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Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.

From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.

How to Effectively Navigate Social Advocacy – Following Through on Purpose and Values

Now more than ever before, companies are expected to establish a clear stance on important social and political issues. In fact, a 2018 survey from DoSomething found that 76 percent of respondents said they have purchased, or would consider purchasing, from a company to show support for the issues they back. The survey also found that 67 percent of respondents had stopped purchasing, or would consider doing so, if a company stood for something that didn’t align with their values. As a result, defining and establishing a stance on key issues has become a critical element to many business strategies.

Our team recently wrote about how brands can rebrand with purpose and the benefits of doing so in this blog post. But once brands establish their stance on issues, how can they ensure they effectively support them?

I recently came across an article in Harvard Business Review about how brands can follow through on the values they’re promoting to consumers. The author, Latia Curry, artfully outlines two key elements necessary to evaluate a brand’s effectiveness in navigating the complexities of social advocacy. The first element is understanding a brand’s “issue fluency,” which analyzes how authentically a brand engages with the public on an issue, and the second is the “depth of engagement”, which evaluates how much a brand is investing in a particular issue.

As you may imagine, the most well-received brands are ones that authentically communicate and invest in addressing issues that are important to their stakeholders.

A brand that is often used as a successful example of social advocacy is Ben and Jerry’s. The business “lives their values,” according to Curry. This is largely because the company actively shares its stance on social and political issues, including social injustices, racial discrimination and climate change. But it doesn’t only speak to its perspective, it also acts on it, investing in initiatives that support changes related to the issues it supports.

As communications professionals, we are often providing recommendations on how brands should respond to large social issues. PR professionals can craft effective statements that enable “issue-fluency” that communicates a brand’s perspective, but Curry’s approach raises an important question to ask: Is the brand also supporting the issue through its actions? Or in Curry’s terms, what is the depth of the brand’s engagement?  

The answer to this question will influence not only the response, but the tone as well.

Living its values. Brands that dedicate time and resources to important social issues, both internally and externally, are living their values. It’s important to note that these companies aren’t just responding to an event, they are familiar with an issue and are committed to addressing it, regardless of the climate.

As such, these brands are often very issue-fluent and construct responses to major social events that demonstrate a clear understanding of the complexities and nuances of a specific issue because they have been working to address it for some time.

Owning its position. It’s important to understand that if a brand hasn’t been investing the time or resources in addressing a specific issue, it does not mean it cannot comment on it. But, if they do so, it’s important they own their current position in relation to the issue. This might mean acknowledging the fact that they have not dedicated time and resources. After that, they might want to commit to taking the necessary steps to enhance their depth of engagement. And finally, if brands are not experts on a topic but comment on it as if they are, it will not be well-received by the public.

Similar to a crisis scenario, brands should consider having a plan in place on how to respond to a range of issues so they can do so in a timely and effective manner. Social advocacy is becoming a critical element of business strategy and PR professionals play a large role in sharing messages on these topics.

 

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Getting Unstuck: Tips for Rediscovering Your Writer’s Muse

Writer’s block – sadly, it happens to all of us. Few things are worse than hitting the proverbial wall, especially in a field like PR, where writing is a daily requirement, be it for emails, media briefings, pitch materials or content development.

When you find yourself stuck, the magic question becomes, “How can I get the creative juices flowing again?” It’s not always easy, but fortunately, there are a few tricks that may jumpstart the process. This infographic from EnchantingMarketing.com details tips every writer can use for discovering their writing genius. Here are a few helpful pointers for getting unstuck with your writing.

 

Breaks can lead to breakthroughs

We’ve all sat at our keyboards mentally trying to fight through writer’s block, and often, it doesn’t work. When this happens, try giving your mind a break to allow your brain to recover from strenuous mental activity. As the infographic points out, our brains need to relax, too. Make time to play.

“During ‘off-time’ our brains continue to process ideas,” the infographic states. “So, breaks can give us extra insights, boost creativity, and make our writing better.”

 

Stay creative – feed your muse with new and creative experiences

To create, you need creative input. Inspiration comes from many different sources. Pursue those activities that excite and inspire you. Read books, have conversations. This can help feed your “creative well.”

Additionally, allow yourself to experience growth. Challenge yourself to stray from your comfort zone and explore new horizons. This can entail adopting a new writing technique or taking on a project with a new client. Yes, there’s a reason why people avoid leaving their comfort zones – it’s unfamiliar and can be difficult and scary. However, it can also lead to growth, and ultimately, satisfaction.

