Hello, communicators:

Short-form video and content discovery platform Triller has announced plans to hold its first-ever Black Creator Conference on Sept. 23 in Atlanta.

Held during Black Business Month, the inaugural event aims “to deepen the pipeline of Black-owned content across entertainment, lifestyle, fashion, sports and other genres of short- and long-form content available to consumer brands for integration and advertising opportunities,” according to the press release.

Triller plans to showcase its new content creator platform at the conference, a suite of AI-driven social insights, conversational ads and e-commerce tools by giving attendees free access to the technology during the event.

“The Black Creator Conference is designed to help Black creators gain a more substantial foothold in the ever-evolving digital marketing space and to foster greater racial equity across the overall media economy,” said Triller’s chief growth officer Bonin Bough, who spearheaded the conference initiative. “We’re excited to bring together creators and advertisers in a dynamic and supportive environment that will enhance opportunities for everyone.”

Triller’s new conference highlights power that live events have, beyond networking opportunities, as a forum for sharing thought leadership and setting new industry benchmarks.

Here are today’s top stories:

Federal health officials detail plan for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots

The country’s leading government health officials have announced that COVID-19 booster shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will become available to all U.S. adults beginning in September. Those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also need booster shots, but the government is not releasing plans for the distribution of those extra jabs just yet.

NPR reports:

“We know that even highly effective vaccines become less effective over time,” Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general, said at a White House briefing. “It is now our clinical judgment that the time to lay out a plan for COVID boosters is now.”

The surgeon general said that health officials were concerned about “waning immunity and the strength of the delta variant”—a “pattern of decline” that could “continue in the coming months.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden, said the plan for a booster is happening now because “if you wait for something bad to happen, you’re considerably behind in your response.” When it comes to the virus, he said, it’s better to stay ahead of it than chase after it.

Why it matters:

Dr. Murthy offers insight into the decision-making process, with a focus on preventative planning which exemplifies proactive crisis messaging that identifies trends and patterns to forecast the appropriate next steps. Fauci’s words, meanwhile, are pulled straight out of every crisis management textbook from the beginning of time.

Of course, there is such a thing as coming out with a preventive announcement too soon: These statements come after Pfizer CEO’s Albert Boula said in April that vaccine boosters may be needed, prompting him to apologize to Fauci for speaking publicly ahead of the formal federal announcement.

MEASURED THOUGHTS

A recent infographic by Talkwalker shares several 2021 Twitter stats that are helpful for social media strategists, such as how 26% of users are more likely to share a URL if it is in the middle of your tweet, or that tweets with quotes are 53% more likely to be retweeted. Tweets with one hashtag are 69% more likely to be retweeted than those with two and more.

Courtesy of Talkwalker

Beyond the fun facts about the popularity of South Korean boy band BTS and “Big Brother Brazil,” these stats highlight how easily the performance your social media posts can improve when you follow the structural and stylistic best practices that are informed by platform-specific data.

Check out the full infographic here.

TECH TALK

NPR has built a tool to track the diversity of its sources and reporting in real time, allowing the nonprofit media outlet to make the process a part of journalists’ daily newsgathering process.

Attached to NPR’s content management system, the tool allows reporters, producers, correspondents and editors to track information about their source’s race and ethnicity, gender identity, geographic location and age. Dubbed “The Dex” in homage to the Rolodex, the tool also makes it easy for journalists to pull up reports later that monitor the diversity of the organization’s sources over time.

Poynter reports:

The ability to create reports in real time is what makes Dex so powerful, said NPR chief diversity officer Keith Woods.

“One of the ways that we can do this is to do the work that Dex is guiding us towards, which is daily, weekly routine assessments of inclusion at a time when we can do something about it,” Woods said. “We were doing annual surveys before and by the time newsrooms learned about the numbers, it was a full year in the past. Now, by the end of the week, you can know how you’re doing.”

“Counting sources doesn’t make them more diverse. It doesn’t unto itself change anything about who’s on air. It isn’t the end game at all. But it does have an impact on the individual, and that, we assume, will cause change,” Woods said. “And it sets us up to answer some of the important questions moving forward around what levers we need to pull to increase the presence of various demographic groups in our content.”

