Category Archives: b2b

How corporate speak may be hurting your business

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Corporate speak is an unfortunate consequence of attempts to develop relatable messaging that can remain relevant and least likely to offend mass audiences. In a professional setting, people don’t say “I’ll get back to you later.” Instead, they say “Let’s circle back on that ahead of our next call,” as if the idea of walking in an ideological circle is somehow easier to understand. But we all use it, and many business owners have fully embraced corporate speak in their company culture without considering the impact its wanton use could have on their business.

In the end, this language transcends the office environment and can contribute to stakeholders’ and the public’s general perception of your company’s image. And corporate speak that may have once resonated with employees, prospective employees and customers, may no longer be connecting with millennials and Gen Z.

PR Newswire recently listed some of corporate America’s go-to terms of today, as reported by Adweek. They found the use of the word “thrilled” in press releases has increased 61% since 2017, “passion” increased by 54%, “industry-leading” by 98% and “pioneering” by 151% – that’s a lot of new pioneers in a 7-year span. From the outside, it may look like there are more pioneers than new lands to explore.

Those entering the workforce recognize repetitive and often redundant corporate speak as overused and ridiculous. Many are already fluent in the intent behind the general messaging. For example, they know that “Per the above message” in an email thread means “Please actually read my last email.” They are digital natives and speak the language. As Business Insider reports, they are tired of unnecessary and indirect words.

Recruiting is easier when everyone speaks the same language

There are likely hundreds of articles published in the past year discussing the complicated current state of recruiting and attracting talent, both for job seekers and creators.  As businesses seek to attract top talent by positioning their companies as great places to work, words like “family atmosphere” and “work hard, play hard” begin to creep into job descriptions. The overused terms convey a vagueness that can create an atmosphere of distrust. This can actively discourage candidates from applying for or accepting your job offer.

Instead, when recruiting, business leaders should consider a more direct approach   – outside their comfort zone perhaps. Often, the first step is to take a long look in the mirror. Do you really think your company with thousands of employees is a family? Likely not. So instead of positioning your company like a family, share details on how teams are structured, provide insights into how a new hire would function as a part of that team and share how that team supports the company’s goals. By avoiding indirect and flowery language, it is more likely a candidate will approach your job offer with genuine interest and enthusiasm.

Corporate speak may be damaging reputations

The damage of overutilized corporate speak goes beyond recruiting.  It can make its way into external communications and shape customer perceptions of your brand. Think about the last time you were told the price of a good or service was increasing and how that felt. Probably not a great feeling? The first instinct for anyone delivering bad news to their customers is to find a way to soften the blow. They’ll often put together softer language for communications highlighting premium features and promises of a better customer experience.

In practice, this frustrates audiences. At best, it is viewed as a halfhearted attempt to spin bad news into something positive. At worst, it is viewed as dishonest. This can create additional communications challenges a company could have avoided if it had delivered the bad news plainly and clearly.

How do we overcome corporate speak?

While most industries are inundated with corporate speak that will likely never be fully extracted, there is something business leaders can do to overcome some of the problems this jargon creates.

When developing messaging, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Is what I am saying making sense?
  • Do my words convey real and relevant information?
  • Will this message resonate with my audience?
  • Am I avoiding corporate buzz words, like those mentioned above, that audiences have learned to gloss over?
  • Am I talking down to my audience??

Leaders across the company from the c-suite to HR and marcomm may find they do not like the answers to the above questions. This may warrant a change in communications – internal, external, casual and formal. However, by being aware of corporate speak and the damage its overuse can cause, leaders can better position their teams to deliver more effective messages that are not only heard, but more positively received.

2025: Do You Have a Communication Strategy? You Should

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As many businesses and non-profits begin to turn their attention to 2025 planning, one component that should not be overlooked as part of a success strategy for the new year is communication or comms planning. An effective public relations campaign can prove to be both an affordable investment in growing your organization as well as in deepening important reputational relationships that can help sustain for- and non-profit organizations in troubled times.

Here are five critical tactics for B2B organizations to consider when developing 2025 comms strategies.

