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.
Founded in 1851, The New York Times (NYT) is considered one of the leading newspapers in the world. Winning 125 Pulitzer Prize awards for excellence in journalism, Yale University noted that The Times has earned itself a “worldwide reputation of thoroughness.” Although no easy feat, securing coverage on behalf of a client in the NYT is any PR pro’s dream come true. A meaningful way to do this is to submit an op-ed to The Times.
An op-ed is an essay that runs on the opposite side of the editorial page in a newspaper. Written by anyone from experts to everyday people, the op-ed section often gives readers fresh perspectives on current events and can solidify your client’s position as a thought leader. To give your opinion piece the best chance of being published, I conducted some research into how the op-ed editors at The New York Times like to be pitched. Here’s what I learned.
Op-Ed Submission Guidelines and Process
As described by Trish Hall, the former op-ed and Sunday Review editor, The New York Times accepts opinion articles on any topic, for the op-ed page (Monday through Saturday), the Sunday Review, Opinionator and other online series, and The International New York Times.
The Times looks for submissions that run from 400 to 1,200 words and that are submitted exclusively. The Times actively seeks pieces reacting to news of the world, and writers are encouraged to submit op-eds relating to news events as quick as possible. The New York Times encourages authors to write in their own voice. Writing to “seem smart” often has the opposite effect. And it’s best to focus very specifically on something specific from a unique perspective. For example, if you want to write about the general problem of incarceration in the United States, the odds are that it will seem too familiar. But if you are a prisoner in Washington and you have just gone on a hunger strike and want to talk about it – that is an exciting read. Submissions should be sent to [email protected].
NYT’s news assistants read the op-ed submissions. They pull out everything that seems to have potential and send those pieces to several editors for review. If those editors find something interesting, they send it to an internal group that is responsible for editing the pieces on the pages in all the editions, in Opinionator and in the Sunday Review.
These editors have daily meetings to discuss the news, ideas, and which writers might be best suited to which subjects. Although no article is guaranteed publication, once accepted, the NYT will do everything it can to make sure the piece runs on one of its platforms. This process could take months because The Times will wait to publish the article for what seems like the moment when the greatest number of readers are likely to find a piece relevant and interesting.
If the article is accepted, the author will receive a contract giving The Times exclusive publishing rights. Additionally, the contract lays out some of the author’s responsibilities, the most important ones having to do with originality and truthfulness. The Times requests that the author discloses anything that might be seen as a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. The NYT also needs all of the material that supports the facts in the story in order to fact check, so writers should be prepared to disclose all of this information.
Once the contract is signed, an editor will work with the author to make the piece acceptable to both parties. If the piece has the start of a fascinating idea but is jumbled and not well-thought out, it will probably need rounds of revision. If this is the case, do not be discouraged. The goal of the editing process is to make the author’s thinking and writing as clear and orderly as possible. As a rule, the writer will not get to choose the headline or the art that goes with the piece.
Because the number of submissions is so large, the NYT unfortunately has to pass on much material of value and interest. If there is no reply within three business days, assume that The Times will not be able to use your article.
To gain some inspiration, follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter. Securing an op-ed for a client in The New York Times would be a huge win and I hope that these guidelines will get you one step closer!
In November 2017, I blogged about building motivation as a learned skill and applying it to the PR industry, based on Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg. I have now finally finished the book and must say I truly enjoyed it.
I found the information in the book interesting, and applicable to my work as an intern. That said, I also suspect it would be helpful for individuals in senior management positions as well. The two chapters that I found most intriguing were “Teams” and “Managing Others.”
In the chapter about teams, Duhigg opens by setting the scene at Google, and describes a study that particularly interested him. Created by Google’s People Analytics group, the study (“Project Oxygen”) investigated why some managers were more effective than others. At the end of the project, the team identified eight critical management skills that effective managers possessed. They were the following:
1. Being a good coach
2. Empowering and not micromanaging
3. Expressing interest and concern in subordinates’ success and well-being
4. Being results oriented
5. Listening and sharing information
6. Helping with career development
7. Having a clear vision and strategy
8. Having key technical skills (e.g., in PR, this might be knowing AP style, having an ability to write, or an ability to work with a wide range of media)
Now that Google had a list of successful traits for leaders, they decided to examine company and employee surveys from previous years to study team dynamics. The goal of that study (“Project Aristotle”) was to find out what made the teams and their members successful.
