Peloton CEO rebuffs leaks in public memo, M&M’S candy mascots get an inclusive makeover and how PR increasingly measures social media impact

Hello, communicators:
Oscar Mayer is at it once more.
The meat firm recognized for its large, scorching dog-shaped automobile, catchy jingle and out-there advert campaigns introduced it could enterprise into a brand new product market this week: skincare.

Bologna that rejuvenates? Bologna that hydrates? Indulge in your Meaty facet with Oscar Mayer® Bologna Face Masks. Available on Amazon. https://t.co/5tnYONXe4M #PreserveItOscar pic.twitter.com/iUCAeV34Kx
— Oscar Mayer (@oscarmayer) January 19, 2022

The press launch features a assertion from Lindsey Ressler, a senior advertising and marketing analyst with Oscar Mayer:
“Oscar Mayer has a legacy bringing levity to issues which have gotten too severe, and magnificence is a ripe territory to playfully subvert. Inspired by those that used to playfully make masks out of their bologna as youngsters, this product was born as a modern-day technique to spark smiles for followers of Oscar Mayer and magnificence lovers alike.”
You should purchase it on Amazon—nevertheless it offered out inside 24 hours. Do with that info what you’ll.
Here are at the moment’s different high tales:
Peloton CEO addresses ‘rumors’ about halting manufacturing, potential layoffs
Peloton has had a tough week.
The train tools firm’s inventory value plummeted after CNBC reported that Peloton deliberate to halt manufacturing of its merchandise, together with stationary bikes and treadmills, in response to slowing demand from customers.
In response, Peloton CEO John Foley issued a memo to staff late Thursday. The message was additionally posted on Peloton’s web site.
In the memo, Foley emphasizes that the hubbub about manufacturing was created by leaked incomplete info and the leaker accountable would face authorized motion.
“The info the media has obtained is incomplete, out of context, and not reflective of Peloton’s technique,” Foley wrote. “It has saddened me to know you learn this stuff with out the readability and context that you just deserve.”

Proud of my Peloton teammates for all they do day in, day trip to assist extra and extra individuals lead more healthy and happier lives. pic.twitter.com/IMuobPaq4l
— John Foley (@keylargofoley) January 21, 2022

A big portion of the memo addresses what the current information in regards to the firm means for workers particularly—and appears to substantiate that Peloton staff will probably be confronted with layoffs. Foley says that whereas layoffs are “absolutely the final lever we might ever hope to tug,” change is coming.
“…we now want to judge our group construction and dimension of our group, with the utmost care and compassion,” he writes. “And we’re nonetheless in the method of contemplating all choices as a part of our efforts to make our enterprise extra versatile.”
What it means: Foley’s memo is a direct effort to place out robust govt messaging from an organization that’s had its justifiable share of (fairly public) bumps over the previous few months. By publicizing the inner memo, Peloton kills two birds with one stone: It informs and reassures panicked staff whereas additionally sending a direct message to customers, shareholders and the media.
Making all the things extra fraught are the restrictions the corporate faces in speaking forward of its quarterly earnings name as a publicly traded firm. It’s a reminder that transparency about how communications choices get made will be extremely essential in sending a significant message.

MEASURED THOUGHTS
A report from Muck Rack on how PR groups measured success and used know-how in 2021 discovered that comms professionals had been greater than 25% extra seemingly to make use of web site impact metrics to quantify the effectiveness of their work than they had been in 2020.

Courtesy of Muck Rack
While conventional metrics remained the most well-liked measurement methodology, social media impact jumped 9 proportion factors since 2020—a nod to the lasting worth of social media advertising and marketing and outreach.
The report additionally discovered that the common PR group has three core key efficiency indicators (KPIs), constant throughout manufacturers, companies and nonprofits.
Check out extra from the Muck Rack State of PR 2021 right here.

