Two chief executives at food and beverage industry giants have recently landed themselves in the public opinion doghouse for their comments on the price of food.

WK Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick said in a CNBC interview that his company has found success suggesting cereal as an affordable dinner. “If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they otherwise might do, it’s going to be much more affordable,” Pilnick said. He pointed out that a bowl of cereal with fruit can cost less than $1 a bowl.

“Squawk on the Street” host Carl Quintanilla noted that that messaging might “land the wrong way,” though Pilnick quickly waved that away. “It’s actually landing really well right now,” he said.

That quickly changed.

Many news headlines compared Pilnick’s statements to “let them eat cake,” a flippant phrase wrongly attributed to Marie Antoinette. Users on forums like Reddit pointed out that cereal is no longer affordable, often clocking in at $6 a box for name-brand varieties like Kellogg’s. Additionally, cereal is not a nutritional substitute for a dinner with a protein, starch and vegetable, even if it is more affordable.

Pilnick’s ill-considered remark also smacks of former Nestlé CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe’s statement in the 2005 documentary “We Feed the World” that the notion of water a human right is an “extreme solution.”

Fast food chain Wendy’s also ran into internet ire when CEO Kirk Tanner said during an earnings call that the restaurants would roll out new menu boards that feature “dynamic pricing.”

It was a passing comment during a longer earnings call, but media outlets seized on the phrase and interpreted it to mean “surge pricing” — a supply-and-demand model that explains why you pay more for an Uber when it’s raining after an NFL game ends.

Customers were indignant at the idea of a Baconator jumping in price at lunch time. Wendy’s quickly walked back the remarks with a statement that read, in part: “This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants. We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most. Any features we may test in the future would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members.” The statement went on to stress that the dynamic pricing would offer discounts, not price bumps.

Let’s take a deeper look at why these CEO remarks, perhaps harmless on their face, landed so badly.

1. The moment matters.

Consumers are tired. They’ve endured years of inflation and price increases blamed on supply issues and the cost of labor. The Wall Street Journal reported that food is taking up more of the average person’s budget now than it has in 30 years, with eating taking up 11.3% of disposable income. Couple this with record-breaking rents and mortgage rates, and people’s wallets are feeling stressed.

Additionally, food costs are something we all must grapple with every day. From grocery store shelves to the drive-through, we all know what food used to cost and what it costs now. Meanwhile, food companies are reaping record profits margins as those prices grow higher and higher.

In other words, this is a uniquely terrible point in history to get cute with the price of food. People want the stability of knowing how much a Dave’s Single with Cheese costs. They don’t want to be told that a box of sugary cereal is an economically wise choice for dinner over meat and veg. Americans are already selecting less nutritious options out of concern for the cost of healthy meals.

It’s a pervasive enough problem that President Joe Biden has even slammed grocery stores for food costs.

Yes, CEOs have an obligation to make money for their companies. That’s their job. But making these comments so plainly, even in seemingly friendly arenas like CNBC, can rub salt in wounds for average consumers when they don’t also acknowledge the very real pain behind the economic choices being made today.

2. The messenger matters.

Neither Tanner nor Pilnick are average consumers.

The Guardian reported that Pilnick’s base salary is $1 million, with another $4 million in incentives. Tanner also has a base salary of $1 million, likely with additional incentives on top of that.

In other words, neither is going to be significantly impacted by changes in prices for a hamburger, nor have to eat a bowl of cereal out of financial necessity.

Messages coming from high-paid CEOs about price and thrift can come off as tone deaf. Plenty of people reading this story now have, at some point, had cereal for dinner, either because of its cost or because of its ease of preparation or both. It’s hardly a radical idea. Indeed, “Squawk Box” host Becky Quick admits in the same segment that as a busy mom, she eats cereal for dinner regularly. But it’s the tone and lifestyle of the messenger that makes the comments land so clunkily.

Kellogg’s marketing and social media posts could have made the breakfast-for-dinner point better than Pilnick could have.

3. Nuance matters in media.

The media may be greatly reduced in power from its glory days, but it can still take a PR message and turn it out of control in a matter of moments.

Simply by using the synonym “surge pricing” instead of the term “dynamic pricing” Wendy’s Tanner used, the story took on a different slant. But in the absence of more information from Wendy’s about how the program would work, it wasn’t an absurd leap for the media to make. The two terms are often used synonymously.

But because Wendy’s didn’t have more data ready to provide right away, the story spun out of its control. The narrative of paying more for a burger in peak times was cemented. The clarifying statement came late to the game, after the negative press was done, and it ended up sounding like backpedaling, even if it was their intent all along.

And the “let them eat flakes” framing that many media chose for Pilnick amplified his messaging in the most damaging light possible.

The media still has tremendous power. And in the absence of information — or in the presence of one damning quote — stories can take on lives of their own.

Be sensitive to the moment. Choose your spokespeople wisely. And be ready to respond to the media quickly and decisively.

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

The post Kellogg’s, Wendy’s CEO blunders show perils of this economic moment appeared first on PR Daily.

The hardest part of crafting thought leadership is capturing both the voice and high-level insights of the leader you’re collaborating with. When you’re ghostwriting for someone else, you’re interpreting their expertise, experience and personality and translating it onto the page.

One way to make this process a bit easier is to start with a thought leadership framework. Simply knowing the kind of story you want to tell can ease the whole process and make the thoughts flow.  

Rhea Wessel, founder of The Institute for Thought Leadership, shared some easy story forms during her presentation “Thought Leadership Success: How to Become a SME Whisperer” at Ragan’s Writing & Content Strategy Virtual Conference. Here are a few ideas to get your creativity going and your thoughts flowing. 

• Predictions: What’s your take on the future? How do you think a hot new trend will unfold? Help people peer into the crystal ball. These can be especially powerful toward the end of the year, forecasting into the next.  
• “Explore-the-solution” stories: There’s a problem. What are some ways we can solve it? What are the pros and cons? Everyone loves someone who helps fix something that’s broken. Here’s your chance.  
• “Understand-the-problem” stories: Maybe there isn’t a solution quite yet. Maybe we’re still trying to get our arms around what the real challenge is. Go deep and help look at the problem from all angles so readers walk away with a deeper understanding of the issues at play.  
• “Reasons-why” stories: A spin-off of either problem or solutions-oriented stories, simply explain why. Why are things the way they are? Why is something a good idea or a bad idea? Push past the high-level and get into the nitty gritty explanations.  
• “What-if” stories: Take a hypothetical and spin it into a possibility.  
• Opinion pieces: This can be one of the trickier pieces to pull off for thought leadership, but with close consultation with your executive, you can help them smartly and strategically take a stand on a pertinent issue that positions them as a thoughtful, measured leader.  
• Personal impact stories: Whether an issue impacts your executive directly or a key stakeholder, putting a human face to a situation is always a smart move. Take the chance to do a proper interview and tug at heartstrings.  
• “Best practices” stories: Everyone wants to do their job better. As a thought leader, your exec should have deep expertise that they can share. Even if your target audience won’t be doing exactly what your principal advises, this is your chance to show off their knowledge — and help them gain clients and speaking gigs or attain other goals. 

What’s your favorite story form for thought leadership? Watch Wessel’s full presentation below. 

The post 8 types of thought leadership to put your exec ahead appeared first on PR Daily.

Home goods retailer Wayfair laid off 1,650 employees last week, amounting to 13% of the organization’s workforce. CEO Niraj Shah said the cuts were needed given the post-pandemic economic reality the retail company faces, and that “having too many great people is worse than having too few,” reports RetailDive.

But these job cuts and even the comments from Shah merit a closer interpretation when considering his note to employees last month, telling them they needed to work harder and put in longer hours.

“Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from,” he said, according to CNN. “There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success.”

Beyond the inconsistent reasoning and duplicity between Shah’s comments, the messages also highlight the importance of harmonious alignment and collaboration between different comms teams.

Let’s take a look at how comms pros can align internal best practices to avoid something like this in the future.

Executive message coaching for internal audiences

Delivering consistent executive change comms requires having your executives not only media trained for talking to external audiences, but coached by the comms team on how to properly engage internal audiences, too.

Beyond the baseline lack of empathy that employees expect from leaders in today’s workplace, this also shows a high likelihood of insufficient practice on Shah’s part. That’s not just his responsibility — it’s on the executive communications team, the employee communications and the PR team to align and ensure that the organization’s leaders have the guardrails they need to communicate effectively. Working on tone and message alignment with an internal coach would highlight leadership communications best practices such as aligning tone with the audience, demonstrating empathy with the employee experience, and general consistency of narrative.

In the weeks following these less-than-stellar comments, it’s unclear whether anyone worked with Shah to sit down and go over tips for consistent engagement and alignment of message As of this writing, Wayfair has not responded to Ragan’s request for comment.

Comms pros need to make sure they work with their leaders on delivering consistent language across multiple stakeholder sets—minimizing the likelihood of tonal shifts that require damage control after the fact. When your corporate comms and employee comms aren’t playing the same tune, the scene is set for complications and it’s time to find out why.

Combatting tone deafness

There’s a right and wrong way to handle layoffs, and while on the surface, the news that Wayfair’s affected employees will be offered severance packages combined with Shah’s newly compassionate tone toward his employees could offer a correction in tone and message.

Consider the people left behind at Wayfair after this news. Are they going to want to rally their efforts for leadership that calls them lazy in a story that’s been leaked to the media? There’s a good chance they won’t. What might have seemed like an offhand comment in an internal meeting can have lasting impacts. It’s possible that prospective employees won’t consider Wayfair as a top choice for their careers. A line that was likely intended as a motivator could become a culture-killer, all because of a lack of proper comms protocol and preparation.

This is why a vetting process for messages (or any time of pronouncement from leadership) is so necessary — keeping things consistent. Employee comms should ensure that clear, empathetic messaging reaches employees during job cuts, and corporate comms should ensure stakeholders that operations are still stable, while leadership unites these efforts. But all three of these functions need to work hand-in-hand for maximum effectiveness. If one goes off the script (which leadership seemingly did in Wayfair’s case with the CEO comments), reputation and business prospects are at risk.

Where to start when so many executives seem to go rogue and not even work with comms teams? Working proactively with your executives to develop a sound tone and cadence for posting on social media is one way, as it can train them to develop their independent voice in a way that aligns with the mission, vision and values of your brand. Big things that this can help them refine include:

• Articulating the company’s mission, vision and values in social posts featuring leadership.
• Humanizing the brand behind the organization.
• Showcasing company culture.
• Recognizing company successes.
• Responding to crises with a people-first approach.

When working with executives on aligning messages, communicators should consider who they want the executive to reach and what they want the executive to talk about first and foremost. But it’s nearly as important to humanize the executive that’s communicating.

This is achieved by molding the communication style to the personality of the leader so it seems natural, and rounding out aspects of the leader’s personality to make them more relatable to the audience. This can include sharing anecdotes about their family or personal lives that might resonate with audiences. The more leaders can relate to who their communicating with, the more likely the message is to resonate.

Addressing leaks

By taking proactive measures to engage employees and gauge sentiment early on, you can also prevent leaks from happening in the first place. Former Fleishman Hilliard vice president of CX Elizabeth Solomon shared some great tactics on how to prevent and address leaks in an organization.

At their core, leaks happen when an employee is discontented. This is especially true when employees feel like they don’t have a voice to speak up about their concerns. Instead of going to an internal source, they bypass them for the media because they feel they aren’t listened to. HR and comms pros should seek to empower employees to speak their minds and ask questions, as this can help root out one of the main causes behind leaks in the first place.

Organizations should also put infrastructure in place to prevent leaks. This can include putting a monitoring strategy in place for potential leaks and getting ahead of planned events (like layoffs) in which leaks might occur. Doing so can allow teams to determine where they’re agile enough to detect leaks and where they might need some help.

The process around preventing and defining leak parameters can’t just fall on legal. It should instead be a collaborative effort with proactive parameters and established consequences that are clear to all.

Proper comms is an intricate balancing act — particularly during trying times like a layoff. Comms pros need to be sure that all teams are aligned properly, and that employee sentiment is gauged, to ensure everything goes as well as possible during a tough situation.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports, a good pint and ’90s trivia night.

