Category Archives: in the news

Widow’s Bay: Communications Lessons from this Year’s Emmy Darling

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Photo by AppleTV

This week’s 78th Primetime Emmy’s saw a dark horse sweep the comedy categories. The Apple TV hit “Widow’s Bay” won a historic 14 awards, breaking the record for most awards won in a single night by a freshman comedy.

For those who haven’t yet tuned in, the series centers around a fictional New England island community afflicted by a strange curse that manifests in different supernatural occurrences terrorizing residents. We follow Mayor Tom Loftis—played by Matthew Rhys, who nabbed two lead acting awards at the Emmy’s this year—as he tries to turn the town into a tourist hot-spot and bring the island into the 21st century.

The show’s inciting incident is a familiar set up for PR professionals. Miraculously, Rhys’ character secures a visit from a New York Times travel reporter to profile the town. However, we quickly see the idyllic charm presented to the writer is only a veneer for something much more sinister. The mayor’s endeavors, while often misguided, offer a look at the power of earned media and how leading with false promises can end badly. 

The Value in Third Party Validation  

Widow’s Bay invites viewers to witness how off-putting the mayor’s aggressive self-promotion appears. It isn’t until The New York Times, a well-known and trusted publication verifies the town’s potential as a charming, coastal getaway that the tourism floodgates fully open. 

Fans of the show watch as the reporter enjoys a picturesque Cape Cod-like experience on the island, while any threat to image the mayor is promoting is snuffed out or concealed. Consequently, an idyllic experience is what the reporter conveys to readers, resulting in a flock of visitors to the island. The show accurately represents the hoped-for or intended outcome of earned media—building trust and credibility to ultimately affect peoples’ perceptions and behavior. We take issue with the deception or concealed realities—always something to be avoided in public relations—but the impact, especially in a world where consumers rely on AI search results fueled by earned media along with online reviews, aligns with the core function of good public relations.

Unfortunately, once the tourists arrived, the island’s penchant for the macabre begins to seep through. Earned media lends brands a sense of credibility, but it’s up to the organization and its leadership to deliver the proof. 

Reputational Risk

From the beginning, Rhys’s portrayal of the mayor is of someone frequently trying to cover up the town’s sordid past from being exposed, first to the reporter and later the tourists themselves. In his attempt to boast Widow’s Bay as a dream destination, the mayor turns a blind eye to the reputational risk the island faces by welcoming tourists when a dangerous supernatural awakening is afoot. Eventually, this deferred reality puts residents’ and tourists’ safety at risk. 

While most organizations are unlikely to withhold a supernatural curse from the public, transparency should still be part of any communications strategy. 

Skeletons in the closet? Share them with your public relations team. This means being open with your communications partner about any potential risks. The PR team can only help to address issues of concern if they are shared, with recommendations to resolve them and maintain control over the narrative. When management views are shaded through rose-colored glasses, a good PR team can come in with a strategic view looking at how the company and its news could be viewed from a variety of perspectives. But the organization has to be willing to acknowledge where perception and reality fail to meet and act to resolve those gaps.

Crisis Communications 

Without diving too deeply into spoiler territory, the final episode of the season sees Mayor Tom Loftis reckoning with the warning signs he tried to ignore. In his attempt to modernize the community and revive their struggling economy, he let the town’s warnings mushroom into a full-blown threat, risking the safety of everyone on the island. As a result, other members of his office are left to navigate a crisis with minimal framework and little guidance from their leader, further souring tourists’ impression of the town. 

The best time to start planning your crisis communications is well before a crisis happens. The Widow’s Bay mayor failed to acknowledge a crisis, despite all the warning signs. Business leaders can’t afford to make that mistake. Working with communications partners to see where and how they can get ahead of issues before they escalate into full-blown reputational threats is often challenging, but ultimately goes a long way to protect all those involved. A good PR team will help you prepare thoughtful messaging that leads with empathy and focuses on the facts. 

