Financial Communications & the Pandemic
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Communications & New Media Aug. 2020 I Vol. 34 No. 5 FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS & THE PANDEMIC HOW COVID-19 ACCELERATES ESG MOMENTUM BUILDING CONFIDENCE AMID A PANDEMIC FINDING THE RIGHT FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRM THE COVID-19 FIN. MARKETING PLAYBOOK THOUGHT LEADERSHIP DURING THE PANDEMIC RESTORING REPUTATION IN A VIRTUAL WORLD NAVIGATING THE VIRTUAL EVENT LANDSCAPE WHY 2020 IS THE YEAR FOR BRAND ACTIVISM AUGUST 2020 | www.odwyerpr.com Vol. 34 No. 5 August 2020 EDITORIAL COVID EDITS FINANCIAL MARKETING PLAYBOOK It took a pandemic to put the focus COVID CHANGES U.S. 6 22 on companies’ internal teams. PURCHASING HABITS People want to see companies do NAVIGATING VIRTUAL more to earn their business. 8 EVENTS PR professionals must learn to TV ADS ARE LOSING 26 transition to virtual events THEIR APPEAL ACCESS TO CAPITAL IS A 33 The influence of commercials on consumers has taken a hit. 8 CHALLENGE FOR WOMEN Communicating about resources SPEAKING OUT PAYS OFF 27 for women-owned businesses. FOR CEOs Good communicators positively PROFILES OF FINANCIAL impact a company’s bottom line. 8 PR & I.R. FIRMS SOCIAL MEDIA USERS 28 UNINFORMED RANKINGS OF FINANCIAL Those who depend on social media 9 PR & I.R. FIRMS for news know less politically. 33 BUSINESSES TAKE UP THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, NOW41 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM GOVERNMENT’S SLACK AND AFTER THE PANDEMIC Daily, up-to-the-minute PR news A new study says businesses are 9 Using thought leadership to build brand filling a leadership void. 34 and reputational capital. BUILDING REPUTATION THE METRICS THAT MATTER IN A VIRTUAL WORLD FOR EARNED MEDIA Ways to stay in close touch with Media placements can’t just look good, stakeholders—from a distance. 10 35 they need to be value-based. CHOOSING A FINANCIAL SERVICES AGENCY PROFILES OF PROFESSIONAL What to look for from an agency SERVICES FIRMS specializing in financial services. 12 36 WHY COVID IS BOOSTING RANKINGS OF PROFESSIONAL ESG MOMENTUM SERVICES FIRMS ESG is helping investors evaluate 41 non-financial risks. 14 PEOPLE IN PR BUILDING CONFIDENCE AMID THE PANDEMIC 43 How financial services firms can 16 WASHINGTON REPORT EDITORIAL CALENDAR 2020 reassure furloughed employees. January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s Guide 2020: THE YEAR OF 44 March: Food & Beverage BRAND ACTIVISM INTERNATIONAL PR NEWS June: PR Firm Rankings How PR pros can help companies responsibly take a stand. 18 45 July: Travel, Tourism & International B2B FINTECH: IT’S THE August: Financial, I.R. & Prof Services COLUMNS October: Healthcare & Medical CONTENT, STUPID! PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Developing the kind of content Fraser Seitel November: Technology & Social Media that reaches critical audiences. 20 42 ADVERTISERS 5W Public Relations ........................................................................3 ICR...........................................................................................19 BackBay Communications........................................................................5 Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher..................................................21 Bliss Integrated Communication..............................................................13 Kekst CNC...............................................................................................17 Edelman..............................................................................................24, 25 Peppercomm........................................................................................23 Finn Partners.............................................................................................7 Sitrick and Company..................................................................Back cover FTI Consulting Strategic Communications...............................................11 Stanton.............................................................................Inside front cover O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., 271 Madison Ave., #600, New York, NY 10016. (212) 679-2471; fax: (212) 683-2750. Periodical postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to O’Dwyer’s, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. O’Dwyer’s PR Report ISSN: 1931-8316. Published seven times a year. EDITORIAL Companies should stand up to cancel culture f you haven’t been living under a rock these past several years, no doubt you’re privy to the debate surrounding cancel culture, the ritual of shaming people who’ve been caught saying Ior doing objectionable things online, a phenomenon that’s turned social media—particularly EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Twitter—into what writer Matt Taibbi described as “a giant