Google began by asking employees what they thought made a team effective. Through trial and error, Google established criteria for measuring a team’s success, which included external factors such as sales goals, and internal factors such as team morale and camaraderie. Google was stumped, however, as they could not find a correlation between a team’s composition and its success. After combing through an ample amount of data, they needed a new angle.
Given this, Google switched its focus toward examining group norms and behaviors. According to the Sociology of Sport Journal, group norms are the “behaviors, traditions, standards and rules that determine appropriate behavior within a group.” Google was interested in studying how the unwritten rules, standards and roles within the group relate to success as a team.
Duhigg then introduces the reader to Amy Edmondson, a Ph.D. student at the time who studied organizational behavior at Harvard, who found that successful teams often had psychological safety. Edmondson defines psychological safety as “a shared belief, held by members of a team, that the group is a safe place for taking risks. It is a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish someone for speaking up.” More importantly, it describes a level of respect and trust, as well as a feeling that what you say matters, what you do matters, while also understanding that what others do matters, thus creating a sense of belonging and togetherness among the group.
In PR, there are instances where you’ll work with an external team, along with your internal team. At Communiqué, we work together internally on many occasions. Often, we hold brainstorming sessions where we solicit ideas and input from one another. Our team embraces critical thinking and encourages thought from multiple angles and perspectives. With external teams, it is important to create comfortable group norms that promote psychological safety. This may include defining roles and expectations, or getting to know each other’s work habits and preferences.
By embracing psychological safety, it’s more likely that teams will build a culture of trust. According to Duhigg, “A culture of commitment and trust isn’t a magic bullet. It doesn’t guarantee that a product will sell, or an idea will bear fruit. But it’s the best bet for making sure the right conditions are in place when a great idea comes along.” Team members that trust one another and feel safe are more likely to produce helpful and impactful work.
Culture is important to most businesses; establishing one that promotes psychological safety is imperative. Based on the research done at Google, teams with psychological safety produce successful results on a more consistent basis. Along with psychological safety, establishing group norms that work for your team are equally important.
After two African American men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks for asking to use the restroom without purchasing something, the nation wondered how the giant conglomerate would handle such a polarizing crisis. Not long after the video of the confrontation with police and hashtags to boycott the coffeeshop went viral, Starbucks rolled out an impressive crisis management plan. Here are three lessons that businesses can learn from Starbucks’ quick and effective response.
1. Validate the public’s concerns quickly
When a crisis such as this (or any crisis for that matter) occurs, it is most important to validate the public’s concerns before acting further. When the video went viral, the public needed to know first and foremost that Starbucks recognized that there was a problem in its racial profiling of the two African American men. In order to validate concerns that Starbucks employees could be racist, CEO Kevin Johnson issued a memo asserting that, “Starbucks stands firmly against discrimination or racial profiling. … The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks Mission and Values.” Even though the company was still working to establish the facts of the incident, accepting responsibility and showing empathy served Starbucks well as it continued its efforts to address the crisis.
2. Take concrete action
In a racially charged crisis such as this, an apology posted from the company Twitter handle is simply not enough. First, Kevin Johnson, Howard Schultz and other executive members immediately flew to Philadelphia to meet the two men and personally apologize and speak to employees at the Philadelphia store. Additionally, Starbucks proved that actions speak louder than words when it announced that 8,000 stores nationwide would close on May 29 for racial bias training, saying, “Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities.” The training for over 175,000 employees is projected to cost Starbucks over $7 million in lost revenue, not to mention the actual cost and implementation of the training program into Starbucks’ onboarding process. These concrete actions enabled Starbucks to insert its own dialogue rather than letting the media take control of the narrative.
3. Coverage-tracking is key
Although apologies and plans for further action have been made, the internet can reinvigorate the issue in a split second. Starbucks demonstrated how important it is to diligently monitor the situation when it got its own taste of fake news. When fake coupons began to circulate online promising a free beverage to any person of color, Starbucks was effective in preventing the internet trolls from deepening the hurt that the crisis caused and even using the coupons to its advantage. After a spokesperson for Starbucks denied any connection to the fake coupons, Starbucks noticed a positive response on social media to the coupons and decided to make them a reality:“We here at Starbucks are very sorry to hear about people being tricked into believing a hoax … we’ve decided to make it a reality.” What could have been an entirely new and dangerous facet to the public-bathroom crisis became a way for Starbucks to facilitate dialogue and rectify its wrongdoings.