  1. Highlight Industry Expertise. In the world of B2B marketing and communications, clients and partners look for actionable, tested expertise. By positioning your subject matter experts as thought leaders through authoritative content, you position your brand as a potential resource for your target audiences while demonstrating your deep understanding of, and vision for, the industry you’re in. That content can include contributed articles to respected trade outlets, white papers, industry reports, owned video content and feature-length broadcast interviews on hot topics or industry trends.
  2. Develop Authentic Messaging. Whether your audience is business or consumer, the public at large is tired of being sold to or fed boilerplate marketing messaging. Don’t sell. Instead, tell stories to highlight the purpose and values of your brand that address the concerns of your audience. No one looks for a sales pitch; they look for anecdotes, reviews and stories in which they recognize themselves or their priorities. Your audiences are more likely to turn to the sources of those stories or analogies when seeking solutions and opportunities.
  3. Focus on Data-driven Solutions. B2B audiences look for track records of success supported by hard data. Highlighting successful partnerships or projects supported by numbers and real-world outcomes creates a point of distinction and gives trade journalists something to work with when telling stories that can shine a light on your brand. This can also include information on lessons-learned and client testimonials.
  4. Be Prepared for Crisis Scenarios. From online review sites to social media platforms, the public-at-large can rapidly shape public perception of your brand in minutes or hours. By preparing for likely crisis scenarios and developing actionable protocols to deploy your response messaging, your organization stands a better chance in weathering whatever storms may come. Paramount to protecting your brand in a crisis scenario is developing messaging that is honest, authentic, empathetic and deployed with thoughtful speed.
  5. Pursue a Broadening Media Landscape. While rumors regarding the demise of journalism have been abundant in the past decade or more, the reality is the media landscape has broadened considerably. Where there once existed only print, broadcast and online, there are now podcasts, streaming platforms, vlogs, subscription-based email newsletters, audio-based social channels and even industry-specific Slack communities. The options are seemingly endless. Start by understanding the audiences you hope to reach and how they consume media. Then, plan accordingly.

If your 2025 marketing or business development plan lacks a clearly defined comms strategy, you are missing countless opportunities to convert the work you’re already doing into compelling storytelling that can move the needle for your brand. What’s worse, you may also be completely unprepared to defend your reputation if you find yourself facing a communications crisis. Make sure you have a 2025 comms strategy ready to go before January 1, 2025. And if you need help, Kimball Hughes Public Relations has nearly 30 years of expertise to help you make the most of the year ahead.

Navigating Conference Season: Take-aways from a Philly Cyber Risk Summit

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It’s conference season and this week I was fortunate to attend an industry event with a global draw – without hopping on a plane or train – in my hometown of Philadelphia. Insurance carriers, brokers, cyber risk assessment, breach recovery experts, legal, security, privacy professionals and more traveled to the City of Brotherly Love for three days of discussions on cyber risk hosted by NetDiligence®. For me, the event provided a valuable opportunity to learn about trends and challenges in the ever-evolving cyber space, to connect with clients, make new connections and of course check in with and coordinate meetings with trade reporters and editors on site.

As a public relations professional who has spent years working closely with the insurance industry, I know enough about cyber risk and cyber insurance to be dangerous. However, the speakers at the conference offered eye-opening insights on challenges in the cyber risk space, emerging risks including artificial intelligence, new technology and best practices for risk mitigation. Now, I know enough to keep me up at night.

For example, top cyber scams noted by Experian Head of Global Data Breach Resolution Michael Bruemmer included those related to fake news (particularly bad during election season), natural disasters, charities, sextortion (which can even include a photo of the recipient or their house) and QR codes. What I learned about QR codes maybe should have been obvious – it’s nearly impossible to tell the difference between a legitimate and illegitimate QR code with the naked eye.

For businesses, the top risk, according to NetDiligence, remains business email compromise. As to why the risk remains so high despite corporate teams working diligently to implement safety measures and train teams to spot these emails, Bruemmer said it’s the smart pitches from the criminals that appeal to human weakness. They just keep getting more creative.

Outside the sessions, I spent time roaming the exhibit hall and making new connections. Representatives were on site to talk about their cyber risk technology, mitigation services, cyber data mining services, e-discovery and more. While the usual water bottles, pens, mints and cozies adorned the tables, a robot, like a modern version of Rosey from the old Jetsons’ cartoon, roamed the floor proffering champagne from exhibitor KYND for attendees.