The post What you can learn from Wayfair’s layoff communications appeared first on PR Daily.

Gabe Zichermann is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and leader whose books, speeches and workshops focus on gamification and behavioral design. His new book is “The A-ha! Method: Communicating Powerfully in a Time of Distraction.” 

When I first started as a video game executive, mastodons roamed the earth and the media training focus was on “narrative control.” I was a mere vessel for the corporate message, and the focus always had to be on delivering our story, repeating our talking points and never getting sidetracked by a supposedly hostile press. My personality was not a core part of the pitch.

Things have changed a lot since then. The press can still be hostile, but the majority of our PR clients will never have a combative media interview. They’ll be fighting on the beaches trying to break through consumer distraction and fee-focused social media algorithms to get their message across. Even if they are a B2B software company speaking to a small group of potential buyers, getting and keeping the audience’s attention has become the defining battle.

What cuts through the noise immediately? Celebrity. The algorithms that own our attentional capital are designed to give celebrities priority access to their followers, reducing the cost and increasing the impact of everything they say. Though celebrity-business tie-ins have always been important, they’ve become a booming business in and of themselves in an era where one post can reach 100 million people with minimal friction, and not even the New York Times or CNN can command that audience.

But most corporate PR strategies still dance around the idea of elevating key executives to celebrity status. Thought leadership, the benign-sounding name of such programs, tends to take great pains to present investments in individual leaders as accretive to the company as a whole and not about elevating one person over another. This is a lot like where your spouse tries to justify getting you to go to a party you don’t want to attend by framing its external benefits (“you know you’ve been trying to get Bob as a client, and he’ll be there”).

Go all-in on thought leadership

Instead, we should be all-in on celebrity building with our executives. Let’s drop the charade of thought leadership as a conservative approach and go all-out to leverage the benefits that celebrity can provide in PR terms. With the right systems and programs in place, centered around new communication skills for 21st century celebrity, we can make anyone a star.

Here’s how I structure my executive-celebrity coaching practice, and the key takeaways you can use with your clients.

1. Titles matter less than stories. The most influential celebrity candidates in your organization may not be top executives. You’re looking for people with charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent (credit: RuPaul) and a great story to tell, regardless of status, background or educational achievement.
2. Stories are rarely about the company. The best and most persuasive stories for celebrity media training are personal and not corporate. The ideal candidate has to be willing to get vulnerable and learn how to weave the company story back into their narrative.
3. Anyone can learn charisma. We don’t just want people who have the inherent ability to persuade, but also those who are willing to learn.
4. Every talk is a pitch. Business celebrities know that every touchpoint is an opportunity to persuade, and they’ve always got something to pitch.
5. Focus on a-ha! moments. Every talk, pitch or interview needs to be structured around takeaways that the listener will receive as an “a-ha!” moment. The right executive-celebrity communicator always gives the audience something to think about for later.

To be clear, building a social media celebrity following is also painstaking work that takes time. But before that channel can be activated, we need to ensure we’re investing heavily in the right spokespeople and leaders.

This starts by being clear about our intentions, and creating an inclusive, results-focused program to develop future leaders through the prism of effective communication today. This is definitely a challenging battle to wage, but one that produces a lasting dividend.

The post How to make any executive a corporate celebrity appeared first on PR Daily.

We’ve all seen the endless platitudes on LinkedIn, the crowd-pleasing quotes, the broetry stuffed with strategically spaced and obvious observations. You might wind up with a lot of likes on these kinds of posts, but it’s unlikely anyone will think of you — or the executive you’re working with — as a true thought leader.

If you want to truly break through the noise and avoid being a thought follower, LinkedIn has tips for you. You can download the entire whitepaper here, thanks to your Insider subscription.

Among the suggestions, LinkedIn urges you to focus on “finding your whitespace,” or the “intersection of your expertise, your interests, and the interests of your community?”

This exercise is designed to get you thinking about how your thought leadership can stand out amid the noise. You don’t want to hit that upper right quadrant, where things get plenty of engagement but don’t stand out, but you also want to avoid that lower left square. There, you’ve shown off some creativity and avoided the trap of dime-a-dozen platitudes, but no one’s really reacting.

And, indeed, as the white paper points out, not all engagement is created equally. LinkedIn considers comments to be the most important engagement KPI, specifically the number of comments, the average word count of the comments (more is better), and “qualitative feedback.”

Yes, you’ll still get “points” for views, likes/shares and follower growth, but the real goal is in-depth, thoughtful responses from pertinent professionals.s

And in order to get those, you’ll need in-depth, thoughtful content. Being in the upper left quadrant, where content is both unique and engaging, will give you the best shot at not only drawing a big audience but being memorable as a thought leader.

Try this:

Set a timer for 15 minutes. Write all your ideas for content in your thought leadership area of expertise. Don’t censor yourself. Let it flow.

Then, go back through your list.

Any idea that feels too familiar, like you’ve seen it before and already know what it’s going to say? Cross those out.

Now you have a place to begin.

Not all of the unique ideas that are left will be winners. You’re going to put some content out there that won’t be engaging, even if it’s creative.

That’s OK.

Look at results, analyze returns and refine your future efforts.

Soon, you’ll have LinkedIn posts that truly lead.

Allison Carter is executive editor of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post LinkedIn’s tips on finding ‘white space’ in thought leadership appeared first on PR Daily.

Your CEO is often the de facto spokesperson and figurehead of your organization. Whether or not they have the skill or desire for the role, they’re likely to find themselves being tapped for media interviews, speeches and other public appearances.

It’s up to us to get them ready.

During PR Daily’s 2022 Brand Storytelling Conference, Cheril Clarke, founder of Phenomenal Writing, and Ashley Brown, clinical communications senior strategist for Atrium Health, joined forces for a panel discussion on “Transforming Leaders Into Storytellers.”

Clarke started by challenging the idea that your CEO is always the best person to take up that torch.

“The best person to tell your story is whoever is the most knowledgeable, whoever is the most enthusiastic, whoever can bring the most authenticity to telling the story,” she explained. “A lot of times we default to the CEO, and that may be the best person, but sometimes it may not be.”

Brown agreed. In her healthcare-focused role, her team often find that the best person to share knowledge is from their physicians or care teams, based on their subject-matter expertise and the target audience. “Look at who is best for the media outlet and who has the appropriate knowledge and train them. It’s about the audience, really,” she advised.

Getting camera ready

The pandemic opened the door to remote video interviews in a big way — and it’s something we’re not seeing fade even as the world normalizes.

While video interviews are nothing new, it is different to conduct the interview from your own home or office in a tiny Zoom window, versus being in a studio with the reporter.

That brings some familiar challenges — don’t wear loud prints or distracting jewelry — but also some specific training challenges. For instance, Brown pointed out that gesturing is a natural human action. But in the confines of a Zoom window, it can come across as awkward. Work with your leaders on gesturing in a way that shows authenticity but doesn’t distract from the message.

Lighting and backgrounds are also deep considerations. Many news stations don’t like visual backgrounds, so find an area of your home or office with good lighting and a non-distracting backdrop. Consider investing in a ring light or cheap clip-on light so your leader isn’t literally overshadowed.

If you find that your leader can be a bit low energy, consider advising them to stand if they’re giving a solo presentation or talk. While that can be awkward in an interview or panel situation, it can also give them a boost of confidence.

“I feel like it gives me more energy, which I can then give to the viewers,” Clarke said. “It’s a very subtle move.”

And of course, whether you’re sitting or standing, make sure you position the camera at eye level. No one wants the dreaded up-nostril shot.

How will this serve your audience?

Above all, consider how your content will be received by your audience — both the medium and the messaging. Both experts cautioned that your content should be for the people watching, not for your own organization.

“Give your audience what they want and what they need. Make sure the content is really focused on them,” Clarke said.

Also take the time to consider how this footage will be used. Is this just a media interview or just a virtual speaking opportunity? Or will you be using the video on TikTok or Instagram? Then you need to get some vertical footage to suit these platforms and make sure it’s playing the best it can.

As you train your leaders, let your audience guide the way. You can’t go wrong.

Allison Carter is executive editor of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post How to turn your leaders into storytellers on Zoom and video appeared first on PR Daily.

Grace Williams is BLASTmedia’s senior vice president overseeing account services.

Companies often default to using their CEO as their main spokesperson — but should they? In some cases, it makes sense. CEOs have a vision for where the company is headed, and if they are a founder/CEO, they also have the historical context of where the company has been. And while the founder brand can play a huge role in telling your company’s story, you ultimately want the brand to outlast the founder, not the other way around. After all, you’ve heard of Zendesk and DocuSign, but can you name their founders without Googling?

The CEO might be a good one-stop shop for a quick company overview, but are they the best person to comment on a new product feature? Offer perspective on the day-to-day struggles of your users? Give real-life context and insight into the solution in action? They might be a bit too far removed.

Consider your role. I work in PR and am most interested in hearing from PR experts and others who lead day-to-day operations at an agency — people who deal with the issues I handle every day. Because they’re in the trenches like me, they’re a great source for solutions, tips and tools they’ve tried. That logic applies to our clients, too. Security startup? Media wants to hear from your VP of Information Security — not just your CEO.

I predicted back in 2021 that we would start seeing fewer quotes from CEOs in favor of more applicable insights from line-of-business leaders. This is happening already. A review of 100+ quote placements our agency secured in Q1 of 2023 revealed CEOs are only quoted 30% of the time, a number far lower than I anticipated. The go-to leaders most commonly quoted in addition to CEOs? Marketing professionals, product leaders and execs in HR and DEIB. But why?

CEOs are inherently biased — and they should be! They believe in their company, and they want you to as well. But journalists want real stories of real people using real products and seeing real success — not the corporate jargon CEOs sometimes push. Journalists want numbers, data and proof — not empty promises.

So, who else can you use?

If not the CEO, then who should you lean on for quotes, commentary and content? A few ideas:

• Lower-level subject matter experts. Anyone inside your organization living in the day-to-day with tangible, actionable takeaways to offer. The title will depend on the types of coverage you want to secure and the media vertical. Let’s say you’re an HR tech company seeking a placement in HR.com. Work with your head of people operations or DEIB leader.
• Data as a spokesperson. Let the numbers tell the story! Quality third-party research, owned data in large sample sizes, or publicly available data you’ve mined and infused with context are great resources to tell a story — as long as they’re straightforward, unbiased and unique.
• Investors, analysts and board members. When you can, lean into these experts to offer third-party validation and expertise. Media expects insight on the market/industry from your CEO, but when a prominent investor or a CISO sitting on your board backs those insights? Now that’s meaningful. 
• Getting a customer involved in PR efforts can be a serious force multiplier because they check all the boxes: Third-party perspective. In the day-to-day. Often possessing data to back up their claims about your product or service. But getting them on board? That’s a lot easier said than done.

Integrating customers into your PR program

Of the above ideas on alternate spokespeople we might leverage in our storytelling, the biggest roadblock we encounter is finding customers willing to share their thoughts and experiences. One of the first things a new client often shares during onboarding is the difficulties they experience in trying to get their customers engaged in marketing in PR. Customers don’t want to give away their “secret sauce” and run into trouble with approvals from legal. Consider these tips:

• Know which customers to tap. Customers vary in their willingness to participate in marketing efforts — and that extends to PR. Some customers will take a call with customer success and offer feedback, and that’s where it ends. Others will let you use their logo on your website. And some are true evangelists, proactively offering feedback and ideas for new features, leaving positive reviews and engaging on your customer advisory board. Those evangelists are the ones to think about integrating into PR.
• Make sure they understand the benefits. Time is money, and you’re asking your customers to take time to benefit you. So, give them something in return. Explain how you’re helping them build their personal brand and highlight their company’s innovation. If free PR isn’t enough, consider offering a discount on technology or services.
• Dip a toe in the water first or risk a flop. Stairstep opportunities to increase your customers’ comfort with media. Maybe it’s a mention in a press release first, then a quote in a piece of content, then a bylined article about their experience with your product. Ultimately, you’ll want to run them through media training and get them on the phone with a reporter. Before that happens, make sure they’re fully prepped with a briefing sheet, list of metrics and a reminder not to cut you out of the story.
• Things to watch out for. Sometimes it doesn’t make tactical sense to involve your customers in PR. Keep a close eye on the account to understand if it’s the best time to reach out. Did they recently have turnover? Lose their favorite account rep? Request a feature that isn’t finished yet? Experience a drop in results? Maybe hold off on asking. Also hold off if there are tons of other marketing asks (like case studies) coming their way in short succession, or if they have a big launch of their own coming up.

