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.
It was a tale of two Washingtons, and a tale of two teams.
On July 23, two professional sports franchises launched significant branding announcements. One was a temporary rebrand of Washington, D.C.’s NFL franchise, the now-monikered “Washington Football Team,” for the 2020 football season. The other was the launch of Seattle’s new NHL team, the Seattle Kraken, which will debut in 2021.
Shortly after each announcement, feedback poured in from media members and sports fans across the internet. Below, we take a look at what was well received with these unveilings and where there may have been room for improvement.
The Seattle Kraken
Let’s start with the positive. After nearly two years of research, the NHL Seattle ownership group boldly moved forward and selected the Kraken – a mythical, tentacled sea-monster – as its team name and mascot. With the announcement, the group unveiled the Kraken’s branding, logo and story behind the name.
It was a daring and risky move, although, for the most part, the Kraken name was warmly received. A Seattle Times poll showed 61% of respondents loved the name. NBC Sports Washington and SB Nation each published glowing reviews. There were detractors, as some felt the mythical creature didn’t provide strong ties to the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Times columnist Larry Stone admitted he didn’t care for the name, though added he loves the logo, color scheme and uniforms.
However, there was a thorough process behind the name selection, which is what warrants the most praise. The NHL Seattle group solicited input from its 32,000 fans, conducting 50 “listening sessions” and sifting through more than 1,200 potential names. In addition, the name was selected with a sense of place in mind. Seattle has a maritime history, and the Kraken brand aims to “honor the Puget Sound waters.” The primary “S” logo that will adorn the Kraken jersey serves as tribute to Seattle’s last professional hockey team, the Seattle Metropolitans.
The NHL Seattle group certainly went big and bold in naming the 32nd NHL franchise with a moniker that is nautical and captures a mystique. The name is undoubtedly unique and interesting, and many Seattle fans eagerly await the day to jubilantly shout “RELEASE THE KRAKEN!” at home contests.
The Washington Football Team
Now for the challenging. The decisionmakers for the Washington Football Team had their work cut out for them for the rebrand of their franchise, formerly known as the Washington Redskins. For years, there were calls from Native American groups and community members for the team to change its nickname, citing racist undertones. But it wasn’t until several key sponsors – including FedEx, PepsiCo, Bank of America and Nike – recently requested the team change its name or they would pull sponsorship that a branding change materialized. Following these developments, the response was swift and a temporary rebrand was announced, with a permanent rebrand expected to follow.
The rebrand as the Washington Football Team was met with approval by many longtime critics. The Washington Post reported several politicians who had criticized the prior nickname voiced their support of the change, as did the advocacy group Rebrand Washington Football. Many fans on social media, however, were less than enthused, with some calling the interim name “rushed and generic.” An opportunity may have been missed, as sportswriter Frank Isola commented on Twitter, by not adopting the moniker “Washington F.C.”
It’s certainly an unenviable position to be in, with no shortage of critics. Fortunately, fans can look forward to the permanent rebrand of Washington’s Football Team, and there are models for what works in naming a franchise and appeasing a fanbase. We can only wait to see how the permanent branding process unfolds. Until then, those of us in Seattle will eagerly await to “Release the Kraken!”
On the heels of LGBTQ+ Pride Month and amid the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, it is important to take a look into the power our language has to either include or exclude others. Understanding and using inclusive language is essential to creating spaces that support a more diverse workforce. Inclusive language better recognizes humanity and respect for our colleagues and allows them to bring their full authentic selves to the workplace.
In her article, “How to Use & Promote Inclusive Language at Your Organization,” Caroline Forsey, a staff writer for HubSpot’s marketing blog, defines inclusive language as language that “avoids biases, slang, or expressions that discriminate against groups of people based on race, gender, or socioeconomic status. Inclusive language allows you to resonate with more audiences by speaking and writing in more impartial ways.”
Often our implicit biases enter the workplace and manifest in the ways that we talk about people. Learning about inclusive language shines a light onto these biases as we learn the ways that our language creates a barrier to the success of others.
Here are five ways you can make your language more inclusive:
- Refer to a theoretical person as “they” instead of “he” or “she” – This is a best practice to begin to disassociate gender from traditionally gendered professions such as doctors and engineers. In addition, this is particularly important when speaking to colleagues about their romantic partners to avoid assuming their sexuality.
- Ask individuals for their pronouns to avoid guessing – Misgendering, or placing the incorrect gender on a colleague, can make the workplace feel like a hostile environment. Asking everyone, including cisgender people (whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth), to share their pronouns helps to create a more welcoming space for non-cisgender coworkers.
- Use people first language – People first language addresses the humanity of an individual before the other qualities about them. Examples of people first language are, “people with autism,” “people experiencing homelessness” and “people of color.” “People should be referred to as people as often as possible,” says Cristi Hegranes.
