s top health official. He claims that the dyes in the WK Kellogg product can cause widespread health issues, particularly in children. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has noted that while rare, it is possible to have an allergic-type reaction to approved color additives. While permitted in the United States, these food dyes aren’t in cereals Kellogg sells in other countries around the world. Critics like Kennedy are quick to point to the fact that the bright, artificial dyes aren’t used in countries like Canada, though they are legal there. Kellogg has staged a relatively staid public response to the furor, with no reaction to be found on their website or social media and only a single brief statement from mid-November that emphasized the safety of ingredients and chalked up differences between the U.S. and Canada to market preference. Kellogg’s stock price is on the climb after an initial tumble, but this issue doesn’t seem likely to go away. The question is: are the people concerned about this issue buying Froot Loops or is it a separate audience entirely? Regardless, any company that deals with food dyes must be ready for an overhaul under a new administration – and how they plan to explain their new choices (and their less bright colors).
• A group of athletes attended the United Nations’ climate summit in Azerbaijan to discuss the threat that climate change poses to sports. “In the future, if climate change is not addressed and is not thoughtfully handled, triathlons can cease to exist,” triathlete Pragnya Mohan said. She noted delays of some events at the Paris Olympics because of heavy rains — caused by a warming atmosphere — that contributed to high bacteria levels in the Seine River, according to the Associated Press. The AP report also noted that climate change is making sports more expensive and widening disparities. Putting athletes front-and-center is a brilliant PR move that represents the real-world implications of climate change. Getting caught up in facts and figures, rainfall totals and temperature changes won’t resonate with broader audiences. By being able to say “this will affect that and here’s how” makes the content more relatable. While individual athletes may not be enough to create change, grouping them together may have the power to inspire organizations such as the Olympics, FIFA and the companies that sponsor those events to be more receptive to calls for changes related to climate impacts.

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

The post The Scoop: Musk, Ramaswamy bypass media with DOGE podcast 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.

Matt Purdue is senior strategist at Magnitude, Inc. 

For years now, the communications profession has been trying to tackle the thorny problem of greenwashing: the act of misleading stakeholders about the environmental benefits of a company’s operations or products.

But today there’s the potential for another serious problem emerging: “greenhushing.” That’s the take of Dan Thomas, chief communications officer of the United Nations Global Compact, speaking at this week’s Ragan Future of Communications Conference. The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, involving more than 24,000 companies in over 160 countries.

Thomas noted that in recent years, companies have been pulling back from communicating about environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. The UN coined the term ESG in 2004. “Sustainability is now being challenged as part of ‘woke’ culture,” he said. “In some ways, it’s taking a backseat to the traditional responsibility of companies to drive value for shareholders.”

Indeed, a recent study from UCEM noted that instances of ESG appearing in U.S. company financial reports slumped 60% between 2024 and 2023. Mentions of human rights fell 45%.

With Donald Trump returning to the White House and the Republican party gaining control of the United States Congress, many observers feel ESG will continue to be de-emphasized. It could even become a third rail for companies that feel taking a strong stand on ESG could invite criticism from politicians.

But Thomas urged communications professionals to keep ESG at the forefront of the conversation, even in the face of pushback. “This country will go through a course correction over the next four years,” he admitted. “But these problems are not going away: climate change, human rights, corruption and the need to pay a living wage. Everyone wants to work for a company that enables that.”

Over and above possible political ramifications, Thomas suggested that some organizations may be “nervous or embarrassed” about communicating less-than-stellar progress on ESG initiatives. But they should not be reluctant to share their efforts. “Everyone is looking at everyone else, but no one is perfect,” he explained. “The reality is everyone is on the journey. The UN, the financial sectors and regulators all understand that. The key is to show progress in a clear and authentic way.”

He advised communicators to become better aware of the pitfalls of ESG communications by researching how and where their competitors run into trouble.

He also cautioned that perhaps one reason ESG is becoming less of a priority is a “disconnect” in how companies communicate on these topics. “The current language does not relate to individual employees or customers,” he said.

He suggested comms professionals need to move the conversation to the human level. “Help employees and customers understand the purpose (of ESG work) and the role of the company to be responsible to the world.”