But back to your CEO…

It of course doesn’t make sense to have a hard and fast rule that your CEO can never be quoted in media. Sometimes, leaning on them for perspective is the most effective strategy. For example:

• When they’re already engaged in PR — If you have a CEO who loves PR, participates in the program, runs with the opportunities you send their way, and is a great spokesperson. By all means, keep using them!
• When they’re a subject matter expert — There are different types of CEOs. Those leading based on day-to-day experience in the field and those exceptional at running a business. If you’re working with DevOps media and your CEO has rich developer experience, they’re a relevant source for that story. For the business leader CEO, maybe they’ve scaled and sold five companies, and you’re working with a reporter on a story about how to prep a business for sale. Again, they’re a relevant source for that story.
• When they’re already a media darling — If journalists love writing about your CEO, she is regularly invited to speak on podcasts and your inbox overflows with inbound requests for her — don’t turn them down. If a journalist requests to speak specifically with your CEO, your lowest lift to positive coverage is finding an available time on her calendar to take the call.
• For big, corporate news. Funding round, acquisition or otherwise. Your CEO’s perspective and opinion are incredibly important here. Journalists will expect to hear from them.

Relying on your CEO to be the center of your PR program will leave you low on results due to lack of availability, hyper-relevant perspective, and oftentimes, willingness to take an interview. The wider your bench of spokespeople, the more PR allies you’ll create internally, and the more opportunities you’ll be able to turn into coverage. Consider involving subject matter experts of all kinds, both internally and externally, and your PR program will flourish.

The post Your CEO shouldn’t be the center of your PR program appeared first on PR Daily.

With all the thought leadership out there today, it can sometimes be hard to cut through the noise and position your organization’s take in an impactful way. But with some proper planning and a process that starts with analytics, communicators can set themselves and their organizational leaders up for success in the ever-crowded thought leadership space.

At Ragan’s Social Media Conference this past March, Nicole Moreo, director of customer insights for North America at LinkedIn, shared some data from a LinkedIn partnership with Edelman that can help frame the pathways to productive thought leadership content. 

Moreo reminded attendees that the utility of thought leadership goes beyond establishing your leaders as experts— it can help the bottom line of the business as well.

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In addition, Moreo shared that during times of economic stress and upheaval like the ones we’re going through right now, half of C-suite executives said thought leadership had a greater impact on their purchase decision-making than when times are good.

Moreo also outlined a couple of major ways in which great thought leadership can help you reach your organization’s marketing goals. Optimal thought leadership can:

• Impact customer buying behaviors
• Increase brand perception and trust

Moreo also said that top decision-makers consider thought leadership can be a stabilizing force in times of uncertainty.

Knowing the landscape 

When we talk about rethinking the way we create thought leadership, that all starts with resetting the way we approach it. Moreo shared her perspective on how communicators can reframe our mindset around the subject.

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Much of this involves a marketing-style approach to anticipating every step of the audience’s journey. You can just blast leadership’s thoughts out into the ether — but on top of that not make a whole lot of sense from a comms perspective, you won’t reach the right people or catch the right wave of timing.

And with no real goal in mind, what do you stand to really achieve? The most successful thought leadership emerges from a thorough planning process and deep knowledge of the world around your organization, paired with an understanding of your leadership’s messaging demonstrates it.

Moreo’s research buckets these into three questions your audience may be asking:

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Creating impact

In general comms, just as in thought leadership content, it’s all about being on top of things. Moreo outlined a few ways in which communicators can help ensure the leadership content they’re making is hitting the right notes. They are:

• Align to your Business Objectives. Do not just jump in and create. Build your Thought Leadership plan as part of your broader strategy.
• Be Relevant. Have a voice at the intersection of industry trends, customer pain points, and your company’s growth priorities. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
• Set a Vision. Generate a POV that helps customers understand where the industry is going while using insights to keep their specific needs in mind.
• Leverage your Leaders & Influencers. Harness the power of your people, such as executives, subject matter experts and influencers, to convey your ideas in a more personal and authentic style
• Challenge the Formula. Offer content in a variety of formats and media to appeal to a broad customer base and their needs.

The content also needs to be easy to consume for audiences — that’s a big factor in the impact it can have in the overall marketplace. Moreo’s statistics show that 55% of consumers want content from thought leaders that catches their attention within the first minute — and if it doesn’t, they’ll pass it by.

By looking at all these factors and this data in an analytical fashion rather than taking a one size fits all approach, thought leaders can not only reach their target audiences successfully but also find ways to improve the organization’s bottom line and expand its customer base.

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports, a good pint and ’90s trivia night.

The post An analytical approach to creating great thought leadership appeared first on PR Daily.

Tom Corfman is a senior consultant with Ragan Consulting Group, which helps companies establish executive thought leadership programs.

Chief executives of global companies don’t usually get involved in local politics, but CEO Chris Kempczinski of Chicago-based McDonald’s Corp. has shown there’s an exception: When a mayor’s approval rating is about 25%.

“While it may wound our civic pride to hear it, there is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis,” he said on Sept. 14, 2022, in a speech before The Economic Club of Chicago, an exclusive group of business leaders.

Kempczinski never mentioned Mayor Lori Lightfoot by name as he voiced widely felt concerns about crime, bemoaned City Hall’s frayed relationship with the business community and griped about taxes. He didn’t need to.

“His comments likely will serve as a blueprint for any pro-business mayoral candidate who has yet to emerge,” wrote the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board in praise of the speech.

Five months later, Lightfoot was on her way out, finishing third in a crowded field of nine candidates.

In response to a list of eight questions, a McDonald’s spokesperson declined comment, saying by email, “We have nothing more to share at this time.”

In some ways, Kempczinski’s speech was the kickoff of the Chicago mayoral election, likely strengthening opposition to the incumbent that was already brewing among the city’s corporate elite. It also offers a chance to review three points that CEOs should consider before jumping into local politics. But first, some background about politics in the Windy City, where Ragan Consulting Group is based.

Nearly four years ago, Lightfoot became the third Black, second woman and first openly gay person to become the city’s mayor. A former federal prosecutor and big law firm partner, she rode to an upset win in 2019 over outrage about political corruption. (Imagine that in Chicago!).

While worries about crime played a key role in Lightfoot’s defeat in the Feb. 28 non-partisan election, she was also hurt by perceptions that she failed to deliver on promises to reform government, increase transparency and change police tactics. Layered on top of all that was her combative personality. Liberal voters, the core of her support in 2019, abandoned her in this election.

Two candidates are fighting to succeed Lightfoot in what will likely be a ferocious runoff election on April 4. Paul Vallas, a former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools under Mayor Richard M. Daley who is receiving strong support from the business sector, garnered nearly 34% of the votes. Brandon Johnson, a county commissioner who is backed by the city’s powerful teachers union, where he is an organizer, collected nearly 22%. In a city where race plays a role in politics, Vallas is white and Johnson is Black.

The two candidates offer sharply different visions of how to run the nation’s third largest city, especially on crime. Vallas is campaigning on a law-and-order message, while Johnson promises to improve public safety by spending more on social services, mental health care, education and housing.

McDonald’s, with 2022 revenue of $23.22 billion, has a long history in the Chicago area, from its first restaurant in a suburb in 1955 to its headquarters move from the suburbs to the city in 2018. Kempczinski began his remarks by describing the economic impact if his company left.

“Two billion dollars a year is the economic contribution of having McDonald’s headquarters here,” he said, repeating the number.

“What if McDonald’s wasn’t here? It would be $2 billion that left the city overnight,” he said, snapping his fingers.

The speech earned national media coverage. When reporters seized on Kempczinski’s implied threat to relocate the company’s headquarters, McDonald’s PR team clarified that the company did not intend to move. One week later, the company bought a full-page print ad in the Tribune, promising its continued commitment to the city, and posted it to its website.

Ironically, Kempczinski’s remarks about Chicago overshadowed  his own announcement that the company was moving an innovation center with 100 employees from a suburb to its city headquarters.

At a time when consumers continue to want chief executives to be more engaged in social issues, the speech is a remarkable example. It also raises at least three key questions that CEOs should consider before plunging into local politics.

1. Can you win? “Don’t Make No Waves, Don’t Back No Losers,” was the title of a landmark 1975 book about Chicago politics. The principle still applies and not just to Chicago. Even with all of Lightfoot’s disadvantages, her defeat was hardly a sure thing when Kempczinski spoke out. Five months between his speech and the election is a long time in politics.

This doesn’t mean CEOs shouldn’t get involved in political issues they aren’t certain to affect. But the chance of a favorable outcome is a factor to weigh. Politics is different than social issues, where taking a stand can resonate with employees and customers, especially when coupled with a plan to take action.

2. Who’s the audience? The members of the Economic Club enthusiastically received Kempczinski’s remarks.

In a sign of approval by many business executives, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board thundered, “When residents no longer feel safe at a major restaurant chain and a CEO issues a public plea, social order is breaking down.”

But before stepping into the fray, CEOs must be mindful of how their stance will be received by other audiences. Just ask Disney, which didn’t anticipate the barrage unleased by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla).

In Chicago, a white, male CEO criticizing a Black, female elected official popular among many African Americans can produce unintended consequences. In 2021, Kempczinski drew protests at McDonald’s headquarters after the publication of a text message to Lightfoot in which he blamed the parents for the shooting deaths of a Black child and a Latino teenage because they “failed” their children. He apologized and met with employees.

The company also has faced harsh criticism over alleged discrimination against Black franchisees.

Yet Kempczinski and McDonald’s suffered no backlash from his remarks.

3. Do you have your facts straight? In these circumstances, the CEO’s numbers must be bombproof.

Lightfoot fired back, of course, saying, “What would have been helpful is for the McDonald’s CEO to educate himself before he spoke.”

The city’s crime statistics, while high, are improving, the administration said. And a record number of companies are moving to the city or significantly expanding, contradicting Kempczinski’s claim that fewer companies are headquartered here. Taxes have changed little since McDonald’s moved to the city nearly five years ago.

Moreover, reports by Crain’s Chicago Business comparing Chicago with other cities on crime and business climate offer a more moderate picture of the city.

Yet Kempczinski’s message was so strong that any questions about the accuracy of his claims received scant attention.

CEOs must pick their issues wisely. Kempczinski’s speech was not without risk, but likely had its intended effect. With the run-off less than a month away, will the McDonald’s chief executive offer another Chicago assessment?

The post 3 points CEOs should consider before jumping into politics appeared first on PR Daily.

Amanda Guisbond is founder and chief communicator at Intersection: Health. 

Remember in school when you had to write a paper about your hero? You might say it was a teacher, astronaut or athlete. But you never responded with “high school, NASA or Nike.” 

That’s because people follow people, not brands. 

A looming recession is already impacting organizations in terms of hiring, budget and resource allocation. Communications departments are feeling the squeeze. In-house teams are shrinking, budgets are scrutinized, and everyone is being asked to do more with less.

The good news; you can actually do more with less. One solution is for communications teams to prioritize executive communications and thought leadership over brand communications. 

There’s good reason to believe your target audiences will respond to your executive’s communications – and more than your brand. 

Take LinkedIn as an example, where people-authored content consistently outperforms brand-authored content. Posts to LinkedIn by employees went 561% further than the same content shared by a brand. This is because, on average, employees have 10 times more social connections than a brand, and when they do post to social media, their followers are more likely to engage with that content. In fact, brand messages are re-shared 24 more times when posted by an employee. TikTok is another good example: of the top 100 most followed TikTok accounts in the U.S.: 97 are people; three are brands. 

