The Friday Wrap is my weekly collection of news stories, posts, studies, and reports designed to help organizational communicators stay current on the trends and technology that affect their jobs. These may be items that flew under the radar while other stories grabbed big headlines. As always, I collect material from which I select Wrap stories (as well as stories to report on the For Immediate Release podcast, along with stuff I just want to remember to read) on my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. If you want to make sure you never miss an edition of the Wrap, subscribe to my weekly email briefing.

News

Twitter frees up characters—A Bloomberg report says Twitter is getting ready to roll out an update that won’t count photos and links against its 140-character limit. The update should launch in a week or so. The takeaway: Good news for everyone who would rather use those 140 characters to say something about a link rather than just share the link. Read more

Adobe launches free visual storytelling app—Adobe has updated its free mobile iOS apps for creating visual content and merged them into a new web app dubbed Adobe Spark. The iPhone versions have been renamed Spark Post, Spark Page, and Spark Video. The web app is available at http://sparkadobe.com. Paid versions are planned. No word on an Android version. The takeaway: Go forth and create. I have been touting the importance of visual communication for at least five years and it’s fantastic to see a powerhouse like Adobe empowering people to produce compelling, attention-grabbing graphics and videos. Read more

 

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Google just can’t throw in the social media towel—Google does so much well you have to wonder why they keep trying to get a foothold in a space where they have done terribly. Spaces is Google’s latest entry, designed for small groups of users to leverage other Google services (like search, YouTube, and Chrome) to share links with each other without the need to switch between apps…and, of course, to have conversations around the content. The takeaway: I’m sure it’ll be a rousing success, just like Buzz and Jaiku and Orkut and Wave and Dodgeball and Plus. In all seriousness, I’ll give it a try, but small-group social apps have been tried. Remember Path? I’m skeptical, but I will definitely give a try. Though I haven’t read much about its potential in the enterprise, I suspect that’s where it might gain some traction. Read more

Facebook demonstrates just how cool 360 video is—Facebook’s $30,000 Surround 360 camera was put through its paces for its first video, and it’s a stunner. Set inside New York’s Grand Central Station, the video makes you feel as if you’re there. Really. As one writer said, she actually stepped aside to let a young girl take a selfie. The takeaway: I have seen a lot of 360-degree videos. This is the first that makes me confident that immersive video can and will be both an entertainment medium and a vehicle for conveying information more powerfully than standard video. Don’t take my word for it. Watch it. Read more

Look, Daddy! I got a QR code!—Cracker Jack is ceasing the production of cheap toys for children (and, let’s face it, grown-ups) to shake out of the box and instead will publish a QR code that can be scanned for various experiences, starting with baseball-themed experiences. Fans, to nobody’s surprise, are not happy. As a brand, Cracker Jack should have known that (a) their product has a huge nostalgia angle for adults and (b) the children for whom the prizes are made aren’t likely to want to scan a QR code. I’m not a QR code hater by any means, but this is just wrong. Read more

 

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Hacker who stole unreleased press releases pleads guilty—The Ukranian hacker who stole unpublished news releases in order to trade on nonpublic information has pleaded guilty. The scheme netted $30 million for participants in the criminal network. The takeaway: We tend to be rather cavalier about who distributes our press releases. The need to ensure security is vital. That was never much of a PR concern, but as this tale demonstrates, it is a PR concern now. Read more

GOP convention sponsors getting cold feet—A number of brands that had planned to have a highly visible presence at the Republican National Convention are dramatically scaling back their plans. Coca-Cola will spend only $75,000, a piddling amount compared to its $660,000 at the last convention four years ago. The move led an activist group to remove an image bearing the legend, “Share a Coke with the KKK” from its online petition intended to deter sponsors from participating. Other companies taking a less visible role include Microsoft and Walmart, while Quicken Loans and AT&T still plan full-scale sponsorships. The takeaway: This is another demonstration of a growing trend toward corporations taking social and political positions in their own (enlightened) self-interest. Read more

Google plays catch-up—In case you missed the announcement from Google’s I/O developer conference, the company has announced a suite of apps designed to compete with tools already available from all of its major competitors. These include Allo (mobile messaging app), Duo (video calling app), and Daydream (a suite of VR tools). The takeaway: Each of these categories has become hugely important with stunning consumer uptake (except in VR, where the evidence is clear that widespread adoption is coming). Especially in messaging, we communicators now need to catch up. Read more