Additionally, I had the opportunity to connect a few clients with attending media for background conversations. At Kimball Hughes PR, we encourage our clients to leverage their attendance at conferences like this for potential media introductions or onsite interviews. Not only can conferences bring value in terms of continuing education credit, new business meetings and client relationship building, meeting with media members, who are often on-site at these events, can pay dividends in establishing you as a trusted source for future articles or even in a conference wrap-up piece.

We often suggest our clients bring us along to conferences where media is attending for boots-on-the-ground support. This way, we can coordinate additional on-site meetings, assist in fielding questions, assist in bringing trending conference topics to the conversation and seek out opportunities to comment on articles currently in the works.

While I’ll be happy to trade my dress shoes for sneakers in the days ahead, this industry conference, like so many others, was a fantastic opportunity to learn, further relationships and build new connections.

Stay tuned for more conference round-ups as members of the Kimball Hughes PR team continue to round the conference circuit throughout the month.

Share of Voice: Why it Matters and How Your Business Can Stand Out

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As we continue to navigate a fluid economic reality, many business leaders are on an ongoing mission to cut costs and justify spending. Endeavors that are immeasurable are frequently the first to go.

Public relations can easily fall into this category. Marketing can too, but the reality is there is no direct, measurable, line from PR to sales. But before company leaders label PR efforts as unquantifiable, they should look to the following data point, which can confirm their message is getting in front of the right audience thanks to their PR and marketing efforts: Share of Voice (SOV).

SOV allows companies to measure their brand awareness, health and visibility against industry competitors. It can be viewed as a measure of potential awareness by your target audience of your business and its branding. SOV is a trackable metric that demonstrates where your business stands among competitors in a given period of time. It can also demonstrate the PR and marketing tactics or messages that were most successful in raising awareness for your brand.  

At the same time, SOV can also provide insight into the most successful PR and marketing tactics of your competitors, giving you an even better idea of what might work for your audience. Further, SOV can point out any potential disconnect between what competitors are talking about and where your business chooses to focus its messaging.

Getting to Know Your Numbers

Calculating the metric is not rocket science. It requires aggregating your company’s media mentions and gathering data on industry competitors and their media mentions from the same points in time. Ideally, you’ll want to measure your SOV and that of your key competitors to get a benchmark before launching a PR campaign. Then, measure again during and after the campaign, to see how your company’s SOV has fared against your competitors.

The results can be eye-opening. We have found our clients see tremendous value in the metric – value they can bring before their board, investors and leadership team to pair with the organization’s overall efforts to achieve critical goals.

For example, at the end of 2022, a global insurtech company reached out to our agency looking to build SOV in the American insurance media market. At the time, they only had a 9.1% SOV and were struggling to breakthrough. Our team studied the approach of their competitors and developed a new, non-promotional PR approach focused on the dynamic personalities and interests of the co-founders and the state of the insurtech and insurance industries more broadly. This approach had a knock-on effect of demonstrating the company had its finger on the pulse of its core audience and their needs.

By avoiding outdated industry topics and blatant self-promotion, focusing on current trends and educating insurtech customers, we were able to secure dozens of media interviews and contributed articles for the company. By the third quarter of 2023 – just 9 months into our engagement – the company had established itself as the dominant voice among its competitors in the insurance media, with an SOV of 77.8%. This growth has corresponded with increased sales numbers and inbound product inquiries.

SOV is a powerful metric.  It can demonstrate the value of a strong, consistent and coordinated public relations campaign in partnership with good marketing. While there still is no direct line from PR to sales, a considerable uptick in SOV demonstrates your message is being broadcast, and if done correctly, it is broadcast to the audience most in need of receiving that message. As year-end planning begins, consider incorporating this metric into your 2025 planning to help make your company the top voice among your competitors.

What’s in an Address? Good PR Doesn’t Always Mean Big City Agencies, Hefty Price Tags

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There was a time when American businesses leaders could do no wrong if the consultants or vendors they hired were marquee names with storied addresses on K-Street in Washington, D.C., Madison Avenue in New York or were located among the scenic vistas of Silicon Valley. That time is over. Management has tired of paying for the geographic mark-up of posh addresses. New York City and Silicon Valley may have been known as go-to hot beds for finance and tech expertise, but cities in Texas, less recognized for offering that same level of expertise without the swanky digs, are quickly transforming the Lone Star State into a tech and financial hub.

Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab and Deloitte are expanding their presence in Dallas, lightly dubbed Y’all Street, according to The Wall Street Journal. At the same time, tech companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Oracle and Tesla have moved sizeable operations to Texas as well, noting a friendlier regulatory and tax environment and robust talent pool.

These companies do not want to spend Silicon Valley or New York City dollars to get the same-or-better quality and service they can get elsewhere. This thinking has long been a too well-kept secret in public relations. While business leaders may have previously assumed a large New York City PR firm was the only means of garnering impressive results, current trends are pointing to star PR talent in Texas, and elsewhere outside the high-rent districts of Manhattan.

Good PR does not have to cost $30k, $20k or even $10k a month. While some of the country’s most well-known global PR firms may have former presidential candidates to tout on their rosters, many boutique agencies have tenured professionals who not only know PR, but know your industry… and best of all, who will take the time to listen and get to know you because they value – and need – your business.

In fact, we often hear from clients who have come to us from large, global agencies. They tell us they were shocked by the both the price of admission to these goliath agencies, as well as the lack of access to senior talent at those agencies. Too often with larger firms, clients find themselves the victims of bait-and-switch routines with a junior staffer managing their account after an initial meeting with executives where they signed on as new clients. Or they find out that press releases or thought leadership writing are all additional costs outside the retainer agreement. Just as many tech and financial services companies have recognized, good expertise does not always come from the most expensive source.

That said, we are all also too familiar with the phrase “you get what you pay for.” Fantastic PR firms offering services at a fraction of the price of their larger counterparts are out there, but business leaders and their marketing and communications teams seeking support will have to do their homework to find a valued partner they can trust.

Contemplate the following dos and don’ts when considering a PR firm:

  • Don’t be fooled by a name or size. Simply because they have a celebrity on their roster or they are the biggest, does not mean they are the right fit for your company’s needs. Often, business owners can get more bang for their buck when it comes to PR by selecting a smaller agency with specialized expertise to fit their needs.
  • Don’t assume PR is expensive. PR does not have to be expensive. Campaigns can be tailored to fit your budget – within reason. A smaller, targeted campaign by a team who really understands how to reach a specific audience and what they are looking for can produce more results for less compared to an overly broad, national campaign.
  • Don’t let your company be nickeled and dimed. A good PR firm will not busy themselves with counting your hours and billing for every single. They will work with you. They will offer inclusive services, and not bill separately for press releases or writing services. (And on writing, ensure the agency you are considering has proven writers on staff.) Often, the best PR firms employ former journalists, who not only know what reporters are looking for, but know how to write like them to ensure the best possible reception among the journalists most important to you and the audiences you need to reach.
  • Do ask who will be working on your account to ensure the leadership team you spoke with at first doesn’t ghost you for the newest assistant.
  • Do consider a PR agency’s specialties and expertise in your industry.
  • Do look to references. Clients, and particularly former clients, can give you an honest opinion on whether an agency met or exceeded expectations, as well as their experience working with the team.

Most importantly, keep an open mind. Just as good tech solutions no longer come only from Silicon Valley, good PR is not provided exclusively by big city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars a month. Smart, committed and results-driven teams drive PR success and increasingly those folks can be found at boutique PR agencies that offer more manageable retainers.

Back-to-School: Business Edition

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It’s back-to-school season and the team at Kimball Hughes Public Relations knows this means changing things up at home for many. For business and non-profit leaders, September ushers in planning season for the year ahead while winding up 2024 priorities. Our team at Kimball Hughes PR is here to help you check off your list of communications initiatives for 2024 and prepare new strategies and initiatives for 2025. We’re just a phone call or email away. Just don’t ask us to pick the kids up from school.

Recent DEI Shifts Draw Attention to the Importance of Creating, Sticking to Company Brand Values

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Last month, Tractor Supply Co. announced a plan to retire all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals and eliminate all DEI roles at the company. The swift turn away from DEI came in response to a public social media campaign organized to boycott Tractor Supply for their DEI and ESG initiatives and goals.

In today’s social climate, we frequently see businesses pivoting quickly to avoid negative reactions and feedback from customers – whether we’re talking about shifting DEI focus, distancing a brand from a “cancelled” athlete or celebrity or something else. While in some cases, it may make sense to rush to adjust your company’s initiatives based on negative comments or a sudden social movement, some abrupt moves can lead to even more backlash and reputational damage.

