FIR Podcast Network

Interview with Humphrey Ho from Hylink USA about the Chinese Tourism Market and how to attract Chinese tourists.

As current Managing Partner of Hylink USA, Humphrey Ho is focused on building the first global advertising agency that natively understands the Chinese digital landscape and the burgeoning group of Chinese companies seeking to go abroad.

Having spent seven years in Shanghai as Wieden+Kennedy’s Business Director and as Leagas Delaney’s Business Operations Director, Humphrey has experience serving clients across the automotive, agriculture, FMCG, tech, and travel sectors.

Humphrey earned his Masters of Business Administration from Ryerson University, and his Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Toronto and received the ‘Top 30 under 30’ award in 2009.

Hosts: Leif Pettersen of Leif Pettersen PR and Chris Christensen of BloggerBridge.com and AmateurTraveler.com.

Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters can wreak havoc on business. They can keep employees out of work, customers and clients in the dark and offices closed for days on end. That’s why it’s so important to have a solid crisis response plan. And the time to start one is now.

With Hurricane Michael and another superstorm season upon us, we wanted to share some lessons learned from a past one – Hurricane Sandy. Because beyond its epic size and cost, Sandy was also an object lesson in crisis communications.

In this episode of EE Voice, we recount our experiences handling crisis communications for PepsiCo during Superstorm Sandy. We we living the hurricane (see photo of the tree that fell in Sharon’s yard) and managing the communications as well. Tune in to hear what to do before, during and after a crisis, and how to put together a crisis communications plan that puts you in as much control as possible.

You’ll learn how to:

* Form a cross-functional rapid response team

* Keep internal communications channels up and running

* Get leadership involved in the communication

* Get employees involved in the recovery process

* Establish clear messaging guidelines

Superstorm Sandy not only taught us how to work together across multiple locations, it reinforced our bond as a team. Listen in to get all the details.

 

 

In this episode, Mitchell Levy (http://aha.pub/MitchellLevy), TEDx speaker and the AHA Guy at AHAthat (http://AHAthat.com), introduces his co-host for the month, #ThoughtLeader Lisa McDonald (http://aha.pub/LisaMcDonald), an author, motivational speaker, and radio TV show host who empowers business owners, individuals, and entrepreneurs to become successful by approaching life, love, and work with fearless gratitude, enthusiasm, and hope (http://www.livingfearlesslywithlisa.com). This month’s episodes will be fun and interesting, as they will focus on the general concept of legacy and what it means in today’s world.

Lisa inspires people to live life fully every single day. For her, it’s important that we understand our connection with others and the relationship we build with them.She believes that in order to build a life and business you love, you need to move away from fear, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed. Four more stellar thought leaders will be speaking in the next episodes to share their valuable ideaspertaining to legacy and how it affects life and living.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from the episode. See more in the “AHA Moments from Thought Leader Life” eBooks available in the social media-enabled eBook platform, AHAthat: http://AHAthat.com.

* A #Legacy can mean a different thing to different people. For some, it may mean when you take yourself up to a leadership position. What does legacy mean to you? #TLL http://aha.pub/LisaMcDonald

* When you contribute to society in a servant leadership way, people will remember your name — both today when you’re living and tomorrow when you’re no longer physically present on this planet. #LeaveAMark #Legacy #TLL http://aha.pub/MitchellLevy

* A #Legacy isn’t about hierarchy nor status; it’s about being the best person you can possibly be. Are you being the best you can be? #TLL http://aha.pub/LisaMcDonald

* Life is more important than just business, so if you’re going to leave something, make it memorable. #Legacy #TLL http://aha.pub/MitchellLevy

* When is the best time to establish your #Legacy? It’s when you understand contribution, leadership, paying it forward, and being of service. #TLL http://aha.pub/LisaMcDonald

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

This week, host Shel Holtz talks about weird brand Twitter accounts with Stone Temple Consulting Senior Marketing Consultant Doug Haslam, and with internal communications thought leader Mark Dollins about communicating with employees when gig-economy workers are part of the mix. Also in this episode…

* Net, social media, and device adoption have plateaued.

