What We’re Reading is a monthly roundup of current news, commentary, challenges and trends that impact our industry as well as those of our clients. From CrowdStrike’s global IT outage to the Paris Olympics, here’s a look at what stood out to our team in July.
Crisis Communications
Delta is still melting down. It could last all week – Chris Isadore, Isabel Rosales and Amanda Musa, CNN
“Delta Airlines CIO says the IT staff is working ‘feverishly’ and ‘around the clock’ to restore operations after the prior week’s global tech outage. The impact on Delta’s customers has been enormous. I’m curious how customers are responding to the ‘we’re working hard to fix this’ messaging when honeymoons, summer vacations and potentially the care and safety of unaccompanied minors are at risk. We’ll see where Delta goes from here to recover from this costly hit to its operations and reputation.” – Anne Marie Mitchell
CrowdStrike’s CEO confronts his own crisis – Diane Brady, Fortune
“CrowdStrike’s recent software issue, which caused a massive outage for several industries and impacted critical services like airlines, banking and more, thrust crisis communications into the spotlight. While CrowdStrike’s CEO was quick to address the issue, the initial statement has been criticized for many for lacking empathy for customers and acknowledgement of the scale of the problem, as Brady notes here. This raises an important reminder for crisis communications pros that extending empathy and understanding should not be forgotten even in the haste to respond. First impressions matter, and with this misstep, CrowdStrike just might have created a bigger reputational issue to overcome.” – Kristin Monroe
Reputation Management
John Deere drops diversity initiatives, pledges to no longer join ‘social or cultural awareness parades’ – Max Hauptman, USA Today
“It’s really incumbent on all companies to take a long, hard look at their DEI programs, training and commitments. Do they align with not only our corporation’s values, but our customers’ values? Are we vulnerable to an outside pressure group looking to exploit any gaps? This doesn’t mean abandoning these programs, as Tractor Supply appears to have done, or dramatically scaling them back, as Deere has, but instead ensuring they aren’t seen as extreme – by either side. It’s rather surprising it needs to be said again, but our country is very divided on a wide range of issues, including social ones, so programs or trainings that alienate large swaths of customers aren’t a good idea.” – Nick Kalm
Public Relations
Southwest Airlines plans to start assigning seats, breaking with a 50-year tradition – David Koenig, Associated Press
“Open seating is something Southwest is known for – whether flyers love it or hate it – making it such a drastic change to the airline’s identity. Southwest stood out among its competitors for being ‘the people’s airline,’ offering two free bags, open seating, and approachable staff 50 years ago, so it begs the question who was this decision for? The people or the shareholders? Some can argue both, but keeping the flyers-first reputation is what Southwest will need to do to ensure this fundamental transition doesn’t scare customers away.” – Grace DuFour
Financial Communications
How one man lost $740,000 to scammers targeting his retirement savings – Tara Siegel Bernard, The New York Times
“Cyber criminals are increasingly going after Americans over the age of 60 because they are viewed as having the largest amount of savings. As AI, deepfakes and general misinformation becomes increasingly sophisticated, financial services institutions must communicate how they are being proactive in protecting their most vulnerable customers. And when scammers succeed like in this article, these institutions need to find ways to protect the customer and communicate how they are preventing it in the future.” – Michael Grimm
Evolution of communicating quarterly earnings – Eleanor Hawkins, Axios
“Meeting your audience where they are is one of the most important elements of any communications effort. With more and more lay people paying attention to corporate earnings, companies are finding new ways to reach their target audiences outside of traditional financial communications. While they should continue exploring how to share important financial information in fresh ways, they must also keep in mind and prepare for potential additional risks. Bad actors could take advantage of a live-streamed CEO presentation or flood the comments under a video with negative information, so any new financial communication plan should always be paired with a response protocol if things go sideways.” – RJ Bruce
Digital & Social Media Strategy
Here’s How Kamala Harris Is Embracing Memes Like Charli XCX’s ‘Brat Summer’ And ‘Project Coconut Tree’ – Conor Murray, Forbes
“Following President Biden’s decision not to run in the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as the new hopeful Democratic candidate, gaining viral attention on social media literally overnight. A good strategic communications plan will account for potential crises and challenge leaders to prepare for a variety of scenarios, such as an abrupt change in a leader or spokesperson. I’m finding it fascinating how the Harris campaign is seemingly diving in headfirst on social media by embracing viral memes originally used to mock her. I’ll be closely watching the rest of this campaign season to see how the Harris campaign interacts with and potentially capitalizes on the viral nature of social media and the memes that are likely to follow. I think communications students and professionals will be studying this for years to come.” – Kellie Clock
6 logos in 3 hours: Kamala Harris’ design team shares how it approached the historic campaign rebrand – Hunter Schwarz, Fast Company
“Three hours after President Biden announced he would not seek a second term, Vice President Harris’ creative team developed six strategic campaign logo options. These designs not only played into the existing Biden-Harris record, but also reflected Harris’ personal brand. In an impressive 26-hour sprint, the team completed an entire brand refresh, including signs, merchandise, campaign website, etc. By quickly aligning the campaign’s visuals with Harris’ personal brand, the team had a leg up in influencing how audiences think and feel about Harris as they encounter the campaign designs that exist virtually everywhere leading up to the presidential election.” – Emma Smits
Olympic Athletes Will Need To Watch What They Post On Social Media – Peter Suciu, Forbes
“In today’s social media climate, it’s easy to forget influencers (i.e., athletes, celebrities and public figures) are human too, susceptible to making mistakes. With a platform like the Olympics, it’s interesting the precautions the International Olympic Committee, brands and participating countries are taking to preserve their reputations while still recognizing the impact and importance of engaging with influencers at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Much of the work we do as PR pros is reputation management, so it will be interesting to see if there are any social media-related incidents and if so, how they play out.” – Natalie Wanner
Marketing & Creative Services
Nike kicks off marketing comeback with gritty Olympics ads – Peter Adams, Marketing Dive
“Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Nike is changing its tune from the traditional feel-good narratives they’ve embraced over the years. Their newest campaign, “Winning Isn’t for Everyone” emphasizes traits such as obsession with power, lack of empathy, and insatiable drive as motivators for success. This is a bold move in 2024 as many see the desire for power and a lack of empathy as inherently bad personal qualities. I’m very interested to see how consumers respond as it could mark a shift in public attitude and greenlight grittier messaging from communications professionals.” – Fred Walls
Inside Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy as the longest-standing Olympic partner, from reaching Gen Z to sponsoring athletes like Simone Biles – Tiara White, Business Insider
“For almost a century, Coca-Cola has been a proud partner of the Olympic games. This article takes a deeper look into how the brand continues to evolve its marketing strategy to resonate with global audiences. This year, the brand has tapped into newer spots such as skateboarding and sports climbing and its athletes, as well as organized six free concerts in Paris. The brand (successfully) uses sports marketing to engage audiences around the world, including younger and diverse demographics.” – Haley Hartmann
Employee Communications
Biles, Osaka and Phelps spoke up about mental health. Has anything changed for the Paris Olympics? – Howard Fendrich and Eddie Pells, Associated Press
“When Simone Biles pulled out of the 2020 Olympics due to a mental block, it forced audiences to reevaluate how mental health can impact athlete performance and safety. Furthermore, announcing her return to Paris led Olympic committees to search for a balance between winning medals and protecting athletes physically and mentally. This serves as a call for all organizational leaders to search for weak points in their structure that may jeopardize stakeholder wellbeing and provide solutions to ensure all key players can operate to their highest potential.” – Catherine McCoy