Trends

Finger-pointing is a new corporate trend—As corporate earnings decline for the fourth consecutive quarter, CEOs and CFOs are responding to demands for answers by citing “one-off events as a culprit,” according to a spokesperson for the Council of Institutional Investors. That’s not to say the culprits they cite aren’t real but, according to one analyst, “they can cherry-pick issues, such as inclement weather, while failing to mention more basic ones, such as supply-chain problems.” The takeaway: Have we forgotten so quickly that transparency matters? Are these CEOs and CFOs making these statements without talking to their communications staff? Even if the statement is accurate, the lack of candor about other issues can still create a credibility problem. Read more

 

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Influencer marketing continues to grow—It produces better results at significantly lower cost, so it’s little surprise to learn marketers will increase their influencer marketing spend this year. One survey found that 65% of brands plan to increase their influencer marketing budget this year, with influencer marketing representing the largest slice of the marketing pie. The takeaway: This may seem like a bit of a tangent, but with influencer marketing working so well with external communication, why do we hear so damn little about it for internal communication? Read more

Ad blocking’s cost to media companies: $12 billion by 2020—Ad blockers will cost U.S. media owners $12 billion in lost ad revenues by 2020. Data shows nearly 12% of online display ad impressions were blocked last year in the U.S. Most ad blockers are still on desktops, with many consumers unaware of their availability for mobile devices. As awareness grows, so will the dip in revenue. Wells Fargo security forecasts 2020 display ad revenues will drop from its previous estimate of $50 billion to $38.8 billion. The takeaway: This is a genuine crisis. Publishers need to make money for their content. Advertising is the standard revenue generator. If everyone blocks ads, media companies won’t be able to afford to continue to produce content. Ultimately, media companies, advertisers, and consumers need to figure out acceptable advertising practices. Read more

Here’s why GIFs are finding their way into marketing—GIFs are hot and brands are all in. The reasons: Well, there are a dozen of them, according to this piece, including ease of consumption, they’re better than still images but cheaper than video, they speak the Internet’s language, they’re mobile-friendly, and they work on multiple platforms. The full post is worth a read. The takeaway: There are companies where the idea of using GIFs for internal communication hasn’t even been broached, but why not? If it can tell a story and engage an employee who might, then, seek more information, why not? Read more

Vine’s slow fade—Vine stars, marketers, and ad buyers are gradually moving away from the 6-second video platform, opting to go where the money is better. While Vine spokespersons tout impressive numbers, the trend is clear: Revenue isn’t as good as other channels and the 6-second format is too confining. Promoted tweets and Snapchat filters produce far better returns and it’s far more common to hear about an influencer program for Instagram than Twitter-owned Vine. The takeaway: If you’re getting ROI from Vine, it’s too early to abandon it, and creative Vines still rock, but be aware of the slow deterioration of Vine as a popular platform. Read more

Books are back—In fact, books were never gone, but the popularity of ebooks is waning with digital content sales falling last year and sale of physical books trending up. All the optimism about ebooks replacing real books was a matter of “technodazzle” and mistaking newness for value. Reading a real book is, after all, an experience. The takeaway: Communicators who have abandoned print should take a lesson from the printed book’s rebound. Don’t dismiss print, but rather consider it strategically: Where can it add value or create differentiation in your communication efforts? Read more

 

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Treating employees well builds brand value—I am currently at work on a book about the Employee Experience. My premise is simple: If companies expect employees to deliver the Customer Experience (CX), then companies must deliver a great Employee Experience (EX). Research from 2015 found 84% of consumers consider a company’s social commitments—including how they treat employees—before deciding what to buy or where to shop. Eight-two percent consider them with it comes to the products and services they recommend. Now, according to Interbrand, “about 75% of the work that brands do is more squarely focused on how they get the greatest performance out of their employees, and how they lessen the gap between the executives and the front-line employees.” The takeaway: It’s a matter of living the values the company proclaims. For years, there have been companies that have been able to thrive while treating their employees awfully. The days remaining for those companies to succeed are numbered. It’s not a matter of molly-coddling employees. It’s a business strategy to drive ROI. Read more

Mobile and Wearables

Apps are #1 for consumer engagement—Still think TV is the best bet for advertising? Opera Mediaworks’ Q1 2016 Mobile First Insights report says mobile apps dedicated to entertainment and information gathering reach audiences as big as top-rated broadcast and TV shows, making mobile a primary source of news and entertainment. Consider this data point: Shazam had 18.3 million unique users in February, 44% more than an episode of The Walking Dead. WeatherBug had more users than viewers of Survivor. The takeaway: Stop thinking about mobile as a supplement, especially for internal communications. Mobile must become our primary delivery and engagement mechanism. Intranets are on their way out; implementing responsive design is not a solution. Read more