It remains to be seen how Tom Loftis’ bungled PR strategy will impact the fictional town’s fate in the next season. In the meantime, we can learn from his missteps and point to the value of a comprehensive communications strategy that respects the value of third-party validation, considers reputational risk from every angle and prepares for the worst.  

What does Widow’s Bay teach us about PR? Good PR can put your business on the map, but make sure you understand just what could rise up from below before you summon its power.

Claude Mark: Why AI writers can no longer hide

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For those who felt AI had given them license to embrace their inner-but-challenged wordsmith persona, August 10, 2026 will forever be a black mark on their calendars. 

That’s the day Anthropic, the company that created AI tool Claude, announced it will now embed what it called an “imperceptible watermark” directly into all AI-generated text. In practical terms, if a user employs Claude to write, edit or refine any text, that AI watermark will follow said text forever. You can download or copy and paste the text; either way, that text carries an AI Scarlet Letter for all to see. 

TechCrunch reported Anthropic’s move was designed to comply with the European Union’s AI Act, and more specifically, it’s Transparency Code. The Act took effect on Aug. 2. Other companies offering AI platforms, according to TechCrunch, have also committed to complying with the EU’s AI Act. Generally, this likely means all AI text will eventually bear watermarks.

AI users should proceed with caution. Even if one were to write an op/ed or other contributed article and merely run it through AI for a grammar check or simple edit to tighten language, that original content—once inserted into a Claude AI platform, and likely others in the future—will be watermarked as AI generated.

For business and nonprofit executives who regularly submit thought leadership content to third-party publishers, this development may cause any content touched by AI even slightly to run afoul of an outlet’s writers’ guidelines. The result could lead to rejection of the article or an outright ban of the author to make future contributions to the outlet. It all depends on the outlet’s AI particular policies. 

For the AI-built Colleen Hoover wannabes out there, this latest AI development appears to be a potential roadblock to the write-without-much-effort movement AI seems to have fostered. However, for those seeking genuine creativity and deep, experiential expertise across a range of content types, this development is a good thing. It forces writers and those who aspire to write to embrace an essential truth: write what you know; not what Claude or others know. This is a net positive for the writers as well as the readers. It also helps to better safeguard authenticity. 

For executives looking to share their thinking within their industries or broader communities, understanding the burgeoning restrictions on AI content and how third-party publishers are handling AI-generated or edited content is paramount. Expert commentary and content have long been a central element of any reputation management program. AI offered the potential to put this at risk. Handled correctly, with care and understanding of the perspectives of publishers, companies and non-profits will be better prepared to recognize and abide by guardrails put in place to ensure genuine and original thinking still hold sway in the writing process. And, of course, a good public relations team can further ensure those reputations are better protected, the content is original and no executive is harmed by the use of artificial intelligence.

What Does Artificial Intelligence Say About Your Company’s Reputation? 

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When Google released their Analytics platform in the early 2000s, the traditional playbook businesses had used to market themselves, demonstrate credibility and measure those efforts had to be completely reworked. 

And here we go again. 

In the years that have passed since the launch of Google Analytics, tech experts have been working diligently to take us to the next level – to harness, organize and act upon volumes of data. 

Enter artificial intelligence (AI). 

What was once a game of improving a business’ search engine optimization (SEO) ranking through keywords, backlinks and other factors, has now evolved into a new challenge of demonstrating credibility to the Large Language Models (LLM) that are fast becoming the first stop for many in how information is discovered and understood. 

The rise of AI search 

According to a survey by McKinsey & Company, 50% of consumers were using AI-powered search as of October 2025. As AI tools become more sophisticated, that percentage is likely to rise, making it critical that brands begin addressing their AI search credibility. With this increase in popularity, business leaders will find that consumers assess their business’ authority and trustworthiness based on AI’s interpretation of the organization’s online presence. 

Platforms like ChatGPT or Google Gemini pull from a wealth of data points that analyze brands based on factors such as how often a brand is mentioned in the media, expertise on a subject and more. In short, AI platforms depend on third-party credibility to rank trustworthiness. 

