by Morgan Lewis | Jan 29, 2020 | Blog
In our 24-hour news cycle increasingly driven by social media virality — public relations disasters occur and are crowded out so quickly that many people, including me, don’t even notice them. In 2019, there have been a few exceptions to that rule, which are listed below.
These companies and individuals didn’t just commit one PR blunder, but rather a sustained or repeated series of PR fails that withstood the shortening attention span of the news media and public. The biggest PR disasters in of 2019 include:
PR Fail #1: Boeing Appears Callous After Crashes
After crashes involving its 737 Max airplane in late 2018 that killed 189 people and in March 2019 that killed 157 people, Boeing continued to publicly insist that its planes were safe instead of recalling all the aircraft immediately and launching an investigation.
It didn’t help that a National Transportation Safety Board investigation revealed later that the aircraft’s new MCAS software was a contributor in both crashes or that whistleblowers emerged to allege the company cut corners to reduce costs and speed production while not documenting safety faults. Boeing continues to lose
orders from airliners and its stock price and revenue dropped precipitously throughout the year.
Boeing treated a major crisis involving the loss of hundreds of lives as if it were passengers complaining on social media about uncomfortable seats and lack of luggage space. Their response should have been contrite, swift and comprehensive.Heren gym T-shirt grijs bodybuilding trainingsshirt training ijzeren tanks proviron kopen tbol strikt als een pre-workout.
Even if human error was a factor in both crashes, such major catastrophic events involving the same airplane required the company to demonstrate that it was
doing everything possible to investigate and protect passengers. Instead, it denied anything was wrong and let public opinion take control.
PR Fail #2: Facebook – Here We Go Again
After a very rough 2016 presidential election where the social media giant was accused of enabling the spread of misinformation from fake accounts, it was revealed the site sold user data to Cambridge Analytica and other outside groups for political research. This led the company being ranked as the “least
trusted” tech company, according to a Fortune poll.
In 2019, even after Google and Twitter issued strict guidelines limiting political advertising, Facebook, as of this blog post, was still undecided about what it would do about the ads.
Its first public comments stated the site would do nothing in fairness to free speech, regardless of how false the claims were. Recently, a story leaked that Facebook might flag all ads as not fact-checked, which some pointed out would paint even well-cited ads with the same brush as those with fabrications.
Considering the hundreds of millions of dollars Facebook takes in from these and similar ads, it’s not surprising they are reluctant to push back, but the indecisiveness only ramps up the lack of integrity and untrustworthiness perception it has in the market.
PR Fail #3: College Admissions Scandal
Two famous TV actresses were implicated with at least 51 other parents in a scheme involving bribes and hired test-takers to help their children gain admission to prestigious colleges.
One would assume that the celebrities would have memorized and rehearsed a carefully worded script within 48 hours to perform before the news cameras. Instead, there was silence.
One of the actresses, Lori Laughlin, even signed autographs before a court appearance. The colleges involved in the scandal, namely Yale and UCLA,
were far more transparent about what they knew about the fraud committed by the parents’ hired conspirators and then revoked offers to the students involved,
which was a much better PR response to the crisis.
These institutions also have strong reputations that can withstand this tertiary involvement in such a scandal. I can assume the actresses’ legal teams urged them to remain silent. I would also bet their publicity teams had a crisis communications game plan ready, but they just weren’t allowed to execute it.
Regardless, in a society obsessed with celebrity, it seems like a missed opportunity by the actresses’ legal teams to sway the court of public opinion before the accused appeared in federal court.
PR Fail #4: IHOP Wearies the Market
In 2018, IHOP pretended to change its famous acronym to IHOb (for burgers), which, albeit quite intentionally, generated a news and social media storm. Depending on who you talk to, the stunt was either ill-advised because it was just a trick, or quite successful because it got people talking about and buying the restaurant’s burgers and it gained 60,000 Twitter followers.
After such a big response, IHOP went back to the well in 2019 to launch a new line of burgers with a marketing campaign that referred to them as “pancakes.” Get it?
Well, it didn’t generate quite as much news or social media attention as the fake rebranding and it just further confused the market. While more of a marketing misstep than PR, it does show how important brand trust is, even with tongue-in-cheek marketing.
After the name-change stunt and follow-up, what are consumers going to believe? Will they even bother paying attention to from the pancake-restaurant chain?
PR Fail #5: Uber is Lost
The PR and reputational struggles of the ride-sharing service continued in 2019.
After hiring a new CEO and its first chief marketing officer, the CMO and chief operating officer resigned and Uber laid off 400 marketing employees. This is despite a $500 million rebranding and reputation management effort launched after news media coverage of its toxic culture and driver underpayments emerged in 2017.
