Twitter announced its first ever #BrandBowl, a competition that will award prizes to brands whose commercials are most often referenced on the platform during the game. But the awards aren’t dedicated only to those who can afford the astronomically priced ad space: One award category gives every brand a fighting chance.
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Cutting Through the Data Wilderness: Next-Gen Communicators Preach Data With a Human Heart
January 30th, 2018 by Seth ArensteinThe final article in this 5-part PR News/PublicRelay series about data and measurement profiles three rising communicators leaders. Each of them is a firm believer in data-centric communications, yet none of them is what you’d call a numbers nerd. They all learned to embrace data analysis on the job, not in college.

The Week in PR
January 30th, 2018 by Seth ArensteinOur weekly roundup of trends, news and personnel announcements in PR and marketing. This week’s stories include several about the Dr. Larry Nassar scandal at Michigan State University, Cision closes its deal to acquire PRIME and Rupert Murdoch suggests Facebook and Google pay for the premium content it carries.

Follower Bots Exposed: How to Spot Fake Influencers
January 29th, 2018 by Samantha WoodThe practice of buying social media followers has been around nearly as long as social media itself. And it’s still unclear whether platforms like Twitter and Facebook are responsible for weeding out the fake accounts. So, how can a brand separate influencer fact from fiction?

3 Ways Grammy Awards’ #MeToo Moment Was Off-Key
January 29th, 2018 by Sophie MaerowitzAre #MeToo moments part of a movement, or have they become a marketing tactic? To many, the Jan. 28 Grammy Awards fell short of the former, paying lip service to the women of #MeToo and #TimesUp without making a real statement. Most of the night’s award winners were men, with female performers like SZA—who was nominated for five awards—losing to the likes of The Weeknd and Bruno Mars.

The F Word: It’s Time to Make Your Move
January 29th, 2018 by Diane SchwartzAt the PR News Top Women in PR Luncheon on January 23 keynoter Melissa Bernstein of toy company Melissa & Doug shared all the misses among the hits of puzzles, toys and stuffed animals over the company’s 30 years. At their headquarters in Wilton, CT, there’s a whole room dedicated to failure—toys that seemed like such a good idea until they weren’t. As Melissa pointed out, it’s only through repeated failure that she’s found great success.

Will Snapchat Survive Its Redesign?
January 26th, 2018 by Sophie MaerowitzSnapchat’s coming redesign, which aims to court advertisers and make the interface easier to use (especially for the 35-and-above set) is currently being tested in the U.K., Australia and Canada. But so far, users in those countries have not been impressed, posting negative reviews on the App Store and tweeting complaints at Snap Inc.’s support handle.

USA Gymnastics, USOC, MSU and the Nassar Sentencing: Behind the Messaging
January 25th, 2018 by Samantha WoodThere’s no crisis management cure-all for organizations linked to heinous, life-destroying and unchecked behavior like Larry Nassar’s, but there should be a guiding principle—learn from your errors, and show that you’re learning and changing. Two crisis management experts weigh in.

How the American Heart Association is Preparing for Facebook’s Algorithm Changes
January 25th, 2018 by Chris SeymourSmart communicators are readying their social media plans for Facebook’s soon-to-come algorithmic shift. At PR News’ Social Media Summit Feb. 22-23 in Huntington Beach, CA, Jacque Marianno, digital strategies director at the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association will touch on the coming changes and discuss how there are still ways to make organic social content work. Marianno sat down with PR News to share how communicators can bolster organic reach and prepare for the changes to come.

Internal Communications Best Practices We Hope Toys R Us Knows
January 24th, 2018 by Seth ArensteinIt may be a long road ahead for Toys R Us, the iconic retailer that said it will be closing nearly 200 of its 800 stores beginning next month. The brand is in chapter 11, yet it intends to rebound. Internal communications best practices recommend treating departing and remaining employees with respect. For Toys R Us, which soon will have a lot of both kinds of employees, this lesson could be crucial.