Finally, all communications about ESG initiatives should be supported with solid evidence of their impact. “Be knowledgeable about your company targets, and find clever ways to communicate that,” he added. “At the end of the day, it’s asking what kind of world do you want to leave behind.”

The post Why the United Nations Global Compact CCO says you shouldn’t give up on ESG communications appeared first on PR Daily.

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Since Elon Musk purchased the app formerly known as Twitter two years ago and implemented radical changes, various social media upstarts have sought to take its place as the premiere microblogging website.

Niche apps like Mastodon and Spill made names for themselves while Threads grew fast thanks to its integration into the Meta family of apps, including frictionless sign-on using Instagram credentials. Threads quickly amassed more than 275 million monthly active users.

But all of these apps struggled to gain the kind of cultural cache Twitter, now X,enjoyed. Mastodon is complicated and clunky to use; Spill remains small and relatively unknown. Threads had size on its side, but actively discouraged the news and political discussions that made Twitter such a juggernaut.

Before the U.S. elections, Bluesky was another also-ran. On Oct. 24, less than two weeks before the election, it announced it had reached 13 million followers. Respectable, but tiny in the grand sweep of social media.

On Tuesday, less than two weeks after the election, Bluesky hit 20 million, an explosive growth in such a brief period of time. It’s the No. 1 free app on the Apple App Store. Threads comes in at No. 3. X is nowhere to be found in the top 15 listings.

X’s absence from that list belies a small but not insignificant trend of deactivations on the platform after the election, with about 115,000 accounts going dark the day after the election. Given Musk’s tight ties to the Trump administration, with the tech billionaire spending considerable time at Mar-a-Lago and heading up the planned Department of Government Efficiency, some liberal users saw remaining on the platform to be a tacit endorsement of the new administration.

The deactivations are a drop in the bucket compared to X’s 586 million total users. And Bluesky’s 20 million total users is still less than one-tenth of Threads’. But the activity on Bluesky is quickly taking on even the Meta Goliath. Similarweb reports that Bluesky’s daily active use has nearly reached that of Threads, indicating that while Bluesky might be smaller, at least for now, its users are much more engaged. That’s the double-edged sword of Threads’ tactic of getting Instagram users to sign up: it’s very easy to do … and very easy to forget.

Bluesky’s rapid growth has many PR professionals taking notice. Here’s what you should know right now.

Brands on Bluesky

So far, few major consumer brands have set up shop on Bluesky, though you will find a number of parodies knocking about, or people squatting on desirable account names.  To that end, even if you aren’t ready to post on Bluesky now – or ever – this is the time to claim any and all relevant usernames to protect your brand and prevent imitators. Likewise, setting up a few general searches for brand listening purposes is always a good idea, even if you aren’t active on the platform.

The lack of brands on Bluesky contributes to its current, cocktail party-like feel that many have likened to the early days of Twitter, before brands put themselves into the middle of every conversation. People are talking to one another in a way that feels both retro and refreshing.

Amy Brown, a social media strategist and writer made famous by her work on Wendy’s early Twitter account, said that before brands get involved on Bluesky, they should consider what they can add to the conversation beyond just pushing their product.

“The biggest question brands should be asking is: Would we bring some sort of value to the communities currently occupying the platform?” Brown told PR Daily. “Brands I’ve seen find success so far offer some sort of utility, like news publications or the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. But I do not think it’s gonna go well for a sassy brand to jump in with a, ‘rt if you love the breakfast crunchwrap’ or whatever.”

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is, indeed, on Bluesky, offering up a surrealist, memey take on government communications, replete with bad graphic design (though they challenge users to “please submit a better version of the graphic for review” if they think they can do better). But even amid the absurdity, they’re sharing good information: an image of a roasted turkey on a horse accompanies information about not burning down your house deep frying a bird. News you can use!

The media on Bluesky

Media sources have also migrated to Bluesky. Some, most notably NPR and The Guardian, had abandoned X altogether and Bluesky provides an alternative without Musk’s hostility to the mainstream media. Here, the activity largely mirrors the precedent set on X, with journalists sharing links to content as well as threads with additional information. Images and videos up to 60 seconds long can also be shared.