Your customers respond to people-led content over brand-led content because they desire communications that embody authenticity and trust. The annual Edelman Trust Barometer found that more people trust their employer over government, non-profit organizations and media. Interestingly, family-owned businesses were trusted more than private or publicly held businesses. It’s easier to build trust when communication comes from a person you might feel you know, or to whom you can relate. 

People want to hear from leaders, too, and when they do, they express more trust in a brand and have a more positive impression of that brand’s leadership. Just by posting to social media, CEOs are seen as better communicators. Specific to social, a CEO’s comments when delivered through social media are seen as more trustworthy than comments shared via traditional media, such as a news story. That’s a win for owned vs. earned content. 

Brand communications can also be expensive. Take a B2B2C business with multiple potential customers and decision-makers, varying product messages, and many potential outlets and messages. A monthly PR retainer for a mid- to late-stage brand is costly, and there’s not a standard by which in-house teams can easily measure the value, or difference between potential partners. I’ve worked with companies that were asked to pay anywhere from $500 to $30,000 for one piece of written content or anywhere from $2,500 to $50,000 for monthly PR. 

Executive communications is totally different; it can be streamlined to support one executive on developing their thought leadership platform, honing in on their key messages, and demonstrating that through written bylined content for media and social media, speaking engagements, media interviews, speeches and more. 

Armed with the right messages, content and coaching, an executive can deliver more on their own. Teams really feeling the budget squeeze can opt for more upfront support and coaching, some ghost writing, and ultimately, choose how much their executive can, or wants to, manage on their own. Unlike a brand, the executive can keep generating content and communications if they have the right upfront guidance and channels in place. 

It’s a tough time for organizations who have to make creative choices about where they allocate their time and spend. And it’s a great time to invest in executive communications over brand. The future of PR and communications is authentic, vulnerable, personalized – and led by people. Arm your executives with the right coaching, content and channels now, and it will pay dividends. 

The post Why this is the time to invest in executive communications over brand appeared first on PR Daily.

Speechwriting for a U.S. Senator in Congress was a dream for self-described introvert Patrice Smith, now vice president of media relations at PNC Bank. “Words that I wrote from my desk were transcribed into the United States record,” said Smith. “They’re written in the history of this country forever.” To get to that moment, Smith needed to learn the rhythms and intricacies of how her principal spoke. “I had to be a student—and still am.”

Ahead of her session at PR Daily’s Public Affairs & Speechwriting virtual conference, we sat down with Smith to discuss her speechwriting career writing for Senator Tim Scott, the advice she gives to C-suite on authentic storytelling, and why AI won’t replace human writers anytime soon.

Can you describe how you tackle speechwriting and capturing a principal’s voice?

Smith: When it comes to speechwriting, it really takes a lot of studying, [which] is what’s unique compared to the other different segments of public relations and communications. You are learning how to be someone else, literally.

When I worked for the Senator, I spent months studying his voice. I listened to every single news segment published on YouTube. I listened to every speech. I listened to anything and everything so that I could capture how he speaks. He had just written a book, so I took the voice that I was used to hearing and I read the book in that voice. That was all before my interview.

Even after getting the role, it was constantly a refinement process. Even if I wrote [a speech], I was in the back taking notes, because the way I would write something on paper wasn’t necessarily the way that he would speak it. I would always listen to what he used, what he changed and how could I refine it to make it better. After three years of working for him, I felt like I finally had his voice and he was saying what I was writing.

You really have to study your principal. Granted, you’re not them, but you want to get into the point where like people think that you are them.

There’s a huge difference between writing a long-form speech and writing a tweet. What direction will you give to comms lead when they are tackling social media?

When you’re writing social media content, just be natural. A lot of times people focus too much on writing something that will go viral. When I would write something, I would take a sentence from a quote or statement that I had already drafted. It will go viral if it’s good.

What’s the advice you give to leadership or C-suite about sharing information to their teams authentically?

Without adding jargon, how would you explain this to your wife? Or to the person [at the bottom of the org chart]? Remember first and foremost that you’re talking to people. Once you understand what those people want or need from you, you can communicate to them in a way that will resonate with them.

How would you take a speech and adapt it to share across channels?

When I was in the Senate, we did this quite a bit. You can take the same piece of content and use it across many different platforms, but you have to know your audience.

Twitter is everybody, not necessarily your constituents, but people who are interested in you as a political figure — and reporters. Facebook has the folks back at home who are interested in what you’re actually doing for [them]. Instagram is the younger population, Millennials and younger typically, and LinkedIn is the business folks.

You have to find out what in the speech will resonate with [each] group.

What is your favorite tool or platform that you use that makes your life easier? 

Apple Notes is a godsend. I can’t tell you how many speeches and press releases I’ve written on that. I like project management tools like Monday.com, Trello, those are amazing. Today I use stickies, either physical stickies or a digital sticky or Apple Notes.

Let’s talk AI.

ChatGPT. [laughs] Let’s talk about this. In addition to working at the bank, I’m an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University on the graduate program for public relations and corporate communication. This has come up.

I will admit, it does give us heartburn on the academic side because students can draft whole papers. The AI is so good to where you can’t tell when the students are providing their own thought leadership versus [ChatGPT].

One thing AI [can’t] do is capture voice. It can give me a very academic piece, but when it comes to writing for my principals, it wouldn’t know to switch out this word for this word. There are little things that I know, for example, the Senator hates the word politicians versus elected officials. It can’t capture human personality and human preferences.

It can’t specialize. While ChatGPT can give [my students] a strategic communications plan, it can’t capture those human moments that only you as a writer know about. If they want to try, I’m really good at vetting papers. I feel like universities will start to update their rules on academic dishonesty.

Can you give any advice to communicators that are hoping to break into the speechwriting field?

Great writers read. I’ll admit, I have a lot of unfinished books. That’s #1.

Figure out what you want to communicate, what industry you want to work in and what you’re passionate about. Speechwriters do a lot of research so it should be something you’re passionate about. When I’m not at work, I’m spending all my time studying finance.

Every executive needs a communicator. Once you pair those two things, you can land where you want.

And… seek professional development. Writing is a craft that you have to continue to hone. You don’t just make it as a writer, you always have to be invested in getting better.

Join Smith at PR Daily’s Public Affairs & Speechwriting virtual conference, which goes down April 4. Smith will speak alongside speechwriters and communications leaders from the U.S. Navy, Edelman, IBM, the U.S. Department of Labor, and more. 

The post Advice on authenticity from a former U.S. Senator’s speechwriter appeared first on PR Daily.

So your executives want to be positioned as the go-to resource for journalists working on stories that involve your subject area. And they’ve asked you to help get them there, proactively reaching out to journalists and suggesting interesting, timely topics on which they can lend their insights.

Now what?

As the PR pro, there are a variety of things you can do to prep your executive, polish your pitches and position yourself for success at all stages of the process. Here are a few tips for making sure your leader is really ready to become an expert source.

Before you pitch

First thing’s first: media train your executive. Whether you choose to do this in-house or look for outside training doesn’t matter. But don’t send your executive into seemingly friendly interviews making sure they understand the basics of how to give a good answer, how to present themselves professionally and when to stop talking.

Once they’re ready for primetime, sit down with them and brainstorm a list of ideas they can speak on. With this list, the more specific the better. If you reach out to a journalist and say you have an expert who can talk about “the widget industry,” that’s too broad for them to generate a good story idea, even if they’re already reporting on the widget industry. Instead, look for ideas like: “speak on widget industry challenges related to the thingamajig shortage — and possible solutions.”

Include a mix of both evergreen ideas as well as timelier topics that have specific news hooks. It’s great if you can offer timely widget insight when there’s a major movement in the thingamajig supply chain, but it’s also great to just offer insight into widget sales trends for those vaunted slow news days (yes, they do happen).

Finally, make sure your executive is available to speak in a timely fashion. For a timely news hook pitch, they should be available to speak that day or the next. For something more evergreen, availability that week is reasonable.  If their schedule is absolutely packed or they have a vacation planned, don’t pitch. You’re setting everyone up for disappointment and frustration. Wait until things calm down.

When your pitch is accepted

Use the same good media relations practices you would for any other pitch: research your target, read their recent work and customize based on their unique interests. Hopefully you’ll soon get word that a journalist wants to schedule an interview. Awesome!

If the journalist is accepting a pitch based on a topic you suggested, don’t waste their time or yours by asking what questions they’ll ask. Unless they say otherwise, assume their questions will be in that ballpark.

However, if there is something you don’t want to talk about, feel free to lay that out in your response: “Ms. Smith wants to keep the focus of this conversation on the widget supply, and so won’t be answering questions on the widget scandal. Look forward to speaking soon!”

If a journalist does ask about an uncomfortable topic that’s off-base from what you pitched, be polite but firm and simply decline to answer.

Speaking of, feel free to be in the room (or Zoom) during the interview. It’s good for executives to have a second set of ears to give feedback on their performance, as well as to step in if things do go off the rails. It’s also a good way to listen to questions and offer follow-up materials to the journalist if needed.

Finally, keep the line of communication open for follow-ups. Even in the best interview, a journalist will likely have additional questions. Be responsive.

Hopefully, you now have a fantastic piece that highlights the wisdom of your executive leader. You’ll have new feedback to help them grow their interview skills and a solid piece of earned media.

By applying traditional media skills with a few twists, you’ll soon have a bona fide subject matter expert in the house, ready for all journalistic needs.

Allison Carter is executive editor of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

The post What not to do when pitching an expert interview appeared first on PR Daily.

Communicators are at a crossroads each time a hot topic of public debate, from social justice issues to ESG and beyond, enters the news cycle. Is it appropriate for your organization to comment? Is taking a stand the right thing to do?

Ragan Communications partnered with research consultancy HarrisX in the fall of 2022 to understand how and when CEOs and communications leaders feel it’s appropriate for organizations to take a stand on issues of public interest, and the factors that influence their decisions.

The survey was conducted by HarrisX from Oct. 11-24 within the U.S. among 360 CEOs and high-ranking senior communications.

Asked whether organizations should take a stand on political and social issues, 63% of CEOs said yes and 37% said no. Just  58% of communications leaders agreed brands should speak out.

Those numbers rose when respondents were asked whether organizations have a responsibility to challenge public policies when they threaten employees’ rights — 76% of CEOs said yes and 74% of communications leaders said no.  This drastic increase in support demonstrates how attuned leadership is to the opinions of internal stakeholders—and offers a reminder that organizations can avoid reputational risk by tying larger purpose and values commitments back to a positive employee experience.

Those numbers fell again when each group was asked if standing up for employee rights should happen even if it meant losing revenue, with 61% of CEOs and 66% of comms leaders agreeing.

The fact that fewer CEOs said they support employee rights at the expense of revenue than those who support taking a stand overall is telling. Of course, failing to stand up for employee rights can bring about revenue losses in different ways as employees who experience a disconnect between their personal sense of purpose and the corporate purpose of their employer may very well leave, causing a loss of productivity and talent. It’s on communicators to connect the dots for the rest of the C-suite here.

Download the HarrisX-Ragan Key Findings Report here

The post How CEOs feel about speaking out on issues of public interest appeared first on PR Daily.

Especially in times of crisis, it’s critical that internal, external and executive communications teams collaborate to keep everyone informed and engaged. Walgreens demonstrated the importance of this interaction during the pandemic and helped reset the brand for future success.

Recently, we caught up with Fraser Engerman, senior director of external relations at Walgreens, who led that charge, to ask him a few questions. Engerman will be a speaker at Ragan and PR Daily’s upcoming Strategic Communications Conference at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, October 19-20.

[RELATED: Join us Oct. 19-20 at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, WA for our Strategic Communications Conference]

Ragan: What tips can you share with other professionals looking to communicate more effectively?

Fraser Engerman: Practice your elevator speech! I constantly try to boil down what I need to communicate into some key soundbites. We are all bombarded with information, and it is often difficult to get the ear and attention of your stakeholders, no matter who they are. I try to provide the key points upfront and provide more detail as needed. This habit probably stems from my days as a television reporter when I had no more than a minute or two to get to the essence of the story.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned as a strategic comms pro so far?

