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.
Today I came across a fun infographic with 20 tips to conquer writer’s block published by PR Daily and began thinking about the steps I take when I feel stuck on a project. Given that none of my personal best practices were listed in the article, I thought I’d share them here.
Best Practice #1: Analyze the assignment and make a list of the steps that can be taken to complete it. Ideally, I like to break the assignment into small steps be completed in 25 minutes or less. For instance, when I am asked to write an article I often take the following steps:
- Decide on my objectives for the article: What do I want to readers to glean from the piece?
- Come up with a unifying theme. Is there a deeper issue to be explored?
- Outline the article. How do I want to structure the article?
- Develop a list of questions. What questions to I want to answer for the reader?
- Research the answers and/or interview subject-matter experts
- Identify proof to back up any claims in the article.
- Write the article
Best Practice #2: Practice the Pomodoro Technique. This is the practice of setting a timer for 25 minutes and then going to work on one of the tasks. After 25 minutes, I take a break and reward myself. I might walk down the hall and talk with one of my co-workers about another project or get a glass of water. These are not big rewards, but I still enjoy them and find it motivating to do something to acknowledge the small steps I am taking to complete the larger project.
The Pomodoro Technique has helped me overcome writer’s block or just get started on something that I’ve been dreading doing. For instance, one of my least favorite activities is reading legal documents. Fortunately, I don’t have many of these to review, but when I do I often break it into 25-minute chunks.
Best Practice #3: You might be wondering what to do when you don’t know what steps to take. When I have no idea how to approach an assignment, I often like to think about my objectives and brainstorm with a coworker. Simply explaining what I am trying to accomplish often jumpstarts my creative problem-solving skills. I can make a list of possible actions and think through the pros and cons of taking them.
Best Practice #4. Finally, I encourage you to remember that procrastination often happens during moments of self doubt or fear. Recently I was chatting with a woman who is revising her first novel. It is a big project and she sometimes starts thinking things like “Maybe this scene doesn’t make sense” or “My writing probably isn’t any good.” This type of thinking can be very discouraging. To overcome this problem, her writing coach gave her some brilliant advice to reframe her negative thoughts and pose them as the following question: “I wonder what I should do next?” By asking this question, you are moving yourself toward action and you are thinking about how to solve your problem. And, let’s face it, if you go negative on yourself, it’s unpleasant for you and can be very unmotivating.
So the next time you’re feeling blocked, I hope you’ll remember these tips. If you have other steps that you’ve taken, please share the ones that have worked for you.
Developing and remodeling company messaging is a big endeavor. Regardless of the company size, age or team experience, creating authentic mission statements and value propositions requires a heavy time investment and can present tough questions around purpose and vision for the company’s executive team to address.
For established companies, it may be challenging to step back and see the value in revisiting messaging for several reasons: one, because of the investment of resources required, and two, the fear that the company’s current focus or new vision has shifted from what was originally intended and stated in past messaging frameworks. These, however, are great reasons to take a close look at messaging, and present the opportunity to distinguish and integrate new business objectives, products, customers, partners and competitors into company messaging to ensure that any new priorities and changes in vision map back to the company’s ultimate purpose.
Incorporating new objectives and how internal and external players understand, interact and feel toward the business are essential elements to include in messaging to ensure that it is ef
fective and authentic.
Because of the benefits a history of understanding company perception can bring to the table, it can be difficult for start-ups first planting their stake in the ground to fully articulate impact and purpose. Without an expansive account of feedback from customers, employees and even media, it can be nerve-racking to make the initial jump and develop messaging with confidence it that it will align with the company’s vision in the years to come.
Companies grappling with these challenges or on the fence about remodeling messaging, should consider completing the “5 Whys” exercise. This exercise helps uncover a company’s underlying mission and the significance of its work, which ultimately helps frame the company’s initiative in a meaningful way. The exercise starts by asking and answering what the company does and then asking why it is important. After each response, ask “why?”
Once the group has answered a series of the “why” questions, they should have a good sense of the company’s fundamental purpose. Completing this exercise and incorporating the final product into messaging frameworks will help executives communicate purpose and vision in a way that is truly valuable to the internal and external parties discussed above.
Another best practice and crucial step to remember when developing messaging is industry research. Understanding what is already out there (good and bad), is important before finalizing frameworks. An old article from Harvard Business Review, “Purpose is Good. Shared Purpose is Better,” not only provides a great reminder about purpose and developing messaging with impact and value in mind, the author also shares examples of powerful mission statements from companies including Nike and Starbucks.