“When you stay in your creative comfort zone, you risk going stale,” the infographic states.

 

Befriend your inner critic

Sometimes, the person who is hardest on you can be yourself. It can be easy to overly criticize your writing. However, having an inner critic doesn’t have to be a bad thing, so long as you can avoid being overly critical and realize that the inner critic is likely your way of trying to bring about your best work.

For a healthy balance, try befriending your inner critic. Evaluate where you see room for growth in your writing and determine what is sustainable for your situation. What’s realistic for you to achieve? This can help you work with that inner voice, focus on the project at hand and make effective progress.

 

The writing process is painful. Embrace this.

Ernest Hemingway once said, “The first draft of anything is s***.” Unfortunately, this is accurate more often than not, especially when leaving your comfort zone. No masterpiece is captured on the first try.

Again, this doesn’t have to be a bad thing – a first draft is progress toward a greater end result. The revision process can be messy, but don’t give up. This is how writers work out the cobwebs and kinks in their writing – and demonstrate growth with each writing project. Each revision will help make your writing tighter and more focused.

 

Find your writing joy

Finding joy in your writing can lead to increased productivity while eliminating distractions. The infographic shows that writing joy is associated with maintaining a keen focus on the writing process. Joy can help propel your progress.

“When you focus on the work in front of you, you get into a flow and find pleasure in creating something that didn’t exist before,” the infographic states.

When it happens, writing joy is undeniable. Your best work will come when pursuing what interests you most and your enthusiasm will shine through.

As the infographic notes, “Even when you feel empty, you still have ideas, experiences, and stories to share.” In those moments when you’re feeling mentally drained, hold on to these words of wisdom, and refer to these tips to help guide you back onto your creative path.

 

8 questions to ask yourself when dealing with writer’s block

  1. What do you need to keep your soul happy and your brain cells humming along?
  2. Which kinds of input keep you inspired?
  3. How will you tiptoe out of your comfort zone?
  4. How can you be friends with your inner critic?
  5. When do you stumble in the writing process? And how can you get unstuck?
  6. Which distractions keep you from doing your best work?
  7. Who are your creative heroes? What can you learn from them?
  8. How can you make time to follow your curiosity and do your best work?

 

To see the full infographic via EnchantingMarketing.com, click here.

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How the Letter From CDC Employees Could Signal a Break From Their Restrictive Public Affairs Policy

On Monday, July 13, 2020, NPR broke the story that more than 1,200 current employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed a letter calling for the federal agency to address “ongoing and recurring acts of racism and discrimination” against Black employees. NPR contributors Selena Simmons-Duffin and Pien Huang note, “The letter offers a rare glimpse inside a famously opaque federal agency, where career staff often work for decades and information is carefully filtered to the public through the press office.”

The internally circulated letter received signatures from 10% of the organization’s 11,000-person workforce as of July 14. In the letter, the signatories lay out seven demands to address issues of racism, such as reviewing outstanding equal employment opportunity complaints, increasing diversity among senior leadership, and most importantly declaring racism a public health crisis. This letter arrives following public outrage over the silence of the organization in publishing official data on racial disparities in COVID-19 transmissions, illnesses and deaths.

In order to maintain unified messaging on disease control and prevention for American policymakers and the public, the CDC aims to limit the release of information from its employees to put the focus on official organizational messaging. In recent years this control over the release of employee information has tightened. In September 2017, Sam Baker, a reporter at Axios, published an internal CDC email by public affairs officer Jeffrey Lancashire, which read, “Effective immediately and until further notice, any and all correspondence with any member of the news media, regardless of the nature of the inquiry, must be cleared through CDC’s Atlanta Communications Office.” This email formalized the CDC’s position on silencing the voices of individual scientists within the organization.

The CDC website currently makes clear that scientists are only available to journalists following the approval by a CDC press officer.

The anonymous release of this letter provides a unique view into the inner workings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In recent years scientists have followed agency protocol to hold restraint in speaking with the media. However, the release of this letter could signify an increasing non-compliance with this policy. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage through the United States, and Americans stand divided on how to address the mounting case numbers, disgruntled scientists may begin to take action to report their findings when the CDC refuses to do so.

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Tideworks Announces New Marine TOS Solution

Image credit: Tideworks Technology

Last month, we had the opportunity to announce an exciting milestone for our client, Tideworks Technology (Tideworks). The company announced the go-live of its new terminal operating system (TOS) solution, Mainsail 10 at the Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) in Panama.

