2016-03-11

My apologies for not getting a Wrap out last week. I woke up around 1 a.m. on Friday feeling lousy and it just got worse from there. I don’t spend the day in bed very often, but that was my agenda last week. I’ll make up for it with an extra-crunchy edition today.

The Friday Wrap is my weekly collection of news stories, posts, studies, and reports designed to help organizational communicators stay current on the trends and technology that affect their jobs. These may be items that flew under the radar while other stories grabbed big headlines. As always, I collect material from which I select Wrap stories (as well as stories to report on the For Immediate Release podcast, along with stuff I just want to remember to read) on my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. If you want to make sure you never miss an edition of the Wrap, subscribe to my weekly email newsletter.

News

UK could ban fake social media accounts—Because of misuse of fake social media accounts, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published new guidelines to ensure law enforcement officers understand how fake accounts can be used for revenge, pornography, and harassment. The takeaway: There is value to allowing fake accounts, specifically for people desiring the ability to express themselves without being identified by potential abusers. It would be a shame if that avenue were closed because of the appalling behavior of those who misuse fake accounts. Read more

PR firms sue over New York lobbying requirement—Several well-known PR agencies have joined a lawsuit to reverse a ruling by the New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) that requires PR practitioners to register as lobbyists if their work includes trying to place content for a client or influence a third party to deliver a lobbying message to a public official. The suit echoes earlier complaints that the rule violates the First Amendment’s speech and press provisions. The takeaway: While some agency representatives have shrugged off the rule, others continue to bolster their opposition. Fortunately, no other states have signaled any interest in duplicating the rule elsewhere. Read more

PRSA, others file affidavits addressing JCOPE rule—In addition to the lawsuit filed by a collection of PR agencies (see item above), the Public Relations Society of America and a coalition of PR associations have filed affidavits as part of an effort to force the repeal of JCOPE’s decision to extend state lobbying regulations to include aspects of PR. Joining PRSA in filing the affidavits are the PR Council and the Arthur W. Page Society. The takeaway: JCOPE ignored early resistance to the rule. Unless the courts overturn the rule, it’s hard to see how the commission will be moved to reverse itself baed on more opposition. Read more

The “Sharapova Response” is a blueprint for crisis communications—The media has focused on lost endorsements in the wake of tennis star Maria Sharapova’s revelation that she used a banned substance. Crisis experts, however, are hailing her response as a model for businesses to follow. According to PR Week, “Her tack was one of honesty, directness, and accountability. She did not use spokespeople or press releases or even Oprah to come clean. In doing so, she has saved herself countless hours of brand-damaging news reports.” The takeaway: It’s sad that Sharapova’s woes need to be a case study. After all, her actions are precisely what most crisis experts have been advising for decades. Read more

Meerkat dumps livestreaming—Meerkat introduced live social mobile video streaming this time last year, but now is abandoning it. The problem isn’t that people aren’t watching Meerkat’s streams. It’s that the company can’t attract enough people to be broadcasters in the face of competition from Twitter and Facebook. The company will focus on small group video chats, competing with Google Hangouts and Skype. The takeaway: It seems you need to be aligned with a big player to enter these markets. Livestreaming is currently dominated by Periscope and Facebook, with Blab.fm the only significant outlier. Read more

IAB publishes guide for fighting ad blockers—The Internet Advertising Bureau has issued a guide for publishers to help them respond to the growing threat of ad blockers. The guide addresses six tactics, from paying to be whitelisted by ad blocking companies to revenue sharing with readers and “ad reinsertion,” a tactic for ensuring ads show up even when users have installed ad blockers. The takeaway: The battle will continue, but ultimately advertisers will need to find ways to convey their messages—and publishers to display them—without infuriating users to the point that ad blockers seem the only solution. Gaming the system can carry you only so far. Read more

Google launches first phase of in-search posting—Google+ may be fading, but Google has another idea for a social network: search results. Over the next few months, presidential candidates will be able use a mobile app to post directly in search results about them, including text, images, and video. The posts will appear instantly in the space above the search results. The feature will eventually be rolled out to the public. The takeaway: It remains to be seen whether posts enhance or detract from search, but it’s a fascinating idea for introducing a social component to search. Imagine a company like GE posting to search results about STEM education, for example. Read more

Apple launches Twitter support account—Apple has never been much of a player in social media. The launch of a Twitter account dedicated to customer support may signal a crack in the company’s anti-social media wall. According to the @applesupport profile, “We’re here to provide tips, tricks and helpful information when you need it most. And if you have a question, well - we’re here to help with that too.” The takeaway: Be sure to read the Trends item below about companies failing to take advantage of social media customer support, leading consumers to stop seeking it. Read more

