Quick PR Reads You Can Tackle Between Bites
Hi Lunch Breakers! It’s finally spring on the East Coast. The cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., felt confident enough in the forecast to come out of hiding, hitting peak bloom this past weekend.
Here’s our forecast for today’s read—The Guardian gets a detailed scoop on a royal crisis communication plan, major brands abandoning YouTube ads, and of course, puppies! And as a bonus read, here’s a story about Facebook joining the Stories bandwagon today.
In Case of Royal Emergency
The Guardian recently detailed the communications action plan called “London Bridge is Down,” designed to alert politicians, the public and the media in the event of Queen Elizabeth’s passing. The plan offers fascinating insight into the long-term crisis communication and events planning for not only a change in monarchy, but also the end of a great era in British history, as well as how stakeholders will relay the news.
South by South Chatbot
As someone who has a few South by Southwest (SXSW) festivals under her belt, I can tell you that SXSW decision fatigue is real. SXSW has an intimidating level of programming choices, events and parties even for a seasoned veteran. How did SXSW address this problem for 2017? With its hallmark innovation and tech savvy. Facebook created a chatbot program via Facebook Messenger to guide visitors around Austin for the festival. Is this just another sign the digital assistant era is finally here? Time—or Alexa or Home or Echo—will tell.
YouTube Reloads
Major brands including Johnson & Johnson, Verizon and AT&T globally suspended their ads on YouTube when they discovered they were inadvertently placed before extremist content. The brands were part of Google’s YouTube Labs, which pairs advertising with content makers on the video platform, with some ads appearing on unsanctioned videos. For its part Google apologized and is putting tools in place to better vet content for advertisers.
And Now, the Puppies
How did you celebrate National Puppy Day? PR Week shares how nine brands took advantage of the hashtag holiday to put some fuzzy faces in their digital marketing. The article points out it’s not just pet product companies getting in on the act, but sports teams and government agencies as well.