Unsurprisingly, the company’s stock price plummeted after its IPO in May 2019, although not solely related to its PR struggles. Not helping the reputational renewal was a report the company released in December 2019 showing nearly 6,000 reports of sexual assaults involving rides in the U.S. in 2017 and 2018.
The only positive aspect of this horrific PR moment is that Uber released the report itself, demonstrating some degree of transparency. Its top competitor, Lyft, which has its own similar problems, has yet to release such a report.
Bottom line
There is plenty to be learned about crisis communications and reputation management in these incidents and others, namely the importance of responding quickly, being transparent and controlling the narrative.
There are plenty of experts on such matters here at Amendola and you can read their insights here and here. Better yet, give us a call and our media relations and crisis management team can help you design a plan and keep your stress levels down and reputation up if such an incident occurs involving your organization.
by Morgan Lewis | Dec 4, 2019 | Blog
In public relations, we work with most of our clients on thought leadership bylined articles. These articles frequently include the client’s opinions, most often about how healthcare provider organizations or payers can improve productivity, efficiency, patient care and other aspects of running their businesses.
In healthcare business-to-business PR, however, we rarely get the opportunity to work with clients who truly want to take a critical stand on an issue, not necessarily political, but one that some readers may interpret as (gasp!) controversial. This is understandable considering businesses often do not want to alienate any potential clients based on their position.
At the same time, it’s a shame because writing opinion pieces generates credibility when the article is carefully researched, speaks from a place of knowledge and experience and is well-written. Opinion pieces also elicit a stronger emotional response in readers and are more likely to be shared online. One study by a marketing research company analyzed the 10,000 most shared articles across the web and categorized them by feelings, finding that “awe” was the most common emotion among the highly shared articles. “Laughter” and “Amusement” were the other top emotions, but that’s not typically our goal with opinion pieces.
The firm’s analysis echoes an earlier study conducted by The New York Times several years ago which asked readers why they shared a story they found online. Among the top reasons was to “bring valuable and entertaining content to one another” and “get the word out about causes they care about.” A good opinion article accomplishes both those goals and can inspire awe or at least a strong sense of admiration in the reader who may share the piece with key decision makers in the healthcare organization. When writing opinion articles, keep in mind the following:
Think of the reader
Certainly, the CEO or other thought leaders at your company may have an opinion about a healthcare industry problem or regulation, but is it what the reader also cares about? If not, the lack of relevance will make for a forgettable article. Instead, determine one of the most common pain points among your customers (and one that your solution may address) and focus on the opinion piece on that issue.
Do your research
Eliciting emotion is crucial for opinion pieces, but the piece will fall flat without the facts to back them up. Opinion articles, like any sort of persuasive writing, need ample statistics from credible sources to support this position. Don’t go overboard, though. Too many numbers may get confusing or cumbersome and may overshadow the story you’re telling and the personality of the writer, both of which must come through.
Establish credibility
The Duke University Communications Office offers a great, quick content and style guide for writing opinion articles. In their tips, they recommend that the writer “play up your personal connection to the readers” to increase relevance and build credibility. For their guide, Duke is referring to local consumer newspapers and publications. For trade and national business media, it’s helpful if the writer demonstrates their deep healthcare knowledge by sharing a bit about their background in the industry, if they have some.
Readers tend to trust people more who have been in their shoes, so showing you’ve felt their pain firsthand can elicit a stronger sense of admiration and drive action. If the writer lacks personal experience in healthcare, describing an anecdote about a client or several clients can be just as effective.
Ruffle some feathers, respectfully
With facts and credibility established, the writer needs to take an unequivocal position on an issue, even if some or many readers will not agree, or even object to it. Taking a bold stance on an issue that is relevant to readers demonstrates confidence, strength and leadership, all qualities that healthcare leaders are looking for in partners. At the same time, demonstrating humility by explaining why you can understand the other side of the issue or the limitations of your position, is also important to show that this is a well-considered position.
Offer solutions
If an opinion article just criticizes and offers no solutions then it is no help to anybody, including your company. Describe at a high level how this issue could be solved focusing on all aspects. It may be tempting to reference your company’s solution at this point, but refrain from self-promotion as much as possible. Nothing weakens the integrity of an opinion article like an obvious sales pitch. Ideally, the content will drive readers to explore your company and download a deeper dive into your solution through a white paper or eBook. The article is meant to highlight the knowledge, expertise and vision of the people behind the solution, which is just as important as the tech.