* Teens are (still) abandoning Facebook.

* Google is looking more and more like a social network, and it’s on purpose.

* Amazon wants to own the brands you buy from when you shop on Amazon.

* Alexa has connected your printer, taxis, and other stuff to its skills.

* You can repurpose your Alexa Flash Briefings for use on Facebook and other sites.

* Bill Gates is behind a new recommendation engine.

* IC Kollectif is out with an important report on internal communications.

* Dan York’s Tech Report covers an upcoming DNS root key change, an Inclusive Design event, all kinds of updates on WordPress 5.0, and Instagram’s new version of Snapcodes.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

About this week’s conversation partners

Mark Dollins is president of North Star Communications Consulting, a consultancy with core capabilities in communications talent development and in employee/change communications strategy. Mark’s previous corporate experience spans more than 30 years with Fortune 500 companies. It includes serving as head of Executive & Global Employee Communications for DuPont. Mark previously spent 17 years in executive communication leadership roles with PepsiCo. He was SVP and Chief Communications Officer at Pepsi Beverages and PepsiCo Americas Foods; and SVP of global internal communications, among other senior corporate roles. His career with PepsiCo followed 10 years in the energy sector, running Corporate Communications for Northern Indiana Public Service Company, and leading employee communications for Indiana Michigan Power/American Electric Power. Mark began his career in broadcast and print journalism, working with ABC NewsHe currently serves on the national advisory council of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, served for eight years on LSU’s journalism advisory board for the Manship School of Communications, and holds a seat on The Conference Board’s Change & Transformation Council.

Doug Haslam’s career has spanned a variety of disciplines within the communications field: radio technology, editorial production, public relations, marketing, social media and digital. Currently a senior consultant with Stone Temple Consulting, Doug began with public radio, producing news and thoughtful sports programs, moving into technology public relations, and currently to social media and content strategy for brands of all sizes and industries. Doug’s love of media has come full circle, as his most recent positions have seen him taking full advantage of his content creation skills, managing social media and brand publishing programs for a wide variety of clients.

Links from this week’s episode

* Internet, social media use and device ownership in U.S. have plateaued after years of growth

* Attention Brands: Young Americans Are Breaking Up With Facebook

* Why Google Search Is Starting To Look More L...

Communications consultant Shonali Burke joins host Shel Holtz to talk about the value of review sites in the wake of Google’s announcement that anonymous reviews are no longer permitted. Also in this episode:

* What it will take for Instagram to make IGTV a success

* Tim Berners-Lee wants to save the Web, and he’s leaving his full-time job to make it happen

* Survey reveals what will bring people back to your website

* Gen Z is using social apps more than they were a year ago

* Stories continue their surge in popularity

* There are 200 new entries in the AP Style Guide

* The Mayo Clinic releases a social media press kit for a documentary over which it had no control

* Do pop-up experiences actually deliver good experiences?

* Most businesses are taking steps to make sure their use of AI is ethical

* You can buy items on Amazon that you see (or take pictures of) on Snapchat

* Subway ads changed with the weather; store traffic grew 31%

* Microsoft Teams lets you blur the background in video calls

* An enterprise developer kit is on its way for Cortana

* Microsoft is adding Linkedin to Office tools like Outlook

* Nordstrom co-created a new brand with one of its top influencers

* Dan York and Neville Hobson discuss an app Internet Society members used for their conference in Panama

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

About Shonali Burke

A veteran of small and large PR agencies, Shonali Burke is the award-winning president & CEO of her eponymous social PR consulting firm, Shonali Burke Consulting, Inc., where she and her team(s) help for- and non-profit organizations small and large reach business goals by taking their communications “from corporate codswallop to community cool.” Shonali also serves on the Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins University in its M.A. /Communication program, as well as the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information.  Before launching her own consultancy, Shonali worked as Vice President of Digital Media and marketing for MSL Group, and as Vice President of Media and Communications for the ASPCA.

Links from this episode

* Instagram Users Are Disappointed With IGTV: Now What?