Thoughtful planning, strategic thinking and consulting with legal and communications experts can assist your leadership in navigating a situation like this. But one of the best places to start, is to examine your brand values.

What are your brand values?

Brand values are the principles and beliefs of a company that leadership want to project upon consumers. Essentially, these are the key beliefs that guide the operation of the company and consumer perception of a brand. For example, if your business does work in the diversity, equity and inclusion space, then your core values may focus on respect, belonging and creating a culture focused on openness, innovation and handing the ladder down to create a more equitable workplace.

Before coming up with any new programs, creating content, running any media outreach, or organizing a strategic pivot, management should have clearly defined brand values that represent both the company’s goals and growth plans. These values should also align with your target audience and their interests and how you want your company to be viewed by them.

Citing another unfortunate incident in the DEI space, consider the recent controversial decision by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) to remove equity from their DEI strategy. On July 10, SHRM announced it would be moving forward with a focus solely on inclusion and diversity, which came as a surprise to many organization members.

SHRM’s decision was immediately met with intense backlash. Many human resource professionals canceled their SHRM memberships, a petition was started to oppose the decision, and many speakers pulled out of their upcoming conference. Generally, HR executives have found the decision to be disconnected from the core concepts of DEI and feel strongly that SHRM needs an equity-based approach to address workplace issues.

This was a misstep that could have been avoided. SHRM’s data had shown that people were not confident in the direction for progressing certain DEI initiatives. As a result, they ended up pulling back the equity portion. In this decision, they failed to recognize that a large portion of SHRM’s audience is very DEI focused and had been supportive as SHRM played a significant role in expanding DEI efforts across the human resources industry. SHRM’s brand values historically had been aligned with promoting DEI. An abrupt decision to seemingly rewrite their brand values and goals around uncertainty in the direction of the broader DEI movement has led to continued frustration.

Keeping Brand Values in Practice

The loudest voice in the room can be distracting, but leaders need to be careful not to let it be the guiding force behind any decision-making. A company’s brand values should be at the center of any decision. The loudest voice is not always representative of your target audience’s key interests and changing direction rashly without careful thought and professional consultation can lead to reputational damage or ruin.

While society continues to be largely divided on a number of issues, we can likely agree that a decision made in haste without considering your core audience or values, is likely not a smart move.

Before reacting, stop, think and consult with communications professionals. Think: What key messages are we relaying with this move and how will our audience respond?

Public opinion will always shift. That doesn’t mean your brand values should.

The Power and Peril of LinkedIn for Professionals

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Donald Trump has done more for black people than Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. combined.

Joe Biden finally beat Medicare, so we don’t have to worry about senior citizens anymore.

If grocery stores want me to bring my own bags, they should pay me.

Pat’s is the only place to get a real cheese steak in Philadelphia.

Let’s consider the visceral reactions many would have to the above statements if posted to LinkedIn by their professional connections. The key word here is visceral.

In my view, LinkedIn is not the place for sensitive social commentary. LinkedIn was created to help people present themselves for career opportunities and for professional networking. It has evolved, becoming a venue for creative expression, sharing of expertise and insights, for calling society to action on issues of industry and enterprise, and for holding a mirror up to our workplace lives – all through the lens of the professional. It is not Facebook, where personal perspective, political ideology and countless memes are central. It is not X (formerly Twitter), where reactionaries, visionaries, citizen journalists, political and social elites and the opinionated co-mingle. Nor is it Instagram, where humor and snark co-exist with vacation photos and musical dance routines or humorous pet antics.

LinkedIn, for good or ill, remains a platform for professional discourse with a splash of the personal that should not veer into jarring zealotry. Authenticity is important, but not at the expense of alienating important audiences that might disagree with your personal, beliefs. Courtesy, respect and being a compassionate human must be central to interactions in any professional environment — virtual or in person.

You would not walk into a job interview and begin the conversation with your unsolicited views on abortion. A company-wide Zoom meeting where the boss, or anyone else, shares why her preferred political candidate is the only rational choice could constitute a hostile work environment. No sane person would begin a new business presentation by explaining why their religion is superior to others. And certainly no one enjoys that one uncle who comes to Thanksgiving dinner eager to share his criticisms of your parenting, lifestyle, romantic partner, personal finances or who also publicly shames Aunt Mable’s latest obsession with sequin holiday sweaters.

