Protected under the First Amendment, the Freedom of Speech refers to “the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint.” Yet, time and time again, there have been many attempts to limit or restrict certain forms of expression. Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled that Yelp, the business review forum, could not be ordered to remove negative reviews about …
The Inside Story
With so much attention on social media, internal communication is often overlooked in today’s corporate America. But company executives are now facing a growing trend of activism among employees in Silicon Valley, where there is fierce competition for programming talent. Signed petitions are protesting the way technology products are used by the U.S. government. Bloomberg reports that San Francisco-based cloud firm, …
Both Sides, Now
In today’s age of news media, biased coverage has been increasingly prominent and influential as shown by Fox News’ Conservative favoritism and CNN’s Liberal favoritism. This results in a lack of balanced, objective news coverage and some are taking note. On his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News host Tucker Carlson “urged viewers not to believe what they hear on other networks,” The Washington …
“All the World’s a Stage …
… and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances … ” Shakespeare wrote in his play, As You Like It. But why would veteran actor Robert De Niro use his entrance on the world’s stage at the 2018 Tony’s for an expletive-laced rant at President Trump, who was not part of the night at …
The Battle for Credibility
Presidential Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders further jeopardized her credibility with the news media by responding defensively when caught in a lie. Instead of acknowledging the mistake, and apologizing, Ms. Sanders chose to attack the reporters along with their credibility. “Frankly, I think my credibility is probably higher than the media’s … I think that if you spent a little bit more …
Shooting from the Hip
Defined as “reacting suddenly or without careful consideration of one’s words or actions,” is the most recent fault of too many tweeters who experience very serious consequences. Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne), for example, recently published a racist tweet toward former Obama aide, Valerie Jarrett, resulting in ABC’s cancellation of Ms. Barr’s No. 1-rated TV show, her reruns scrapped and her dismissal from the talent …
To Snap or Not to Snap
The once seemingly successful app that erases our pictures after ten seconds has been declining in popularity the past few years. Not only has Snapchat lost its uniqueness of story features to its competitors, Instagram and Facebook; CEO Evan Spiegel has negatively affected Snapchat’s public image with media mistakes. Let’s take a look at some examples of Snapchat getting it wrong. …
Creating an AXIS Point
How do you take a household product and give it cultural relevance? Like this: Take one part household cleaning product line, Pine-Sol® and two parts marketing and communications agency, AXIS. Mix it all together and you’ve got a multicultural marketing campaign. Together, Pine-Sol® and AXIS created the “Makers of Home” campaign, branding Pine-Sol® through diverse home stories and statistics. The makers of …
When is a customer not a customer?
Do you have to be a paying customer to receive customer service? Recently, two African American men were escorted out of a Starbucks in Philadelphia. They asked for the restroom and occupied a table in the store, although, they hadn’t made a purchase. Calling the police on them seemed extreme. Many questioned whether kicking these men out was simply company protocol or racial injustice. …
The “f” Word
The “f” word is in big trouble. And it’s classic! The once social media darling, Facebook, is now facing a crisis of unexpected proportions, complete with testimony before Congress: both the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees and the House Energy and Commerce Committee! All, seemingly, without a plan. A crisis plan. Facing a weekend crash course in crisis communication skills coaching, CEO Mark …