Measuring trust 

The data points and rules in place for AI platforms to analyze information are constantly changing based on a multitude of factors. However, because the internet is flooded with generic and increasingly less credible AI-generated content, AI platforms tend to prioritize third-party validation. Thought leadership content, interviews and mentions on reputable media sites including national, regional, business and industry trade press are considered highly credible by AI platforms and feed search summaries. 

LinkedIn is another area AI is increasingly prioritizing for search queries. However, AI search algorithms rely more on how other users reference and interact with a brand across LinkedIn including posts, newsletters, articles, videos and more rather than the LinkedIn posts a business publishes on their own page. 

AI is a moving target

As business leaders look to better understand AI-powered search and improve their brand’s credibility in search queries, they should keep in mind that the technology is ever changing. 

Beyond the platform updates and expanded capabilities, regulatory scrutiny is shaping the future of AI search and will likely continue to do so for years to come. But that should not discourage businesses from investing in their online presence. In fact, it makes a strong case for continued or even additional investment in earned media coverage, thought leadership, owned content and more. Beyond AI-powered search, these communication channels offer businesses more control of their company narrative and their reputation. 

While business leaders cannot manipulate how AI platforms respond, they can have a hand in some of the authoritative information online about their company that is feeding AI’s algorithms. As AI search evolves, the companies investing in building credibility through earned media, thought leadership and thoughtful owned content are building a digital reputation best positioned for success now and into the future. 

Houston, We Have a Problem: A Female First Campaign Lost in Space

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Pop star Katy Perry, news anchor Gayle King and four other high-profile women launched into space this week with high hopes of inspiring a swell of female empowerment. But, the Blue Origin 11-minute flight—carrying six glamorous women in full make up, donning matching blue, fitted spacesuits —did not resonate with the public as intended. Instead, it launched a chorus of criticism by celebrities and others who bashed the event as tone deaf and an empty show of feminism.

So, what went wrong? How did this “one giant stunt for womankind,” as a critic from The New York Times called it, go wrong and how might a different comms approach have produced a more positive outcome?

Exploring the Issue

The flight was part of the New Shepard program at Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos. In announcing the flight, the women described the trip as an endeavor to encourage STEM careers and female empowerment, according to interviews with Elle.

The rocket, which pilots itself, carried Perry and King, as well as aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and Lauren Sanchez, a journalist and Bezos’s fiancée. Even though the women were not space professionals, the Blue Origin team labeled the group as the rocket’s “astronaut crew.”  Blue Origin described them as storytellers who inspire others —as advocates for students in STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), civil rights, philanthropy, overcoming adversity and more.

While the trip may have been designed to encourage girls to consider STEM careers, the women aboard were seen as space tourists. They were not operating the rocket or fulfilling any astronaut responsibilities and left audiences reaching to connect them with STEM.

Upping Their Game

Could the right communications approach have changed the outcome here? Maybe. However, we do see a few areas where Blue Origin could have better executed this mission.

  • Authenticity in messaging: Blue Origin thought they were planning a mission to inspire young girls and women to explore new careers, but the wealthy, well-connected women selected to participate did not relate well to audiences. Brands need to ensure their messaging is authentic, compelling and connects to their audiences. The public watching and reading about the launch are not millionaires or billionaires who can afford the undisclosed ticket price. Audiences might have better received a passenger manifesto made up of successful women in STEM, rather than celebrities and journalists.
  • The brand’s reputation: Amazon, also founded by Bezos, has a reputation for disregarding the environment with its packaging and fleet of delivery vehicles in constant motion across the globe. While Blue Origin claims to be sustainably minded using reusable rockets and researching ways to encourage sustainability through space exploration, many viewed the rocket launch as damaging to the environment, as well as a waste of resources when many are experiencing financial hardship. Blue Origin may have been better served by hosting more female scientists like Bowe on the mission, conducting research to further sustainability, and creating messaging to show how those initiatives might connect to the brand.
  • Optics: Full-makeup, perfect blow-outs and designer matching spacesuits set a new tone for space exploration. Blue Origin’s comms team should have considered the optics of the women posing in slinky suits with professional makeup and hair. The comms team should have considered suggesting attire that looked less Hollywood and more professional rather than monied glamour.
  • Leveraging post-event energy: After the women returned to Earth and interviews were conducted, audiences were left feeling flat. Perhaps a post-event press conference with the women talking about the next steps for advancements in STEM for females, for which this mission has opened doors, would have conveyed a real commitment, garnered more attention and furthered a goal of female empowerment.

