The Role of the Board Chair During a Crisis
Achim Schmitt, Gilber Probst and Michael Tushman, writing for JuanRudolfo.com, offer an insightful look at nonprofit governance… Experienced chairpersons know that their success depends on how they walk the tightrope of being too involved or too remote in the company’s strategy execution. Yet when a crisis such as COVID-19 hits and the CEO transforms into […]
Creating a Post-Pandemic Crisis Team
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications Pre-COVID, few of our clients had ever experienced a crisis event with the potential to threaten the very existence of their organization. Now, almost everyone we talk to has had first-hand experience managing disruptions in supplies, sales, finance, staffing, production, logistics, communications, marketing and technology. Some organizations have emerged stronger […]
Crisis Management – Your Organization’s Reputation is Its Largest Uninsured Asset
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Sexual misconduct, data theft, unfair labor practices, OSHA complaints, mergers & acquisitions, active shooters, layoffs, accusations, food tampering, employee fraud and product defects are just a few of the situations today’s CEOs face. It’s been said that an organization’s reputation is its largest uninsured asset – an asset that can […]
How to Nail Your TV News Interview – Part 1
By Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I earned my stripes in TV producing newscasts and managing newsrooms for the better part of twenty years, and I can now freely admit the following: I loved reporters who came trotting breathlessly back into the newsroom with video of […]
Are Employees’ Social Media Posts Still PR’s Problem to Solve?
From Sophie Maerowitz, writing for PRWeek: t may seem like conversations on social media couldn’t possibly get more polarized. But in the face of a pandemic and plummeting economy, during an election year no less, brands continue to find themselves caught in the middle of hot-button issues, forced to choose sides on topics previously thought […]
Journalists Believe News and Opinion are Separate, but Readers Can’t Tell the Difference
From Kevin M. Lerner, Assistant Professor of Journalism at Marist College: The New York Times opinion editor James Bennet resigned recently after the paper published a controversial opinion essay by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton that advocated using the military to put down protests. The essay sparked outrage among the public as well as among younger reporters at […]
Land O’Lakes Isn’t Talking About Its Logo Change, and That’s a Big Mistake
From AdWeek: The decision by dairy brand Land O’Lakes to eliminate the kneeling Native American woman offering up sticks of butter on its logo marks the end of a problematic mascot with a nearly 100-year history. As of April 30, she—who, by some accounts, was named Mia—is still featured on products on the website. Land O’Lakes said […]
Newspaper Atones for Ad’s Bad Tone
From our good friend and colleague, James Haggerty and his associate, Thom Weidlich: With everything confronting newspapers these days, including a pandemic and the death of their business model, it’s notable that one — The Tennessean — could present us this week with a laudable crisis response. And this was a crisis that sprung internally, offering the […]
The Facebook Ad Boycotts Have Entered the Big Leagues. Now What?
From Megan Graham at CNBC: KEY POINTS An advertiser boycott of Facebook is gaining steam, now counting Verizon and Unilever among its participants. Starbucks and spirits giant Diageo joined the campaign over the weekend. Analysts say these advertisers have the potential to influence more companies to join the boycott. The boycotts could prove promising for […]
What Have We Learned from COVID-19?
As regular readers of this newsletter know, one of our regular correspondents is Peter M. Sandman, one of the world’s preeminent risk communications consultants. Another way we describe him to our clients is that he is our go-to guy when it comes to risk communications. Recently, Dr. Sandman was interviewed by Impact, a publication of […]