As a result of its crisis response, could Starbucks come out on top? Will the May 29 racial bias training be considered effective? Time will tell – stay tuned!
Every brand wants customers to be their brand ambassadors on social media, and what better way to do this than creating an engaging pop-up activation that followers can visit and post about.
Instagram is one of the most public channels that consumers use to discover and learn more about brands, as well as share branded experiences such as visiting their favorite pop-up shop or event. For your next pop-up, leverage the power of social media and create Instagrammable moments. Here are some ideas you can implement at your next activation:
1. Catchy Phrases
A simple way to promote social-sharing at your pop-up is by creating signs with unique phrases. Figure out, depending on your brand, event and attendees, what will appeal most to them, such as humor, aiming to inspire, or showing off your brand personality in a different way.
There are several ways you can pull this off, such as:
• Chalkboards
• Framed pictures with text
• Visual displays
• Lights on walls or floors
• Neon light signs (like the Kate Spade Saturday Pop-Up Shop)
2. Unique Design Features
Fun Walls
Incorporating fun visuals on your walls serves as the perfect selfie backdrop. In some cases, it can even be the focal point of an image shared on Instagram or other social channels.
When it comes to the walls of your pop-up, get creative. Use patterned wallpaper, scenic backdrops or interactivity to create a moment that’s worth sharing. Frankie + Jo’s Plant Based Ice Cream has successfully knocked this out of the park with their palm wallpaper that takes this little ice cream shop from a tasty treat to a photo-worthy destination.
Funky Floors
Much like walls, floors can also set the stage for a visually appealing Instagram shot. Rather than the “traditional” selfie, unique flooring is the perfect backdrop for the foot selfie. If you’re a footwear brand, you may want to pay extra attention to the floors — this is a great way to get your product featured on social media.
Fancy Fixtures
Unique fixtures such as lighting or door knobs/handles can also create buzz on social media. Use themed fixtures to match your event, enhance your brand image, or add to the customer experience.
3. Leverage Pop Culture
Your brand doesn’t have to be front-and-center of every aspect of your pop-up. Instead, focus on your audience and what interests them. Pop culture trends can be a great source of inspiration to create Instagram-worthy shots.
Google tapped into the popularity of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” series with its New York City pop-up. They recreated the visually iconic living room with letters and lights on the wall. Shots of the living room are all over Instagram.
4. Shareable Experiences
We all hear about the importance of meaningful brand experiences. This is no different when it comes to social sharing. Create memorable, shareable experiences through your pop-up to organically encourage posting to Instagram and other social channels.
Here’s an example: Brit + Co hosted the #CreateGood pop-up to establish a physical experience of the online community they’ve cultivated. The pop-up was all about empowering women, and it was widely shared on Instagram.
5. Social-Sharing Prompts
One of the most effective ways to create social sharing is to prompt your guests to do so. One way to do this is to create a hashtag and include it on all visuals (such as signage, programs, etc.). Including your social handles is another way to gain more followers through the pop-up experience, too.
Recently, I stumbled across an article in The New York Times that I thought would be helpful to those of us with a commitment to continuous improvement. The article is titled, “How to Spot and Overcome Your Hidden Weaknesses,” and focuses on how challenging it is for people to truly assess their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to skill and abilities.
Surprisingly, the less experienced people are at something, the greater the probability that they will overestimate their abilities. This is because when you are not skilled at something, you don’t see your shortcomings and mistakes. 
Consider my endeavor to write a novel. I’m a novice at creative writing, and when I wrote my first chapter I thought it was good. However, my classmates at the Hugo House have had plenty of feedback for me. They’ve had suggestions around the balance between in-scene action and summarized information, thoughts about dialogue, and suggestions about how to increase the stakes for my protagonist – and these are just a few of the examples.
I’ve been working on my book for 18 months and the more I learn, the more I realize how hard the process can be. Apparently, this is not uncommon. The more skills and knowledge people develop, the more likely they are to underestimate their abilities and talent.