“Starbucks: To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. Nike: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.”
The author flagged these as “successful” mission statements because they focus on connecting the company’s purpose “with” the world vs. “for” its customers.
If you are still on the fence with how to approach remodeling you’re messaging or unsure where to start, this Forbes article provides helpful steps to consider and follow to get in the right direction: Eight Steps To Powerful Startup Messaging.
The ways that journalists report on news – and the way that their audiences consume it – is changing day to day.
Earlier this month The New York Times ran its first augmented reality (AR) feature story previewing the Winter Olympics, allowing readers to “meet” and watch Olympic athletes in 3D through their smartphones. As the article explained, “Through your phone, the room around you looks just as it is, except the athlete is in it with you.”
Graham Roberts, the director of immersive platforms storytelling for the Times, describes the technology: “Augmented reality allows us to bridge the digital and physical worlds; graphical elements can be superimposed on your immediate environment. The Olympics project … demonstrates one of AR’s richest benefits: deepening the explanatory value of visual journalis
m.”
The article about the Olympics “was not just about this single piece of journalism. It was also about exploring what visual journalism may look like in the near future. We are extending stories beyond the inches of a screen — and in so doing, envisioning a world in which devices begin to disappear and the spaces around us become the information surfaces themselves.”
Nonny de la Pena, a documentary filmmaker, notes in a Media Post article that AR “… creates a duality of presence. You know you’re ‘here,’ but you feel like you’re ‘there,’ too. The experience is much more visceral. It’s really a kind of a whole-body experience and is very unique — different than radio, than television, than any other kind of format for experiencing a story.” In de le Pena’s case, AR created a medium to deepen coverage and build empathy from her viewers.
Others (myself included) are skeptical. Digiday’s Sahil Patel, in a 2016 article, (“If they build it, who will come? An anatomy of the VR hype bubble”) writes, “No one denies that virtual reality is cool. Trying on a VR headset and being taken to a time and place that you couldn’t possibly go to in real life is a pretty compelling proposition. But just because something is cool doesn’t mean it will be popular. VR is in the midst of a hype bubble.”
Like Patel, I have mixed feelings about this emerging technology and its implications for journalism.
Full disclosure: Despite the fact that I’ve spent most of my career working with innovative tech companies, I’m hardly a first-adopter when it comes to shiny new personal technology. I clung stubbornly to my compact discs and fought hard against digital music for years (don’t worry, I’ve turned that corner, finally), and I still remain very much on Team Book versus Team Kindle.
And so this new immersive technology that brings news images not just into our televisions and mobile devices, but into our living rooms as actual 3D interactive visuals, makes me a little skeptical about its potential long-term. No doubt its cool factor is high – remember how excited we all were about Pokemon Go? But is AR a viable way to inform the public about important issues and breaking news? I’m hesitant to jump on that bandwagon just yet. It’s a long way off before AR-fueled journalism becomes adopted by the masses.
For one, the technology to create AR content is expensive. It will be interesting to see how advertising will emerge to support AR content. Will you have to sit through a 3D immersive commercial for Doritos, for example, before you can access your AR feature story? And will consumers mind this, or will they accept that commercials need to evolve just as editorial content has?
What about viewing AR content that could be violent or otherwise disturbing, like war footage, for example? Again, the Times describes the technology as creating “a new pathway that can lead away from the abstract depiction of objects and toward a more visceral sense of real-life scale and physicality.” Are consumers going to want to experience frightening or intense content in an immersive, realistic way, even if from the security of their iPhones? In all sincerity, news today is scary enough reading it in print and via Twitter– I’m not sure if I’m ready for it live and in-person.
Clearly we’re in the early days here, and I applaud the Times – newspapers’ Old Gray Lady – for pushing the norms for how stories are presented. The reality is that how people access the news is far different from when the Times published its first issue in 1851. Journalism will continue to evolve, and it will be an interesting ride for media and communications professionals to watch, whether via the traditional printed page, or as a 3D immersive visual journey.
The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that trust in the U.S. has suffered a record-breaking drop in the survey’s 18-year history.
No country saw steeper declines than the U.S., with a 37-point drop in trust across all institutions. While the survey provides deep insight into the polarization of trust in business, government, NGOs and media throughout 28 countries, what is most applicable to our industry is the dramatic shifts within the institution of media.
The survey reports that globally, nearly seven in 10 respondents among the general population worry about fake news or false information being used as a weapon, and nearly 60 percent indicate it is getting harder to tell if a piece of news was produced by a respected media organization. 