While the launch gained plenty of media attention, the resulting backlash has not benefited Blue Origin or the six women who chose to board the rocket. When considering a media stunt or event, be sure to think strategically. Not doing so could leave your brand identity lost in space.

Play Ball! Grand Opening Tips Inspired by Major League Baseball’s Opening Day

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Coined by many as the “official start of spring,” millions of people around the U.S. look forward to Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Opening Day every year. Whether fans are attending games in person, watching live on television or from their mobile devices, the start of MLB continues to draw national attention year after year.

While local businesses do not have the MLB’s platform or budget, business owners can draw inspiration from Opening Day to maximize their grand opening events. When done correctly, a grand opening can serve as a homerun for your business growth strategy. When approached as just another to-do among many, owners can miss a key opportunity to introduce their businesses to the community and generate excitement among potential customers. Just like the MLB’s Opening Day, a new business needs to give the public something to root for.

Hitting it out of the park

MLB’s Opening Day stirs up excitement among fans and provides an opportunity to showcase new rosters and skills. Grand openings can give new businesses a chance to call on future fans to consider their goods or services while shining stadium-style bright lights on the business itself. To make the most of a grand opening, business leaders should plan effectively, tap into the local community and engage the media with a meaningful story.

  • Have an impactful plan: To draw in the community, business owners need to host an attention-worthy event. While they could simply open the doors and hope for the masses to come walking in, the results would likely be disappointing. When planning an event, business owners should consider their clientele, what might motivate them to visit and how they can engage them once they have arrived. Food and refreshments, partnering with local vendors, coordinating donations to local charities, selling raffles or providing activities for children are great places to start. Details should be highlighted in all marketing efforts. 
  • Tap into the community: Community involvement is a crucial asset in the process of opening a business. From collecting insights from fellow business owners, to building a repeat customer base, community support is irreplaceable. Business owners should consider inviting local dignitaries, business connections and key community members in the area to the grand opening. It is important to have enough lead time to send out invitations, secure a spot on community calendars and promote the event. Social media groups and community bulletins can also be effective tools in getting the word out.
  • Engage the media: When trying to promote a grand opening, there is no substitute for media coverage. Print and broadcast exposure can reach a much broader audience than a business owner might on their own. While advertising with local media is an option, earned media provides valuable visibility without added costs. The key, however, is to identify what makes a particular grand opening, or business in the area special or newsworthy. The opening alone may not rise to the level of newsworthiness in some communities.

When we look to the MLB, we see they are selling more than the story of baseball on Opening Day; they are tapping into the emotional side of their fan bases. For example, after a disappointing 2022 season, the Texas Rangers made a triumphant return in 2023, winning their Opening Day series and later securing a World Series championship. Similarly, business owners should offer a story to the media about their business that connects with the community beyond simply telling the public there is a grand opening event happening.  

A successful grand opening can position a new business for consistent growth, whereas a disappointing one can leave owners struggling to build momentum. A public relations agency or local freelance PR specialist could be a great resource to help effectively promote a grand opening, conduct media and community outreach and brainstorm ideas that might resonate with the public.

Just as baseball fans look forward to MLB’s Opening Day each year, a business’s grand opening should be an event that speaks to the business’ potential fan base. MLB’s Opening Day is something that is carefully planned and considered by all involved. A business’ grand opening deserves no less attention.

An Outie’s Perspective: If I worked in Comms at Severance’s Lumon Industries

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Photo by AppleTV

The wildly popular Apple TV+ series Severance has many of us considering ourselves in the shoes of a so-called “severed” employee. For example, I wonder – what would my “innie” do during her workday at the fictional Lumon Industries?