NPR’s new tool highlights a larger trend sweeping newsrooms across the country amid what journalist Wesley Lowery described in The New York Times as “a reckoning over objectivity.” Apart from guiding media relations efforts, these trends in newsrooms are a reminder to find diverse voices for internal storytelling efforts and to consider a wide range of experiences when trying to build your community inside (and outside) your organization.

THE WORKPLACE

Remote, in-person, or a mix of the two, office culture is under constant strain in these uncertain times.

As many companies shift their office reopening strategies to accommodate the ever-changing needs and concerns of a post-pandemic workforce, it’s on communicators to ensure employees remain engaged in corporate culture.

Tune in on Aug. 25 for our webinar, “Communicating Your Return-to-Workplace Plan to a Distributed Workforce.” Top takeaways from the afternoon will include:

• How to communicate your timeline for returning to the office
• Strategies for listening and addressing various employee hesitations around family care, health concerns and more
• Vaccine messaging essentials, such as privacy, safety and religious affiliation
• And more

Plus, panelists will tackle the “Great Resignation” with potent tips and tools to retain your best workers and help employees feel like they belong.

Register now!

TACTICALLY SPEAKING

The Walt Disney Company has announced a new service called Disney Genie coming to its Disneyland and Walt Disney World Parks this fall. The free service, which will be integrated into its existing smartphone app, allows guests to create their own custom itineraries. It includes the option to skip the lines at popular attractions for an additional fee per ride. The service will also include Genie+, which lets guests select the times that they want to return to an attraction with a reduced wait for a daily fee.

The New York Times reports:

“This allows us to, No. 1, create a better guest experience,” Josh D’Amaro, the chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, said in a Zoom interview. “It should be obvious, but a better guest experience is better for our business. No. 2, it allows us to best utilize our capacity—you can distribute demand much more effectively through your ecosystem. And then obviously there is revenue attached to this. That revenue we get to then reinvest in new experiences.”

By positioning this new service around the guest experience, D’Amaro artfully anticipates the potential blowback that the service will get from customers who already feel a trip to Disney Parks is too expensive. His words about anticipating change, meanwhile, leave open the potential for Disney to pivot its strategy based on guest feedback.

TAKE OUR SURVEY

These days, it seems that the sky’s the limit for employees, in the driver’s seat in a piping hot job market.

If you’re looking for benchmark data to take to your bosses the next time you ask for a raise or search for a new job, lend us a hand—and help yourself and your peers while you’re at it. Participate in Ragan’s Salary & Workplace Culture Survey, a comprehensive look at salaries, benefits, culture, bonuses and other aspects of the job in a fast-moving industry.

Both internal and external communicators are encouraged to participate.

By taking part, you will receive a $150 discount to a Ragan virtual conference of your choice and be entered to win one of five $50 gift cards. All who complete the survey will receive a full report on the findings. Responses are anonymous. Enter by Sept. 17.

Take the Ragan Salary & Workplace Culture Survey now.

Old Navy explains creation of inclusive women’s clothing lines

Old Navy has announced that it will change the sizes for its women’s clothing lines to make them more inclusive as part of the company’s new “BODEQUALITY” campaign, which will eliminate plus-sized designations in its stores. Old Navy CEO Nancy Green announced the brand’s reasoning in a blog post.

According to its blog post:

BODEQUALITY represents an innovative and fully inclusive shopping experience in stores and online through a human-centered design approach. No separate “Plus size” sections. No “one-size fits all” mannequins or models. This is size equality, price equality, and style for women everywhere. What I’m most proud of is how this effort stays true to our values of democratizing style for all while unlocking one of our key growth opportunities outlined in the Power Plan 2023. It is a transformative moment for our brand and our customers, that further establishes our leadership position in inclusive fit and style.

Old Navy further explained the extensive amount of research and costumer consultation that the company undertook to reevaluate its fit process and size standards.

Courtesy of Old Navy

According to its press release:

Steps the fashion retailer implemented into their women’s fit and design process include:

• Administered body scans of 389 women to create digital avatars based on real women’s bodies.
• Ran fit clinics with numerous models in sizes 20-28 to build new fit blocks based on their unique proportions, revamping the industry practice of scaling up from smaller sizes.
• Obsessed over every design detail, from pocket placement and their proportions, to denim waistband pitch and ankle tapers, to the body lengths of dresses, tops and outerwear, to ensure consistency in fit and aesthetic across styles and sizes.
• Partnered with full-time fit models in size eight and 20 to review every single style on both women side-by-side.
• Interviewed hundreds of women about body image and related fashion concerns.