Given this data, it’s no surprise media has become the least-trusted institution for the first time in the history of the Trust Barometer. Putting pressure on trust in media is declining trust in search engines and social media. The irony is that at the same time, the credibility of journalists rose significantly.
Edelman cites the broad definition of media as a contributing factor to the paradox. Some survey respondents consider platforms to be part of “the media” – including social media (48 percent) and search engines (25 percent) – alongside journalism (89 percent), which includes publishers and news organizations.
In 2018, trust in journalism increased five points while trust in platforms dipped two points. In addition, peers are no longer the most-believed source of information as the credibility of “a person like yourself” dipped to an all-time low in the study’s history.
All this to say, it’s likely the decline of trust in social and search, and the credibility of peer communication, are contributing to the overall deterioration of trust in media.
At the same time, there is renewed confidence in experts. Technical experts, academics, financial industry analysts and entrepreneurs with a successful track record are gaining credibility levels of 50 percent or higher. Whereas credibility among journalists rose a mere 12 percentage points and CEOs recorded a seven-point gain.
People’s concern about fake news and their willingness to listen to experts show their desire for knowledge. The media cannot solve this alone. Every institution must play its part in the battle for truth by educating its constituents and joining the public debate, going direct to the end-users of information.
“The United States is enduring an unprecedented crisis of trust,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. “This is the first time that a massive drop in trust has not been linked to a pressing economic issue or catastrophe like the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In fact, it’s the ultimate irony that it’s happening at a time of prosperity, with the stock market and employment rates in the U.S. at record highs.
The root cause of this fall is the lack of objective facts and rational discourse.” The agency highlighted the following key takeaways when announcing results from the 2018 survey:
- Technology (75 percent) remains the most trusted industry sector followed by education (70 percent), professional services (68 percent) and transportation (67 percent). The financial services industry (54 percent) was once again the least trusted sector along with consumer-packaged goods (60 percent) and automotive (62 percent).
- Companies headquartered in Canada (68 percent), Switzerland (66 percent), Sweden (65 percent) and Australia (63 percent) are most trusted. The least trusted country brands are Mexico (32 percent), India (32 percent), Brazil (34 percent) and China (36 percent). Trust in brand U.S. (50 percent) dropped five points, the biggest decline of the countries surveyed.
- Exactly half of those surveyed indicate that they interact with mainstream media less than once a week, while 25 percent said they read no media at all because it is too upsetting. And the majority of respondents believe that news organizations are overly focused on attracting large audiences (66 percent), breaking news (65 percent) and politics (59 percent).
Read the full report, watch videos and explore trust levels by country and demographic here.
Currently athletes from around the globe are competing on the world’s largest stage—the Olympic Games. The opening ceremonies in Pyeongchang brought in 27.8 million viewers. For the 2016 Rio Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) estimated that half of the world’s population, roughly 3.6 billion people, would watch at least one minute of the games. That’s quite an audience—and naturally, it is something most brands want to take advantage of.
However, despite the variety of advertisements and marketing materials featuring athletes, brand engagement with the Olympic Games, as well as the athletes themselves, is actually incredibly limited around the time of competition due to Rule 40.
Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter states that athletes competing in the Games may not appear in any advertising or marketing material during the games-time period, typically the week before competition, the two weeks of competition, and the week following competition, without expressed consent from their national Olympic committees. In the case of the United States, this is the United State Olympic Committee (USOC). 
So what exactly does that mean? Well, official partners of Team USA, not to be confused with the IOC, are authorized to feature competing athletes in advertising or marketing materials during the games-time period so long as the content has been approved by the USOC. This makes sense for most material as commercials, billboards and packaging are often planned far in advance.
However, it is quite interesting to see how the rule is being applied to social media. Social media has become a platform for fans and brands to interact directly with athletes, celebrities and influencers. It has also created a way for brands to react quickly to events. For instance, Oreos “you can still dunk in the dark” tweet stole the show during the Super Bowl power outage in 2013.
Similarly, athletes are making history daily at the Olympic Games. Already we’ve seen two 17-year olds win gold medals for Team USA, Mirai Nagasu was the first American woman to land a triple axel at the Olympics, Shaun White won his third gold medal and there’s still plenty of competition left.
However, because of Rule 40, brands cannot interact with athletes publicly unless they are an official partner of Team USA and the content they post is approved by the USOC. Many of these athletes have been supported by a variety of sponsors throughout their journey to the Olympic Games, but cannot publicly wish them good luck or congratulate them on their success until about a week after the closing ceremonies—defeating the purpose of social media.
