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W2O Group continues its buying spree. The SF-based agency acquired Sentient Interactive, a firm specializing in digital paid and owned media analytics, strategy and marketing. Sentient president/co-founder Adam Cossman will serve as chief digital officer of W2O Group. Earlier this year, W2O said Mountaingate Capital secured an investment position in the firm to accelerate growth. W2O’s acquisition of Sentient, Pure and Marketeching during the past 6 months has added 100 employees and $25 million in revenue. — Ruder Finn acquired Daylight Partnership, a digital marketing and analytics consultancy. Daylight will merge with Ruder Finn’s digital arm and be known as RFI Daylight. Daylight founder David Ko will become SVP, RFI Studios Asia.

The news release is not dead. Even in the constantly evolving digital age, a news release is one of the best ways to disseminate a message. It’s also a great vehicle to reach media contacts. A news release for social media and one for traditional news media are different, however. To reach an online audience, releases need to be social. By being so, the release can be shared in various communities by people beyond media contacts. Journalists, bloggers or social media users who work mostly online prefer a news release containing embedded video, audio files, images and links. Links to social news releases can be sent via email to a reporter or tweeted to an audience.

Among the keys to a successful Snapchat effort is an editorial calendar, says Larissa von Lockner, PR & social media manager at PwC. A sample of the brand’s editorial calendar for Snapchat is shared exclusively with PR News Pro readers below. PwC’s belief that using Snapchat must track with a brand’s larger PR and business goals is seen in columns 2, 3 and 5, as the campaign, stakeholders/requestors and strategy are listed.

As a PR pro, you’ve heard the advice often: Stick to the basics that you learned in Communications 101. It applies in so many situations, including thinking about paid social, according to PR pros we spoke with about the subject. And, yes, all of them have modest budgets for social media.

Whose Court? A California court is deciding whether or not to honor a clause that prohibits Wells Fargo customers from suing the bank over the phony accounts scandal. Should the clause hold in court, wronged customers will forced to submit to arbitration, an option seen as more favorable to Wells Fargo.

Perhaps Google’s short explanations of why it has chosen a story for you will make the wall between Google and users less opaque. For the moment, however, neither Google nor any other social media powerhouse has explained exactly how it determines news story recommendations, search results or ad placements. The latter two, search and ads, as well as optimizing site content were among the topics discussed during PR News’ Boot Camp: Google for Communicators last week in NY. As such we asked several PR pros about navigating the frosted-glass barriers surrounding Google searches and AdWords, its online advertising service.

Creative Solution: A tip of the cap for creativity to MyTravelResearch.com (MTR), a firm in Australia that’s taken on the task of publicizing what many in the developed world take for granted: toilets. Nov. 19 was U.N. International Toilet Day, an effort to publicize the need for more toilets, in the developing world especially, and encourage people to use them. The U.N. says 1 in 10 people still defecate without a toilet daily. This, the U.N. says, results in disease, environmental health challenges, increased mortality and lack of productivity at work. It’s also a security issue as sometimes wild animals mistake squatting humans, especially children, for food. The U.N. wants to create adequate toilet provisions globally by 2030. To raise awareness MTR created the Toilet Tourism Awards, whose proceeds will be donated to the U.N.’s effort in the winner’s name.

Earlier in the month we were surprised when consumer engagement with B2C brands on Facebook during the 3rd quarter (July 1-Sept. 30) was down year over year ( PRN, Nov. 7). The trend continued with nonprofits, this week’s focus. Consumer engagement with nonprofits’ posts on Facebook declined 42% year over year (B2C brands were off just 20%), according to data provided exclusively to PR News Pro by Shareablee. On the upside, video engagement rose 61% vs. the same quarter in 2015. Engagement, or actions, is defined here as the total of likes, comments and shares.

Recently it was a PR rep from a huge government organization. He said, “This is all great, but I don’t have any problems getting media attention. They’re calling me every day.” What a huge opportunity he is missing! Whether you’re at a big brand or a small one, it’s not solely about the volume of stories that include you. It’s whether you can place the stories you want told.

[Editor’s Note: In honor of Veterans Day, we present this case study that combines honoring our nation’s veterans and boosting employee engagement.] It’s undeniable: An engaged workforce can move the needle in any industry. In retail, though, markets continually fluctuate, shopping trends change, economies contract and expand, and it’s the workforce that determines whether a company succeeds and makes a positive impact on the world.