Many of us were taught that some topics are not appropriate in the workplace or even certain family functions. Most importantly, in professional circles would you want your hard-earned qualifications and accomplishments overshadowed entirely because of the personal beliefs or opinions you share that have little or no bearing on your performance in the workplace?

We counsel clients to always strive for an authentic voice on social media that best reflects the organization or individual’s values and professional strengths. No one should feel the need to contort themselves into something they are not, either in the office or on LinkedIn. However, we live in a polarized world. Adding to the cacophony of militant opinions or strident arguments in a professional setting serves almost no one. This isn’t to say social media can’t be a tool for advocacy; rather, it’s simply that LinkedIn is often not the appropriate platform.

Consider your strongly held views or opinions posted to LinkedIn may negatively impact your employer’s ability to:

  • Recruit talent
  • Retain emerging professionals
  • Win new business
  • Fundraise
  • Attract new vendor partners
  • Hold on to existing customer relationships
  • Maintain the respect and support of the communities and audiences important to them

Moreover, sharing your personal beliefs on sensitive social topics on LinkedIn might also serve to harm your career. What if employers and others believe those views, however well intentioned, might bleed into the workplace and create potential management challenges with you, your direct reports or with clients?

When you reach for that “Start a post” option on LinkedIn, remember to be thoughtful, kind and intentional. What and how you post on LinkedIn is a reflection of your character, comportment and professional judgement. If you assume future employers, employees, customers and others aren’t going to look at LinkedIn — and maybe do a lot more scrolling than you think before entrusting you with their reputation, careers, money or more — you would be mistaken. A LinkedIn post, especially one written in haste, can do considerable harm. Equally so, a thoughtful and professional piece of content shared on LinkedIn can benefit you, and your employer, greatly. Proceed with caution, respect and offer the grace and kindness you would seek for yourself when engaging on this most powerful of professional platforms. And remember, always, that nothing on the internet ever truly goes away.

If you are a business or nonprofit leader, get in touch with Kimball Hughes Public Relations to ensure you have a social media policy and protocols to protect the reputation of your organization and those to whom you entrust. And if you are facing a reputational crisis, prompted by social media or other factors, we also provide Crisis Communications services to help you as well. Contact us at info@kimballpr.com or call (610) 559-7585.

Communicating during a cyber crisis – What to do when the network fails

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Two weeks ago, few people had heard of CrowdStrike outside of information technology providers. All it took was one update to be deployed to a live environment on the morning of Friday, July 19 – released before it could be properly tested – for everyone to suddenly learn how pervasive the company’s technology is throughout the world of business. It has been reported by the BBC that over 8.5 million devices were impacted by the global IT outage, including everything from self-check-in kiosks at airports to the cloud networking systems that businesses use to maintain connection with international team members.

The CrowdStrike outage is only the most recent example demonstrating how interconnected the world has become. Nine times out of 10, this interconnectivity works to our benefit in the form of a diverse global economy connected to the best minds and workforces in the world regardless of location. But that one instance when the system fails can lead to panic, business interruption, a chaotic situation and of course, a costly mess.

A massive network disconnection prompts the question, “What do we do now?”

While global outages like this may be largely unavoidable, there are best practices that businesses and individuals can follow so they are prepared for the next time the network goes down.

  • Ensure everyone knows what to do

When Kimball Hughes Public Relations works with businesses to develop communications and crisis communications plans, we prioritize working with our clients to develop steps to take in the event of a cyber-attack or major outage. When digital productivity platforms like Slack or Teams go down, most team members will fall back on another digital platform like email or text messages. But what if those forms of communication have also been disrupted? Do your team members know how to react when they become disconnected?

This is where regular review of communication policies and clear procedures for an emergency come in. These reviews are critical, and communication policies should be accessible to every office member. In addition to procedures, team leads should know who to contact in an emergency and have multiple ways of contacting them via email and telephone. This information should be stored in multiple secure locations, including in an online cloud server and a physical copy should be kept in a secure but accessible location.

  • Create back up plans for your back up plans

Because emergencies are unpredictable by their very nature, it is nearly impossible to predict which systems will go down next time. With the CrowdStrike outage, it was computers running the Windows operating system – but next time it could be Mac, Linux, or maybe even some obscure system the general public has never heard of that manages a major utility. Businesses should have contingencies for every method of communication they use. For example, if email servers go down, teams should be ready to communicate regularly over the phone. If the power goes out, team members should know where to meet in person to remain in sync and decide on next steps.