Spoiler alert – if you have not yet seen the show, the premise centers on an elective surgical procedure to the employee’s brain that separates work and personal life. The severed main characters’ “innies,” or in-office versions of themselves, spend their days behind desks in the Macro Data Refinement Department of a bio-tech company called Lumon Industries.

For me, a public relations professional for Kimball Hughes PR in real life, I would think my “innie” might have some communications expertise to share with Lumon leadership, particularly on the so-called Severed Floor, designed exclusively for innies.

Communication Breakdown

At Lumon, when innies ask why they do the work they do, they are told, “The work is very important and mysterious.” The lack of transparency provided by leadership fuels the innies’ curiosity to learn more about what is really going on and results in a growing distrust of management.

As professional communicators, we always advise our clients to be transparent in both internal and external communications. In internal communications, conveniently leaving out key details or worse, lying about events or covering up incidents, can build distrust, chip away at employee morale and lead to quiet or actual quitting. Communication from the top can be a critical aspect of strengthening the company’s reputation and the trust of employees as well. At Lumon, the board communicates mysteriously through a retro public announcement-like system in a way that no one but the board’s translator can hear or understand.

Leadership should set the bar in a corporate structure and they should lead by their own actions to inspire others. Management should make it a priority to be present, relatable and accessible. For example, if a company is encouraging teams to volunteer and engage in charitable giving, leadership should step up to the plate to motivate others. If leadership is implementing a return-to-office mandate, leadership should be onsite as well and ensure they are relaying clear reasons for how the mandate will benefit the company, as well as its employees – beyond perks, like new coffee flavors or the occasional Music Dance Experience (IYKYK).

A Lesson in Crisis Management

While every Severance episode seems to present a slew of crises, the Lumon Industries PR team (assuming the fictitious company has one) was likely engaged for crisis communications services when (another spoiler alert) the innies escaped to see how their outies live at the end of Season 1.

When the main character Mark S. returns to the Severed Floor at the start of Season 2, his manager, Mr. Milchick parrots a company narrative about the innies’ escape. He explained the incident led the innies to be named heroes, inspired a review of the treatment of severed employees and resulted in a series of reforms – complete with a newspaper article and an animated internal comms video.

The Lumon PR team may deserve credit for seemingly responding to the situation proactively by engaging the media and creating messaging, but, from a professional communications perspective, it was certainly lacking. The Lumon team manufactured untruthful messaging in an elaborate effort to spin their way out of the predicament. Likely, they did not have a comprehensive crisis communications plan in place – a best practice for any business owner.

Instead, the Lumon team should have followed crisis communications best practices that center on collecting facts related to the situation and following a pre-designed plan for leadership that can help deter people from acting rashly on emotion in a crisis. Lumon leadership should not have created messaging and collateral around a lie, but instead around fact-based messaging.

Anyone who has seen the show, sees countless parallels between the fictional Lumon world and the traditional corporate workplace. Aside from the more obvious light the show shines on work-life-balance and corporate culture, it also presents a case study on corporate communications, mostly on what to avoid.

Communication Through the Wildfire Crisis – What Should and Should Not Be Said

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The wildfires raging just outside of Los Angeles have burned at least 63 square miles, done an estimated $135 billion in property damage and have claimed at least 25 lives. During crises of this magnitude, it is normal for many to express sympathy online and offer support. We have seen countless positive examples recently. Some take the opportunity to call attention to nonprofits and acknowledge first responders. Others keep their message focused on their industry, community or domain of expertise to help their audiences cope.

Kimball Hughes PR has heard from organizations that wanted to comment amid this recent crisis but were also concerned about appearing opportunistic or insensitive. For those who have similar concerns, we offer the following advice:

Keep your audience in mind

While commenting on breaking news is one way to ensure your comments are timely, it has the potential to backfire.

For instance, imagine you run a business that supports the education of children in distressed municipalities. You could share your support for first responders fighting the Los Angeles fires, but your audience likely cares more about children and education. They may express support for your comments, but unless your business is in the Los Angeles area, your post will just be a drop in an ocean of online support. You may fail to distinguish your message or make a meaningful contribution to your audience. Worse, it could look like you are taking advantage of a tragedy.

