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 […]
You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications EDITOR’S NOTE: On the morning of Monday, July 6, the SBA released a database with the names and information for all entities that received a PPP loan of $150,000 or more. You can download that list here. At this time, it is unclear if and when the names of those […]
Crisis Comms: Saying Nothing is the Worst Strategy
From Greg Friese, writing for PoliceOne.com… t has been more than a week since mass protests and riots erupted in dozens of cities in the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd. In the days that followed, public safety leaders expressed their grief for Floyd, condemnation of the four former officers, and discussed their […]
National Museum of African American History and Culture Releases “Talking About Race” Web Portal
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture today launched Talking About Race, a new online portal designed to help individuals, families, and communities talk about racism, racial identity and the way these forces shape every aspect of society, from the economy and politics to the broader American culture. The online portal provides digital tools, online exercises, video instructions, scholarly […]
Food Brands Tweet #BlackLivesMatter, but What’s Behind the Words?
We remind our clients that apologies must be real, honest and authentic. We remind our clients that “spinning” is “lying.” And we remind our clients that if you’re going to talk the talk, you need to walk the walk. From this week’s New York Times, an insightful piece by Tejal Rao… It (seems) that, to […]
Why Trolls Spew Hate and What to Do if They Work for You
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] Impossibly, daily headlines keep coming at us outing people at every level of society who insist on blurting out heinous, racially insensitive soundbites, tweets and posts in the wake of the horrifying killing of George Floyd. Amid the ensuing protests, the incoming chairman of a county Republican party in Houston […]
What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis
From Jill Avery and Richard Edelman, writing for the Harvard Business School… As the COVID-19 virus pandemic began to sweep across the world, Doug McMillon and his team at Walmart watched in horror. Suddenly, they realized, tomorrow would be nothing like “business as usual” and everything in the company’s marketing plan, from retail execution to […]
Women Ask for Coffee, Men Tend to Call in Favors: Why Pandemic Networking is Even Harder for Women
Carol Kitchener writes: The first step to making a new professional connection can be a little awkward. Usually, you start by reaching out over email. You might agonize over the acceptable number of exclamation points — or double check the spelling of several words you have certainly spelled successfully many times before. You read the email at […]
The Importance of Understanding and Fulfilling the Duty of Reasonable Care When Reopening School
From our good friend, David Wolowitz at McClane Middleton. While aimed primarily at independent schools, there are some good nuggets here for public schools. Independent schools planning to have students return to school before there is a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus are understandably concerned about potential liability if a returning student becomes severely ill […]