Don’t sweat the small things. Life is full of small challenges. Try to keep your eye on the bigger picture. That is hard when you are used to putting out fires in the moment. It’s about making smart decisions and executing to the best of your ability.

How does your approach to communication differ from your colleagues in other fields?

Everyone has their own approach. My style has always been to be straightforward with no agenda other than to get the job done. I don’t believe in being the loudest voice in the room. Humor is central to how I navigate each day. The work is serious, but I never take myself too seriously and having a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor is a plus.

How do you stay up to date on the latest in the field? Are there any resources that you find particularly useful?

I try to read as much as I can from the latest industry publications. However, for me, reading the major dailies like the NY Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal allow me to keep up on news that might not affect my work directly now but certainly can have an impact. Networking is another great way to keep up. Hopefully, as we ease out of the pandemic networking will be a priority (at least in person)!

At this year’s Strategic Communications Conference, you’re headlining a session on taking risks, beating adversity and creating a bold culture. Can you give our readers a sneak peek at what they can expect to learn?

I joined Walgreens at the height of the pandemic and had to assume responsibility for helping lead our external communications through one of the most intense and difficult periods in the company’s history.  I learned how to take risks, step outside the comfort zone and keep a team together that was physically apart.

If you’d like to gain new strategic insights and communications strategies for internal and executive comms, public relations, marketing and social media, join us at Ragan and PR Daily’s Strategic Communications Conference, where speakers from Walgreens, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Pepsico, Facebook and more will share their ideas and success stories. Register today!

Jon Minnick is a conference producer for Ragan and PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.

The post Advice from Walgreens’ Fraser Engerman: You should practice your elevator speech appeared first on PR Daily.

One of the hardest parts of business communications is getting more attention as layoffs increase amid an uncertain, seesawing economy. And these communications are no longer the internal affairs they once were. They’re almost certain to be leaked, scrutinized and considered by both your existing staff, job seekers and even potential customers and clients.

The cost of a misstep is high, both in terms of the human cost and the business cost.

Let’s examine some recent layoff statements and learn what we can from the best and the rest.

Robinhood

Robinhood’s CEO and co-founder, Vlad Tenev, took a more employee-focused approach and wrote a blog post explaining the specific departments the layoffs would affect and taking personal responsibility for the over-hiring that led to this moment:

I want to acknowledge how unsettling these types of changes are. We often talk about our mission to democratize finance for all, and one of the most cherished aspects of Robinhood is the teamwork and camaraderie involved in working towards our mission — together. I feel incredibly privileged and fortunate to have the opportunity to build with all of you.

Last year, we staffed many of our operations functions under the assumption that the heightened retail engagement we had been seeing with the stock and crypto markets in the COVID era would persist into 2022. In this new environment, we are operating with more staffing than appropriate. As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory – this is on me.

He also explained the resources that employees would be offered to laid-off workers:

Everyone will receive an email and a Slack message with your status – with resources and support if you are leaving. We’re sending everyone a message immediately after this meeting so you don’t have to wait for clarity. Departing Robinhoodies will be offered the opportunity to remain employed with Robinhood through October 1, 2022 and receive their regular pay and benefits (including equity vesting). They will also be offered cash severance, payment of COBRA medical, dental and vision insurance premiums and job search assistance (including an opt in Robinhood Alumni Talent Directory).

Each impacted Hoodie will be able to schedule time with our people team to discuss their specific situation live. We know that this news is tough for all Robinhoodies, and we are also offering wellness support to those who would like it.

Tenev’s blog post leads with an empathetic expression that reframes a dark chapter in the company’s history as an opportunity to reinforce its culture, values and mission. Tenev’s sense of personal responsibility for the poor decision to over-hire adds a seldom-seen degree of accountability to the message that demonstrates those values.

By going deeper into the logic behind how employees were informed, Tenev also offers a rare insight into how change communications can be shared with wellness front and center that’s worth emulating.

‘The crying CEO’

You’d probably never heard of HyperSocial or its CEO, Braden Wallake, until recently. You still may not know his name. You may instead know him as “the crying CEO” after he posted an emotional selfie to LinkedIn along with a post announcing layoffs.

Wallake tried to react in a human way and took responsibility for this unfortunate outcome — good rules of thumb for any CEO. However, he made the post entirely about him and his feelings, and how the loss of jobs affected him.

Now, to be fair, this is not a traditional job layoff memo. It’s a personal LinkedIn post. Even so, it strikes a discordant note that centers the CEO and relegates those who were laid off to background characters in his own drama. If you’re writing your own reaction to a layoff, but you still have a job, remember that it isn’t about you. Keep the focus on those who are affected.

Wayfair

The layoff letter from the online furniture retailer stands in stark contrast to the previous post from HyperSocial. CEO and Co-founder Niraj Shah’s letter takes responsibility without making it about him and his feelings.

I take responsibility for the impact this decision will have on the nearly 900 Wayfairians who will be told today they are no longer a part of building our company’s future. The individuals being impacted have not only made tremendous contributions to the company as colleagues but have enriched us all as our partners and friends. We’re grateful to have worked alongside them, and we will strongly support our colleagues in their next endeavors.

The memo also clearly lays out who will be affected and exactly what the process will be for those who are being let go, including specific severance details, as well as information about next steps for those who will remain at the company. All of this can help reduce anxiety during the waiting process.

The act of posting the letter on their website in full is also a strong act of transparency. If it’s going to leak anyway, get ahead of it and share your messaging.

Ford

The automaker announced this week that it would lay off about 3,000 people, mostly white-collar workers. Internally, the move was announced in a memo that promptly leaked.

The memo begins by nodding to the brand’s history, dating back to the Model-T before acknowledging that what has guided them in the past no longer delivers needed results.

We committed to sharing information as decisions are made along the way. As we tackle all aspects of costs – from materials to those related to quality – we are informing some Ford teammates this week in the U.S., Canada and at FBS in India, that their positions are being eliminated. Overall, we are reducing our salaried workforce by about 2,000, as well as reducing agency personnel by about 1,000. These actions follow significant restructuring in Ford operations outside of North America over the past couple of years.

The memo succeeds because of its clarity: It explains why costs are being cut, how they’re being cut beyond personnel, and exactly who it will affect.

It also doesn’t lose sight of the human cost, while also explaining how the organization will support those who will no longer have jobs:

None of this changes the fact that this is a difficult and emotional time. The people leaving the company this week are friends and coworkers and we want to thank them for all they have contributed to Ford. We have a duty to care for and support those affected – and we will live up to this duty – providing not only benefits but significant help to find new career opportunities.

It’s a solid mix of business-focused pragmatism and human-centric compassion, which are the most important keys in any layoff communication. Outline action, mourn what’s lost and look to the future.

The post Layoff communications: The good, the bad and the ugly appeared first on PR Daily.

I challenge you to name an executive who doesn’t want to be considered a thought leader. If you can’t come up with one, it’s not surprising. Thought leadership has the potential to elevate an executive’s profile, drive brand awareness, and lead to tangible business results. What business leader wouldn’t want to be one?

Bylined articles have long been one option on the path to thought leadership. An article or thought piece can provide an opportunity for an executive to share their perspective and subject-matter expertise. And while it used to be fairly easy for a savvy PR professional to get a well-written bylined article published, the media landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade. For one thing, more and more executives are clamoring to be thought leaders, and are often incentivized to do so by the companies they work for, so the competition to get published is fierce. For another, publications are hungry for revenue, and as a result, more and more media outlets have adopted a pay-to-play model. The model has its appeal: an executive or company pays a media outlet to ensure their article gets published.

But is it worth the investment? 

Opinions vary. Some marketers are skeptical of paid content. The former CMO of one of the world’s top quick-service restaurants said they were “not a fan.” They see paid content as advertising and “take it all with a big grain of salt. Readers are suspicious, more so these days, and worry they are being spun or worse, seeing fake news. That’s why bylines matter more than ever and I only trust those that are objective, those that do not have an economic interest in the content.“

I used to feel that way myself, but given shrinking editorial coverage opportunities, I’ve come to see that in some cases, executives looking to build a thought leadership platform should consider paying for bylines to be published in a media outlet part of their overall PR plan.

Catch-22

It’s a bit of a Catch-22: there are so many executives looking to get their bylines published that you almost need to have a profile first, before you can get an earned byline. You and your company often need to have already-established credentials before publications and readers will want to hear what you have to say. In that respect, paying for content to be published in the right media outlet can be a great way to open the door.

Dos and don’ts

To ensure that a paid byline gets the biggest bang for the buck and leads to earned bylines and business in the future, here are some essential dos and don’ts:

Do:

• Create content that delivers a provocative, new point of view that will be valuable to readers. The topic and headline should be so compelling that even those skeptical of paid content will want to click on it.
• Write with your target audience in mind. What insights can you provide that no one else can?
• Choose your media outlet wisely and ask smart questions:
  • Is the publication read/followed by the executive’s target audience?
  • Will it enhance the credibility of the leader or company to be published in this outlet?
  • Do you like the way the publication displays paid content?
  • Will the outlet promote the article across their owned channels (podcasts, webinars, social media, website)?
• Amplify the content. Go beyond posting the article on the company’s website and social media channels. There’s so much more that can be done:

• • Highlight the content with employees.
  • Share the article with clients, prospects, analysts, investors and any other key audiences.
  • Weave it into pitch decks.
  • Include it in newsletters.

Don’t:

• Don’t write a sales pitch. Just because you’ve paid for the content to be published, doesn’t mean you don’t need to consider your audience and what they need (versus what you feel like writing about). Content that is purely promotional doesn’t provide any value to the reader and is an immediate turn-off. The goal of thought leadership isn’t to sell – it’s to get people to see you as a trusted resource for valuable insights and opinions.
• Don’t jump on the bandwagon. Avoid writing about the latest hot topic. It might be tempting, but the fact that it’s a hot topic means the market is likely already saturated with articles. Case in point: A google search for “metaverse articles” resulted in about 33,900,000 results. Instead, think about an undiscovered opportunity that no one is talking about–but they should be.
• Don’t overcommit. Some outlets require their contributors to produce content regularly, which can be an unrealistic expectation and a burden for a busy executive. Make sure to vet the agreement with the publisher in advance, so you know what’s required.

Following these dos and don’ts will make a paid byline worth the investment and will set an executive on the path to thought leadership.

Barbara Nonas is a strategic communications consultant and C-suite advisor with over 20 years of experience in all facets of PR and communications. She was previously head of corporate communications at Digitas.

The post When a paid byline is worth the investment appeared first on PR Daily.

When the world changed two years ago, the business needs did, too. Internal communicators, long considered the most undervalued comms practitioners, suddenly saw their work validated by business leaders in unprecedented ways.

Transparency became crucial for businesses trying to show external audiences that they were upholding cultural values, taking care of employees, and generally conducting themselves internally the way that they presented externally. As such, the trend of mixternal communications—the industry-wide merging of internal and external comms functions—took off.

Kari Wethington, executive communications director at Proctor and Gamble, spoke at Ragan’s Employee Communications and Culture conference this past February about how artful mixternal communications require a nuanced understanding of the differences, and similarities, between executive communications and thought leadership.

Wethington began with a charge for comms to define what these terms mean within each organization and where they sit.

“It’s clear that there’s a lot of grey area between executive communications and thought leadership,” she said. “The terms, the functions sort of blend together. At certain companies, if you’re in executive communications, you might be 99% focused on internal communications. But you might also be doing 50/50 internal/external. Sometimes, thought leadership sits within the same group that’s doing exec comms — other times, it’s a marketing function.”

As Wethington shared her understanding of each discipline, she offered tips for how communicators can think about the balance between executive comms and thought leadership.

Define what each discipline means for your business

“I think of executive communications a little bit like service journalism,” Wethington said. “Executive communications (mean) you’re delivering the information people need to be engaged, to do their jobs well, to know what’s going on. you’re trying to make sure leadership messages are getting across to employees and that they’re connected.” ]]

She believes that executive communications must be a well-oiled machine for thought leadership content to be effective and resonant.

