Influencer marketing grew on the basis of trust. It’s simple — people appear more trustworthy than corporations. But in recent years, the influencer marketing terrain has faced a loss of authenticity. As brands continue to spend more on influencers, it’s important to consider how they can maximize the effects of their partnerships and what the future of influencer marketing will hold....

It’s an incredible time to be in communications. Our roles have always provided the opportunity to shape how a company creates and communicates its strategy and help leaders form their approach as they convey where the company is headed. What’s exciting now is the expectation that a company’s leaders will help solve major societal problems and what that means for our profession.

When...

Ask anyone: I’m obsessed with innovation.

I love the connected-ness of our world and staying close to distant family, friends and colleagues via social media. I let my electric, autonomous car do the driving (where legal, of course). My kids wear activity monitors and count steps zealously. My 5-year-old made me post a picture of her on the family photo stream the day she hit 26,676...

There are a few common problems every PR pro faces but rarely has an answer to:

How can we influence the C-Suite when there are so many calls for their attention? How do we prove the value of PR when frequently used KPIs (such as impressions) are little more than vanity metrics?

Fortunately, the answer to both these questions is the same — the Customer Journey.

Research from...

Perhaps these news stories caught your attention during late Summer 2019. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf launched two pop-ups in Los Angeles, which transformed their locations into Central Perk, the iconic hang-out of the beloved characters on Friends . For one week only, the locations were decked out with Friends -themed decor, a photo booth featuring the memorable orange couch, and special...

Privacy is one of our society’s most crucial social constructs. The history of privacy is largely responsible for the freedom to think, to formulate free speech and to challenge artificial social barriers across society. Time and time again, those generations that enjoyed strong privacy protections have been free to make the world a better and more inclusive place for all who follow.

I...

Brands often have operated as business to consumer (B2C) or business to business (B2B) organizations, choosing a lane largely based upon the industry in which they functioned. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies defaulted to B2C, while industrial manufacturers and heavy industry defaulted to B2B. Today, an emerging lane — Brand to Community — is rising to an equal place of importance for a...

Reports on the demise of traditional communications strategies and tactics are greatly exaggerated.

On an almost daily basis, both internally and externally, I hear comments dismissing some of the staples of our communications programming — “auto shows are dead,” “earned media isn’t influencing customer decisions,” “traditional tactics like ride and drive programs and press releases...