Revolutionizing PR ------- How ChatGPT is Changing the Game

When ChatGPT debuted, it literally stopped the internet. Developed by OpenAI, GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a machine learning model that uses a transformer neural network to generate natural language text. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT has had more than 1 million users since its debut within a few days of its launch on November 30, 2022. Fifteen days later, more than two million users were already testing OpenAI’s service. People everywhere were sharing their results on Twitter, LinkedIn and other channels. Everyone was awed at how ChatGPT produced movie scripts, songs, poems, programming scripts and so much more in seconds.

Professionals and industries alike are now asking the same question: how will these new artificial intelligence tools affect or enhance their job or company? With the rapid pace of AI tools entering the market, a new world of efficiency and creativity is being unleashed, full of uncertainties.

How Can Public Relations Harness ChatGPT?
Indeed, it's a brave new world, and many are jumping in to test and discover how they can apply ChatGPT to their profession. So how can public relations professionals, content marketers, and PR consultants use ChatGPT?

PR Needs to Know the Capabilities and Limitations of ChatGPT and GPT-3
In the public relations field, there are many ways that ChatGPT can help automate some of the work done on behalf of clients. Before we explore further, it's essential to know that ChatGPT is still in its infancy and is currently limited in what it can and can't do. OpenAI has a helpful ChatGPT FAQ that marketers and PR professionals should review. With its arrival, communications professionals must plan how to adopt it. Here are some tips for how PR professionals can use ChatGPT.

Tips for How PR Can Use ChatGPT

• It's essential to ensure full transparency about how the PR agency and account teams will use ChatGPT, GPT-3, GPT-4, LaMDA, PaLM, etc., and how they may use other AI tools for their clients' accounts. Communications professionals should share with clients how ChatGPT can add value and efficiency. PR should also communicate with clients how ChatGPT may be used in developing materials or doing other outreach (i.e., speaking abstracts, award submissions, case studies, press materials, etc.).
  

• It’s also important to maintain data privacy and security. This step is critical for PR agencies and communication consultants, typically under a non-disclosure agreement. PR professionals and content marketing consultants should inform clients about how they will conduct research using ChatGPT and other AI models and how the confidentiality of their sensitive data will continue to be protected. PR agencies, content marketing writers, and consultants must be careful about the detail they feed into ChatGPT, whether for research or content development. Sensitive data and information should only be shared or fed into ChatGPT, OpenAI's GPT model, or any other AI model with the client's advanced knowledge.
  

• Harness ChatGPT and GPT Models to Automate Repetitive Tasks and Do Research
  We began testing GPT-3 last summer and were blown away at its ability to research various topics instantly. PR professionals will be amazed at how useful these AI tools deliver another fresh perspective across multiple programs and projects. A subset of examples include:
  

  • messaging

  • SWOT analysis and industry overviews

  • identify trends and opportunities that map to your client’s business sector

  • key messages for target personas

  • email subject lines

  • article titles 

  • art image generation via OpenAI’s Dall-e AI tool or other generative AI tools

  • condense long-form research or reports 

  • rapid research

  • report generation

  • keyword extraction and keyword list generation
    

• Use AI tools to Enhance PR’s creativity: ChatGPT and OpenAI’s GPT models can assist PR agencies in generating new ideas, identifying trends, and providing insights, which help inform and guide the creative process. The sky's the limit on how helpful ChatGPT can be in delivering many creative ideas based on your specific queries. 

  • Do you need a better company tagline? ✔

  • Do you want novel ideas to break through the noise at a big trade show? ✔

  • Do you seek novel ideas for a company event that will capture attention? ✔
    
    

• ChatGPT isn’t a magic wand. Public relations needs to uplevel how to add value.
  Since ChatGPT is so new and GPT-3 is evolving to GPT-4, keep in mind that these AI tools are not magic wands. Efficiency and speed are always valued but not at the expense of content that contains errors. OpenAI informs users that the findings are only sometimes accurate. For example, applying ChatGPT or GPT-3 to provide a list of client competitors may be way off or results for a list reporters are likely to contain some errors. While ChatGPT may deliver you a list or research at blazing speed, the resulting information may contain a high error rate! Therefore, PR professionals need to use other tools to research and develop lists or findings that are current and accurate.
  
  

• Ethical Practices that PR should Remember when using ChatGPT
  ChatGPT can't search the internet in real-time and is limited to information and events beyond 2021. Its neural network ML model pulls information fed to it and then generates natural language text. While it's unlikely that content from ChatGPT will be plagiarized, it's important to remember that the model's output could resemble already published text. Therefore, communication professionals must ensure that any generated writing is unique and plagiarism-free. PR firms and in-house PR staff should check, revise, and edit the final product for accuracy, relevancy, and adherence to standards (i.e., avoid plagiarism, hate speech, etc.).
  
  Additionally, ChatGPT and OpenAI’s GPT model often provide hyperlinks to incorrect sources or titles of reports and papers that don’t exist on the web—as such, fact-checking the research and statistics is essential. Other ChatGPT-like tools can access the web in real-time, but they also often produce plagiarized content. To ensure originality, take the time to research and make the content your own and of the highest quality. Improve your content by introducing relevant stats, expert opinions, data findings, graphics, etc.
  
  

Enter the Centaur: Man + Machine Can Surpass AI and produce better results
In Kevin Kelly's book, "The Inevitable," he introduces the concept of a "centaur," which is a team of AI and human experts working together. Centaurs have become the best chess players in the world, combining their skills to become unbeatable. In 2016, when AlphaGo, an AI system developed by DeepMind, beat Lee Sedol, the world's best Go player, it was a defining moment. This event marked a turning point, concluding that a "man plus machine" approach will ultimately yield better results than a computer operating alone. This conclusion is also true for AI tools: human intelligence combined with AI will outperform an AI system working independently. After all, humans can still outperform AI in many areas, including strategy, problem-solving,  collaboration, public speaking, etc.  