Worse yet, when you’re skilled at something, it is often easy to assume that others also are skilled at it too. For instance, maybe you’re an expert skier and find yourself skiing with a friend who is less experienced who you end up taking on a double-black diamond run. You’re not showing off, you’ve simply assumed your friend can do it as well. No problem, right?
Wrong. Not everyone shares the same skill level. Fortunately, in his article Tim Herrera points out that there are two steps we can take to obtain more accurate perceptions of our abilities.
Tim writes, “First, ask for feedback. It’s not easy, and it can sometimes be tough to hear, but outside input is crucial to shining a light on your blind spots.” In his article he includes a link for tips to getting and giving better feedback.
His second suggestion is to keep learning and building skills. The more experience you have doing something, the better you’ll be at assessing problem areas. For more on learning, I’d encourage you to read these posts about learning how to learn as well.
• Learning How to Learn: The Chunking Puzzle
• Master Your Mental Toolbox 2018
I found Tim’s article to be inspiring and helpful. I am going to continue to apply these best practices in both my professional and personal lives.
Last week at our Communiqué PR brownbag, Melissa Cafiero, a past Communiqué employee and current senior communications manager at Projectline for Microsoft Windows NEXT, took time out of her week to share insight about her experience managing internal communications. As an experienced PR and corporate communications executive, Melissa is passionate about helping organizations uncover the most meaningful way to interact with its audiences.
It was great to have Melissa in our office and learn about the types of situations she navigates as a senior consult and especially the differences (and similarities) she sees between public relations and internal communications. We all had an “aha” moment when she shared that one of the biggest nuances of internal communications is that you are developing messages for an audience to which you belong.
Internal 
To provide a quick refresher, internal, or often referred to as corporate, communications takes place when the members of an organization communicate with each other. These messages can range from company announcements, staffing updates, emergency alerts, or other internal matters that directly impact members of the team. Typically only larger organizations (more than 100 employees) will have dedicated corporate communications teams or representatives.
External
External communications, which we exercise in public relations, is the exchange of messages to an outside audience such as the media, customers, potential employees and customers, competitors and more. These messages vary, but are often similar to the updates shared in internal communications (i.e., company announcements, executive changes, etc.), but are tailored specifically to an external audience.
Somewhere in the middle
In addition to the receiver, a large differentiator between internal and external communications is the cadence and medium in which messages are shared. Mastering these two elements (both in external and internal communications) is critical to have success with these efforts. For example, employees’ preferences for receiving updates will vary, just as the different types of news journalists want to receive.
Cadence
Melissa shared the example of some employees preferring updates from a CEO once a year, while others would opt to receive an update every month. Finding the happy middle and rhythm can be difficult. For internal communications, the answer can usually be found in understanding company culture; whereas for external, it’s especially important to determine the objectives of your audience (i.e., whether or not a reporter or their readers will care about the news, etc.), which can be difficult to decipher if you are not a member of the audience. In addition, pitching a journalist or sending employees emails too often or not often enough can be distracting, ineffective and even take away from their perception of yourself or your company’s brand.
Medium
In public relations, the communication medium is pretty standard and does not change too frequently. We interact with media via email, phone and through company messages (i.e., press releases, blogs, social media, etc.).
However, for corporate communications the way the executive team decides to communicate with its employees can change drastically and will vary depending on the subject of the news. The answer to selecting the correct medium for a specific message again boils down to understanding company culture. Take for example a crisis situation or prominent executive announcement: Most employees would prefer to hear about this news before it is released to the public. To make matters more complicated, not all employees will agree on how the message is shared (i.e., email, text or via a company’s private intranet page, etc.).
Corporate communications teams have to strategically navigate employees’ preferences, taking into account their own inclinations and direction from upper management. One way corporate communications teams can find this balance is through issuing corporate surveys to determine shared preferences and dislikes among the employees.
Our time with Melissa was limited, but we could have gone on for hours asking questions about how her experience in PR has shaped her strategy and perspective in her new corporate communications role. One last tip she left us with is to always consider how an employee may react to a specific piece of news or headline. Applying this level of detail and putting ourselves in the employees’ shoes will help build and enforce a strong company culture for our clients, as well as allow us to practice and inform more strategic council.
We’re thankful for the insight Melissa shared and look forward to applying it into our work.