- Stop using mental illness as an adjective – Mental health should be regarded seriously, and not downplayed as a descriptor for weather that changes rapidly or the urge you have to clean everything in your office. Applying mental health in this way trivializes these diseases.
- Do not tell women and non-white coworkers they are “well-spoken” or “articulate” – While you may be impressed with their job performance or public speaking abilities, these adjectives perpetuate misogynistic and racist stereotypes of these colleagues as less educated than white men.
As we move to make changes in the ways we address and talk about others, it is important to recognize missteps and act to quickly correct them. This list of five changes to language only scratches the surface on the ways we can make our language more inclusive to people of different identities.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with a staggering 690 million users. By providing an easy solution for networking, while also acting as an outlet for content publishing and sharing, LinkedIn has become the eminent social media platform for business professionals. According to Ogilvy, LinkedIn is a fast and flexible medium with high-impact effects, making it an important element to consider in communications plans.
Considering the strengths of LinkedIn, it’s not surprising that Betsy Hindman, the author of “Why CEOs use LinkedIn during Crises” praised the common use of LinkedIn during the COVID-19 pandemic. She argued that LinkedIn posts, when used thoughtfully and intentionally, are an ideal medium for CEOs and other spokespeople to address crises with messaging to assure and inform. People tend to trust other people more than faceless organizations, so the humanized message from a leadership position comes off as more personal and sympathetic. The public nature of the post allows for the message to spread beyond the confines of an organization’s stakeholders or customer base, potentially even going viral. A widely shared statement on important issues, such as COVID-19, is crucial because when people’s expectations for communication are not met, the company appears silent on the issue. In some cases, silence is not acceptable. In the absence of a message, people will fill the communication void by drawing their own conclusions about the company’s true position and the meaning of the silence.
Unfortunately, LinkedIn cannot immediately be a perfect outlet for an organizations’ messaging because the audience must know, appreciate, and trust an individual’s profile as a source of information. Without dedicated followers and interaction opportunities, a post is unlikely to garner the reach and engagement necessary. To create a LinkedIn presence capable of amplifying announcements and driving interactions, here are a few steps to take:
- Optimize the profile. This includes filling in as much thoughtful, relevant information as possible, using a professional and flattering image, providing access to previous work and accomplishments, and adding skills and endorsements.
- Grow your audience. To do this, invite everyone in your existing community, ideally with personalized connection requests, then ask your network to introduce you to people they know that would be helpful to connect with on LinkedIn.
- Publish and share content. You can share your work, including blogs and bylines, as posts to your page, or write an article on LinkedIn Publisher. Share content relevant to your industry, company, life, or interests, and make sure to use tags to allow people to find your posts.
- Engage with your community. To help ensure that other people interact with your content and your profile, actively engage with posts in and outside of your network. Endorse the skills of your connections and constructively participate in groups. By building reciprocal relationships with your network, your profile and content will spark more conversations and grow your audience.
LinkedIn can be a powerful tool in your crisis communications plan, so start building a strong network and establishing trust. In the process, you will gain an online community, a platform for crisis messaging, and discover the strength that can come with professional networks.
In a recent episode of The New York Times’ “The Daily” podcast, Counting the Infected, the team discussed how the newspaper handled tracking and analyzing data related to COVID-19 cases and deaths.
Beginning in early March, the Times formed a dedicated COVID-19 data team. This group of reporters and researchers were tasked with aggregating case and death data from a number of sources around the country. As the team evaluated the data they had on hand, they ran into a few roadblocks that highlight the great potential and serious limitations of data.
Taking a step back outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to recognize that data can be used in multiple ways. It can help tell and strengthen stories by providing detail and specific metrics to the situation at hand. Data can also be used as a source, similar to how reporters work with corporate spokespeople to ask questions about a topic or product. Depending on the data, it can be sliced and diced to provide more insight for broader education. If someone or some company has access to strong or unique data, they are in a unique position to be able to help tell a story that will educate others.
The Times used this same lens when viewing their COVID-19 data, which is when they realized their data was having shortcomings. Because they were tracking cases and deaths by location, they did not have too many details beyond those figures. Just like when interviewing a subject matter expert, they could only look at the data in so many ways to answer the many questions at hand (i.e., age, gender, race, profession, etc.).
While they were able to create a hive of data, they knew they needed more details that could help uncover the who, why and when of positive cases and deaths. After requesting data from the CDC with slow movement, The Times’ legal team sued the organization arguing that the newspaper was working to educate the public and this data would provide the general public with the valuable insights they needed to safely live and make decisions during this time. The New York Times won the suit and secured access to data on 1.5 million cases, which meant they had enhanced data on nearly 88 percent of cases reported in May. After reviewing the data, the Times was able to uncover key trends and patterns. An overarching trend was just how pervasive racial disparities are within nearly every aspect of the pandemic – specifically infection rates, working conditions and age. I highly recommend listening to the episode to learn more about the patterns and how the virus has impacted populations differently.