* One Small Step for the Web… 

* 68% of Americans Still Get Their News on Social Media, Even If They Don’t Trust It

* Consumers revisit company websites when they find quality content

* More Millennials, Gen Z Are Using Social Apps

* Facebook and Messenger Stories now claim a combined 300 million daily active users

* Starz sees two times the video-completion rates in Facebook Stories than in News Feed

* Content Marketers: Brush Up on 2018 AP Stylebook

* A...

Twitter users everywhere heaved a sigh of relief last week, as Twitter gave users the option to again view tweets displayed by recency. No more need to see stale tweets that Twitter thinks you’ll be interested in. As you did in the earliest days of Twitter, you can again see the tweets displayed in reverse chronological order. Hurrah. At the same time, Martin reports that he is seeing a button on the top of his Twitter feed that highlights live videos.

Mary Meeker, who has provided data driven insights on the state and evolution of the Internet, has left Kleiner Perkins to start her own company. Meeker’s insights have been influential among communicators and marketers, pointing the way to emerging channels and opportunities that have opened new opportunities connect with consumers. Hopefully, this venture will give Meeker new energy and scope to stay on the leading edge. We all benefit from her insights.

The trend of young people abandoning Facebook continues. What happens to communications programs and planning in light of the continuing shift of young people away from Facebook? Are you shifting your programs to allocate more resources to YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat or other channels to compensate for shifts in usage of Facebook?

Interview with Simon Armstrong about Marketing to Gen Z travelers. Simon Armstrong was born in York, United Kingdom and grew up in the Northern English Counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire before studying at the University of Liverpool and University of Central Lancashire. Following his graduation, Simon worked as a Sports Journalist at the Press Association, but at the age of 23 he succumbed to his desire to teach and travel.

Working as an ESL, English Language and Literature teacher and Coordinator, he worked at international schools in Indonesia, Switzerland, Brazil and Canada before settling in Prague, Czech Republic. In the Ancient Czech capital, Simon also discovered tour guiding on the weekends as a means to satisfy his thirst for history and showmanship.

This foray into the travel and tourism industry, combined with his extensive knowledge of the International Baccalaureate program led him to establish CAS Trips in 2013.

Hosts: Leif Pettersen of Leif Pettersen PR and Chris Christensen of BloggerBridge.com and AmateurTraveler.com.

This week we delve into details about the power of polarization. Brands can certainly benefit, and this article shows exactly how Nike and Dick’s saw an increase in certain metrics after they took a particular political stand. Their experience shows that brands can reap benefits both from the positive and negative sentiment around a particular conversation. We wish more companies would take a stand on things that energize their most passionate advocates.

Next up is our favorite medium: podcasts. This story about how American Airlines turned an internal short podcast into a marketing benefit is worth noting. The podcast covers the behind-the-scenes thinking on airline policies. It was originally meant for employees, but executives decided to post the episodes publicly, saying “There really is no such thing as internal communications anymore.”

Speaking about podcasts, some media companies have begun to sour on using them. The problem is one of managing expectations, and that quality costs money. NPR’s “Serial” podcast is a good case-in-point: it was well done, but expensive. 

We close this week’s show by talking about how the inevitable disappointment in voice (aka Alexa-based) marketing has set in, as witnessed by Marketing Week. Yes, the interface isn’t as intuitive as it could be, and certainly nowhere as comprehensive as typing on a keyboard. Plus, we all like to see the stuff we intend to buy, even if it is just a picture online. That reminds us of our favorite “Star Trek” clip of Mr. Scott, trying to use voice commands, only to end up typing on the keyboard. 

 

Futurum senior analyst Olivier Blanchard joins FIR host Shel Holtz to talk about how AI can improve the results of A/B testing (and other things). Also on this week’s episode:

* Recurring video series are gaining viewers on IGTV

* Farewell, Carma, after some 14 years as an FIR sponsor

* Ticketmaster has a scandal on its hands. But is it a PR nightmare?