But perhaps more valuable for PR professionals are not the branded media accounts but the individual journalists who are using the site. X used to allow an incredible opportunity for PR practitioners to forge relationships with journalists, but some began to drift away from the more hostile environment. Many seem re-energized to be on Bluesky, actively posting and accessible once again. Prominent journalists now active on Bluesky include Kara Swisher, Oliver Darcy and Joy-Ann Reid, to name only a few.

PR pros on Bluesky

“I don’t think brands should jump in and establish a presence on Bluesky right away, especially if the intent is to replicate a Twitter or Threads strategy on the platform,” Brown advised. “I do think your social media manager should probably be there in a personal capacity, learning about the platform and evaluating if it’s a fit.” That advice also serves many PR pros well, who need to keep their pulse on the finger of what’s new and what’s next.

If you’re feeling exhausted by the proposition of starting a new social account and building from the ground up, you’re not alone. Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Starter Packs are a solid way to find new people to follow so you don’t find yourself staring into an empty feed. Bluesky allows you to have multiple homefeeds, including people you follow, suggested content or content focused around specific topics. Starter Packs can offer you both custom feeds or recommended people to follow, allowing you to customize your timelines exactly how you please. These are user curated lists that can make adjusting to life in Bluesky much easier. Here’s a Starter Pack of journalists and another of comms professionals.
• There’s no foolproof way to port follows from X to Bluesky. If you want to replicate some of the experience, however, the Sky Follower Bridge can help. It scans your X followers and does its best to identify which users also have Bluesky accounts. From my experience, it’s a bit hit or miss. It works best if people have the same usernames on both platforms, but can get confused if someone has a common name, for instance confusing my follow of a journalist named “Robert King” with a TV producer of the same name. Still, it helped me feel like I at least knew some kids in my new school. You will have to give it your Bluesky password, so take that safety into account.
• It’s OK to lurk. It remains to be seen if Bluesky will become a major social media force or a niche, liberal-leaning silo while X occupies the same space to the right. Regardless, it’s important to understand this movement and what it may mean for the future of social media.

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

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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.

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Struggling British carmaker Jaguar has launched a flashy rebranding effort that aims to lure a young, posh audience.

The ad features a group of androgynous models in bright clothing and a techno-inspired soundtrack. The tagline? “Copy nothing.” The one thing missing, as NBC News pointed out, is the cars.

The campaign is part of a broader rebrand that includes a reinvention of its lineup of vehicles as well as a new logo that emphasizes the British pronunciation ( “jag-you-are”). The company also recreated its classic logo and is getting rid of its iconic leaping cat emblem and hood ornament in favor of a badge.

“New Jaguar is a brand built around exuberant modernism,” Gerry McGovern, the company’s CCO, said in a release. “It is imaginative, bold and artistic at every touchpoint. It is unique and fearless.”

The moves come as Jaguar looks to reclaim its historic marketshare as a luxury auto manufacturer. Last year, it sold fewer than 67,000 cars worldwide.

Why it matters: A brand is the heart and soul of a company. It’s how customers have come to interpret and relate to it. Any change – whether it’s new packaging or a revamped logo  – will alter  how people view it.

For Jaguar, the change is a particularly delicate balance. On the one hand, the company has represented ultra-luxury and excellence in automotive engineering for more than 100 years. On the other, that’s no longer resonating with its car buyers.

Rawdon Glober, Jaguar’s managing director, described the new approach as a “complete reset” of the brand, setting customers up to know that something new and exciting is around the corner.

“To bring back such a globally renowned brand we had to be fearless,” Glober said. “Jaguar is transformed to reclaim its originality and inspire a new generation.”

As part of its campaign, Jaguar doesn’t include a single car in its ads. The focus is on trying to sell a sexy new vibe ahead of the unofficial unveiling of one of its new EVs at Miami’s Art Basel in early December. But that might be a hard sell when you’re talking about cars that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Jaguar should be saying … some version of ‘our cars are engineered to the gills and go very very fast’… Art school grads simply aren’t associated with elite engineering ability, I’m sorry,” Lulu Cheng Meservey, co-founder of Rostra PR group, wrote in a lengthy post on X. She criticized Jaguar for a lack of innovation in the field and unclear market positioning. 