“I would think of thought leadership more as almost opportunistic, (with) a little bit of a marketing mindset,” Wethington added. “How do you take your baseline of executive communications and really broaden it to a wider audience, to have wider impact?”

She stressed that the grey area between each discipline exists because there are more similarities than there are differences. Both should consider the audience you’re trying to reach and the priority that you assign to each. Both should consider how the message mix ladders up to the larger business goals. And perhaps most importantly, both require the flexibility to let plans evolve as business needs change.

“We all know there are so many channels that we’re trying to stay on top of,” said Wethington. “So being constant learners is super important here.”

Make yourself a trusted advisor

It’s important for every internal communicator to take a step back and check to make sure their internal systems for producing exec comms and thought leadership are functioning as they need to—whether you’re a seasoned veteran, new to an organization or building a thought leadership pipeline for the first time.

First and foremost, you must do the work to ensure you’re considered a trusted advisor with the information and connections you need to do the role well.

“One way I like to think about this is just building your own network and relationship building,” said Wethington. “Obviously, the connections you have with the executives you support is so important. So, spend time getting to know them. Get comfortable asking questions. Think about them as a person outside of the transactions you need to get done because you know they’re so busy.”

She also stressed the importance of considering the other people who report to that leader, who might be trusted resources you can tap on to get to know the organization, and the leader, better. That internal network can inform the next idea that your thought leadership work focuses on.

Listen constantly

Always listening means “being a sponge for that content at all times.” It might mean a meeting with your executives where they test out new messaging, then generating your own creative ideas from their approach.

“(Listening) can also be very tactical,” Wethington said. “This is a great way to get started on ghostwriting. Instead of sitting there with a blank screen, start with a presentation that already exists and see how you can recreate with a new take or fresh information.” She added that not being afraid to recycle content helps you start from a place grounded in the company’s most important messages.

Revisit the basics

Creating a system for success with executive comms and thought leadership also requires you to reassess your tool kit. This includes considering whether and how often you need more formal presentation rehearsals, media training sessions or message reviews.

“When appropriate, take the time to actually do the run-through,” said Wethington. “I find that creates a safe environment for both you and the executive to make sure all the kinks are worked out. Sometimes when you get further into working with an executive you can cut some of that stuff out. “

She added that revisiting media training can be helpful at all levels of a career, especially for execs who never received it early on. It can also help with internal messaging and message reviews.

“Sometimes the hardest questions are coming from employees,” she said, “and so you want to make sure folks are prepared for that.”

The post How to navigate the jump from executive communications to thought leadership appeared first on PR Daily.

In many organizations, internal communications are in one silo, external are in another and never the two shall meet. But mixternal communications, or a close alignment between the two communications functions for addressing the different audiences in a similar way, is gaining popularity.

NASA’s mixternal approach provides an example for how this strategy can pay dividends on topics both silly and serious.

In Ragan’s recent Speechwriting & Public Affairs Conference, NASA public affairs lead and internal team leader Mia Blessing (who is not an astronaut, she’s quick to point out), shared how the space agency has integrated internal, executive and external comms to build a holistic messaging framework that serves all audiences with transparency and trust.

“Our key messages are catered to our audiences but intertwined at the core as one voice,” Blessing said.

Mixternal shines with troublesome turkeys

NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley had a turkey problem.

It wasn’t always a problem. It used to just be the local wildlife. But during the pandemic, when most of the center’s employees were working from home, the turkeys got comfortable running the joint. They were hanging out in parking lots and even trying to breeze their way into buildings. This became a problem when workers began to emerge from their isolation and get back to work in person.

But the rub was, many workers were attached to the birds. There are a lot of scientists at the site, after all, and many of them were nature lovers. The turkeys had become of Ames’ culture. “It was an emotional issue for our internal workforce,” Blessing said.

So the message was gently delivered internally that the turkeys would be moved to a farm. And in many cases, the messaging would have stopped there. But Blessing and her team realized there was an opportunity to use much of the internal executive communications to tell an external story that held NASA accountable, ensuring there was transparency around the turkey turmoil and that the surrounding community understood what was happening.

This full story is available exclusively to members of the PR Leadership Network. For more information on becoming a member, click here. 

The post How NASA uses mixternal communications for moonshots and turkey trouble appeared first on PR Daily.

Most communicators surveyed in Ragan’s 2022 Communications Benchmark Report said that getting access to executives, working with charismatic execs, and getting them to use social media were their top obstacles to effective exec comms.

Access to executives remains the biggest exec comms obstacle for all respondents (30%), though that number decreased considerably among members of Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council (16%), indicating that the higher concentration of senior roles among council members makes executives more accessible to them.

A quarter of all respondents each cited uncharismatic executives and hesitance among the C-suite to use social media as their biggest obstacles. These issues indicate that executives could use more media training on how to deliver a message that audiences find engaging. In both instances, comms should empower executives to communicate in their authentic voice, armed with key messaging points and phrases that empower execs to post autonomously.

If the training isn’t changing executive behavior, it may be time to reconsider who your messenger should be.

These answers underscore a general lack of coordination between executive teams and communications teams. “Executive teams need to pull in communications sooner rather than later,” said one respondent.

“Communications is much more than writing,” said another. “More often than not it’s operational in nature and requires cross departmental coordination to execute.”

“Some execs aren’t able to focus their comms priorities and often integrate ad-hoc tactics that have nothing to do with the strategic plan,” another respondent added.

These insights are just a small fraction of the key findings from the fourth annual Communications Benchmark Report, an exclusive study for Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council, that reveals a range of sentiments and best-laid plans during a very dynamic time.

Download a copy of Ragan’s fourth annual Communications Benchmark Report executive summary here. To obtain a full copy of Ragan’s 2022 Communications Benchmark Report, become a member of the Communications Leadership Council. Click here for more details.

The post These are the biggest challenges to effective executive comms, Ragan survey says appeared first on PR Daily.

Good morning, communicators:

CVS hopes to corner the digital market as it trademarks its brand to open a digital pharmacy in the metaverse. The drugstore chain joins retailers like Nike and Walmart to offer a virtual shopping experience.

Its trademark filing also suggests the company hopes to offer telehealth and virtual visits in the metaverse store.

CNBC reports:

“We’re… regularly looking at new and innovative ways to engage consumers through a digital-first, technology-forward approach,” said a CVS spokesman in a statement to CNBC, adding “we will continue to explore these and other options to improve the consumer experience and launch new consumer-centric services.”

It’s an example of how many companies are testing capabilities and opportunities in new digital platforms, despite plenty of uncertainty about how popular the metaverse will actually be. To tie into its offering, CVS has also released research on how many Americans are underserved by their current health care options.

If you are getting into the metaverse, think about how you can make a compelling case that your offering improves the lives of consumers. By increasing accessibility for routine wellness appointments, CVS might have a better reason to enter the metaverse than most.

Here are today’s top stories:

Uniqlo defends keeping Russian stores open

The clothing chain has 50 stores in Russia, which it says will remain open despite its parent company’s stance against the Ukraine invasion. Competitors like H&M and Zara have temporarily closed their stores in Russia—though those decisions might have been forced due to supply chain issues.

Business Insider reports:

The CEO of Uniqlo parent company Fast Retailing, who is against the war in Ukraine, confirmed the brand’s decision to stay open in Russia in a statement to Asian business news site Nikkei, Bloomberg reported. Earlier this week, Fast Retailing donated $10 million to UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.

“Clothing is a necessity of life,” CEO Tadashi Yanai said, according to Bloomberg. “The people of Russia have the same right to live as we do.” A spokesperson for Fast Retailing was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Insider.

What you should know: While plenty of noise is being made by corporations about closing their operations in Russia in response to the tragedy in Ukraine, the actions are often business decisions forced by the raft of sanctions imposed by NATO countries and their allies around the world.

Uniqlo hopes to be able to separate its efforts to serve the Russian people—many of whom are bravely protesting the war—from its leaders which have sent troops into a sovereign nation unprovoked. By donating to refugee organizations, the brand hopes to demonstrate its values and offset criticism of its ongoing Russian connection.

MEASURED THOUGHTS

The Institute for Public Relations has released a new report on the top 17 research discoveries for PR pros in 2021. The list includes analyses of a range of topics from behavioral science to diversity and inclusion.

One common thread is the importance of employees and their value to your organization. Employees became the No. 1 stakeholder for businesses in 2021 and the data represents just how important employee relations is for your efforts in the year ahead.

(Image via)

You can see all 17 of the insights identified by IPR as the top pieces of research for last year by downloading the full report.

Stoli vodka rebrands to distance itself from Russia

The Stolichnaya vodka brand is hoping that a name change will be enough to keep its products on shelves in Europe and the U.S. Shortening the name to just “Stoli” is an effort to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people and educate consumers about the company’s own strained relations with Russia. Founder Yuri Shefler was born in Russia but was exiled in 2000 for anti-Putin views.

The company’s alcoholic beverage is now produced in Latvia.

The New York Daily News reports:

“Today, we have made the decision to rebrand entirely as the name no longer represents our organization,” Shefler said in a press release. “More than anything, I wish for ‘Stoli’ to represent peace in Europe and solidarity with Ukraine.”

Why it matters: The name change is a bit of PR stunt—but it’s crucial for Stoli to find a way to explain its frayed Russia connection to consumers who are weighing their purchasing options. Stores have been removing Russian brands from shelves—and Stoli risks guilt by association, even if its founder has no love for Putin and his regime.

INVESTOR RELATIONS

More and more companies are facing pressure from their investors to make changes to product portfolios. Unilever is just the latest as an investor group has demanded more transparency around nutrition in its products, including Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The company already published nutrition standards in 2020, including targets around plant-based food products and lowering salt and fat content in Unilever’s food portfolio. Investors, however, want more.

Unilever, which is the world’s largest producer of ice cream, will set out new nutrition goals by October, according to the company.

Financial Times reports:

Catherine Howarth, chief executive of ShareAction, a shareholder group that pushed Unilever to make the changes, said: “The transparency promised sets a new standard for the industry. We hope and expect that others will follow.”

In the U.S., investors are pushing e-commerce giant Amazon to adopt new practices and transparency around its corporate taxes. The company has rebuffed similar requests from shareholders in the past—but the investors claim the aggressive tax practices of the retailer create risk.

Reuters reports:

[The investors] want to bring a shareholders’ resolution demanding the new standard at the company’s annual meeting this year, it said, citing a letter to be sent this week to the U.S. regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Aggressive tax practices can expose a company and its investors to increased scrutiny from tax authorities, adjustment risks, and increase their vulnerability to changes in tax rules,” the investors said.

For communicators, these stories are a reminder of the growing importance of environmental, social and governance issues. Investors are looking for companies that demonstrate ongoing stakeholder engagement—and that’s where communicators can both facilitate the conversation and make sure a company’s efforts are visible to right audiences.

Tech companies address anxiety amid return to office push

Big tech companies like Google, Apple, Twitter and more are making the push to bring employees back to their offices. For Apple, employees will have to work in the office one day a week starting April 11 and ramp up to three days per week by April 23. Google will require at least three days in the office, effective April 4.

Twitter will be more flexible, allowing workers to set their own schedule and priorities when its offices reopen Mach 15.

Deadline reports:

“For many of you, I know that returning to the office represents a long-awaited milestone and a positive sign that we can engage more fully with the colleagues who play such an important role in our lives,” [Apple CEO Tim Cook] said in a memo. “For others, it may also be an unsettling change.”

… “Wherever you feel most productive and creative is where you will work, and that includes working from home full-time forever,” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a letter to employees. “Office every day? That works too. Some days in office, some days from home? Of course.”

What you should know: Workers want to hear about the strategy for a return to the office directly from the CEO, and those internal messages are likely to find their way into the hands of external audiences. Even as the pandemic abates, demonstrating empathy for employees and their needs will be paramount for communicators.

Acknowledging the wide range of experiences and priorities for workers coming out of the pandemic is starting point. And if you do have hard and fast rules about when workers must be in an office, make sure to have a solid reason behind your decision.

The post Uniqlo won’t leave Russia, top research for PR pros and tech companies address anxiety over return to the office appeared first on PR Daily.