Use sparingly
Opinion articles may seem risky to some, but with so much thought leadership content available online, it can be difficult to stand out. A strongly held opinion articulated and argued effectively using credible evidence can differentiate the writer above other thought leaders in B2B healthcare, but also help readers see those leaders as people” – and maybe even inspire “awe.”
by Morgan Lewis | Sep 18, 2019 | Blog
According to study results that likely surprised no one, Americans now spend more time on mobile devices than watching TV. Research and analysis firm eMarketer estimates that U.S. adults will spend 3 hours, 43 minutes on mobile devices in 2019, just above the 3 hours and 35 minutes spent watching TV. Most of that mobile time, eMarketer determined, will be spent on smartphones.
It does seem that everyone is staring at their smartphone all the time. At airports, restaurants, shopping, home, even while they’re in the car(!), people can’t look away from those alluring handheld devices.
This includes everybody, too, not just the younger than 30 crowd. Eighty-one percent of the U.S. population owns a smartphone, including 53% of seniors age 65 and older. Even my 84-year-old father is enchanted with how well his Samsung Galaxy S8 takes photos of his grandchildren and can accurately transcribe his voice into text messages.
B2B healthcare marketers can take advantage of this mobile omnipresence by ensuring their written content is mobile optimized. That means marketers will need to craft written content that is mostly short, punchy and memorable while driving the reader toward action.
Write to be scanned
With the thumb always on the screen scrolling and scrolling, people don’t read on mobile the same way they do on a desktop. Users jump from one piece of content to the next and one app to the next when they receive a new notification.
That is why writing for mobile needs to top-load the most relevant and interesting points without giving away all the information too soon to keep the reader’s thumb moving all the way to the end. Likewise, due to the smaller screen, writers also need to keep the paragraphs shorter so readers don’t get lost in a long block of text on smaller screens.
The eMarketer study also found that the bulk of the time people spend on their mobile devices is on apps, not web browsers, and typically social media. Customizing content specifically for certain apps, such as LinkedIn or Facebook, is a major consideration. For Twitter, of course, marketers will need to come up with an enticing 280-character-long description of a blog post or article that will link to the content elsewhere.
Long-form for later
Although healthcare leaders typically don’t read long content pieces such as white papers or journal articles on their mobile device, long-form content is in demand.
Survey results from Forbes/Deloitte found that “feature articles and reports” were the most preferred format for business insights among C-level executives. Google, meanwhile, a few years ago reported that 80% of hospital administrators reach out to vendors for more information, including 45% who are researching vendors on their mobile devices.
Through a piece of shorter, scannable mobile content, marketers can improve their chances for further engagement by inviting the healthcare decision-maker to download or have a white paper or eBook emailed to them.
Speaking of eBooks, which are typically a longer-form of content, they can be ideal for mobile device consumption. With fewer words, more graphics and callout boxes that can be easily viewed on a smartphone, marketers can create an attractive, mobile-optimized eBook that is readable during a lunch hour, waiting in an airport or in a rideshare.
Tap into video
Short videos are an ideal content delivery format for mobile devices. If healthcare executives are like their colleagues in other industries, 59% would rather watch a video than read text. Here again, though, at the end of the video, marketers can invite the viewer to learn more by downloading a mobile-friendly eBook, have a white paper emailed to them, or even request a demo. As with written content, however, videos must be short 3 minutes maximum.
If you can’t effectively communicate your message and value proposition to potential customers in 3 minutes, then please give Amendola Communications a call so we can help streamline your messaging and boost its impact. To learn more about’ our strategic counsel, PR or other integrated communications and marketing services, take a look at some of our case studies here.” (See what I did there?)
by Morgan Lewis | May 15, 2019 | Blog
News Flash: There is a lot of written content on the web. That means it is challenging to grab a reader’s attention and even more difficult to hold it. One study, from way back in 2014, found online readers generally click away after 15 seconds. Five years and billions of smartphones later, it’s probably closer to 12 or 11 seconds.
That’s why when creating PR or marketing content, we constantly need to consider the reader first. Certainly, companies have their own goals for every content piece they create, but the reader’s experience, what’s meaningful to them and their goals for reading your content must be the first priority.
Here’s how to grab a reader’s attention in written content and hold it to the last word.
Identify your reader
This is the most important question. Whether crafting a thought leadership article, email blast or white paper, it needs to be laser-focused on who the reader is because as soon as they sense a piece of content isn’t relevant to them, they’ll delete, click or scroll away to something else. It’s a tougher question than it appears. If you set your sights too narrow, you risk alienating a lot of prospects; if you aim too broad, you risk being ignored by everybody.