“Lastly, Jaguar simply failed to read the room,” Cheng Meservey continued. “We are in an era of NOSTALGIA. People want to RETVRN. Tradition, heritage, and classics are more in demand than they’ve been for a long time.”

In response to criticisms on social media, Jaguar framed the campaign as “a declaration of intent” about its move toward that “exuberant modernism” aesthetic. 

Bottom line: When a brand is struggling, sometimes that requires taking a risk. While legacy can be incredibly valuable in the marketplace, if it’s not working with customers, something needs to change.

Editor’s Top Reads

• Germany’s national soccer team plans to stop making political statements after a disastrous 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The German team – and others – had criticized the host country over human rights concerns. “We saw in Qatar that too many political issues can harm a team,” Coach Julian Nagelsmann said Tuesday. It can be challenging for businesses or brands to “leave politics out of it.” Even well-intentioned protests or symbols can distract the team from broader goals – in this case, winning games. Of course, an organizational policy can’t control the views and personal actions of employees, in this case players. Germany captain Joshua Kimmich has said the team’s gestures in Qatar “took away from the joy of the tournament.” Yet, his sentiment may not reflect the views of his teammates. It’s a delicate balance, especially when an employee’s work requires them to do something that may be at odds with their personal values – in this case, supporting the economy of a country with a history of human rights violations. There are no easy answers except to move forward with compassion, thoughtfulness and an eye on the end goal.
• Young adults are increasingly getting their news from social media influencers. Nearly 40% of American 18- to 29-year-olds get their news regularly from online “news influencers” who post about current events, according to a Pew Research Center study published on Monday. That compares to about 21% of all adult Americans. News influencers are mostly men (63%) and more of them explicitly identify as right-leaning compared to left-leaning (27% vs. 21%), per Pew. Among those who get news from influencers, 65% reported that it shapes their understanding of current events and civic issues. The survey results shouldn’t come as a major surprise. Influencers have become a powerful element of messaging strategies given their ability to engage with audiences over an extended period of time. Communicators should use this information as a framework for building out their influencer pool and making content decisions.
• The Department of Justice plans to request that the antitrust trial judge order Google to sell its Chrome browser. A judge recently ruled that Google’s search monopoly is illegal, given Chrome’s dominant position. If Google has to separate from Chrome, it could reshape the browser market, giving competitors like Safari and Firefox more of a chance. More importantly, “(g)overnment officials are saying they want to give content-producing websites more control over whether Google’s AI products can access a site’s content to use it for training its AI model or get ‘surfaced’ as part of an AI search answer,” as reported by Inc. PR and marketing professionals should closely follow this developing lawsuit, as its outcome may have a major influence on content marketing, SEO and how we use the internet.

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

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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! 

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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.

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The days following a big event can feel anti-climactic. But having just wrapped up Ragan’s Communications Week, I am lifted up rather than let down.

Something special was in the air last week at the Future of Communications Conference in Austin. That shared oxygen is fueling some much-needed optimism about the state of society and the future for communicators.

Our theme this year for CommsWeek was “All Together Now.” What seemed a bit Pollyanna-ish leading up to the event became prophetic once we gathered 800+ people in the Hyatt Regency to learn, network and get a break from the routine.

Of all the outcomes from CommsWeek — be it advancing communicators around crisis management, brand storytelling, AI, employee engagement (I could go on and on!) — the biggest outcome just might be our success at bringing people together.

So much of a communicator’s role exists behind the scenes, elevating a story, a person, an issue. During CommsWeek, attendees elevated one another. They took center stage.

There was a palpable recognition among fellow attendees: We see you, we hear you, we have each other’s backs. The more we lean on the wisdom of this crowd the taller we stand.

This is the magic of live events.  No language learning model can replace eye contact, a handshake, a hug, collective laughter.

I see a near future where AI will improve productivity so significantly that more time  becomes available for human interactions like these.

What’s working?