TAKE OUR SURVEY
If you’re trying to additional your understanding of your trade to navigate what’s forward in 2022, lend us a hand—and assist your self and your friends determine shared benchmarks in areas resembling budgets, group construction, ESG and DE&I efforts, and extra. Participate in Ragan Communications Leadership Council’s 2022 Benchmark Survey, a complete take a look at how to barter budgets together with your executives, how to greatest attain deskless employees and foster tradition amongst a hybrid workforce, and extra.
Both inside and exterior communicators are inspired to take part.
By collaborating, you’ll be entered to win considered one of three $100 present playing cards. All who full the survey will obtain a full report on the findings. Responses are nameless.
Survey takers will obtain an govt abstract of the findings.

Twitter launches NFT profile image characteristic
This week, social media large Twitter debuted a characteristic that enables some customers to deploy a non-fungible token (NFT) as their profile image on the location.

gm!
You requested (rather a lot), so we made it. Now rolling out in Labs: NFT Profile Pictures on iOS pic.twitter.com/HFyspS4cQW
— Twitter Blue (@TwitterBlue) January 20, 2022

To reap the benefits of the characteristic (which requires linking your Twitter account to your digital pockets), customers should subscribe to Twitter Blue and be utilizing an iOS gadget.
What’s an NFT? Here’s what The Verge has to say:
“NFTs can help you purchase and promote possession of distinctive digital gadgets and maintain monitor of who owns them utilizing the blockchain. NFT stands for ‘non-fungible token,’ and it may possibly technically comprise something digital, together with drawings, animated GIFs, songs, or gadgets in video video games. An NFT can both be one-of-a-kind, like a real-life portray, or one copy of many, like buying and selling playing cards, however the blockchain retains monitor of who has possession of the file.”
Why it issues: While all of this will likely appear slightly like the same old cryptocurrency hucksterism, there are some doubtlessly precious makes use of of NFTs—and this new Twitter characteristic—for communicators.
As we famous final yr, manufacturers can use NFTs as unique digital merchandise for superfans and companies can provide NFT administration companies. The integration of NFTs into your group’s Twitter account means extra eyeballs in your NFT—and extra potential NFT patrons. Leaning into new and rising applied sciences might help place organizations as front-runners in the world of digital commerce and assist put together them for the following part of the web.

Announcing the PR Daily Leadership Network
PR Daily is launching the PR Daily Leadership Network, a singular membership group from Ragan Communications providing peer-to-peer advisory and group coaching together with a singular slate of sources and occasions to assist public relations professionals break by means of the noise, enhance their visibility and forge significant connections.
The Network offers each day insights and protection on a variety of matters together with media relations, social media, measurement, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, branding, thought management and disaster communications.
“The quick tempo of change coupled with the demand on public relations professionals to guard and typically defend their firm’s popularity make it crucial for leaders to faucet into the knowledge of different communicators and proceed to be taught and develop,” says Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications. “The PR Daily Leadership Network offers the solutions but in addition encourages members to query the established order and push for optimistic change.”
Visit management.prdaily.com to be taught extra.
Mars Inc. publicizes new, inclusive search for basic M&M’S characters
Alert the paparazzi: The horny, inexperienced M&M now wears sneakers. No extra go-go boots for you!
Mars Inc. introduced a redesign of all six M&M’S characters—purple, yellow, orange, inexperienced, brown and blue—on Thursday, citing the objective of reflecting “the extra dynamic, progressive world that we dwell in.” The inexperienced M&M will put on sneakers and, for good measure, be higher pals together with her female-presenting counterpart, the brown M&M.
Additional modifications embrace the removing of gendered prefixes from the characters’ names and the reducing of the brown M&M’s heel top.
CBS News experiences:
“The orange M&M, who has an anxious character, will ‘embrace his true self, worries and all.’ But the orange M&M’s shoe laces will now be tied to symbolize his cautious nature. According to Mars, the orange M&M is ‘one of the vital relatable characters with Gen-Z,’ which is the ‘most anxious technology.’”
What it’s essential to know: The transfer marks the corporate’s effort to painting extra various, fashionable characters. Employees and customers alike are on the lookout for corporations to take a stand on social points like gender discrimination, and Mars’ transfer to take away gender stereotypes from its beloved chocolate candy characters displays a altering appreciation for how manufacturers use gender in advertising and marketing supplies.

Topics: Branding, Content Marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility, Crisis Communications, Daily Scoop, Executive Communication, Measurement, PR Industry, Research, Social Media, Writing & Editing

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