For some big brands, this may not have as big an impact, but for smaller brands that have invested a significant amount of their marketing budgets in these athletes, they end up missing out on major opportunities for exposure, especially considering many of these athletes have built impressive followings on social media. For instance, Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Mikaela Shiffrin, Gus Kenworthy and Chloe Kim all have about 500,000-1 million Instagram followers. One Seattle company, Oiselle, supported a track athlete and was restricted on how they expressed their excitement for her after a very successful performance at the Olympic Trials in 2016. The company shared its frustrations with The Seattle Times.
The IOC explains that the purpose of the rule is to prevent over-commercialization of the Olympics. The games are about bringing together the world’s best amateur athletes in spirited competition that promotes unity. And while it is great to see a historic, monumental and often moving event stay focused on its values, it will be interesting to see if the rule ever evolves to ease up a bit on the limits and restrictions around brands congratulating or celebrating athletes on social media.
We’ll have to wait and see, but until then, good luck to the athletes of Team USA!
In our book, Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR, we wrote about the shifting marketing landscape. At the time, close to 10 years ago, we argued that PR was more strategic than ever due to reputation, fragmentation, and saturation. Since that time, these trends have continued to expand at an exponential rate, reinforcing and building the importance of public relations.
Social Media Defines Your Public Relationships
Consider reputation: In our book, we wrote about the power of the internet to rapidly disseminate information about your company, brand and identity. What we did not explore was the dissemination of “fake news,” the changing ways we consume news, and the evolution of crisis and reputation management in the digital age. A tweet from President Trump or an employee/partner misstep or wrongdoing can create a firestorm in an instant that can damage a brand’s reputation.
These changes increase risk to companies and their brands. KPMG’s- Global CEO Outlook 2017 survey found that CEOs cited reputational and brand risk as the third most important risk out of 16 in total. The survey also revealed that CEOs also see “reputation and brand risk as having the second biggest potential impact on growth over the next three years.” Given the role PR plays in building and protecting reputations, the industry is likely to see increased demand for these services, especially digital reputation management.
Healthy Relationships Begin with Trust, Authenticity and Listening
Similarly, fragmentation has continued with more and more sites, blogs and sources available. Data aggregators and solution providers have adapted to these changes, enabling marketers to directly target specific audiences through consumer purchasing behavior, life-event targeting, and search engine marketing. These solutions make it easier for marketers to directly reach their target audiences.
However, the power of marketers to influence behavior relies on delivering content that resonates with those target audiences and fostering these direct relationships in authentic and valuable ways. Lean Cuisine’s “Weigh this” campaign represented a “massive pivot” from its prior messaging and focused on developing an authentic and connected relationship with its consumer. Results from the campaign show a 33 percent increase in positive brand perception and importantly “a drastic spike in sales, reversing a 6 year decline.” The most successful of these content programs integrate with PR, leveraging the team’s ability to build a compelling narrative that reinforces the brand messaging and aligns with the company’s business objectives.
Make the Message Emotionally Valuable to Your Audience
Saturation has increased with the prevalence of mobile devices and social media. Consumers are continually exposed to marketing messages and the noise is overwhelming. This noise and flood of information, makes it harder for companies to establish strong awareness and own a position in a consumer’s mind. With this noise, it appears consumers are more influenced by their friends and family. Data from a recent survey of 2,000 adults in the U.S., UK and Australia shows that “60 percent of consumers (and 70 percent of Millennials) said social content from friends and family impact their purchasing decisions – while only 23 percent said celebrity influencer content was impactful.”
This shift in communication is redefining how we interact as humans, and how brands effectively tell their story to the right audience. Success will be measurable and sustainable for brands that can deliver valuable messaging in a consumable way.
Eight years ago, the advertising industry was facing a significant challenge due to these trends. Traditional advertising was declining and digital ad spending was on the rise. However, since that time saturation, fragmentation and reputational risk have increased, and digital advertising has evolved. Ads are still perceived as less credible then editorial content. To that point, in a recent interview, Publicis Groupe’s Rishad Tobaccowala shared a prediction that advertising to reach consumers will decline 20 to 30 percent during the next five years.
Similarly, the lines between what is driven by PR and communication versus the advertising teams continue to blur. Fortunately, as businesses leverage advertising and PR to achieve specific business objectives, the core principles of our book hold steady for both advertising and PR teams alike.
We plan to revisit the content of Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR and provide updates and insights via blog posts moving forward. Watch for tweets with #PowerofPR to follow along. Feel free to tweet your thoughts and comments with this hashtag to participate in the discussions. We hope you will share your perspective along the way.