Are you ready to take your marketing to Reddit?—Reddit—“the front page of the Internet”—is notorious for its users’ ability to take over a conversation. Just look at some of the Ask Me Anything dialogues undertaken by brands with high hopes only to deteriorate in the face of withering attacks from the Reddit audience. But Reddit needs the bucks and is preparing more sophisticated ad technology and measurement capabilities. The takeaway: Reddit has one of the strongest cultures of any social platform. Marketing or advertising there can be powerful, if you know what you’re doing. Don’t undertake it lightly. Read more

Google expands “right to be forgotten” in Europe—European visitors to Google’s main domain, Google.com, will now find the results filter out content that has been approved for deletion via the European “right to be forgotten” law. Previously, the filtered results only applied to European domains (e.g., Google.co.uk). People using Google.com outside of Europe will still see unfiltered results, which means Europeans can, too, if they use a VPN. The takeaway: My hatred for the “right to be forgotten” is unabated. Rewriting history is an appalling practice that can be horribly misused. It’s like leaving the books on the library bookshelves but removing the cards from the catalog that let users find them. Read more

Now you can customize Facebook’s emoji Reactions—It hasn’t been all that long that you’ve been able to laugh or get angry at a Facebook post rather than just like it. Now you can grab a Reaction Pack for Facebook —available for Firefox and Chrome browsers—that let you customize your Reaction emojis. The takeaway: I’m not sure about this. Everyone knows that the angry emoji means angry, but if everyone can adopt their own image, it could create confusion over what you really meant. Read more

Peeple is here, and nobody likes it—Remember Peeple, the “Yelp for People” app that earned so much derision when it was announced? It’s now available for iOS after having undergone substantial revision based on feedback. The developers claim now it’s more about recommendations than reviews. No matter: It has earned largely 1-star reviews in the pp Store. The takeaway: The consensus is that Peeple will be a forum for cyberbullying. Read more

Trends

Another media outlet turns its back on a website—Publishing directly through social media channels is a growing trend as evidenced by new media entry Obsessee, a which won’t have a website; the teen-focused lifestyle publication will live entirely on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, and Tumblr. According to one of the editors, ““We really wanted to create a brand where we could distribute content right where the readers are.” The takeaway: Obsessee joins NowThis, which dropped its website in favor of a distributed-only model. Expect more publications to go this route. I wonder what this bodes for branded content portals, though. Will it make more sense to distribute content through platforms consumers are already using than host it all on a web portal few people will actually visit? Read more

Packaging is the media of the future—McDonald’s has introduced a Happy Meal box that, once empty, can be turned into a Virtual Reality headset a la Google Cardboard. That’s just one example of how packaging technology is enabling producers to do more with packaging than they could have dreamed a few short years ago. For example, SmartLabels is a grocery initiative that will make detailed ingredient, safety, and other information for 30,000 products available by next year by scanning package codes with smartphones. Marmite, meanwhile, will deliver recipes and other information to customers who scan the package with the image-recognition app Blippar, while Clorox launched a water pitcher that automatically reorders filters when it detects the current filter has reached the end of its life. The takeaway: Communicators, meet packaging. It’s fast becoming a new channel for messaging and engagement. Read more

Influencer marketing on the rise—Marketers will expand their influencer marketing budgets this year, with more than half of businesses indicating their budgets will grow significantly in the months ahead. Research from Grapevine Logic found “The growth of influencer marketing will be huge in the years ahead, and with barriers like ad blockers interrupting traditional advertising, marketing budgets in 2016 will see a shift toward earned media — especially earned media through influencer marketing.” The takeaway: This is one activity that won’t suffer from overload, since buyers—notably in B2B markets—often look to influencers for help with a decision anyway. Read more

Most managers are uncomfortable communicating with employees—You know how employee engagement is supposed to be all about the relationship with employees and their managers. Yeah, about that. An Interact survey found 69% of managers said they’re uncomfortable communicating with employees, and 37% are uncomfortable with the requirement that they give direct feedback to employees about their performance if they believe the employee might not react well. Other manager communication activities companies take for granted cause discomfort, as well, including recognizing achievements, delivering the company line, giving clear directions, crediting others for good ideas, talking face-to-face, and having difficult conversations. The takeaway: It’s time to break out of the trap of assuming all engagement problems fall to the manager-employee relationship. There are several other dimensions to engagement that don’t require managers to engage one-on-one with their direct reports, like ensuring employees have a voice and helping employees understand the company narrative and their place in it. Read more

Mobile and Wearables

Brands use Periscope to extend social media conversations—The rap against Periscope and other live-streaming tools is that they’re ephemeral. But smart brands aren’t using them for isolated content, but rather to extend the reach of their existing social conversation. Retailers Kohl’s and JCPenney have employed Periscope to broadcast live events, employing an integrated approach that weaves Periscope into their overall social marketing strategies. The takeaway: The ephemeral nature of tools like Periscope and Snapchat should not be a detriment to marketing adoption. Just be sure it supports broader messaging. Read more