The automation and efficiency that AI is delivering will disintermediate many jobs and skill sets. There are many skills that PR professionals have that an AI tool or bot can't automate, such as high-quality writing, communicating with the press, building relationships and contacts, event ideation, surveys, onsite work at events and trade shows, etc. PR professionals should continue to apply their skills in preparing high-quality communications materials, from news announcements to media pitch letters. Refrain from using ChatGPT to do your job; Google, GTPZero and others are introducing technology and tools to determine whether the content is human or AI-generated.

In conclusion, now is the time for PR agencies and PR professionals to develop internal processes and boundaries for how they will adopt AI tools. For many professions, from PR to programming, this disruptive technology can be seen as a challenge – but also an opportunity. To take advantage of the potential of AI, professionals must evolve their skill sets to become more like centaurs: blending human and AI capabilities to create the best outcomes.

Elon Musk – Leadership Lessons: Fire or Inspire?

Image Credit: Olivier Carré-Delisle

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has set the social media platform on fire. How the tale unfolds is anyone’s guess. Undoubtedly, Elon Musk’s leadership at Twitter will become a classic case study. We wrote about Elon Musk as a thought leader, and with the recent Twitter saga, we’re revisiting the topic of Musk’s leadership. 

Since early Q2 of 2021, the market has seen large-scale layoffs. To date, almost 100,000 people have received pink slips, becoming casualties of an economy teetering on a recession, rocked by record-high inflation and rising interest rates, topped off with the stock market’s across-the-board correction.

While layoffs are always bad news, some CEOs, like Stripe's Patrick Collison and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, have recently demonstrated exemplary executive leadership in communications. Their layoff announcement letters to employees underscored how these CEOs held themselves accountable for mistakes and layoffs. They addressed detailed answers to anticipated employees' questions clearly and thanked them empathetically for their dedication and service. Compare their leadership to Musk’s handling of the Twitter layoffs; there’s a lot to unpack in how Musk handled the downsizing and some learning lessons.

Over the years, Elon Musk has been a trailblazer with his bold vision of redefining the automotive market with Tesla, reinventing rockets with SpaceX, and reimagining intra-city transit systems with The Boring Company; what's not to love? Musk has become a larger-than-life figure, garnering a massive fanbase along the way with his game-changing vision and entrepreneurial successes. He’s turned off many, however, with his shoot-from-the-hip leadership. His management style and 'hardcore' demands aren't isolated to Twitter either. With his leadership on display to millions via his new megaphone, Musk has quickly become a polarizing figure.

5 Lessons to Learn From Elon Musk’s Leadership at Twitter

Demonstrate Empathy Toward Employees
Before Musk acquired 16-year-old Twitter, the company had 7,500 employees who had worked years or, in some cases, spent their entire careers there. Employees were familiar with Twitter's culture, norms, and policies. Twitter had developed a culture that encouraged open communication. Yet, within days of the acquisition completing, Musk fired 20 employees because he didn't like that they expressed their opinions publicly. Musk then mocked them on Twitter. It's bad enough for Musk to fire these employees but then to mock them publicly on a global platform takes it to another level, unbefitting a CEO of Musk's stature. 

As Musk told investors that he planned massive workforce cuts, employees were already highly stressed. What if, instead, he exhibited more transparency and empathy toward employees? He could have underscored that, even if he hadn't acquired Twitter, significant workforce cuts were inevitable under the previous management team. He could have taken the opportunity to acknowledge and thank employees for their dedication and efforts. He could have explained the company's challenges but also painted his vision of Twitter 2.0 with them. 

There are several things Musk could have done differently to recognize employees’ efforts with more grace. Instead, less than one week into the acquisition closing, Musk’s handling of the layoffs was impersonal. Employees received an initial email, not from Musk – or anyone in particular – but from "Twitter," informing them that if they received a message in their personal email address, they were essentially out of a job. Employees laid off received a subsequent letter with details about the severance package, also signed "from Twitter."

Using Social Media When Millions Follow
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has dinged his leadership and image. As the new CEO of Twitter, instead of walking a fine line to win over advertisers, Musk engages in bizarre ways. As Twitter’s CEO, he's shared false conspiracy theories,  fabricated news and openly chats with conspiracy theorists, election fraud deniers and other alt-right channels and trolls. Musk creates and shares offensive memes, sprinkles sexual emojis into his tweets and flaunts symbolic cartoons associated with the white supremacist movement. His casual indifference to laid-off employees and continued antics on Twitter are repelling advertisers and other stakeholders. As CEO of several respected companies, his conduct isn’t amusing or acceptable. Musk can do better.

Do What you Say
To calm nervous advertisers, Musk preemptively gave assurances that Twitter would develop a "content moderation council" before making any "major content decisions or account reinstatements," including Donald Trump’s banned account. Musk’s stance as a free speech absolutist worried advertisers and users that reinstating Trump's account would reintroduce a level of abuse that Twitter's former content moderation team had kept in check. Yet, despite Musk being one of the most vocal critics of Twitter's spam bot problem, he ran a 24-hour poll on Twitter about reinstating Trump. Bots aside, after the survey, Musk promptly reinstated Trump's account. Within hours after Musk took the helm, several organizations tracking the platform shared that hate speech and racist and anti-semitic content spiked. Musk also recently fired more employees just before Thanksgiving. These were employees who agreed to work hardcore hours. Musk's leadership style of saying one thing and then doing another is damaging Twitter’s reputation, eroding trust in Twitter and Musk, and making it challenging to attract and retain talent.