Instead, consider addressing how the fire will be impacting children in Los Angeles or how the crisis may negatively impact future efforts to support disadvantaged children in the area. Better yet, mobilize your community to do something that supports your cause while also supporting the children impacted by these fires.

Have a call to action

Audiences have moved beyond statements of thoughts and prayers in times of crisis. They want to see action. If you are compelled to comment on major events, ensure there is a call to action that is both socially sensitive and beneficial to those impacted. Post links to non-profits working to end the crisis and encourage your community to donate or offer support.

Beyond being a force for good, there is a communications angle to consider.  There are countless examples of brands and influencers being put on blast for appearing to leverage tragedy for personal gain. Ensure your efforts in such instances contribute rather than distract or merely add to countless other voices. Be sure your comments support a cause or help mobilize support among your audiences.

It’s not about you, unless it is

When keeping your audience in mind, it’s possible to go too far.  We saw this in 2024 after Hurricane Helene decimated Ashville, North Carolina. Political pundits on both sides of the aisle used the storm as a talking point during a hot election season. In some cases, this led to a cycle of cynicism— with each commentor calling out the prior’s biases and accusing them of using the crisis for their own gain. This month, we are seeing more of the same as pundits condemn California’s regulatory environment. Polarizing comments like these only serve to divide communities and distract from helping victims.

But what if you are directly harmed by a crisis? In this instance, it is of course acceptable to talk about yourself and how the crisis is impacting you — within reason. The line between sharing your perspective and getting on a soapbox is thin. It can be easy to forget others affected by a crisis when you are impacted as well.

Crises —especially natural disasters —raise the stakes for all involved or adjacent to the incident, but the fear of backlash should not stop someone from using their platform as a force for good. By keeping your audience in mind, using your voice as a force for good and staying focused on those impacted, you can both add value to the discussion of the crisis as well as be a force helping to end it.

Keys to Boosting Brand Awareness in 2025: Embrace New Media

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While you contemplate adding extra protein and strength training to your weight loss plans for 2025, why not consider adding new media and video to your company’s communications strategies?

A turn of the calendar to a new year presents an ideal opportunity to not only consider weight loss and exercise, but to evaluate business strategies as well – both successful and failed strategies. In public relations, as with many other industries, this new year refresh or reinvention beckons us to consider the latest trends and undertake new initiatives to continually boost brand awareness in the year ahead.

This time of year is replete with industry experts offering outlooks on what we can expect in the year ahead. And while traditional PR tactics, like contributed articles to well-respected outlets continue to carry weight, we are increasingly seeing good PR pros encouraging industry pundits to take on new platforms or new features of existing platforms to share their views, including – LinkedIn Live, LinkedIn Newsletters, TikTok, and new X competitor Blue Sky, among others.

Depending on the audience targeted, each platform can yield considerable results for company leaders who offer original, valuable and educational content. Leaders who want to boost their brand’s visibility in 2025 should consider the following new media:

  • LinkedIn Lives – In 2025, we will continue to see savvy thought leaders connect with their audiences through LinkedIn’s event-hosting platform LinkedIn Live. LinkedIn Lives are becoming increasingly popular for the platform’s ability to host live events with a casual feel – with one or multiple speakers, while engaging and interacting with the audience through a live chat function.

The tool markets itself in many ways as the event can easily be promoted among LinkedIn followers of the company page or the individual hosting the event. Followers will receive notifications about the event, as well as when it goes live. Moreover, any form of video in social media tends to generate higher levels of engagement than written content alone.

In the insurance space, digital marketing and transformation guru Ema Roloff has seen tremendous success with this resource, gathering roughly 1,600 registrations for an insurance predictions and trends event in late 2024. She hopes to do the same and more this year ahead of her Insurance Trends to Watch for 2025 event Dec. 17.