I talked to many execs last week who shared how much they missed seeing their co-workers and peers. Going into the office has become novel for some. We’re still working through the calculus of three days, two days, fully remote. It all adds up to less human connection than in decades past.

In an inarguably divisive time, we came together last week and broke bread with people whose ideologies were outshined by their identities as communicators and as storytellers.

To simplify: We need to make connecting a more intentional act, for ourselves and for those in our organizations.

I am fortunate to be part of a “moving office” that allows me to hang out with my Ragan team in person as we hold conferences and other events nearly every month of the year. There is nothing more satisfying for me than seeing my team work together and bond. They even include me in some of their jokes. But connection is no laughing matter: it’s mission critical.

Communications Week’s success will be complete if we managed to not only connect the dots on the tough issues but also helped comms leaders connect with one another. Let me know if we met our goal.

And if we haven’t met yet in person, let’s meet soon.

Don’t miss out next year — Future of Communications 2025 will be held Nov. 12-14 back in Austin, Texas. Register today! 

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Last week it was a bit quiet on the social media update front, but the apps are making up for it now.

Not only are there plenty of updates to the platforms, there is also a realignment happening. X challenger Bluesky is seeing explosive growth in the wake of the U.S. election, adding 1 million users a day and breaking the 19 million user mark. While that’s still dwarfed by the more mainstream social platforms, it’s growth worth watching (and parking your handle).

Here’s what’s happening elsewhere across the social media landscape.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is introducing a feel-good feature where users can indicate if they are Open to Volunteer. Users can select causes they’re passionate about, the skills they bring to the table and other information about their volunteering preferences. From there, organizations can reach out and find new people to help make a difference. LinkedIn will also surface more relevant volunteer opportunities for those who have opted in.

TikTok

Another week and more AI tools are being added to social media platforms. This week, our first is TikTok. Their new Symphony Creative Suite will allow advertisers to create videos using product information or a URL. The videos are clearly labeled and use only copyright cleared assets, TikTok said. Custom avatars can also be created by uploading videos of spokespeople (with their consent). For an additional layer of protection against images being used without permission, spokespeople must approve every video before it goes live.

Symphony Creative Suite can also be used to translate and dub content into other languages.

TikTok is also making it easier to add affiliate links by automatically placing a link in the comments of a video. This is a setting that must be toggled on before the post is made public.

Finally, TikTok hopes to drum up more interest in its photo app Lemon8 by creating a single logon system. The two will remain separate apps, TikTok said, but users won’t need to create a separate account for Lemon8. This is surely an attempt to reduce friction and encourage more users to give the photo app a try.

Instagram

Instagram has a few app tweaks this week, including:

• You will no longer be able to follow hashtags in your feed after Dec. 13. Existing tags you follow will no longer be visible. It’s unclear whether or not you’ll still be able to search with hashtags or if this change only impacts following from directly in-feed.
• Story highlights will be moved to a dedicated tab on the profile grid.
• Instagram is making it easier to see which accounts follow you that have been deactivated. This is handy for purging follower lists of dead accounts to get accurate numbers for reporting or influencer deals.
• Finally, you may soon be able to turn an image into an AI-generated profile photo from within Instagram, if that’s a thing you want to do for some reason.

Facebook

Facebook is following in Instagram’s footsteps by making views its primary metric for distribution. According to the app itself, views measure “the number of times a reel or video was played or the number of times photo or text posts were on screen.” Views will replace plays on reels and videos and impressions for stories, text and video posts. On the one hand, this might make reporting easier when you have apples-to-apples comparisons across platforms and you aren’t juggling terminology across post types. On the other, it could reduce nuance in measurement and attempt a one-size-fits-all approach that may not always work.

YouTube

YouTube is continuing to build its Shorts brand. Notable for communicators, YouTube says that 40% of Shorts users don’t use similar services like Reels or TikTok, making them a valuable and unique audience. New ad formats and ad controls will give more options for advertisers, while Stickers will enable retailers to show off product automatically based on their catalog.

YouTube’s new Jewels are a way of paying creators during live vertical streams. Users can gift their favorite creators with these Jewels and give them real cash. One “Ruby” is the equivalent of 1 U.S. cent.