Know Your Customers
Elon Musk's personal brand is intertwined with Tesla and SpaceX's brands. Some customers purchase Tesla cars and Tesla products, while others buy Tesla stock. As Twitter’s new owner, Musk is now broadcasting his political leanings on the platform (i.e., "I recommend you vote Republican."). Proclaiming his politics will inevitably clash with many pro-environmentalists and climate change supporters, who are generally the target customers purchasing Tesla's products and also investing in Tesla's stock. By extension, the Musk backlash extends to Tesla's product line of solar roofs, solar panels and power walls. And Tesla's stock is getting hammered, hitting a two-year low in late November. With Musk continuing to share his creative memes and flippant tweets, his behavior on the platform is turning off current advertisers and other stakeholders. Contrast Musk's current leadership with other tech CEOs who recognize their leadership role to grow their company's value, maintain goodwill and inspire confidence in all stakeholders.

Inspire Instead of Fire
Elon Musk's infamous 'ultimatum' was a clear threat to Twitter employees that they either agree to commit to 'hardcore' long hours or be laid off. Musk layered onto his threat that "only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade." His added statement left employees to interpret this vague comment. What defines exceptional performance anyway? What’s the upside if they stayed and worked hardcore, long hours? Would employees receive more pay or new equity in Twitter? What happens if they don’t get a passing grade? Musk’s ultimatum resulted in approximately 1,200 employees resigning.

Again let’s imagine if Musk had exhibited an entirely different leadership approach. Musk is among the few executives with a track record and personal brand able to attract swarms of tech talent. Musk could have elaborated on his vision of the new Twitter 2.0. Would it be like WeChat on steroids? Whatever his vision of Twitter 2.0, no one knows because he still hasn't communicated it. He could have taken the time to meet with Twitter's core teams to hear their concerns about the platform and ideas to improve it.

Here’s a man who can build and launch rockets (and a Tesla roadster) into space and reinvigorate the public's and government’s interest in missions to the moon. He is a pioneer who lit a fire under the auto industry executives to get going with electric vehicles. Musk missed the opportunity to inspire employees about his new Twitter 2.0 moonshot. Many would have gladly signed up, slept under their desks, and worked hardcore hours without additional monetary incentives. Many people hope Musk will tap experienced talent to help him navigate, move mountains and succeed in creating Twitter 2.0. 

Can Musk regain the trust he’s lost and rebuild his reputation? Repairing a tarnished reputation is possible but requires work, dedication, and a commitment to learning from one’s mistakes. Until Musk is ready to do a significant reset, take responsibility for his actions, apologize to those affected, and make amends where possible, over time, he can rebound. The Twitter acquisition is much more than the $44 billion+ currently riding on the table. The question is, does Musk care enough to do a course correction?

“Vincit qui se vincit” - He conquers who conquers himself.

Industry awards and why they matter; the value of 3rd party market validation

An industry award is a powerful marketing tool; it's one of the ultimate forms of 3rd-party market validation. Building credibility is essential for any startup or established company – regardless of size, market validation is a critical cog that companies shouldn't discount or overlook. In the tech and business industry, there are many coveted awards, including those from CES, SXSW, Fast Company Fast 50, Inc. 500, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year, Deloitte Technology Fast 500, Forbes America's Most Promising Companies, etc.

Why are industry awards important? 
When someone sees that your product or service has won an award, it gives prospective customers peace of mind that the product or service must be good — or at least better than similar products or services from other vendors. This scenario is especially true if your competition didn't win one. And industry recognition isn't just about winning over new customers; it's also about retaining existing ones and keeping them happy with their purchase decision. But there's more to it than just winning awards.

Whether you successfully secured your award through a popular vote (i.e., People's Choice) or your company or executive was selected by an esteemed panel of experts, who weighed in on the winners, the reality is that an industry award helps separate you from the rest of the pack. When you win an industry award, people assume that the judges know what they're doing and they usually do.

Moreover, awards build valuable credibility, which is critical – especially for startups building their footprint, market share, and brand awareness. Industry awards help generate buzz for your brand, attract and retain top talent, and establish your company as an industry leader. And a little humblebrag doesn't hurt, either.

The best awards are those announced by 3rd parties with no financial interest in the company. These industry awards are often called "editorial" or "best-of" recognition. They are typically given in magazines, newspapers and online publications or announced by independent organizations.

Awards are like industry conferences; they are abundant and happen throughout the year. Sometimes award opportunities occur with regularity, while many pop up randomly. They all have deadlines, and some have entry fees (usually, the fee amount is nominal, under $1K). Also, awards are "long-lead," meaning the submission window is around 4-6 months in advance. Typically awards come in three categories: individual, corporation/organization, and product or service. Companies should strive to secure validation across each of these categories to strengthen the company's brand. 

Humblebrag
On the awards front alone, Ignite X has helped our clients secure hundreds of awards — and the most coveted ones too; a sample of awards that our clients have secured through our support include: TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield SF Disrupt winner, Wall Street Journal’s Best Software Company, Best Consumer AI Technology, Best of CES, GSMA’s Best Cloud Technology and many more. 

Ignite X is proud to have been recently selected again by Expertise as one of the top PR agencies within the San Francisco Bay Area region. Akin to the Good Housekeeping Seal, Expertise is a national organization that evaluates a range of service providers in more than 200 industries across the U.S. Its independent research covers legal, home, and businesses as well as a plethora of other services. Expertise's findings and subsequent awards help businesses and consumers make better-informed decisions about their business investment or purchasing decisions.