  • LinkedIn Newsletters – As LinkedIn continues to flex its authority as the social platform for business professionals, its newsletter function has also become increasingly popular for sharing thought leadership and other educational, nonpromotional content. LinkedIn claims it has seen a 59% increase in people publishing newsletter articles and a 47% rate increase in engagement. The platform claims more than 184,000 newsletters published. Once published, these newsletters invite your connections and followers automatically to subscribe so they are notified each time you publish with an in-app and email notification. Another perk – the success of your content is easily measurable through LinkedIn analytics.
  • Tik Tok – While Tik Tok has primarily been a successful B2C tool, we are now seeing the platform used more frequently for B2B engagement. In fact, Roloff has told us, her B2B Tik Tok videos on digital marketing in insurance have attracted more than one million views. We’ve been hearing for years that video content is essential for business communications, and Tik Tok proves the point and should not be overlooked in 2025.
  • BlueSky – As some look to move away from X, the app Bluesky, which bills itself as “an open foundation for the social internet” has been gaining popularity. In fact, BlueSky just reported crossing the 15 million user mark. As audiences flock to newer platforms like Bluesky and Meta’s Threads, business leaders will want to take note to ensure they are meeting their customers where they are.

To understand new media available to your business and what might be right for you, work with a communications specialist or agency that understands your business objectives, your audiences and the new media that can deliver on those objectives and audiences. Technology and AI are quickly changing how we do business, as well as how we communicate and interact with each other and prospects. Don’t get left behind.

Communicating with Sensitivity in the Holiday Season: A guide for home and office

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We’re all worried about it. At this time of year everyone gathers. Linda brings up the election. Todd starts mansplaining. Rarely is there a workplace holiday gathering or end-of-year meeting where sensitive issues don’t come up. Oh, wait. You thought I was talking about holidays with the family?

Whether it’s bringing together far-flung (and far right and far left) relatives or just the company holiday party, some basic rules of the road apply to help you navigate both with grace, wit and diplomacy.

Know Your Audience

Spend enough time with anyone and you know what buttons to push and what reactions to expect. Keeping these in mind can avoid disaster.

  • Holiday Meals: Aunt Linda’s wine-soaked stories can venture into uncomfortable territory, while Cousin Todd is ready to challenge you on everything. Don’t engage. Instead, start light. “Please pass the rolls” is a safe opening that builds rapport and may only offend the gluten-free wing of the family.
  • Work Communications: When your boss is a bottom-line kind of executive or you have colleagues who need a little extra communication fluff to avoid shattered nerves, tailor your tone and content accordingly. When in doubt, lead with data and empathy. “Here’s the situation and my suggestions for how we can handle it.”

Address Conflict Strategically

Conflict is part of the human experience, but it doesn’t have to become a distraction from the mission of your gathering.

  • Holiday Meals: Avoid inflammatory topics like politics, religion, and Tofurkey. Instead, take the middle ground by spreading good cheer. Compliment the chef, celebrate Grandma’s bedazzled holiday sweater and admire your nephew’s alpaca-like hair style.
  • Work Communications: Take a beat before responding to a tense email or comment. Employ diplomacy by acknowledging a colleague’s concern, but stay solutions focused. “I understand your concerns. Let me clarify what I meant so we can find a solution together.”

Manage Expectations

Clarifying both your expectations and what you can offer helps to avoid misinterpretation. Clarifying your position without offending others can be achieved.

  • Holiday Meals: Stating you are stepping outside to “get some air” can be loosely interpreted to mean you’re taking a moment to avoid listening to Uncle Ernie (who no one invited) go on about how things were so much better in his day and how the world is going to hell in a handbasket now.
  • Work Communications: Be explicit about deadlines, deliverables and resources, especially during the holiday season. Doing so early helps avoid miscommunication. And push back when necessary, stating something along the lines of “I’d love to prioritize this, but I need more clarity/resources/time to do so.” Remember, no one appreciates it when someone over promises and under delivers.

Exit Gracefully

When things become untenable or you feel there is little benefit in continuing to be part of the situation, know how to leave without burning bridges.