Here comes the Snapchat algorithm—It’s common knowledge that what you see in your Facebook News Feed is curated by an algorithm that selects content it thinks you want to see. Now, Snapchat is developing a similar algorithm. Until now, Snapchat users have seen every message from the accounts they follow, but an algorithm would serve as a kind of gatekeeper with a particular focus on content from brands. The takeaway: Companies can whine about it, but content-selecting algorithms are the norm. It’s up to us to find ways to produce content so compelling that it’s boosted rather than penalized. Read more

 

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Most popular sites get mostly mobile visits—Mobile Internet access is outpacing desktop/laptop access. That has been true since 2014. But now, data analysis tells us the web’s most popular sites are being accessed more by mobile devices than tethered computers. Those sites include Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Wikipedia. The takeaway: See the takeaway from the previous item. Double it. We are becoming a mobile society and communicators must adapt. And please, no snark over the fact that I’m writing this on a full-sized keyboard in front of a 28-inch monitor with a tower PC at my feet. Read more

In-app translation now available on Android—An update to Google Translate will let Android users translate text from within any app. A Tap to Translate feature will allow users to select text in any language, copy it, then tap a button to read the translation in another language. The takeaway: I am so glad I’m an Android user! Also, look for more in-app capabilities as the ecosystem matures (even as app downloads and installations stall). Read more

Chatbots

Google reportedly working on chatbot software—Last week, I reported that Google was developing a competitor to the Amazon Echo. Now comes word the company is also working on tools developers can use to build chatbots that will run inside popular messaging apps, including Facebook Messenger and its own recently announced Allo. Google has not confirmed the rumor. They haven’t denied it, either. The takeaway: The proliferation of chatbots, the buzz around them, and the evidence that they accommodate a lot of needs and solve a lot of problems hasn’t been lost on Google. I’d be surprised if the reports aren’t true. Read more

Chatbots get popular for entertainment launches—Earlier, a chatbot let Call of Duty fans chat with one of the game’s characters. Now, Paramount is launching a chatbot as a tie-in to the latest Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles movie. The chatbot will reside on the Kik messaging app. A chat starts with Michelangelo (about pizza), then is turned over to Donatello. Eventually, all four turtles get in on the action, delivering GIFs and links to the movie trailer. The takeaway: For entertainment targeting the right demographic, chatbots will become a standard part of the marketing mix. Read more

Research

Early results are in on Facebook’s Instant Articles—Publishers are beginning to get some data-based insights into the effectiveness of Instant Articles, Facebook’s tool for publishing directly within Facebook to speed the time it takes articles to load, notably on mobile devices. The number of people reached by Instant Articles was twice that of other posts for IGN and PopSugar’s mobile traffic surged while the time spent with its content declined. Publishers are still trying to get a handle on what kind of content works best in the format. The Takeaway: Whether it’s Instant Articles, Apple News, or the Google-backed open Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), the message is clear. Removing bloat and getting content to open lightning-fast is the new price of entry. Read more

Companies need to rethink digital employee communications—A survey conducted by PRSA’s Employee Communications Section found about half of communications professionals said that, to the extent that employee engagement is important to their organizations, that companies need to rethink their digital workplace communications. For example, while 97% of respondents say their companies use email to communicate and 78% use an intranet, nobody rated the tools as effective. Meanwhile, only 14% have a mobile app for internal communications, though 90% say such apps are effective. SMS and messaging is being used in 35% of companies but 61% say it’s effective, particularly for emergency messaging. And 38% have adopted internal social media, but 64% say it’s effective for branding, company news, and events. “One size does not necessarily fit all,” the study concludes. “Depending on a particular use case or situation, different solutions should be considered.” The takeaway: It’s also important to understand how employees get non-work-related news and information. The number who visit a news website, for instance, is declining rapidly, so why force them to visit an intranet in order to get company news? Read more

Hiring managers flock to social media—Sixty percent of employers rely on social networks to research job applicants, an 8-point increase from last year and 49 points higher than a decade ago. If you’re worried hiring managers are looking for reasons not to hire you, research from CareerBuilder shows they are, in fact, mostly trying to find information to support your qualifications. Only 21% are looking for reasons to not hire a candidate. The takeaway: This is a good reason to build up a solid LinkedIn presence. Applicants can let recruiters know that Facebook is just for friends and family, and direct recruiters to LinkedIn for professional background. Read more

This week’s wrap image is courtesy of Marco‘s Flickr account