Users will also be able to set reminders about Live streams or Premieres 24 hours in advance.

Threads

More than a year after launch, Threads continues to roll out new features in a bid to become the best X knockoff there is. This week, they’ve announced testing of interests feeds. Alongside For You and Following, these new feeds will allow users to track topics, like Soccer or Men’s Fashion.

In a boon for social media managers, you can now save up to 100 drafts on mobile.

Snapchat

Snapchat has introduced a number of new family friendly features for their younger users. Among these are the ability for parents to track their child’s location using Snap Map – or parents to share it as well. Parents will also be able to set three chosen locations – think school, home or work – and see when their child departs those locations. Finally, parents will be able to see who else teens have shared their locations with.

Pinterest

Pinterest is going heavy on holiday gift guides this year. Featuring more than 1,000 celebrity-curated guides, users can easily tap to add items to a wish list, save with a tap and more.

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

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For decades, many communications strategies focused on getting a story in the New York Times or creating catchy commercials that sparked conversations around the water cooler.

But times have changed, according to Amanda Coffee, a seasoned communications leader. Today, communicators need to focus just as much on authenticity and giving a glimpse into what brands stand for. A big part of that is providing reporters and customers alike with candid access to key company representatives.

“Access can mean meeting a CTO or CFO, but it can also mean meeting the people on the front lines,” Coffee said during Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference in Austin, Texas.

Coffee’s presentation – “Comms This, Not That: (and Tactics You Should Sunset)” – outlined a series of “what’s in, what’s out” elements ranging from the switch from press releases to social-focused strategies and moving from scripted messaging to content that’s more “real” as Coffee put it.

Audiences, especially the highly prized 16-to-24 age group, crave genuine engagement from companies and brands. Coffee believes this current generation is prone to dismissing corporate jargon from company spokespeople and slick social media content. So, instead, companies should tap into messaging and communications channels that allow them to engage their audiences in a more genuine way.

New media landscape is all about personalities

Coffee, who previously led global communications for brands like PayPal and Under Armour, believes the modern media landscape is making it easier to achieve engagement goals. The rise of podcasts, Substack and other nontraditional media platforms provides a way to connect with hard-to-reach audiences.

Journalists like Casey Newton and Taylor Lorenz, as well as podcasters like Alex Cooper, have the power to resonate with their audiences because they’re trusted messengers who tend to be more conversational and personal.

“What I love about podcasts is that there’s minimal editorial input,” said Coffee, currently a comms strategist. When working with traditional business media like the Wall Street Journal, the reporter typically covers the market or financial aspects of the story, which requires a certain level of tension.

An executive might provide a great quote that highlights the direction of a business, but reporters will put it in a broader financial context, causing the brand to lose some control over its messaging.

“When it’s a podcast, they really can’t add the editorial because it’s your spokesperson’s language, and you can really, like focus on the topics,” Coffee continued. She pointed to President-elect Donald Trump’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast and Vice President Kamala Harris’ appearance on “Call Her Daddy.”

Coffee advises communicators to explore podcast, newsletter and social creators who align with company values or provide platforms for sharing their story. They should use social engagement figures and audience demographics to potentially change the minds of leadership who may not understand the value of these platforms as viable media channels.

“We’re moving away from the mindset of only wanting print coverage,” Coffee said.

Stories from the front lines

Traditionally, it’s leadership who appear in media interviews or social content. But Coffee believes empowering employees as brand ambassadors has real value.

In the past, she and her team identified “culture carriers” within the organization and provided them with the tools and resources to share their stories on behalf of the company. Coffee suggests looking at corporate values like innovation and inclusion, and then finding the people who best represent those values. Employee resource groups are a great place to find culture carriers, Coffee noted.

These individuals need media training, but they can share their stories on social media, and the company can amplify that content. By doing so, companies show they support their staff and give them a voice, emphasizing the “show, not tell” aspect of their corporate values.

Coffee gave the example of mothers who took a big career gap and returned to PayPal. The comms team media-trained these employees, and they went on to appear on the Today Show, Marie Claire, CNET and more to talk about their experiences with PayPal’s Recharge program, which provides paid training to female technologists reentering the workforce.