  • Holiday Meals: Deploy a helpful excuse like promising to help in the kitchen or needing to get home to check on your pet that you’ve never mentioned and may not, in fact, actually have.
  • Work Communications: Politely steer the meeting toward a conclusion with positive words to the effect of “It seems we’ve aligned on the main points. We can regroup on the details in our next update.”

The secret to any family or work gathering at the end of the year is the same: navigate the situation with empathy, a little humor and as much tact as you can muster. To do so:

  • Listen more than you speak
  • Breath before you respond
  • Find humor where you can, but not at someone else’s expense

Applied successfully, you will navigate this season of full-contact family dynamics and stress-inducing end-of-year business, leaving everyone convinced of your manifest diplomatic skills while creating or contributing to as few moments of holiday drama as possible.

Wicked-ly Long: How long-form content can be valuable with the right message and strategy

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As the highly anticipated film adaptation of Wicked the Musical hits box offices worldwide this weekend, audiences are eager to see how director Jon M. Chu will bring the story to life. In April 2022, it was revealed that the adaptation would be released as two films, split by the first and second acts of the stage show. And in September 2023, it was announced that the first installment would run a whopping two hours and forty minutes—longer than the total runtime of the original production.

In an age dominated by digital media, we’ve been repeatedly told that attention spans are shrinking. The American Psychological Association reports that the average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8.25 seconds in 2024. Yet, some of the most successful Hollywood blockbusters in recent years have defied this trend with above-average runtimes. While advances in technology and more sophisticated storytelling techniques may be contributing to audience engagement, society’s willingness to embrace long-form content challenges our understanding of how people consume media. Not only are audiences willing to sit through extended films—they anticipate them for months, buy merchandise, participate in online discussions and pack theaters in record numbers.

There are countless reasons why audiences become deeply invested in a story, and it’s undeniable that films like Wicked, Avatar, Oppenheimer and Avengers: Endgame benefit from unfathomable marketing budgets. However, a valuable communications lesson can be mined from the success of these blockbusters: when people perceive something as valuable, they’ll make the time to consume it.

Will anyone read it?

This lesson extends beyond films to written content, such as articles or blogs. Understanding how these mediums have evolved is key. In the 2000s, the average article length ranged from 500 to 800 words. By the 2010s, this figure had grown to roughly 2,000 words. Today, articles are back down to an average of 500–800 words, while blogs often remain closer to 2,000 words. These fluctuations reflect ever-changing factors like algorithm updates and SEO best practices.

Many brands stick rigidly to short-form content, fearing audience fatigue or wasted efforts. However, a strategic mix of short- and long-form content can offer a more comprehensive approach, giving audiences a deeper understanding of a brand’s insights.

What warrants a longer message?

Not every announcement or discussion requires a long-form message. The key is understanding when more depth is necessary and where that depth makes sense. For instance, a general press release announcing a personnel change or new product offering is best kept succinct and easily digestible. Overcomplicating simple announcements risks disengaging readers and the reporters who you hope will cover it as a story.

On the other hand, targeted content—such as a blog or article for an audience with a preliminary understanding of the subject—can benefit from a longer, more detailed explanation. For example, a trade publication or a subscribed site catering to industry professionals may justify a 1,500–2,000-word deep dive that addresses relatable pain points and offers insights on trends.

The critical question to ask is: Who are you talking to? General audiences unfamiliar with industry nuances might struggle with long-form content, while more specialized audiences may appreciate detailed analysis. This is where thought leadership plays a pivotal role. While press releases are typically concise (around 400 words), thought leadership offers companies the opportunity to dive deeper into subject matter and educate, justifying longer formats.

The value of strategic communication

A skilled public relations team can help brands determine the right time, place, and format for their messages. Long-form content can help to humanize a brand’s experts, foster transparency with the public and solidify the brand’s reputation as an industry leader. A well-rounded PR approach that considers various audiences, their preferred methods of information consumption, and the gaps a product or service can address is essential for effective messaging.

Long-form content is not obsolete in today’s digital world, but brands must approach it strategically. And as moviegoers flock to experience the magic of Wicked on the big screen, let it serve as a reminder: audiences will make the time if you make it worth their while.