Old Navy didn’t stop there, as the landing page for BODYQUALITY features actual quotes from its customer surveys alongside the action that Old Navy took to address the feedback:

Courtesy of Old Navy

What it means:

Old Navy’s new campaign provides a masterful example of how surveying your customers and stakeholders to drive business decisions can help your brand emphasize its values.

The rollout of this news also demonstrates how you can amplify the footprint of your new program/innovations by publishing a thought leadership piece, written by your executive, alongside the standard press release. While Green’s words in the blog post define the brand’s values for consumers, the press release provides the specifics of how Old Navy is delivering on its promises, providing multiple touchpoints for journalists to engage with the story.

The post Health officials announce booster shot program, data reveals the most popular emoji on Twitter, and Old Navy introduces inclusive clothing sizes appeared first on PR Daily.

Research reveals growth and top priorities of burgeoning wellness industry, while virtual conference includes speakers from Facebook, IBM, Intel, PwC, PepsiCo, Nvidia, VMware, and more.

The post Exclusive new research to be unveiled at Ragan’s Workplace Wellness Conference, set for next Wednesday appeared first on PR Daily.

Hello, communicators:

Joe Martin, general manager and vice president of marketing and strategy for CloudApp, recently asked Twitter users for their most-hated corporate terms:

What corporate word or phrase do you hate the most?

Mine is let’s take this offline

— Joe Martin (@joeDmarti) January 28, 2021

Content strategist and copywriter Jessica Malnik shared a few words that shouldn’t be applied to your next product launch or corporate landing page:

Using the words – Revolutionary or Game-changer on your website

Women’s suffrage was revolutionary. The Civil Rights Act was revolutionary. Your new SaaS product is most likely not.

— Jessica Malnik (@jessicamalnik) January 28, 2021

Communications pro Zala Bricelj said she’d be happy to permanently ban the phrase, “Let’s circle back to that”:

Let's touch base on that
Let's circle back to that

Two of the most cringy phrases I was happy to never ever hear again after exiting the corpo world.

— Zala Bricelj – #edutech is my jam (@ZalkaB) January 28, 2021

Financial adviser George Papadopoulos shared several in this fitting image:

These pic.twitter.com/rDSjcCylEI

— George Papadopoulos (@feeonlyplanner) January 28, 2021

What would you add to the list? Share your thoughts with us under the hashtag #DailyScoop.

Here are today’s top stories:

Discord and Reddit address ‘WallStreetBets’ community

On Thursday morning, shares for GameStop were trading at more than $450—”more than double its close of $147 on Tuesday,” USA Today reported. The surge is thanks to individual investors putting a “short squeeze” on the stock in a concentrated campaign organized through the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit and the group’s Discord server.

The move has sent hedge fund managers scrambling, and stocks for other struggling companies rose, including shares for AMC Entertainment and Macy’s. Outside of Wall Street, however, Discord and Reddit have been grappling with the group that is currently dominating headlines and social media conversations.

The group’s Discord server was banned, sparking backlash from the community as well as other Reddit users, and the r/WallStreetBets subreddit was made private after Discord’s move. Reddit only kept the community private for a short time, however, whereas Discord is doubling down on its decision.

The Verge published Discord’s full statement, which read:

The server has been on our Trust & Safety team’s radar for some time due to occasional content that violates our Community Guidelines, including hate speech, glorifying violence, and spreading misinformation. Over the past few months, we have issued multiple warnings to the server admin.

Today, we decided to remove the server and its owner from Discord for continuing to allow hateful and discriminatory content after repeated warnings.

To be clear, we did not ban this server due to financial fraud related to GameStop or other stocks. Discord welcomes a broad variety of personal finance discussions, from investment clubs and day traders to college students and professional financial advisors. We are monitoring this situation and in the event there are allegations of illegal activities, we will cooperate with authorities as appropriate.

Why it’s important: The move presents several obstacles and opportunities for brand managers. For those at social media and digital platforms, the focus is currently on whether restricting or ignoring community campaigns is the best move. As many tech companies and social platforms continue to struggle with fighting misinformation and harassment with their users, these organizations are also looking to distance themselves from other legal and PR issues.