As marketing and communication professionals, securing compelling and unique data can feel like winning the lottery. Data can define truths and shed light on topics that can help demonstrate thought leadership and build credibility for an organization. However, data does not always have all the answers, especially when human error or ambiguity is present when asking questions and gathering the results.
When creating future campaigns that have the potential to leverage data, it is important to be grounded in knowing how to determine what stories are best told through data. While data can help make a topic more compelling, not all stories need the metrics. Knowing how to tell the difference will help prevent the misuse of data or losing a story to the lack of it.
Lastly, if a company has access to data, test its strength by asking questions. The best data can answer the tough questions and help tell a story in a new light. After the data has been analyzed and it is clear how it will shape the overall story, it can be shared with the greater public with confidence it will help educate effectively.
As a boutique firm, we opted to join the Public Relations Network (PRN) in 2013 to provide our clients with in-country communication counsel and support around the world. Since that time, we have worked with PRN member firms in Germany, Italy, France, India, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and the U.K, to deliver top-notch results on behalf of our clients. Similarly, we partnered with member agencies to provide their clients with media relations counsel and execution in the U.S. on behalf of their clients.
Therefore, we are thrilled to share that the Public Relations Network has expanded its reach to Brazil with the addition of SPMJ Comunicação and to Viet Nam with the addition of EloQ Communications. Both with target audiences and media, we recognize the dynamics within a market vary. Having a trusted partner in-country to strategize with and execute activities is extremely valuable for our clients. Through the Public Relations Network we can deliver cost-effective results for our clients globally.
Given the growth of its membership, PRN has also expanded its board of directors. Earlier this month it was announced that Richard Postins, Prova PR (U.K.); Jodi Echakowitz, Boulevard Public Relations (Canada); Héctor Iván Lira Hevia, F1rstcomm Comunicación (Mexico); and Sarah Song, Integra Communications (South Korea) were appointed to the board. They will join current directors Veit Mathauer, Sympra GmbH (Germany); Belinda Chan, Creative Consulting Group (Hong Kong); and me, Colleen Moffitt, Communiqué PR (U.S.).
The new larger board will help showcase cross network brand collaborations, drive inter-network knowledge sharing and coordinate future PRN member meetings. The next two meetings are scheduled as follows:
- Winter 2021 – Taipei, Taiwan – Jan. 28-29, 2021
- Summer 2021 – Seattle, U.S. – June 24-25, 2021
We look forward to future campaigns with our colleagues around the globe!
As public relations professionals, our job is to get the word out for our clients and effectively tell their story to promote brand awareness. With three avenues of media—earned, paid and owned, it’s critical to find the right balance for each client depending on their business objectives and target audiences. While all forms lead to one road – awareness – earned media remains at the heart of public relations. Earned media is the backbone for a brand’s reputation, playing a pivotal role in demonstrating third-party validation and building credibility among target audiences.
Credibility is playing an important role in today’s society and doesn’t come with a price tag. Only 34 percent of consumers trust the brands they purchase. Rather than look to brands, people trust recommendations from highly respected peers to influence their spending habits. With an average person dedicating over six hours on the internet daily, there’s room for brands to capture audiences’ trust and attention as much of their days revolve online.
Global head of training and facilitation at Golin agency, Matt West, recently hosted a webinar within PR Council’s Agency-Ready program, focused on the power of earned media in our modern society. His perspective and examples shed light on the critical function earned media plays for all businesses.
Matt brings this concept to life by looking at the eye-catching car company, Tesla. Founded to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, Tesla has taken earned media to a whole new dimension. For 17 years, the company has spent zero dollars on advertising yet recently became the world’s most valuable automaker. Yep, you read that sentence right! When companies, such as Tesla, have a compelling story or disruptive news, earned media can be its most effective weapon. As Tesla continues to be a fierce competitor, the company focuses on earned media through revolutionary car designs, word of mouth, and publicity stunts to create every company’s dream— an enthusiastic customer base.
Switching gears to another famous car company, General Motors (GM) has estimated spending over $4 billion on advertising in 2019. With a profit of $6.4 billion in last year, GM’s $4 billion advertising expense could have raised profits by over 60 percent if they had the same earned media mentality as Tesla. Tesla’s bold approach to neglect advertising and focus on the creation of luxurious and sustainable automobiles generated an explosion of organic engagement. This key element to Tesla’s success results from a steadfast commitment to create popular and authentic products. True creativity and innovation are presented at every level of Tesla’s product development, with the outcome of automobiles that revolutionize the industry.
The lesson for public relations professionals is to always think bigger, more provocatively and outside the box for clients. Clients come to us prepared for innovative and game-changing work that will yield measurable business outcomes. With great products, it’s up to us to tell the client’s story in a relevant and interesting way to grab the media’s attention. Additionally, we need to clearly understand what’s happening in the industry and our clients’ unique narrative to generate radical results. In a time where people rely on influencers and objective parties to determine what to purchase, earned media is a powerful way to expand audience reach to boost brand awareness.