  • Trust in teams

When teams are armed with the information they need and prepared with clear goals, a business has a better chance of ensuring resiliency during and after crisis periods.

Consider the actions of the airlines during the most recent outage. While flights were grounded and passengers were left in an information blackout, some airline teams deployed lower tech solutions. For example, some moved to writing gate and flight information on whiteboards to keep information moving and calm travelers. While this was not an ideal situation, the team was able to work with the resources they had on hand and in real time, rather than being paralyzed by the outage. This is why regular communications training can be incredibly important. Team members who know what to do with the minimal amount of guidance during an emergency have the best chance of remaining effective until the crisis passes.

When the network goes down, communication channels are usually the first to collapse. By following the above tips, businesses can be sure their teams know how to remain in contact when technology fails.

Fallen Arches: McDonald’s AI Failure Is a Caution for Business Leaders

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Not lovin’ it. That’s the takeaway from McDonald’s recent abandonment of AI for its drive-thru ordering. The fast-food chain’s decision to end its AI experiment speaks to the larger trend of AI not yet being quite ready to solve a host of problems for business.

Artificial intelligence offers the promise of a new and more efficient business environment … just not quite yet.

McDonald’s hoped its AI-driven drive-thru ordering would create more accurate and efficient ordering. However, the tech proved no match for humans in the wild. Background noise, the nuances of human communication and, I imagine, some of the hallucinations AI technology is famous for combined to generate customer-frustrating errors, including one infamous order for more than $250 worth of Chicken McNuggets. While the fast-food chain says it learned from and has plans for future AI implementations, the reality is the Golden Arches sees AI as a future state tool rather than a current operational solution.

Other industries are finding the same.

In an interview with Insurance Journal last November, Insurtech CEO Tim Hardcastle of INSTANDA discussed the challenges of AI transparency, saying the full transformational impact of AI in insurance remained a few years away.

What frustrates consumers — and many business leaders — about AI is really a perception problem. While companies boast about the promise of AI, the truth is we are in a state of ongoing beta testing. Even Google, the defacto leader in online search, is feeling its way through as end-users find significant inaccuracies and false answers to certain queries of its AI search tool.

Where does this leave businesses and the race to AI implementation?

We have been here before. In the late 2000s, businesses raced to adopt social media. “We have to be there” was the mantra, while the reasons for being on these platforms were somewhat opaque. We saw a similar approach during the rise of voice search and voice recognition. And I believe we are in a similar place today with AI.

Absent a new AI tool to promote, some business leaders perceive they are running behind. However, aside from some common and long-standing applications, AI is currently a solution in search of problems.

Don’t misunderstand me. I think AI will eventually change how business is done, radically in fact. Just not yet. We haven’t worked out the bugs. The guardrails aren’t in place. And we haven’t fully mapped the real, day-to-day challenges AI might address, although that has begun.

The perception problem extends to consumers. AI is seen as our flying car, and by God, it’s here and we want it to work.

Neither the technology industry nor others with have messaged appropriately on AI. They haven’t told us this is one big beta test. They haven’t cautioned us to expect errors. Sure, the media calls out egregious examples, but the businesses incorporating AI could also be more transparent. We haven’t set expectations appropriately; we talk about the transformative power of AI and consumers assume we mean now, not in the future.

When the problem is perception, you have to change people’s perceptions.

Business leaders — from fast-food chains and insurance providers to the financial services sector and big box retailers — would benefit tremendously from better AI messaging. Consider talking about what AI can mean for their companies as well as customers, but caution that this is a learning process. Survey your consumers. Offer research. Invite consumers to help you test your new AI tools.

I’m confident a majority of consumers would get it and many would be willing to be part of this great, new digital industrial revolution experiment. But we must call it what it is: an experiment. We must move consumer perceptions of AI as a current silver bullet to a potential, future game-changer.

There’s precedent for this: The Human Genome Project. The public conversation around this 10+ year effort was about possibility, potential and promise. Not a current-state solution to contemporary problems. The messaging, from the researchers, the media and governments, was clear, which set the expectations — and the perceptions — of the public.

We don’t have an AI problem. We have a perception problem, and we have the tools to address it. What we need is for better messaging to meet the moment.