Since 2017, Expertise has named Ignite X one of the top PR agencies in San Francisco. With more than 700 PR firms operating in the San Francisco Bay Area, this is a challenging feat to accomplish. We also congratulate the other public relations agencies that have gained Expertise's top recognition. 

If you want to grow your company's presence, expand market validation or scale your business, contact Ignite X or give us a ring at 650-576-6444, so we can partner and help you. 

How to become a visionary thought leader.

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take. I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it’s been. A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be,” Wayne Gretzky, the world’s greatest hockey player.

In our decade and a half working with companies of all sizes, across a broad range of industries, we’ve found that most founders and CEOs need guidance navigating and learning the art of how to build their executive visibility as an industry thought leader. You may ask, what are the benefits of thought leadership and how to get started?

What is an industry thought leader?
To be a successful industry thought leader, you have to stand out. This is no easy feat when there is so much noise on the internet. Did you know that thought leadership comes in several flavors? From the get-go, you want to avoid vanilla flavor. Why? Because vanilla is safe. It’s like the khaki pants of ice cream flavors. You’ll just be one of many in a sea of executives sporting the same khaki pants. To stand out, you have to be distinct. The type of executive leader that we examine in this blog post is what we call a visionary thought leader. 

Thought leadership goes well beyond the knowledge of one’s business, product, technology, or industry landscape. The goal is to build an executive’s visibility and brand, typically within a vertical sector, so much that the person and the issue, industry, or technology often go hand-in-hand.

Visionaries thought leaders aren’t born; they’re self-made.
Visionary thought leaders are executives willing to plant a stake in the ground and share their perspective as to the future of a market sector or technology. A visionary thought leader can break down, across a myriad of ways, their long-term view of how an issue, industry, or technology will unfold. For example, they are comfortable predicting how specific trends or business factors will ultimately shift the current status quo. Or they can share their deep understanding of how a developing or highly complex technology, such as artificial intelligence or neural networks, will or won’t play out, discuss existing barriers, and what’s needed to progress. Visionary thought leaders typically have a very close finger not only on the industry’s pulse but also with their customers and partners. They have a deep understanding of their customers’ concerns and challenges to keep their businesses competitive.

Visionary thought leaders often have sharp clarity about what’s around the corner from a future perspective well ahead of the market. In a previous blog post, we shared a detailed example of a visionary thought leader and their key traits, taking a close look at industry titan, innovator and thought leader: Jeff Bezos.

3 tips on how to get started in building your executive brand

1. Instead of a bio, tell a story
Unlike a bio that lists your professional work experience and academic studies, an executive profile, on the other hand, provides an opportunity to tell a great story. What trials and tribulations did you have to go through? What monsters did you have to conquer? What voyages or quests did you take to arrive at where you are today? Who helped you along the way? How did you develop into a better leader?

2. What’s your core theme
Identify a core theme that you can confidently and passionately share your perspectives and unique point-of-view. You need to then expand this theme out on several fronts. What are the significant unaddressed facets or plausible scenarios related to which you can provide your perspective? 

Different aspects of your core theme might include imminent industry regulations, customer behavioral trends, diverging approaches on a particular technology, etc. Think about the plausible market, business or technology outcomes, and likely scenarios that will help you get started. An executive can help the market and its target audiences understand how rapid technology advancements are unfolding, what their impacts are likely to be, who stands to lose, and why. For instance, as we face today’s new normal, a broad spectrum of industries are likely to change indefinitely. What does the future hold for your industry? There is no time like the current. Now is an excellent opportunity to look forward and begin to share your unique point of view as to what that future may hold. This analysis will become part of your platform and should be rolled into your content marketing calendar. 

The global pandemic has disrupted the economy and business world into an unprecedented state of chaos. As the country now begins to ‘reopen,’ one highly relevant, forward-looking theme is about redefining work and the future of work. How do businesses move forward in these highly turbulent times with a deadly virus still running wild? How does “business as usual” resume given we are all operating in a time of “business unusual”?

3. Build your social media presence
Begin to share your unique point-of-view by developing a series of thought leadership articles. Once you have a few executive viewpoint pieces ready, start to amplify your content via social shares. It will be important to begin to grow your social media presence. There’s plenty of opportunities to share your perspective with select media about what you expect to unfold in the market. There are opportunities to secure guest post articles in business or relevant industry outlets. Go beyond written communication. You can videotape your perspective and secure a spot as a guest in a related podcast. From there, you can create a landing page and lead magnet with a short ebook and amplify some of this valuable information and content within the company’s LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook channels.

Once you’ve done these things, you can sit back and watch the results come in, right? Unfortunately, no. Building thought leadership doesn’t occur overnight. We’ve worked with clients where results can happen in under one year and some when it took longer. We would not recommend a choppy, intermittent approach, because you lose the momentum you began to build. Becoming a thought leader requires a commitment of time, input, resources and conviction. The more you do it, the more it will pay off for you in terms of market presence, personal brand, and sales opportunities.

A salute to Earth Day; 6 tips to help our planet

Image source: Louis Maniquet

It’s Earth Day. An important recognition that we are all intricately connected to the health and welfare of our planet and its complex yet fragile ecosystem. We must all contribute in whatever ways possible to protect and sustain the planet for our own welfare and that of future generations. Here are 6 tips we can consider adopting to take care of our earth.

