By Mark Serrano, President of ProActive Communications There are many lessons to be learned about the recent hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment – particularly how to establish a corporate mindset that anticipates that you may be next. Regardless of Sony’s shortcomings, their experience has a lot to offer other big companies as well as their […]
Massive data breaches have become an expected holiday season event. Retailers have different approaches in defending their reputations after these breaches. The question, for retailers and the PR firms/internal teams telling their stories to the public is: what’s the most effective way to balance transparency regarding data security with the need to protect one’s reputation among a […]
Market disruption is the ultimate objective when a new technology is introduced into a mature marketplace. Stodgy old adherents who occupy that marketplace don’t like disruption though, because it usually means they are on the losing end of the equation. Such is the circumstance in Europe for the shooting star known as Uber. Uber is […]
Starbucks employees are now eligible for college tuition reimbursement through an agreement made with Arizona State University. The new initiative is extended to the company’s 135,000 employees; however, there are limitations about which Starbucks was not clear when they announced the launch of the program. Proactive Communications president Mark Serrano was interviewed on Fox Business Network’s Cavuto to explain what’s really happening […]
After General Motors (GM) announced a recall for faulty ignition switches earlier this year, the company was criticized for it communications efforts, as CEO Mary Barra displayed minimal empathy for the thirteen customers who lost their lives in GM cars. If the first stage to recovery is recognizing that you have a problem, then it […]
Avoiding PR Disasters: Five Tips For Integrating Social Media Into Your Communication Plan – Forbes A recent survey by Continuity Insights showed that 60% of respondents do not have a social media strategy to respond to a disaster. This avoidance of social media is mainly driven by the fear of exposure to reputational risk… The cost […]
It was a brilliant move from Budweiser to further its Super Bowl promotions: using the pattern of hacked Twitter accounts and Jose Canseco-style nonsensical Tweets to catch the attention of followers. And catch attention it did. xjkoweaiodsgajkse;loszdetghjkeiouqw3 nsk;oaw — Budweiser (@Budweiser) January 31, 2014 go home @Budweiser you are drunk pic.twitter.com/YCoU5rBGAe — Michael Rusch (@weeddude) […]
Dennis “Chip” Wilson is out as chairman of Lululemon Athletica, the highly successful entrepreneurial venture he founded. And it’s all because he said something stupid. Brian Hutchison of The National Post argues that he “isn’t dead yet … he’s just resting.” A funny choice of words when you consider they were originally used to describe […]
This past week, perhaps more than usual, I spotted a number of interesting developments in the media. Here they are. I’m not dead yet. The first was Clay Morgan’s post on Spin Sucks, “Newspapers aren’t quite dead yet.” I hope Clay was riffing off Monty Python. Clay? Anyway, the article is good, and tells an […]
Organizations of any size can struggle with managing an effective flow of online content and engaging social media posts. Yet reaching online audiences is vital to staying relevant in a cluttered media landscape. To help fill this critical role, ProActive Communications launched ContentFire − a new, integrated digital communications package to establish and enhance online content […]