At Under Armour, Coffee highlighted designers and former athletes who created footwear and football uniforms. Not only were they able to provide more in-depth analysis about the product than an executive likely could, but it also kept the conversation on track.

“What I love about using subject matter experts is it’s low risk,” Coffee said. “They can’t ask you about a lawsuit or the last earnings call; they’re like, ‘All I know is how we made our football pants from yoga innovations.’”

Instead of looking for the most senior-level person, consider entry-level engineers and designers, or even interns, Coffee said.

“That’s who people want to hear from,” Coffee said. “If you have someone at the front of a trend sharing their story, you almost don’t need the CEO.

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

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Quick, think of Tropicana orange juice.

You’re probably picturing a clear plastic carafe with a long, slender neck bearing an image of a straw-punctured orange.

But a new change has upended that clear branding position — and is costing the company big bucks.

CNN reports that Tropicana replaced its iconic carafe over the summer with a new container sporting a much shorter neck. That design is meant to reduce the plastic used in manufacturing and to make it easier for customers to pour. Notably, the bottle also holds just 46 ounces of orangey goodness, down from 52 ounces in the old bottle.

To compensate, the new bottle is intended to retail for 70 cents less than its predecessor — a good deal, given that you’re getting 11% less juice but paying about 15% less. However, some stores reportedly have not taken the manufacturer’s suggested retail price and are selling the new, shrunken bottles for the old price, leading to accusations of shrinkflation.

Customers also claim the new bottles are harder to pour and that they just don’t look as nice.

The fallout has been tangible. As of October, sales of Tropicana were down 19% year over year. It has yielded up to 4% of its market share to competitor Simply Orange.

Why it matters: Multiple hot-button topics are converging into one single snafu.

The topic of shrinkflation, or getting less product for the same cost, has dominated the conversation for years now, and customers are fed up. Major players like PepsiCo, which owns Lay’s and Doritos, have added volume back to their snacks to lure customers back. But in this case, Tropicana’s guidance on pricing has been ignored, leaving customers with less juice.

There’s also the emotional attachment people feel to the ubiquitous items they use every day. Tropicana differentiated itself with a bottle that conveyed freshness and familiarity, then took it away.

The CNN article notes that Tropicana has faced backlash before over packaging changes. In 2009, it changed its logo from that orange with a straw to a basic glass of orange juice.

Consumers were having none of it. Sales plummeted 20%. The logo was rolled back just six weeks later.

This time, it’s unlikely to back down so quickly — it’s far more expensive to change a bottle design than a label.

“Changes can take time, and after just a few months, we’re continuing to do what we can to help shoppers get accustomed to our new look,” a spokesperson told CNN, saying in-store elements and advertising were helping to tell their new story.

People are change averse, and sometimes they’ll quickly adjust. But a 19% sales decline is worrisome on every level. More storytelling and explanation on the front-end could have helped ease the transition, as well as research beforehand to understand the attachment to the old bottle.

We’ll see if customers give it a fair squeeze.

Editor’s Top Reads

• President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Karoline Leavitt to serve as his press secretary. At just 27, she’ll be the youngest person ever to command the briefing room podium. She previously served as Trump campaign press secretary. Before that, she made history as the youngest-ever candidate for Congress, though she lost the New Hampshire race. She endeared herself to Trump and MAGA world when she was kicked off CNN for impugning the impartiality of the network’s journalists. This likely sets the tone for Leavitt’s relationship with the press: fiery and antagonistic. During Trump’s first term, he had four press secretaries, many of whom went on to become household names, like Sean Spicer and Sarah Sanders, who now serves as governor of Arkansas. How will Leavitt’s star rise — or fall?
• Social network Bluesky is exploding in popularity as users, especially liberal ones, move away from X in the wake of the presidential election. In just a week, the platform’s user base doubled to 15 million, the New York Times reported. Bluesky Chief Jay Graber said the platform is setting itself up as David versus Goliath, making pledges not to use content to train AI (a notable departure from most other major social networks today) and to keep its open-source ethos. “The state of most social platforms right now is that users are locked in and developers are locked out,” Graber told the Times. “We want to build something that makes sure users have the freedom to move and developers have the freedom to build.” Those are noble aspirations for a platform in its infancy, but those pledges can come back to bite as companies grow and scale. People will remember what Bluesky says now — so best to tread lightly and not make promises they can’t keep. On the other hand, make sure you at least reserve your Bluesky company username, even if you aren’t ready to use it just yet.
• CoverGirl, which became famous as supermodels put the face in their walk, is now pivoting to make influencers the bread and butter of its marketing over glossy magazines and runway looks. One way they’re encouraging more influencers to feature their products in videos is by offering them access to their social media filming studio, glamorously located in the Empire State Building. One influencer given access to the space and profiled by the Wall Street Journal has just 17,000 followers. But wooing these micro influencers can make a big impact for a small price tag and earn a loyal following without needing to pay the likes of Tyra Banks or Christie Brinkley for similar promotions.