1. Sustainable Diet. Join the millions who are expanding their diet to include plant-based foods. Grocery stores are seeing an explosion in demand of tasty plant-based foods like Beyond Meat, The Impossible Burger, and Memphis Meats. Consuming fewer farm animals is a responsible, easy step that many are already taking. In particular, livestock such as cows and pigs are particularly taxing on our planet as they emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. According to the Food & Agricultural Organization, methane, while less prevalent in the air than carbon dioxide, is 23x more potent as a heat-trapping gas.  

2. Conserve Energy: walk, bike or use public transportation. When things return to normal, we can rely more on public transportation instead of our automobiles. Collectively, cars and trucks account for nearly 1/5 of all U.S. emissions, which comes to approximately 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas. The U.S. transportation sector, which includes automobiles, trucks, planes, trains, ships, and freight, produces almost 30% of all U.S. global warming emissions.

3. Curb Consumption. Historically, American consumerism is symbolic of our culture and a stamp of the country’s success. Unfortunately, the U.S. has laid a path for all developing countries to emulate. As consumers, we can seek out and purchase products or services from certified B Corporations, like Patagonia, that commit to social and environmental values as part of their charter and brand mission.

4. Avoid Plastic. Plastic constitutes approximately 90% of all trash floating on the ocean’s surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile. Plastic in the ocean breaks down into such small segments that pieces of plastic from a one liter bottle could end up on every mile of beach globally. We’ve all seen the devastating pictures of mountains of plastic, garbage and debris littering our beautiful oceans. New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont have banned single-use plastic bags and we applaud these environmental laws. As consumers, we all have choices on purchases non-plastic based water bottles, vegetable bags, etc. Let’s continue to be sensitive and reduce our reliance on and purchases of plastic-based products. 

5. Population control. To combat overpopulation, have fewer children or none. By 2040, there will be 9 billion people who will need to rely on our diminishing resources amid the ongoing climate crises. Population control is an important consideration to ensure quality of life for our offspring.

6. Cherish our Water. There are also lots of things you can do to help keep our water clean as well as protect storm drains that feed directly into our oceans. To protect our drinking water, avoid dumping old medications and toxic chemicals such as paint, used oil, chemical cleaners, or other questionable household products go down the drain. Did you know by capturing running water to warm it up for daily showers can yield 2 gallons of water per person? For a family of four that is about 250 gallons of water saved per month.

How to navigate PR in the middle of a pandemic

With Coronavirus running wild in the world, the U.S. is grappling with an unprecedented crisis. From Main Street to Wall Street, businesses and the economy have been decimated. Meanwhile, the deadly virus takes thousands of lives daily. People are anxious and scared for their jobs, livelihood, families and health.

In an earlier blog post about how companies can help stakeholders, we noted that ‘business as usual’ has never been more unusual. Companies must now operate in uncharted territory. Sales and Marketing functions have to carefully balance how they serve, sell and communicate with their constituents. The public relations function must also maneuver ever so cautiously. So how and when do public relations make sense in these turbulent times? 

Here’s some recommended “PR do’s and don’ts” based on feedback and observations that we’d like to share with you. 

Don’ts

• Hold on pitching. Right now is not the time. People are dying. The majority of news falls into two categories: coronavirus/covid-19 and the economy/jobs. Unless your company has a bonafide product, service or donation that directly helps with this public health crisis, don’t waste the media’s time or your clients’ budgets. One avenue however that is fair game for public relations reps is to monitor and respond rapidly to appropriate open calls from reporters seeking help.
  

• Don’t be tone-deaf. Hold on pitching all products and services that cater to the uber elite or promote useless products given our current crisis. Millions of people are out of work or furloughed. Their chief concern is how they are going to feed their families or pay rent. Hawking non-essential crap like pricey designer sneakers, colorful slippers, or fancy getaways for the uber-wealthy is terrible timing and frankly unconscionable. We can’t emphasize enough to avoid being tone-deaf.
  

• Stop irrelevant newsjacking. Refrain from trying to weave your clients’ products or services loosely into the coronavirus crisis. Save the doozy pitches, like some of these real-world examples of “weight loss strategies during the pandemic,” “planning for your future funeral and death due to Covid-19,” or the coolest latex thongs that cost several hundred dollars. This bad PR will and should result in public shaming.
  

• Don’t harness the pandemic with flowery introductory pitches. Refrain from using the coronavirus pandemic in your opening salutations altogether. Check out Twitter to see a growing chorus of reporters expressing their annoyance with pitches that include introductory lines like “in today’s times of uncertainty...blah, blah, blah...”
  

• Don’t exploit the crisis. Organic traffic has plummeted across most industry verticals and for a good reason; people aren’t buying stuff because they can’t. It is an insensitive time to be hawking products and services via Facebook ads or Google Ads. There are still many questionable vendors pushing online ads selling overpriced masks and other personal protection equipment. If you find these ads unsavory, then be extra sensitive to the type and timing of your planned ad campaigns.
  
  

Do’s

• Talk to your clients about the gravity of the pandemic. Explain to them that now is not the time to be pitching. Over the next 2-4 months, the U.S. will continue to experience an alarming number of deaths from the deadly virus. Even when the U.S. partially reopens for business, our public health will be at risk until we have a vaccine, which most experts say will not be for 16 to 18 months.
  

• Create a crisis communications plan for how to talk and engage key stakeholders. Team up with experts who can help you create your crisis communications plan that includes the right set of listening tools, with a proactive approach that gets company and internal teams focused on being ready and adapting to this unprecedented disruption.
  

• Reexamine and overhaul planning calendars for both content marketing and social media. Carefully review all content that you’ve planned and recalibrate your company communications to focus on key stakeholders during this immediate crisis and extend the planning throughout this year and into next year.
  