finger-wagging machine.” Kevin McCauley The conversation took a sharp turn in July with the publication of Harper’s “Letter on Justice [email protected] and Open Debate,” a completely well-reasoned call-to-arms signed by 150 prominent authors, journalists and academics that decried an “intolerance of opposing views” that threatens to PUBLISHER “weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological con- John O’Dwyer formity.” [email protected] The pushback this letter received—in countless essays, in a gallimaufry of blogs and social media posts—was puzzling. Much of the criticism focused on oddly Trumpesque attempts to attack the letter for what it didn’t say, or for its timing (this has always been a favorite fallacy of SENIOR EDITOR mine: “Now isn’t the time to talk about x!” “We should be discussing y!”). Others resorted to wha- Jon Gingerich taboutism, using the forum as an opportunity to address their longstanding grievances with [email protected] the magazine, or chose to disregard the letter because of previous actions/words of a particular ASSOCIATE EDITOR signatory. Many pointed to the easy irony of elite signatories addressing the perils of censorship Steve Barnes in a prestigious publication without fear of reprisal, as though these luminaries possess only [email protected] enough imagination to write about their own self-interests, that it would never dawn on them to come to the defense of others who’ve been the targets of online mobs. More than a few said CONTRIBUTING EDITORS cancel culture is an overblown myth, merely the latest example of democracy in action. Fraser Seitel Most of these arguments aren’t very sound, but to borrow from one of them—if only to high- Richard Goldstein light its flimsiness—it’s true that cancel culture isn’t fundamentally about freedom of speech. People have a constitutional right to say whatever they want, yet there remain—and there EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS should be—consequences for our words. Horses for courses. & RESEARCH The problem with cancel culture is less an issue of strangers being mean to someone on the Jane Landers Internet than it is an acknowledgment of what are obvious flaws in a social system where the Melissa Webell private sector has been charged with adjudicating a final judgment once these cultural vigilan- tes begin demanding the offender be held accountable for his/her words. For years, brands—corporations, universities, sports franchises—have ridden social move- Advertising Sales: John O’Dwyer ments as a marketing opportunity. And under immense public pressure, they now find them- [email protected] selves effectively merchandising outrage into a series of press-release-ready gestures, acquiesc- ing to the demands of the mob and throwing employees under the bus seemingly without the good-faith considerations that all healthy internal cultures have: that maybe someone’s words O’Dwyer’s is published seven times a year were taken out of context, or they misspoke, or they need counseling, or—God forbid—they for $60.00 ($7.00 a single issue) by the made a mistake. But take solace in this: after you’ve been fired and your career has been ruined J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. and you’ve been deemed radioactive by the community, you remain free to speak your mind. 271 Madison Ave., #600 Granted, there are open-and-shut cases where people should’ve lost their jobs. But there are New York, NY 10016. others where the consequences clearly outweighed the crime. Was it necessary for soccer team (212) 679-2471 Fax: (212) 683-2750. LA Galaxy to fire player Aleksandar Katai in response to a series of tweets made by his wife © Copyright 2020 J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc. criticizing the George Floyd protesters? Should food vendors boycott a Minneapolis restaurant because racist and anti-Semitic social media posts were discovered to have been written by the OTHER PUBLICATIONS: founder’s daughter eight years prior—when she was fifteen? Why was Boeing communications chief Niel Golightly forced to resign after an employee dug up an article he wrote in 1987 ques- www.odwyerpr.com tioning women’s ability to serve in combat? What sort of social justice did a consulting firm Breaking news, commentary, useful data- have in mind when it fired a researcher for merely sharing via Twitter a peer-reviewed study bases and more. on the positive political effects of nonviolent protests? Was it really in Publicis’ best interest to O’Dwyer’s Newsletter fire one of its executives for tweeting about the coronavirus? A six-page weekly with general PR news, Companies are taking the easy way out. They’ve been inculcated to the notion that it’s better media appointments and placement PR to fire someone, reach a consensus with social media activists and get the virtue points than opportunities. it is to take a stand and demonstrate an ability to lead in cases where public