In a video filmed at Robbins’ “Unleash the Power Within” event, the self-help guru told his audience of thousands that women were relying on #MeToo to “try to get significance and certainty by attacking and destroying someone else.” Audience member Nanine McCool is shown attempting to explain to Robbins that he misunderstood the importance of #MeToo before being interrupted by him with more provocative statements and actions. But is this purely bad PR for Robbins in this era?
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‘Engage’ Crowned the Champion of the 2018 Most Overused PR Words & Phrases Tournament
April 9th, 2018 by Justin JoffePR News’ community on Twitter has been voting for the most overused clichés over the past several weeks—using the hashtag #WordsBracket—through five rounds of brackets. Apparently PR practitioners need a nice long break from hearing the word “engage” but, admittedly, it’ll be hard to find a workable replacement for it.

AI, Fake News and Future-Proofing Dominate Annual Page Society Seminar
April 6th, 2018 by Justin JoffeThe organization formerly known as the Arthur W. Page Society—now it’s simply “Page”— hosted its annual Spring Seminar this week at New York City’s Conrad Hotel, bringing together communicators from across the globe for two days of panels, keynotes and breakout sessions that addressed the theme “Are You Future-Proofed? Disruption, Innovation and the CCO.”

Lessons From Morgan Stanley’s Silence in the Face of a Physical Abuse Issue
April 6th, 2018 by Claudia Keith, City of Palo AltoIs it better for a company to own a bad situation and communicate about the underlying issue or remain silent and hope it all goes away? That was the predicament for Morgan Stanley recently when a front-page story in the NY Times exposed the company knew a star employee was battling repeated accusations from multiple parties of physical abuse and stalking. Claudia Keith, chief communications officer of the City of Palo Alto, CA, argues Morgan Stanley’s response will hurt its reputation and bottom line.

Google Workers’ ‘Business of War’ Letter Pits Employee Values Against Bottom Line
April 5th, 2018 by Jerry AsciertoMore than 3,100 Google employees have signed a letter asking the company to halt its work on a Defense Department initiative. While the letter has made headlines, it also raises an important question for professional communicators: How should a brand prepare for the possibility that part of its workforce has a political or moral objection to some of its activities?

‘Thought Leader’ vs. ‘Engage’: Final Round of the Most Overused PR Words & Phrases Tournament
April 5th, 2018 by Justin JoffeWe’re down to just two contenders in PR News’ 2018 Most Overused PR Words & Phrases Tournament: “thought leader” and “engage.” PR News’ community on Twitter has been voting for the past several weeks through four rounds of brackets. This time around “thought leader” bested “industry-leading,” and “engage” edged out “elevate.” The shockers of this year’s tournament so far are the relatively early exits of “at the end of the day” and “quite frankly.”

5 Ways to Harness the Power of Nano-Influencers
April 4th, 2018 by Hayley JenningsPR News’ recently published Influencer Marketing Guidebook details the power of nano-influencers who are not traditional internet personalities but still wield influence online. And though these are average people who may be against using conventional marketing tactics in their internet communities, businesses can still find ways to work with nano-influencers without overstepping bounds. Here are five ways brands can leverage their nano-influencers.

YouTube Shooting Shows Brands Can Be Unwillingly Dragged Into a Crisis
April 4th, 2018 by Seth ArensteinSeveral early media reports about yesterday’s awful shooting at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, CA, linked the alleged shooter’s actions to YouTube policies on monetization of videos and prohibiting gun-related content. In reality the shooter likely was mentally disturbed as there can be no justification for shooting at innocent people. What can brand communicators learn from this incident?

Infographic: LinkedIn Emerges as a Powerful Marketing Channel
April 3rd, 2018 by Hayley JenningsMore organizations are increasing their social media marketing dollars—though it remains a small part of the overall budget—while LinkedIn has become a more important part of the marketing mix, according to a recent survey conducted by the Social Shake-Up Show.

Snapchat Adds Group Video Chat, Allows Tagging
April 3rd, 2018 by Sophie MaerowitzSnapchat has released two new features, one that allows users to video chat with up to 16 friends and another that provides the option to tag users in Stories. While Instagram already offers the latter feature, Snapchat has beat its chief rival to the video chat space…at least for now. One thing’s for sure: This arms race is far from over.