• Go back to the drawing board to put new programs in place that have longer lead times,  such as speaking opportunities and awards programs (6-12 month lead times), video content series, white paper development, meaningful surveys, etc.
  

• Carefully consider whether your news is relevant. Media are still covering funding announcements, but keep in mind that the funding amounts need to be significant. The media are always going to cover required business news such as mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, and earnings that are now underway. Major vendors such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon are the exceptions for announcing new products and services. Prominent brands are also successfully currently announcing valuable cause-related donations and initiatives to help address the pandemic. Significant cause-related initiatives are one area that startups and SMBs could take, such as a joint partnership, fundraising or unique donation effort to help frontline workers, people out of a job, or local businesses in need.
  

• Plan and build long-lead initiatives. Focus on developing case studies. Now is the perfect time to get several drafts underway, interviewing customers and writing up draft case studies for review and editing. For fast-moving startups and companies, an analyst campaign now makes a lot of sense. It requires a lot of heavy lifting and the efforts pay off in the longer lead reports they are planning to develop. The reality is that either industry analysts know about you, or you are off their radar and your competitors are engaging with them.

Our post-Corona world: new trends are being forged by brands and consumers

“A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry. It gives a chance, an opportunity, to choose well or to choose badly,” - Desmond Tutu.

The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world upside down. In the U.S., a majority of states are under a “Stay-At-home” or “Shelter-In-Place” mandate that has abruptly forced businesses and people to adjust to working-from-home. Setting aside the anxiety, stress and uncertainty that the crisis has created, this new world disrupts our tried and true processes and procedures, schedules and routines, big things and small things that we may have taken for granted.

Post-coronavirus, many things will not resume as before. No one is certain what the ‘new normal’ will be. Very likely, companies and people will have adopted new values, customs, behaviors, expectations, preferences, and outlooks on work and life.

Many companies have quickly adapted, while others are pivoting their products or services to better meet the current needs of customers and the market. For many, they have no choice but to reimagine and plow ahead as soon as possible. We’ve learned from previous disasters, the innate resiliency and indomitable spirit inherent in companies and people alike. Here are some trends unfolding now. Some are taking root for the long-term, while others may be temporary. 

1. Brands recalibrate to promote social distancing and safety
   Big brands from Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Audi and McDonalds are using the power of their market position to promote the importance of social distancing and public safety; in this case, they are amending their logos. Brands like Nike, ESPN and the NBA are spinning out creative online sports events that people can still enjoy from the safety of their homes. We can expect to see more innovative products and services surface, especially from hard-hit industries like travel, entertainment, and restaurants.
   
   

2. Experiences go virtual and many stay virtual
   Now that we’re learning to live our lives under a ‘at home’ mandate -- many have adopted Zoom or other online tools. Companies and people are learning how to make the best of their circumstances, and, in the process, they are being introduced to a range of physical activities that can be done online. Many virtual experiences are out of sheer necessity to gather and celebrate such as graduations for seniors, online church gatherings, online happy hours, arts & culture, visiting top museums, virtual wine tastings and tours, virtual birdwatching, and VR fitness tracking workouts within VR games. As people have more time to read, explore youtube videos, listen to music, play online games, expect demand to rise for more immersive technologies, from digital esports and online gaming to AR experiences.
   
   

3. Elearning gains mass adopters
   With extra free time on our hands, people are exploring the cornucopia of online learning with online courses from companies like Coursera, Udemy, Khan Academy and many more. Just as people have embraced podcasting over the last few years, the growth of online learning and online schooling will explode. Universities and schools will gain more expertise and confidence, increasing their support for online learning between teachers and their students.
   
   

4. Attention to hygiene
   People around the world will be much more finely-tuned to aggressive hygiene. Hand-sanitizer dispensers will start popping up permanently and will be everywhere: banks, airports, bars, restaurants, etc. Mini bottles of hand sanitizers will become a mainstay tchotchke giveaway at tradeshows. Handwashing facilities will be part of the new norm where people do not expect it like retail stores. Western cultures will adopt Asian ones with people regularly donning face masks, especially on airplanes, trains and crowded places. We'll also see branded facemasks from the biggest names, favorite sports teams, to social impact nonprofits promoting a message. Touching surfaces are becoming verboten with the public, so interactive events and museums will have to revisit and address this concern. Brands like Simplehuman that offer touch-free products from soap dispensers to garbage cans to door openers will benefit from increased demand.
   
   

5. Unsung heroes gain public support
   It took a pandemic for the public to recognize how vital our frontline workers are. Grocery clerks, warehouse workers, delivery drivers, janitors, food production, administrative staff, maintenance crews and all the brave health care workers are risking their own welfare and safety in the midst of this public health crisis. What kind of appreciation and other permanent actions might this crisis spur? A national holiday to honor them? A unique new custom to regularly tip essential workers for our heartfelt thanks? Many of these unsung heroes are low-wage workers who perform tirelessly, and often without a social safety net or healthcare benefits. Applause is not enough. Ideally, societal pressure will spur our state and federal government to seek permanent changes to healthcare and paid sick leave benefits for them. During the crisis, Walmart, Amazon and Target are just some of the companies that have provided workers raises or bonuses. Gig-economy employers, including Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and Doordash, are embroiled in an ongoing legal battle to reclassify their workforce as contractors. The action of these unicorns may quickly turn into a bigger PR problem for them as public backlash is growing stronger. 

Amid times of uncertainty, companies can rise to the occasion to help stakeholders

“Business as usual” has never been more unusual. The coronavirus pandemic has thrown people’s personal and work lives into an abrupt dystopia. Companies large and small find themselves in an unimaginable business environment filled with anxiety and uncertainty. 