What are the speechwriting takeaways from the State of the Union address?

Media trainer TJ Walker takes us through President Biden’s speech and how the remarks succeeded or fell short in helping Americans through an extraordinary period.

What did you think of the State of the Union address? Please share in the comments.

The post Video: Analyzing the speechcraft from the 2022 State of the Union appeared first on PR Daily.

Hello, communicators:

A 17-year-old made more money in the last year than the CEOs of Live Nation, Expedia and Etsy combined.

That teen is none other than TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, whose presence on the short-form video app skyrocketed her and her family to fame and (considerable) fortune. The Wall Street Journal reports that seven of the top-earning TikTok creators made a combined $55.5 million in 2021, up 200% from 2020.

Charli D'Amelio made nearly $2 million more than ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods last year, and she's not the only influencer out-earning S&P 500 companies' top brass https://t.co/6wpSgqKYeC

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 21, 2022

The numbers show the rising power of social media stars and how brands must adapt their strategies to engage with entities that are quickly becoming very big business.

For more on which CEOs brought home less than social media stars last year, check out the Wall Street Journal’s full story here.

Here are today’s other top stories:

Credit Suisse responds to leak of international client roster

An investigation by The Guardian and other news organizations found that Swiss bank Credit Suisse had provided banking services and accounts to people involved with “torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes,” despite promises to attempt to clean up its involvement with “high-risk” clients.

The Guardian reports:

The leak points to widespread failures of due diligence by Credit Suisse, despite repeated pledges over decades to weed out dubious clients and illicit funds.

In a statement published by the Guardian, Credit Suisse puts its involvement with nefarious customers solely in the past, “including at a time where laws, practices and expectations of financial institutions were very different from where they are now.”

Credit Suisse claims that the actions it took were legal at the time they happened and says that The Guardian’s investigation is “a concerted effort to discredit the bank and the Swiss financial marketplace, which has undergone significant changes over the last several years.”

More from the Credit Suisse statement, as reported by The Guardian:

“In line with financial reforms across the sector and in Switzerland, Credit Suisse has taken a series of significant additional measures over the last decade, including considerable further investments in combating financial crime. Across the bank, Credit Suisse continues to strengthen its compliance and control framework, and as we have made clear, our strategy puts risk management at the very core of our business.”

Why it matters: It’s becoming commonplace for consumers and stakeholders to demand transparent company policies. Credit Suisse’s response doesn’t exactly deny the allegations of business dealings with unsavory clients; rather, it reframes the issue as one that has already been dealt with internally.

While Credit Suisse uses its crisis communications to reaffirm its values, its claim that all the allegations were “historical” doesn’t align with the facts that two-thirds of the accounts reported in the leak were opened after the year 2000.

MEASURED THOUGHTS

A majority of Americans think that the decline of union membership in the U.S. is a bad thing for both the country and working people, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

(Image via)

Fifty-eight percent of adults said the “large reduction in the percentage of workers represented by unions” has been very or somewhat bad for the country, while 61% said that the reduction has been very or somewhat bad for working people.

From the report:

The share of U.S. workers who belong to a union has fallen since 1983, when 20% of American workers were union members. In 2021, 10.3% of U.S. workers were in a union.

According to Pew, Americans’ attitudes toward declining union membership have changed very little since last year. The data is important to note for organizations that face a rising tide of union drives and labor organization among their employees. Efforts to convince employees that unions don’t have their best interests at heart aren’t convincing for a large segment of the U.S.

Check out more from Pew Research here.

TAKE OUR SURVEY

We want to know about your career as a social media professional.

How big is your team? Are you valued at your organization?

If you’re interested in helping benchmark the career path potential of social media professionals and shedding light on how social media is internally managed, viewed and evaluated, take our survey. The Social Media Career Survey is a follow-up to a 2020 report by the Institute for Public Relations, Ragan Communications and the University of Florida.

Whether you’re in charge of company social media or involved in social media for a client, we welcome your participation.

Respondents will receive a full report on the findings, which will also be shared on PR Daily.   Responses will remain confidential.

McDonald’s strikes back on welfare of pigs from its suppliers

McDonald’s is calling investor Carl Icahn’s demands about the treatment of pregnant pigs used for the company’s pork “impossible.”

Axios reports that Icahn, who owns 200 shares of the fast-food chain, has joined the Humane Society of the United States in asking McDonald’s to commit to using “crate free” pork suppliers. Icahn has launched a proxy fight over the issue, nominating two people for board seats.

From Axios:

In a statement, McDonald’s fired back at the activist investor, saying the “current pork supply in the U.S. would make this type of commitment impossible.”

“Furthermore, it reflects a departure from the veterinary science used for large-scale production throughout the industry, and would harm the Company’s shared pursuit of providing customers with high-quality products at accessible prices.”

McDonald’s also noted in its statement that Icahn is the majority owner of Viskase, a pork products packaging supply company.

“Mr. Icahn’s ownership provides him with unique exposure to the industry-wide challenges and opportunities in migrating away from gestation crates,” the statement says. “Thus, it’s noteworthy that Mr. Icahn has not publicly called on Viskase to adopt commitments similar to those of McDonald’s 2012 commitment.”

McDonald’s’ ten-year commitment to ending the use of gestation stalls by 2022 was delayed by supply chain issues related to the pandemic, the company says.

What it means: Activist investors are becoming more of a thorn in many companies’ sides, thanks to social media ad an increased consumer interest in ESG. McDonald’s statement demonstrates how a company can offer a measured response to claims it isn’t living up to its ESG commitments.

It’s a reminder for companies that failing to demonstrate meaningful progress on commitments form environmental impact to diversity and employee equity is more than a messaging gaffe. The consequences can be real in the boardroom and with investors who are looking to use their dollars to create change.

Announcing the PR Daily Leadership Network

PR Daily has launched the PR Daily Leadership Network, a unique membership group from Ragan Communications offering peer-to-peer advisory and team training along with a unique slate of resources and events to help public relations professionals break through the noise, increase their visibility and forge meaningful connections.

The Network provides daily insights and coverage on a range of topics including media relations, social media, measurement, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, branding, thought leadership and crisis communications.

“The fast pace of change coupled with the demand on public relations professionals to protect and sometimes defend their company’s reputation make it imperative for leaders to tap into the wisdom of other communicators and continue to learn and grow,” says Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications. “The PR Daily Leadership Network provides the answers but also encourages members to question the status quo and push for positive change.”

Visit leadership.prdaily.com to learn more.

The post Credit Suisse defends dealings with criminal clientele, American audiences stick with the union and McDonald’s fights activist investor on animal welfare appeared first on PR Daily.

Hello, communicators:

Did you know that red pandas are often referred to as “fire foxes”?

Mozilla’s Firefox team is partnering with Disney ahead of the premiere of its new animated film, “Turning Red,” which tells the story of a young teen who transforms into a giant red panda whenever she feels a strong emotion. The movie is set in 2002, an important year in the history of the Firefox web browser.

Mozilla has created new Firefox desktop colorways and mobile phone wallpapers inspired by the movie, along with a landing page for “all things 2002 nostalgia.”

From the Mozilla blog:

In 2002, we were coming together for the first time to create what would become Firefox. We were looking at the internet and imagining what we wanted it to be, how we wanted to show up and how we could invite everyone to join us.

Back when Firefox was starting out, the internet felt just as unknown, exciting and scary as middle school feels for most people. Honestly, the online world still often feels unknown, exciting and scary. And that is a good thing. This has allowed Firefox to continually reinvent itself over the years, and we will continue to evolve Firefox as we grow with the world. But how we want to show up has not changed.

via GIPHY

The campaign is an example of how your brand can use an upcoming pop culture moment to connect with wider audiences. As the competition for attention spans gets more and more fierce, partnership with others to drive awareness is a better and better investment.

Here are today’s other top stories:

Study: Oil companies are all talk, no substance on climate

New research out of Japan shows that despite an increase in environment-related messaging, neither BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil nor Shell are actually on their way to a clean energy transition.

The study authors, from Tohoku University and Kyoto University, examined the four major oil companies to “comprehensively investigate the actual state of actions by oil majors to decarbonize and transition to clean energy.” They say 12 years of quantitative and qualitative data from the companies shows a “mismatch” between the organizations’ words, actions and investments.

NPR reports:

The researchers said they found no evidence that the companies were investing in clean energy at a scale that would allow them to shift away from fossil fuels.

In fact, the study noted: “Glaringly, ExxonMobil generated no clean energy during the decade.” BP’s global renewables capacity—the largest among the four majors—amounts to only 2,000 MW, or the equivalent of about two large gas-fired power plants.

This is despite an increase in all four companies’ use of terms like “transition,” “emission” and “low-carbon energy,” as depicted in the graph below:

European oil companies BP and Shell were found to have taken significantly larger steps toward meeting climate goals than their American counterparts ExxonMobile and Chevron.

The researchers write:

Over the study period, the European majors have more consistently acknowledged climate science, participated earlier in industry climate-change frameworks, adopted internal carbon pricing, spent and pledged more on clean energy, and recently set net-zero transition and energy product decarbonization goals. Trailing far behind, the American majors continuously exhibit defensive attitudes to renewables investment and the need to shift from fossil fuels, explicitly stating ambitions to grow rather than reduce hydrocarbon production.

Why it matters: PR pros know measurement is key to proving the effectiveness of your messaging strategy. But data can also reveal glaring shortfalls when comparing promises of progress to actual action, as shown in the study.

This data also comes as PR firms are facing criticism over their work for fossil fuel companies, work that critics say has helped slow the transition to a green, sustainable future and sown doubt about climate science. For organizations that want to build trust in 2022, it will be essential to have data to support claims on climate and sustainability, among other issues.

MEASURED THOUGHTS

A new report from Pew Research Center shows Americans are divided nearly exactly in half along partisan political lines about whether or not employers should require COVID-19 vaccines for workers. Twenty-two percent of American workers say their employer has required a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Forty-seven percent of survey respondents who identify as Democrats or leaning Democrat said employers should require employees to get the shot, while 53% of those who identify as Republicans or leaning Republican said employers should neither require nor encourage workers to get vaccinated.

This data speaks to the continued polarization of Americans about vaccine mandates in the workplace—and serves as a good reminder to PR pros that the work of explaining or defending your organization’s vaccine policy isn’t done yet.

Check out more from Pew Research here.

TAKE OUR SURVEY

We want to know about your career as a social media professional.

How big is your team? Are you valued at your organization?

If you’re interested in helping benchmark the career path potential of social media professionals and shedding light on how social media is internally managed, viewed and evaluated, take our survey. The Social Media Career Survey is a follow-up to a 2020 report by the Institute for Public Relations, Ragan Communications and the University of Florida.

Whether you’re in charge of company social media or involved in social media for a client, we welcome your participation.

Respondents will receive a full report on the findings, which will also be shared on PR Daily.   Responses will remain confidential.

Levi brand president Jennifer Sey speaks out after resigning post

After more than 20 years with American denim company Levi’s, Jennifer Sey announced her resignation earlier this week with a lengthy blog post. She claims she was forced out over her public statements about public school closings during COVID-19.

“I wrote op-eds, appeared on local news shows, attended meetings with the mayor’s office, organized rallies and pleaded on social media to get the schools open,” Sey writes. “I was condemned for speaking out. This time, I was called a racist—a strange accusation given that I have two black sons—a eugenicist, and a QAnon conspiracy theorist.”

After she appeared on Fox News with Laura Ingraham, Sey says she was asked to do an “apology tour”: “I was told that the main complaint against me was that ‘I was not a friend of the Black community at Levi’s.’ I was told to say that ‘I am an imperfect ally.’ (I refused.)”

Sey writes that her time with Levi’s came to an end when CEO Chip Bergh told her it was “untenable” to stay.

What it means: Companies have the right to pick and choose their values and what they stand for, and it’s not a new phenomenon for organizations to part ways with employees who don’t embody those values. In this case, Levi’s made a choice to stand by its commitment to COVID-19 safety in exchange for losing some top talent. There’s no moral takeaway here, just a practical one: Companies often distance themselves from employees who are outspoken about issues that don’t align with their public values.