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

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Though the premise of this story falls in line with something satirical publication The Onion might publish, this news is real: The Onion has purchased Alex Jones’ notorious right-wing conspiracy content site InfoWars, with plans of relaunching it next year as a satire of its former self.

According to a report from the AP, The Onion won the rights to Infowars in a bankruptcy auction resulting from the $1 billion ruling against Jones for defaming family members of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting. The purchase was reportedly done with the blessing of the Sandy Hook families, and includes plans for the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety will advertise on the new, joke version of Infowars.

In typical Onion fashion, the satire site confirmed the purchase in a blog post from the totally real and not-at-all fictional CEO of The Onion’s parent company Global Tetrahedron, “Bryce P. Tetraeder”, who outlined why the move was made:

Founded in 1999 on the heels of the Satanic “panic” and growing steadily ever since, InfoWars has distinguished itself as an invaluable tool for brainwashing and controlling the masses. With a shrewd mix of delusional paranoia and dubious anti-aging nutrition hacks, they strive to make life both scarier and longer for everyone, a commendable goal. They are a true unicorn, capable of simultaneously inspiring public support for billionaires and stoking outrage at an inept federal state that can assassinate JFK but can’t even put a man on the Moon.

The purchase includes the rights to the Infowars video archive, social media accounts, website, and studio in Austin, Texas.

Why it’s important

Whenever a big shift in the media landscape happens, communicators take notice. But one like this is particularly notable.

The Onion, long known for lampooning people and symbols of power in American society, simultaneously made a joke out of Jones and his vitriolic content mill by shutting it down and providing the proceeds to the Sandy Hook families that he so disgustingly disparaged. But The Onion took it even a step further with its plans to relaunch Infowars as a satire of its former self.

Here at Ragan, we write a lot about sticking to your organizational values. What that means obviously differs pretty greatly by company. But seeing The Onion do right by both the Sandy Hook families in making this purchase AND nailing a pretty great joke? That lines up on two levels. Even the blog post The Onion released from it’s “CEO” has the fingerprints of “America’s Finest News Source” all over it.

When big change happens, stick to your morals and your company values when you’re communicating about it. You stand a pretty good chance of getting it right that way.

The real executive comms play

While Bryce P. Tetraeder doesn’t exist, Ben Collins, the CEO of The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, very much does. Collins made the media rounds yesterday, telling The New York Times:

“We thought this would be a hilarious joke,” Mr. Collins said. “This is going to be our answer to this no-guardrails world where there are no gatekeepers and everything’s kind of insane.”

Mr. Collins said that the families of the victims were supportive of The Onion’s bid because it would put an end to Mr. Jones’s control over the site, which has been a fount of misinformation for years. He said they were also supportive of using humor as a tool for raising awareness about gun violence in America.

“They’re all human beings with senses of humor who want fun things to happen and want good things to take place in their lives,” Mr. Collins said. “They want to be part of something good and positive too.”

With a fake CEO’s inflated satirical message complementing Collins’ real and immediate explanation of strategy, The Onion boosted its purpose and brand affinity in one satiric swoop.

Building off the values espoused ironically in the publication’s most popular and recurring fake headline, “‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens”, this is an example of an executive comms play where form follows function, function ties back to purpose, and brand identity is harnessed for good.

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

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

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