* Amazon is investigating employees who accepted bribes to manipulate data

* Meet the newest social network, TripAdvisor

* Want to get paid for recommending products? There’s an app for that

* Ad campaigns do better with AI

* Legislators wonder if AI could violate your civil rights

* Walmart is rolling out VR training to all employees

* A VR lounge has opened at JFK’s Terminal 4

* American Airlines explains the rationale for decisions to employees via a podcast

* Some companies are bowing out of podcasting

* A student is making $10,000 a month with Alexa skills

* Split-screen design is a growing trend

* The love-hate relationship with the hamburger icon

* The Nike boycott is over, thanks in part to its polarizing effect on customers

* Consumers are demanding better treatment of women and minorities from companies

* Media, entertainment, and consumer brands are banding together to get out the vote

* A 10-state strike by McDonald’s employees over sexual harassment is a values blow to the burger chain

Also, Dan York reports from Panama on Twitter’s new chronological timeline option, a Mastodon podcast, Mozilla’s VR browser, Amazon’s Echo announcements, and the Gutenberg editor.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

About Olivier Blanchard

Olivier Blanchard is a French-born, American-based Brand Management and Digital Marketing consultant, the author of two best-selling books, and an acclaimed keynote speaker. As a Senior Analyst with Futurum Research, Olivier helps organizations better understand the crucial role that emerging technologies like Cloud computing, Big Data, Virtualization, Augmented Reality, Smart Automation, IoT and AI will play their industries and markets over the next 10 to 20 years. Though based in the US, his geographic range extends beyond North America to Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Olivier is the author of the best-selling #1 social business desk reference for digital managers and business executives: Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts In Your Organization (Que/Pearson). Olivier is also a sought-after subject-matter expert and corporate trainer.

Links from this episode

* Instagram’s IGTV sees growing popularity of episodic videos

* ‘A public relations nightmare’: Ticketmaster recruits pros for secret scalper program

* Amazon investigates claims staff sold customer data, wiped poor reviews for a fee

* TripAdvisor Is Turning Itself Into a Social Platform for Travel Lovers

* App will pay you for product recommendations

* The robot revolu...

Disciplines and functions are converging within organizations—and that can lead to more efficient, successful companies. But to blend functions easily, communication professionals will need to collaborate with other disciplines and departments, including through cross-functional training. It is equally important that communication leaders cast a more disciplined eye on the competencies of their staffs while exploring new models for the structure of communications within their organizations.

Four IABC Fellows met on a Google Hangout on Air on Thursday, September 20, to discuss the blending and reshaping of internal and external communication — as well as marketing and corporate communications — in this hour-long conversation that included questions from communicators watching the panel in real time.

About the panel:

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance with the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, accredited by both IABC and PRSA. She is Managing Director of Business DNA, based in South Africa, which provides strategic research and consulting, including communication audits, customer service and other focused research and training in communication skills. Her career has also included a 15-year stint as a research manager for the National Productivity Institute.

James E. Lukaszewski, America’s Crisis Guru ®, is a bestselling author, national speaker, and trusted strategic advisor to FPO and NPO business operators and leaders during crises, disasters, reputation attacks, contentiousness and when the boss’s future is at stake. Corporate Legal Times listed him as “one of 22 crisis counselors to have in your speed dial when all hell breaks loose.” For more than 30 years, he has confidentially guided hundreds of company leaders thru tough, touchy, sensitive situations. Lukaszewski’s strategies inspire constructive, ethical problem resolving management behavior. A powerful and inspirational speaker, he teaches executives and managers the lessons he has learned. A prolific author, he is quoted and interviewed often as one of the most recognizable leaders in his profession. Lukaszewski is on the web at www.e911.com.

Jim Shaffer is a business advisor, leadership coach, author, and speaker. As leader of the Jim Shaffer Group, he helps organizations accelerate results through superior strategy execution. The Jim Shaffer Group creates hard business results by translating the business strategy to the people who need to implement it, aligning systems, processes, and culture to make the gains sustainable. Jim was an architect and leading practitioner of Towers Perrin’s (now Towers Willis Watson) change management consulting practice. He designed and produced the IABC Academy Course, “Managing Change Communication to Drive Results and Value.” Some of his change management clients have included: Abbott, ConAgra Foods, FedEx, IBM, ITT, Mayo Clinic, Medtronic, Owens Corning, Pfizer, Toyota.