For communicators at other organizations, the move can serve to highlight the importance of understanding consumer shifts and trends, especially on digital channels and in social media communities in which you might not be familiar. USA Today shared a Reddit post that described GameStop’s stock surge as “a tug of war between tradition and the future.” This sentiment affects many organizations, and you would be wise to listen to what consumers are saying online.

SOCIAL BUZZ

Twitter’s marketing team unveiled a brand refresh, which includes a new typography called “Chirp” that is “flexible and expressive, bold, agile and fun.”

In a lengthy Twitter thread, the social media platform’s chief marketing officer, Leslie Berland, wrote:

We do this because Twitter and the conversations that happen here are living, breathing, and always evolving. They’re defined by the people talking, shaped by their voices, imprinted by the images and words that fill our timelines every day.

The brand isn’t us, it’s all of you. pic.twitter.com/p8hWI1DnBc

— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) January 27, 2021

We felt the brand expression we launched 5 years ago didn't fully reflect the complexity, fluidity and power of the conversations today.

So the team embarked on a unique challenge: to build a creative system for an iconic brand that’s complex and imperfect, by design. pic.twitter.com/CZ6KY3cNqw

— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) January 27, 2021

We also created a new typography that’s flexible and expressive, bold, agile and fun, reflecting the voices that make Twitter, Twitter. We named it Chirp pic.twitter.com/0d7TROyh0y

— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) January 27, 2021

There’s a ton of work happening across Twitter to better serve you, to make the product better, safer, smarter. Our marketing team sees its role as amplifying the best of Twitter and the voices that make it so, creating work that’s honest and open, authentic and true.

— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) January 27, 2021

Here are more examples of the work

We’re excited to hear your thoughts and share more as this evolves over time reflecting the beautiful, bold, complex conversations that shape Twitter, our lives and the world. pic.twitter.com/AOEMZU6jkT

— Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) January 27, 2021

Berland said that Twitter conversations “are messy and complex, intense and inspiring, hilarious and ridiculous, weird and ugly, shocking and beautiful, disturbing and moving” and the existing branding didn’t “fully reflect the complexity, fluidity and power of the conversations today.”

Though Twitter’s iconic bird logo remains, the images, videos and text on which it’s placed will change in the rebranding that seeks to embrace the “raw” and “real” conversations happening on the platform.

Regardless of whether it’s time for a brand refresh within your organization, look for ways to make your content and campaigns more relevant to the current landscape and to your target audiences’ behaviors.

MEASURED THOUGHTS

Comcast announced that NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, has amassed 33 million signups across the U.S. The news was shared as part of an investor meeting revealing Comcast’s fourth quarter and end of 2020 results:

Comcast Reports 4th Quarter and Year-End 2020 Results https://t.co/kLL8aKDtG9 pic.twitter.com/rqFfHPJ89P

— Comcast (@comcast) January 28, 2021

An infographic from Juniper Research shows that the streaming wars are still heating up, with a predicted 65% subscriber growth by 2025. That presents several challenges and opportunities for media and entertainment companies offering streaming services, as well as brands looking to serve their content to cord-cutting consumers:

Image courtesy of Juniper Research.

CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS

Headlines declaring that Target has stopped selling Chaokoh coconut milk are racking up, despite the retail chain cutting ties with the Thailand-based company in November.

Target, Costco, Wegmans, Stop & Shop and Wegmans have all stopped selling Theppadungporn Coconut Co.’s products after PETA revealed that the company was using monkeys to perform labor. 

CNN Business reported:

PETA’s investigation found that monkeys are forced to pick coconuts and perform for tourists, and that they are “tethered, chained to old tires, or confined to cages barely larger than their bodies.” Multiple investigations by PETA Asia found widespread use of monkey labor throughout Thailand’s coconut farming industry. Some companies have changed their practices, PETA said, but others simply hide the monkeys when auditors come to check on the animals.

Target (TGT) told CNN Business that it takes “seriously the claims made against Chaokoh, and given they were unable to sufficiently address the concerns raised, we made the decision to remove their product from our assortment in November 2020.”