Announcing the PR Daily Leadership Network

PR Daily has launched the PR Daily Leadership Network, a unique membership group from Ragan Communications offering peer-to-peer advisory and team training along with a unique slate of resources and events to help public relations professionals break through the noise, increase their visibility and forge meaningful connections.

The Network provides daily insights and coverage on a range of topics including media relations, social media, measurement, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, branding, thought leadership and crisis communications.

“The fast pace of change coupled with the demand on public relations professionals to protect and sometimes defend their company’s reputation make it imperative for leaders to tap into the wisdom of other communicators and continue to learn and grow,” says Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications. “The PR Daily Leadership Network provides the answers but also encourages members to question the status quo and push for positive change.”

Visit leadership.prdaily.com to learn more.

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Hello, communicators:

Have an extra $150,000 burning a hole in your bank account? Great—you’ve got enough for the down payment on a ticket to space.

Virgin Galactic is opening ticket sales for its space tourism program to the public for the first time starting today. The total price of a single ticket will run you a total of $450,000, including the deposit, but if you’re looking for a late Valentine’s Day present, the company offers package deals for couples as well.

Our purpose at @VirginGalactic is to connect the world to the love, wonder and awe created by space travel. Explore our evolution at https://t.co/5UalYT7Hjb. pic.twitter.com/LMakGOaUjj

— Virgin Galactic (@virgingalactic) February 15, 2022

The Virgin Galactic website says the total experience includes spaceflight training and a “bespoke Under Armour spacesuit and boots.”

Here are today’s other top stories:

Salesforce to tie executive pay to ESG performance

Software giant Salesforce announced last week it will join the likes of McDonald’s, BP and Apple in tying top leaders’ salaries to the progress of the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

In the Salesforce 2022 Annual Equality Update, Lori Castillo Martinez—the company’s chief equity officer—wrote that more than 50% of the organization’s employees identify as being from “underrepresented groups,” adding that representation is a part of Saleforce’s ESG goals.

From Salesforce’s newest ESG page:

Going forward, a portion of executive variable pay for Executive Vice President and above will be determined by four ESG measures. For this fiscal year, the measures will focus on equality and sustainability.

Castillo Martinez says the equality measures will focus on increasing representation of women and racial minorities among Salesforce employees, while the sustainability measures will involve reducing air travel emissions and working with more suppliers that Salesforce identifies as practicing sustainability.

Why it matters: Linking the pay of top executives to progress on ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) measures is an increasingly popular way for organizations to demonstrate accountability to their commitments on positive social change. When messaging and outreach isn’t enough, putting a dollar amount on the line is an effective way to prove your ESG agenda isn’t just talk.

MEASURED THOUGHTS

Data from a 2021 survey of U.S. social video content users shows the most popular platform for viewing live content is YouTube, followed closely by Facebook.

(Image via)

Instagram and TikTok tied for third place as a destination for live video viewers, per the report from eMarketer. Among younger viewers (ages 16-24), however, TikTok takes the live content crown.

Check out more from the Insider Intelligence chart here.

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Zuckerberg announces new Meta values, “cultural operating system”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his latest memo to employees on his Facebook page this week, citing the need to show people around the world “what it’s like working at Meta and what makes us different from other companies.”

In the note, Zuckerberg reveals six updated company values, including the phrase, “Meta, Metamates, Me,” which has been met with some confusion (and some mockery) on social media:

– last value, and I am not making this up: “Meta, metamates, me”

A slide shows this text in bold all caps next to Zuck talking

I am told Zuck said this without laughing and explained it had to do with a story about ships and shipmates

— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) February 15, 2022

Facebook is changing "employees" to "Metamates" and "Newsfeed" to "feed."

Anytime a company makes a lot of trivial or meaningless changes is a

— Edwin Dorsey (@StockJabber) February 15, 2022

i try to not mock company branding too much — i work for techcrunch, which sounds like a cereal joke from the Silicon Valley show — but metamates is Not Good

— alex (@alex) February 15, 2022

The other five company values include:

• Move fast
• Focus on long-term impact
• Build awesome things
• Live in the future
• Be direct and respect your colleagues

What it means: People are looking for real change from companies. The new employee moniker “metamate” and its use in the “Meta, metamates, me” phrase suggests that workers should think first of the company, then their colleagues, then themselves. It’s a nice thought in theory, borrowed from the U.S. Navy’s phrase “ship, shipmates, self” as a marker of service to the greater whole, but in a time where employees are able to choose exactly where they want to work, emphasizing workers’ responsibility or demanding loyalty to a company that has seen its fair share of scandal and missteps could backfire.

Announcing the PR Daily Leadership Network

PR Daily has launched the PR Daily Leadership Network, a unique membership group from Ragan Communications offering peer-to-peer advisory and team training along with a unique slate of resources and events to help public relations professionals break through the noise, increase their visibility and forge meaningful connections.

The Network provides daily insights and coverage on a range of topics including media relations, social media, measurement, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, branding, thought leadership and crisis communications.

“The fast pace of change coupled with the demand on public relations professionals to protect and sometimes defend their company’s reputation make it imperative for leaders to tap into the wisdom of other communicators and continue to learn and grow,” says Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications. “The PR Daily Leadership Network provides the answers but also encourages members to question the status quo and push for positive change.”

Visit leadership.prdaily.com to learn more.

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Hello, communicators:

Sports ballcap retailer Lids is partnering with three historic Black sports organizations to celebrate Black History Month.

The “They Gave Us Game” campaign teams up with The Negro Leagues Museum, Black Fives and the Harlem Globetrotters to produce an exclusive line of jerseys, hats and shorts inspired by iconic Black players from each organization.

Lids is proud to announce three new collections, created in partnership with the @NLBMuseumKC, The @BlackFives, and the Original @Globies. pic.twitter.com/YrNphVyuoO

— Lids (@lids) February 8, 2022

From the press release:

“Lids is proud to partner with these historical properties that not only changed the course of American history but continue to make an immediate impact in sports today,” said Lawrence Berger, Chairman at FanzzLids Holdings and Partner at Ames Watson, the holding company of Lids. “This initiative is a monumental moment for Lids and these leagues as customers from all over the country will be able to properly support and celebrate these leagues year-round the way it deserves to be.”

Here are today’s other top stories:

Meta denies allegations of misuse of facial recognition data

The state of Texas has slapped social media giant Meta with a lawsuit alleging the company mishandled the collection and destruction of facial recognition data of Texas citizens.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s suit claims Meta violated state privacy laws and “should be responsible for billions of dollars in damages” due to the company collecting facial recognition data without user consent, sharing that data with third parties and failing to destroy it “in a timely manner.”

“The scope of Facebook’s misconduct is staggering,” the complaint, as reported by NPR, reads. “Facebook repeatedly captured Texans’ biometric identifiers without their consent not hundreds, or thousands, or millions of times—but billions of times, all in violation of CUBI and the DTPA.”

NPR reports:

A Meta spokesperson told NPR “these claims are without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously.” The company shut down its facial recognition feature in November after a decade in operation. In a blog post announcing the decision, Jerome Pesenti, vice president of Artificial Intelligence, wrote that Facebook needed “to weigh the positive use cases for facial recognition against growing societal concerns, especially as regulators have yet to provide clear rules.”

The company also said then it would delete the data it held on more than one billion users.

Why it matters: Recent polling data shows that consumers are increasingly worried about the power tech companies wield in the U.S. This isn’t Meta’s first brush with the law over data privacy concerns, and it likely won’t be the last. Organizations should view Meta’s high-profile struggles with data privacy as a warning; every organization should be prepared to defend how it stores and protects the data it collects.

MEASURED THOUGHTS

A new Pew Research Center Survey shows Black Americans cite the media as one of the most popular sources of information about the history of Black people in the United States, second only to “friends and family.”

(Image via)

More than half of adults who solely identify as Black say they are very or extremely informed about Black history in the United States. Thirty percent of those who said they knew at least a little about Black U.S. history cited the media as their primary source of information.

PR and comms pros, this is a chance to look at the way your organization speaks to and about Black Americans. Often, companies use Black History Month as a way to temporarily diversify their outreach and messaging, only to return to “business as usual” once February comes to an end. Now more than ever, people want companies to take a stand on the social issues that matter to them.

Check out more from the Pew Research Center survey here.

TAKE OUR SURVEY

We want to know about your career as a social media professional.

How big is your team? Are you valued at your organization?

If you’re interested in helping benchmark the career path potential of social media professionals and shedding light on how social media is internally managed, viewed and evaluated, take our survey. The Social Media Career Survey is a follow-up to a 2020 report by the Institute for Public Relations, Ragan Communications and the University of Florida.

Whether you’re in charge of company social media or involved in social media for a client, we welcome your participation.

Respondents will receive a full report on the findings, which will also be shared on PR Daily.   Responses will remain confidential.

Twitter users slam magazine’s job posting over low salary range

Media companies often use Twitter to post their job openings, and it’s not uncommon to see a slew of affinity groups tagged in an adjacent tweet. Newsrooms are being called on to diversify their ranks, and Twitter has long been a hub for journalism and news-adjacent jobseekers.

But when Harper’s Magazine shared the listing for its New York City-based assistant editor role, tagging accounts like Writers of Color, the National Association of Black Journalists and Disabled Writers, its message was quickly reviled over concerns about the low pay scale.

The NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity defines an impoverished household in the city as one earning less than about $36,000 for a family of four. Harper Magazine’s full-time assistant editor position pays $40,000.

Study Hall, an industry newsletter and “online support network for media workers,” responded directly:

This is wild because $40K is both less than what we, a much smaller and younger company, pay any of our FT staff AND less than the average incomes reported in our survey. So, like, maybe don’t tag us? https://t.co/qxDPzRFp4z

— Study Hall (@studyhallxyz) February 13, 2022

Others were quick to chime in:

The audacity. The salary is $40k and position is based in NY. For @Harpers to tag BIPOC orgs as a recruitment tool is a slap in the face and performative. https://t.co/eVHnJlr981

— Fernando Soto | NuestroEstado.com (@94FernandoSoto) February 14, 2022

Ah. Apparently this pays 40k/year.

When y'all are ready to get into how these wages aren't just terrible because they are unlivable, but bc they also help keep media white (and therefore fortifying white supremacy), please let me know.

Because who do you think takes this job? https://t.co/0KVcTK2A0F

— bb-ace (@kandacesays) February 13, 2022

Harper’s Magazine hiring assistant editor for $40,000, which in NYC means you’d have to eat cold mac and cheese someone threw out their Uber window leaving the bar. At least it’s Gouda tho. Biggest barrier breaking into this journalism is you basically need generational wealth https://t.co/PR1hNnsb2H

— Frederick Melo, Reporter (@FrederickMelo) February 13, 2022

What you should know: Harper’s decision to tag organizations that represent people of color, those with disabilities and a wide array of racial and ethnic minorities is a nod to a practice that is slowly becoming more performative than productive. Media companies looking to diversify their rosters (and audiences) are expected to put in the work to recruit and attract these groups, rather than relying on a shared tweet to encourage the submission of a résumé or clicks on a story. And if you are going to make a big deal out of a new role or actively recruit diverse candidates, make sure the offer is tempting and offers reasonable wages and benefits.

Announcing the PR Daily Leadership Network

PR Daily has launched the PR Daily Leadership Network, a unique membership group from Ragan Communications offering peer-to-peer advisory and team training along with a unique slate of resources and events to help public relations professionals break through the noise, increase their visibility and forge meaningful connections.

The Network provides daily insights and coverage on a range of topics including media relations, social media, measurement, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, branding, thought leadership and crisis communications.

“The fast pace of change coupled with the demand on public relations professionals to protect and sometimes defend their company’s reputation make it imperative for leaders to tap into the wisdom of other communicators and continue to learn and grow,” says Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications. “The PR Daily Leadership Network provides the answers but also encourages members to question the status quo and push for positive change.”

Visit leadership.prdaily.com to learn more.

The post Meta denies data misuse after Texas lawsuit, where U.S. audiences turn for info on Black history and Harper’s Magazine slammed over NYC job posting appeared first on PR Daily.