✅ Monday briefing: AI threat to search, LinkedIn engagement, Twitter lists, pitch woe, management gap, shades of green, and more...
Technology and platforms, best and bad practice, media, research and insight, and book review
This newsletter is crowdsourced each week from our blog and community of practice for people studying and working in marketing, media and public relations. It’s a hive mind, newsroom, and source of information, help and support. You’d be welcome to join us.
Technology and platforms
🕵 AI THREAT TO SEARCH: Google has called on founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to fend off the threat from AI. It could be the first notable threat in decades to Google’s $149 billion search business. The company has also announced that it will cut 12,000 jobs. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
🗣️ LINKEDIN ENGAGEMENT: LinkedIn is benefiting from the ongoing Twitter hiatus. Members are viewing 22% more Feed Updates and engaging in 25% more public conversation year-on-year. Its marketing solutions revenues surpassed $5 billion. Spotted Alan Morrison.
🗒️ TWITTER LISTS: Private lists are a way of segmenting the list of accounts you follow and reducing noise on Twitter. The mobile and web interfaces have been simplified to enable you to switch between the main news feed and up to five lists. Spotted Alan Morrison.
Best and bad practice
👟 ADIDAS BRANDJACK: Adidas has been forced to deny the appointment of a former Cambodian union leader as its new co-CEO and the launch of a collection of garments pre-worn by factory workers. The spoof launch event at Berlin Fashion Week was the work of activist group The Yes Men. Spotted Sarah Waddington.
💷 AMAZON SMILE BACKLASH: Amazon is closing its programme that lets customers choose a charity to benefit from small donations generated by their purchases. It will continue to support charities, but customers won’t be able to choose where their money goes unless the charity has an Amazon store. The move will impact smaller charities. Spotted Alan Morrison.
Media
🤳 NEWS ON TIK TOK: News publishers are piling into Tik Tok. The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Sky News are among Comscore’s top 50 news publishers. It says that Tik Tok is a relatively low-cost investment that enables publishers to experiment with video content and potentially reach new audiences. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
🗞️ PITCH WOE: Businesses accounted for less than one percent of editorial coverage on the internet in 2023 suggesting that it’s harder than ever to pitch and land news stories. Trust Insights reports that 156,470 news stories were posted a day and more than 6,500 per hour. Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
💻 MORE PITCH WOE: There has been a 20.6% decrease in the average journalist response rate to pitches in the past quarter, dropping from 3.35% in Q3, to 2.66% in Q4, according to the Propel Media Barometer. Journalists open most pitches they receive within one hour of them landing in their inbox (54.79% of pitches). Spotted Andrew Bruce Smith.
Research and insight
⚠️ MANAGEMENT GAP: I presented the results of the first year of my PhD study last week at the Leeds Business School research conference. It highlights the gap between management and public relations. Approximately 80% of organisations are failing to use public relations optimally. Source Stephen Waddington.
🌳 SHADES OF GREEN: There is considerable public suspicion about corporate ESG claims. Some sectors (airlines, car manufactures and fashion brands) are much less likely to be believed than others (supermarkets, tech companies, and food manufacturers) according to a report by Sensu Insights. Spotted James Crawford.
😯 EDELMAN AND TRUST: The public relations industry has an uneasy relationship with the Edelman Trust Barometer, launched in 2000. We use data and insights from the research as third-party evidence to demonstrate the need for public relations while at the same time criticising the consultancy behind the longitudinal research project. Source Stephen Waddington.
Book review
🔰 PR FOR GOOD: When in Doubt, Make Applesauce! by Marc C. Whitt is a book about the character and reflexivity of public relations practitioners. Marc generously shares his wisdom as both a teacher and practitioner over four decades. He has a professional perspective of practice and firmly believes in the value of public relations as a force for good. Source Marc C. Whitt.
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