Hospitals adopt texting to relieve patient and family anxiety—Hospitals are sending text messages to patients facing surgery and their families in an effort to relieve anxiety associated with procedures. The texts link to videos and offer reminders about pre-surgical requirements, and provide real-time updates to families during surgery. The takeaway: The idea of targeted text messaging as a communication channel is still nascent, but it’s one worth paying attention to. It’s not just limited to healthcare providers. Providing updates and advice to customers can strengthen the bond between the customer and the company and prompt positive reviews. Watch the video

Bots bring mobile closer to being the actual Internet—A new service called Prompt lets you send a standard text message that interacts with apps like Foursquare, returning results (finding a nearby sandwich spot or summoning a ride) via text message. According to industry analyst John Battelle, that (along with deep linking within apps) is drawing the mobile space out of its app-centric structure that failed to emulate the web’s connectedness. The takeaway: The ability to connect from one mobile app or tool to another seamlessly addresses one of the ecosystem’s biggest drawbacks. And try Prompt; it’s amazing. Read more

Twitter Moments features AMPed-up articles—AMP, the Google-led HTML adaptation that speeds up web page delivery to mobile devices, has come to Twitter’s Moments feature. Assuming the publisher has created an AMP version of its pages, it’ll load instantly on your mobile device when you tap a link in a Moment. The takeaway: If you’re not already exploring AMP for your company’s website, now’s the time. Read more

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Like and share Facebook content from within Gear VR—The inevitable interconnectedness of Virtual Reality with everything else online took a step forward when Samsung announced you will soon be able to like and share 360-degree videos from within the Gear VR. Other Gear VR developments: Users can now create profiles through Oculus’ Gear VR app and create rooms in which they can watch Twitch and Vimeo streams with friends. The takeaway: The advancements in VR are coming quickly now, each of which could signal a new opportunity for your communication efforts. Read more

Can VR help you overcome your phobias?—You may hate spiders. So strap on a VR headset and surround yourself with spiders. Maybe, with time and practice, you’ll overcome your fear. At least, that’s the pitch from Samsung, which experimented with phobias of 27 real-life participants. The takeaway: We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible with VR. When considering approaches to your own communications, you should at least ask yourself if there’s a VR application you haven’t considered. At this early stage, you might just come up with something ground-breaking. Read more

Research

US podcast audience grows to 20%—Edison Research, which monitors podcast adoption, has found that 21% of Americans 12 and older have listened to a podcast in the last month. That’s a four-point jump from last year and “some of the largest growth for the medium we have observed in more than a decade of our podcast research.” That 20% translates into about 57 million Americans listening to at least one podcast per month. The takeaway: The momentum is unstoppable. I have no doubt we’ll see those numbers double and even triple in the years ahead. Take podcasting seriously, as both a content channel and advertising opportunity. Read more

Companies are failing at social customer service—Two years ago, consumers were enthusiastic about the possibility of getting customer service through the social media channels they already were using. Today? Not so much. The number of respondents to a Boston Consulting Group survey who never use or are not offered social media customer service rose from 58% in 2013 to 65% last year. Those who don’t use it say it takes too long to get an answer, it has limited functionality, and doesn’t lend itself to complex tasks. The takeaway: I have been delighted with most of my social media customer service experiences with companies like Sprint and Bank of America. Companies that don’t beef up their social customer service are missing a huge bet, and an opportunity to reduce the volume of calls to the call center. Read more

Livestreaming fosters authentic engagement—Execs from consumer product and retail brands believe livestreaming (using tools like Facebook Live and Periscope) provides an authentic, engaging, and scalable way to interact with employees, partners, and consumers. 44% of respondents held a livestreaming event last year and another 20% plan to test it this year. They also plan to invest more in livestreaming. The takeaway: To reiterate an earlier point, the ephemeral nature of livestreaming may be a drawback, but used well, the advantages outweigh it. Read more

Mobile users’ purchase intent influenced by branded content—Does branded content work? It does, according to a study from Mode Media, and moreso on mobile than desktops. Mobile users demonstrated a greater intent to purchase the brands featured in content they saw at 24% compared to 19% of desktop users. Consumers perceived branded stories at interesting (76%), exciting (70%), natural (66%), excessive (34%) and forced (31%), suggesting that branded content should be natural and immersive. By avoiding excessive or forced branded content, brands can tap into the positive response to branded content: 81% of respondents enjoyed it and 75% are likely to view more while 63% would share it with others. The takeaway: The branded content opportunity is ours to screw up. Deliver great content and boost purchase intent. Irritate customers and we can easily kill this golden goose. Read more

This week’s stunning image of snow wrapped around a tree comes courtesy of Randi Hausken‘s Flickr account.

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