Headline and lead paragraphs are the most important
What did you think of the headline for this blog post? Did it pique your curiosity? If so, good, because that’s what headlines need to do. Readers typically decide to continue an article after the headline and first few lines, so these two introductory elements are perhaps the most important parts of the content in most writing.
Style matters
The type of content will often dictate what style you use for your headline and lead as well as for other writing choices. A blog post, like the one you’re reading, allows for a little more causal headline, lead and language, but regardless of the style, it needs to be relevant and easy to read. Longer pieces, like white papers, should also move the reader along, even if they are written in a more formal style.
Tell the reader why they should stick with you
There are many ways in those lead paragraphs to encourage the reader to keep reading. Options include presenting a common, pressing problem that they want to solve, asking a provocative question that they will want to answer, or enticing them with ROI. For example, in B2B (and even in B2C) dollar signs always grab readers’ attention. Obviously, if the content has no financial element, then that’s not feasible, but sharing quantifiable numbers automatically establishes interest and often relevance in the reader.
Make every paragraph meaningful
Keep the reader engaged through the entire content piece by putting information in every paragraph that they care about or include actionable data they can begin applying today. The overriding goal of PR and marketing content is, of course, to attract prospects, but writing about only your solution is a turn-off, even presented in a vendor-neutral fashion.
One size does not fit all
I was going to title this subhead: “keep it short,” but one study shows that a 1,600-word length for most pieces is ideal, even for blog posts. Other research contradicts that finding. For a white paper, eBook or byline, that length or longer seems appropriate, but with blog posts, we say keep them shorter and then drive the reader to download the longer content piece.
What nearly all the research says, however, is if it is quality content, the reader will stick with it, regardless of length. In healthcare B2B PR, which is where we at Amendola Communications live, quality content means relevance to the reader, their job or their business. Stay on that track and you’ll have them reading to the last word, which is what I hope you’re doing right now.
by Morgan Lewis | Feb 13, 2019 | Blog
As a PR writer, I often ghostwrite bylined articles for clients. These articles typically involve interviewing the CEO or another thought leader at the company so I can gather information for a first draft. But they are also helpful for giving me a sense of the executive’s or physician’s voice and learning about their goals for the content.
During these interviews, there is occasionally some confusion about who I am, why I am interviewing the thought leader and what they should say. I am not at all surprised or offended when this happens.
Considering the many meetings and countless calls these thought leaders handle in a typical day from customers, partners, investors and other company leaders, it is no wonder that our interview is not high on their priority list. However, going into an interview prepared can help cover more ground in less time.
If there is one thing I’ve learned over the years, all thought leaders love efficiency. That’s why I’ve created some tips to remember for your next thought leadership interview with your PR team.
- Speak freely. This tip is first because it’s an obstacle that pops up frequently. When thought leaders start an interview, they are occasionally under the impression that I’m a reporter or editor for the publication. To the contrary, I’m an extension of the thought leader’s company, not the publication, so thought leaders can speak their thoughts freely knowing that they will have plenty of opportunities later to review and edit the content as they wish before it is published or posted.
- Know your reader. Some of our clients offer solutions that serve the spectrum of healthcare stakeholders including health systems, physician practices, payers and patients. While some topics are universal, an independent primary care physician is not always concerned with the same challenges as a health system CFO and vice versa. It is always helpful to concentrate on readers’ specific, highest-priority pain points so the content is most relevant.
- Tell me stories. Thought leadership content, by its nature, is high-level. Because of this, sometimes it can lose readers’ interest when they can’t visualize how it applies to their organization. Which is why I’m puzzled when executives ask: “can I tell you a story?” Or apologize: “sorry to bore you with that story.” To the contrary, I love stories and so do readers, even in B2B. Granted, the narratives should be relevant to the topic we’re discussing, but examples and stories are a memorable and effective way to share or explain a thought-leadership concept.
- Bring the facts. Writers are usually pretty good at researching statistics and studies, but, as all healthcare executives know, there is so much data and so little time. I urge everyone I interview to offer their favorite data or studies they feel would be relevant and interesting to readers. It is always better to have too much information and cut it later than have points woefully under-supported.
- Stay on point. Some executives want to discuss nearly every challenge or improvement opportunity in the healthcare industry during our interview. It is often interesting to hear their perspective, but it can occasionally stray from relevance and not always be useful, especially when writing a bylined article with a word-count limit. Shorter, focused articles are also more likely to be read and remembered, according to Forrester.
I realize most senior leaders’ time is very limited, so I’m grateful when they can spare a half-hour of their day to discuss an article or blog post. If they can let their guard down a little and pull some information together beforehand, that time can be well spent, resulting in compelling thought-leadership content that drives awareness, strengthens the brand and generates quality leads.