 PETA is now putting pressure on Kroger, Publix and Albertsons to stop selling the products, though Publix told CNN Business that Thailand’s ambassador to the U.S. promised that monkeys are not being used to harvest consumer products.

 The situation underlines the importance of a long-term and holistic crisis communications strategy, so you can quickly make decisions and distance your brand from potentially volatile situations or partners, but also maintain a statement and stance on the issue as you focus on other crisis responses and communications efforts. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of scanning the horizon for potential crises that could affect your reputation and brand sentiment.

CRISIS LEADERSHIP NETWORK

Looking for more insight on how to address the current global crisis and lead your organization into a strong recovery?

via GIPHY

Join Ragan’s Crisis Leadership Network to connect and brainstorm with peers, get the latest intelligence and research and start to strategize for the future of your organization.

Learn more about this exclusive membership here.

Activision Blizzard strikes back at ‘unworkable’ diverse hiring comments

 Headlines are circulating that the videogame maker was asked by one of the largest union federations, AFL-CIO, to institute the Rooney Rule, which requires employers to interview a minimum amount of diverse candidates for each open position. Activision Blizzard’s lawyers responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission proposal that the policy would be “an unworkable encroachment on the Company’s ability to run its business.”

It didn’t take long for journalists to focus on the company’s wording, with headlines such as Kotaku’s reading, “Report: Activision Blizzard Calls Policy To Make Hiring More Diverse ‘Unworkable.’

However, the company says the reports “mischaracterized” the objection to the policies, which “failed to adequately consider how to apply these practices in all of the countries we operate in.”

Here’s part of the company’s statement, which was given to IGN:

Activision Blizzard is committed to inclusive hiring practices and to creating a diverse workforce; it is essential to our mission. Vice completely mischaracterized the SEC filing made by our outside attorneys.

… In order to ensure that our games stay true to our mission–to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment–we require that all candidates of all backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, races and sexual orientations are considered for each and every open role. We aggressively recruit diverse candidates so the workforce provides the inspired creativity required to meet the expectations of our diverse 400 million players across 190 countries. We remain committed to increasing diversity at all levels throughout Activision Blizzard worldwide.

Why it matters: Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are crucial elements to your organization’s culture as well as your brand’s reputuation. As more consumers purchase from brands which tout values with which they align, communicators should help executives and other colleagues across departments craft consistent and authentic statements that outline brand values and what your organization is doing to realize the commitments made. Share these messages often and include them in your internal and external campaigns, so there is no question about your brand’s stance when news such as this circulates.

TAKE OUR SURVEY

The start of a new year brings more opportunities for communicators across roles, organizations and industries to develop effective strategies and efforts that can strengthen their brands amid continuing crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council has created The 2021 Communications Benchmark Survey, and wants to know your challenges, successes and needs as you navigate the rapidly shifting communications landscape and respond to unprecedented crises as well as new opportunities.

via GIPHY

Please share your insights with us. As a thank you for your time and insights, you’ll receive an Executive Summary of the report, packed with proprietary research that can help you better shape communications strategies in 2021. You’ll also be entered to win one of five $100 Visa gift cards.

Take our survey here.

WHAT YOU SAID

We asked how much you’re collaborating with colleagues as you work remotely, and nearly 38% of you are working with your co-workers more, despite being remote, while almost 33% are teaming up on projects and campaigns at the same level as they were while in the office:

As you work from home, are you collaborating more or less with colleagues, clients and partners?

Weigh in below and comment with how you're collaborating virtually. We'll share in tomorrow's #DailyScoop!

— PR Daily (@PRDaily) January 27, 2021

Is there question you’d like to see asked? Please let us know under the #DailyScoop hashtag!

SOUNDING BOARD

Are you actively using consumer insights or making it a focus for the year?

Are you actively using consumer insights or making it a focus for the year?

Comment below and tell us how you're gathering and applying consumer insights to your communications efforts, and we'll share in tomorrow's #DailyScoop.

— PR Daily (@PRDaily) January 28, 2021

Weigh in below and on Twitter under the hashtag #DailyScoop. We’ll share in tomorrow’s roundup.

The post Discord and Reddit grapple with ‘WallStreetBets’ communities, Activision Blizzard defends DE&I hiring initiatives, and Twitter rebrands to embrace ‘real’ conversations appeared first on PR Daily.