While all of us struggle to operate on such loose footing, we will find solid ground eventually. In these troubled times, with people falling ill and lives being lost, how do businesses, workers and people march on? There is no easy answer.

As companies move forward to find solid footing, they still do have control over how, what and when they communicate to their stakeholders. They are in the driver’s seat to recalibrate or pivot their products and service offerings to meet immediate needs, and they can innovate to help their constituents and the community at large. We want to take a minute to applaud the many big and small acts of kindness, collaboration and compassion that reflect just a few of the many companies rising to the occasion to help.

While these examples highlight big companies with deep pockets, there are an array of small businesses and startups retrofitting and innovating to help during this unforeseen crisis.

• Adobe is offering teachers and students free, temporary remote access to its Creative Cloud applications as a way to temporarily relieve the unexpected loss of classroom resources.

• Airbnb is providing free housing for 100,000 coronavirus responders around the world.

• Chef Jose Andre’s ThinkFoodGroup has transformed eight of his restaurants into temporary community kitchens for people financially impacted by the pandemic. The to-go only gourmet meals will be offered for free or at $7 for those who can afford it.

• Fanatics, which manufactures official MLB player jerseys, is retrofitting its Easton, Pennsylvania factory to make vital masks and gowns for healthcare workers on the frontlines.

• LinkedIn is offering 16 free eLearning courses that help workers who have been shifted to work from home. The free courses include tips on how to stay productive, build relationships online, use virtual meeting tools (Microsoft Teams, BlueJeans, Zoom, etc.), and balance family and work dynamics.

• Nvidia is calling on all gamers to help with Folding@home, a distributed computing project. The call to arms asks gamers to lend the spare GPUs power from their graphics cards to a globally-linked network of PCs, essentially making a massive international supercomputer. The crowdsourcing of GPU power will improve ongoing research and knowledge related to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). So far, 400,000 gamers have donated their GPU resources. 

• Tesla recently procured 1,200 surplus ventilators from China and flew them to the U.S. The company donated 1,000 of the lifesaving ventilators to California and will donate the other 200 based on urgency. The company also announced plans to reopen its New York production facility to manufacture medical devices instead of solar panels and will collaborate with Medtronic in producing ventilators.

• Salesforce CEO unveiled a “no-layoff pledge” to its employees as part of an eight-point plan to deal with coronavirus. The company went further to create a $1.5 million dollar coronavirus fund and also donated $1 million to UCSF’s COVID-19 Response Fund and $500,000 to the CDC Foundation, which works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Sweetgreen has dedicated its Outpost operations and teams to support healthcare frontline workers, delivering free meals to hospitals in the cities it serves. 

• Nike committed more than $15 million to COVID-19 response efforts. Nike has regionally earmarked its donation to help the Oregon Food Bank, Oregon Community Recovery Fund, Oregon Health & Science University, to improve care coordination throughout the state.

The tech industry still has a long way to go in improving its diversity and inclusion scorecard

Going forward, our blog will occasionally spotlight standout books, podcasts, panels and even documentaries or movies that we think are meaningful, impactful or predictive -- particularly as the subject or matter relates to technology or the tech industry. 

We’re kicking off our spotlight on Melinda Gates’ new book, “The Moment of Lift.” The book tells the story and circuitous journey behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. What initially started as a side project distributing free software and computers to public libraries, the Foundation later evolved into distributing vaccines to combat diseases and illnesses in developing countries. Since its founding almost two decades ago, the Gates Foundation has donated billions in aid toward disease eradication, education, health and agricultural advancements in under-developed, poverty-stricken countries. The Gates Foundation recalibrated its focus to undertake a global initiative to advance women’s equality and empowerment. “The Moment of Lift,” tells a story through real-world initiatives and hard data on why the Gates Foundation revised its charter after witnessing first-hand how barriers of outdated practices and inequalities were holding women back around the globe.

From its onset, the Gates Foundation has been heavily focused on data that drives its investments and decision-making. One data pattern continued to appear and was glaringly clear: poverty thrived where women were limited. Systemic barriers around women’s choices, access to education, contraception for family planning, work and even marriage proved to be the real barriers of progress for the poorest of nations. Meanwhile, their data showed prosperity reigned where women were more empowered. This data led the Gates Foundation to invest in women to help stem the ongoing tide of poverty and oppression. 

While these barriers bloomed in under-developed countries, one would think that the U.S. is light years ahead of these outdated social norms. Right? Unfortunately, the U.S. is still mired in backward challenges of gender equality in the workforce -- from gender pay gaps to diversity at the executive level to gender biases for promotions. For example, offering parental leave, not just for women (paid maternity) but also for men is critical as it erases unintended consequences of gender and hiring biases. Out of 193 countries in the United Nations, only a handful do not have a national paid parental leave law: New Guinea, Suriname, a few South Pacific island nations and the United States.

In the tech industry, current data findings around gender equality are persistently dismal -- both in promoting multiple women to leadership positions as well as to investing in female-led startups. Consider this gloomy metric: only 11% of VCs are women, with 71% of VC firms having no female partners. According to AllRaise, an organization dedicated to accelerating the success of female founders and funders, only 12% of funding goes to teams with at least one female founder. According to a First Round Capital study, companies with a woman on the founding team outperform their all-male peers by 63 percent. Yet when it comes to venture capital, female CEOs get only 2.7% of all venture funding. 

According to a 2018 Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study, the data behind women-owned startups shows that they could be a better bet. The BCG study found when women business owners pitch their ideas to investors for early-stage funding, they receive significantly less than men; on average more than $1 million less. However, startups founded by women ultimately deliver higher revenue—more than 2x per dollar invested—than those founded by men, making women-owned companies better investments for venture capitalists and other investors.