The go-live at MIT is the company’s first deployment of Mainsail 10. Tideworks created the new marine TOS to provide terminal operators with a terminal operating system that would allow increased flexibility and the ability to seamlessly scale services up or down to adapt to changing operational needs.

The new TOS was engineered with the evolving supply chain in mind. As the container shipping industry works to stabilize amid the global pandemic, Mainsail 10 provides rapid access to and management of real-time data to improve decision making and increase the flow of cargo through the terminal, while also reducing costs.

Mainsail 10 Billing Transaction Search Results.
Image credit: Tideworks Technology

Leading up to the go-live of Mainsail 10 at MIT, we collaborated with Tideworks to generate awareness about the new solution via the company’s Mainsail 10 video campaign. To do this, we supported Tideworks with content development and distribution of the video series on YouTube and their social media channels.

Below is a list of the articles secured from our media outreach around the announcement. We have also included links to Tideworks’ Mainsail 10 video series.

 

Mainsail 10 Announcement – Coverage Recap

 

Mainsail 10 Video Campaign

 

We are excited about Tideworks’ innovation in delivering next-gen TOS solutions to the supply chain. Like many industries, marine and intermodal shipping have been hit hard by the impacts of COVID-19. We are impressed with how Tideworks has responded and continues to help its customers invest in solutions that will provide resilience to face future obstacles and opportunities.

To learn more about Tideworks’ recent announcements check out our post: Announcement Recap: Tideworks Announces Joint Venture With Brenock Technology.

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Actor Tom Skerritt Launches New PNW-lifestyle Stream Called EVRGRN

Tom Skerritt

We are super excited to be working with Tom Skerritt on the launch of EVRGRN, a new lifestyle channel available via streaming platform, STIRR.

Most people know of Tom’s iconic acting career. His credits include Top Gun, Steel Magnolias, A River Runs Through It, Contact, and Alien, among numerous other notable TV and film appearances. What most people may not know is Tom’s passion for storytelling, the Pacific Northwest, and his support of artists. EVRGRN is a culmination of those passions.

Tom, in partnership with CEO Leslie Grandy, is delivering a curated content channel to your home (or phone/tablet) that delivers storytelling at its best. While the high-quality content is extremely varied, all have some connection to the Pacific Northwest.

An example is “Out of Nowhere,” a documentary by Andrew Lahmann that illustrates the true story of four ordinary men who aim to conquer motorcycle land speed racing world records. When Andrew was in college and working to establish his career, he met with Tom. Tom’s mentorship and counsel in those early days of Andrew’s career were formative. Now a notable filmmaker in his own right, Andrew was thrilled to license “Out of Nowhere” to the EVRGRN channel.

EVRGRN delivers stories that are inspiring showcasing the ordinary doing the extraordinary.

Having Tom curate and deliver this content through the EVRGRN channel makes it easy to find these stories with confidence and trust in the quality of storytelling. You can access the channel here: https://evrgrnchannel.com/VOD

Below is some of the coverage we have secured thus far in conjunction with the launch of EVRGRN. It has been a fun project to be a part of.

  1. Television Business International, “Tom Skerritt’s Triple Squirrels launches new lifestyle channel,” 8/6/2020
  2. The Savvy Screener, “Tom Skerritt’s EVRGRN,” 8/6/2020
  3. GeekWire, “Tom Skerritt’s new Seattle digital media startup launches PNW lifestyle streaming channel,” 8/11/2020
  4. Tomorrow Will Be Televised, “Tomorrow Will Be Televised Eco-Challenge/EVRGRN Episode,” 8/14/20
  5. The Seattle Times, “Actor Tom Skerritt’s free EVRGRN channel streams best of the Northwest, and ‘no angry stuff,’” 8/17/20
  6. KVAL, “EVRGRN interview with Leslie Grandy,” 8/17/20
  7. KOMO, KOMO STIRR EVRGRN – VOSOT in 11 a.m. news, 8/18/20
  8. KATU, KATU STIRR EVRGRN – VOSOT in the AM news & VOSOT in the 4 p.m. news, 8/18/20
  9. KEPR/KIMA, KEPR/KIMA – VOSOT in 6 a.m. news & VOSOT in 5 p.m. news, 8/18/20
  10. KBOI, KBOI – VOSOT in 11 a.m. news & VSOT in 5:30 p.m. news, 8/18/20
  11. KBOI, “STIRR launches new channel for all things Northwest,” 8/18/20
  12. Television Business International, “TBI In Conversation: ‘Top Gun’ star Tom Skerritt on his move into AVOD,” 8/21/20
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