The numbers speak for themselves: there is a clear unconscious or hidden bias in investment decisions, favoring male entrepreneurs over female-led entrepreneurs. For the benefit of our global entrepreneurial community, Silicon Valley and the tech industry must demonstrate leadership and correct this long-standing imbalance. We can do much better! There is progress -- albeit slow; since 2015, Salesforce is trailblazing a leadership path by enacting an equal pay commitment. The company is also paving the way with a plan to eliminate bias throughout virtually all stages of the employee journey. 

Tech companies, particularly the biggest ones (and they know who they are), should take a page from Salesforce’s commitment to equal pay and equal opportunity. The tech industry’s annual report card reflects little to no progress in diversity in hiring for the industry’s biggest players. Following Salesforce’s leadership, the biggest tech companies must continue investing in better hiring programs, developing improved retention initiatives, and get everyone, from the top-down to the bottom-up, to value and commit to diverse and inclusive workforces.

Melinda Gates’ work abroad in countries that systematically marginalize women broadened her perspective on the continued gender biases in today’s workplace. She calls for women and men to join forces and end the biases working against women. The biggest message from “The Moment of Lift” is that when countries begin to empower women, these women often make the best choices for their families and communities, resulting in better communities for all. 

“As we bring gender bias out from behind its disguises, more and more men and women will see bias where they hadn't suspected it and will stand against it. That's how we change the norms that hide the biases we were blind to. We see them, and we end them.” ― Melinda Gates

Brand activism: too risky or worth the risk?

It wasn’t long ago that it was taboo for brands to publicly engage in politics or take sides with social issues. With the changing tides in demographics and growing cultural wars, however, these old rules are being shelved and replaced with new ones. As a combined voting block, Millennials, Gen Y and Gen Z now outnumber voters from the Baby Boomers and Silent Generation. This younger, influential group expects brands to take a stand on social causes and demand change. A Toluna marketing survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that millennials are the most inclined age group (49%) who seek out brands that support causes more than any other generation. According to Sprout Social, 65% of consumers feel it’s important for brands to act on political issues.

In our last blog post, we examined purpose-driven brands. We wanted to take a closer look at brand activism and in particular -- Nike. A new controversy erupted recently when Nike decided to pull a sneaker bearing the Betsy Ross flag. Nike’s Just Do It brand ambassador and football star Colin Kaepernick, however, asked the company to revisit their decision. Kaepernick’s request was based on the flag reflecting a period in time when slavery was widespread. Unfortunately, just as the Confederate flag reflects support for slavery and has been widely adopted by white supremacists, the Betsy Ross flag has also become co-opted by white nationalists and other hate groups that object to America’s growing racial diversity.

Brand purpose
Nike’s commitment has always been crystal clear well before this latest controversy. “Purpose Moves Us. We are committed to creating a better, more sustainable future for our people, planet and communities through the power of sport.” 

Like Patagonia, REI, Starbucks and others, Nike is willing to take on social issues, noting that they are unafraid to use their voice to take a stand for global challenges like inequality and climate crisis, cultivating a culture of inclusion. In a statement, Nike noted that it pulled the sneakers “based on concerns that it could unintentionally offend and detract from the nation’s patriotic holiday.” Politics aside, their decision to pull this sneaker was also aligned with their brand and core values.

Approaching the one year when Nike first unveiled its selection of Colin Kaepernick as the face for the company’s 30th-anniversary ad campaign, many thought it was too risky and a bad move. Over the long term, the jury is still out, but so far, Nike’s bold move has seen its sales on a tear. Revenue from Nike-branded goods in Apparel & Accessories, Shoes, and Sports and Outdoors categories increased 32.3% in the month after the campaign launched, compared to the same period last year, according to Rakuten Intelligence. The research company also found that online shoppers show an affinity for these brands, with 19.1% of category buyers choosing Patagonia, Nike, or REI over the past year. Despite the risk, these brands may be taking for social causes brand activism is winning the dollars of more younger buyers. Of the 5.5 million shoppers that Rakuten surveyed, 91% tend to buy from one brand, and 76.2% buy Nike alone.

A Fuze Marketing survey on social activism and cause marketing revealed that 85% of Gen Z believe companies have an obligation to help solve social problems. And after learning a brand supports a social cause or is socially responsible, 85% of Gen Z respondents are more likely to trust the brand.

It’s likely that many companies today are still hesitant to begin adopting and embracing social issues and causes, perhaps thinking that this is reserved for select brands. Not so. Just this week more than 200 companies took a public stance in support of LGBTQ rights, signing on as a ‘friend of the court’ brief to the Supreme Court, pushing for existing laws that cover sex discrimination also protect LGBTQ workers. These companies included the likes of Amazon, Apple, Adobe, Ernst & Young, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Salesforce and Xerox to name just a few.

So when and how should a company revisit their core values to start supporting social causes? They need to first really understand their core values and really understand their customers. The causes they decide to support need to be brand-aligned. And companies need to be authentic in their commitment. They also need to do more than lip service or some occasional charitable donation. They need to demonstrate a genuine effort and ongoing, long-term commitment, which can blossom into a number of innovative, forward-thinking programs that help underscore other aspects of your brand and core values.

It’s important for companies to remember that the purchasing power of Millennials, Gen Y and Gen Z will only continue to grow, underscoring the need for companies to begin taking steps now along a path of corporate social responsibility. Further, consumers are looking to connect with brands that elicit emotional reactions and help them align with similar values and beliefs as their own. As in the case of brands like Patagonia, Nike and others have found, taking a stand is proving to be worth the risk.