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 newsletter.

   

Special Notice: Chatbot Webinar on May 20 Chatbots were barely part of the conversation a couple of months ago. Today you can’t scan your feeds without running into an article about them. Most of the content on bots, though, focuses on marketing and sales—there has been barely a word about PR, corporate communications, or employee communications. Mark my words: Bots will become a major factor in communications! In this, my first webinar that’s not hosted by some other organization, I’ll bring you up to speed on bots, look at what goes into their development, discuss how to make the most of them (and how to avoid making mistakes with them), and explore potential uses in media relations, internal communications, and other dimensions of organizational communications. All for only $79, which buys an admission not just for you but for your entire team—and you’ll be able to watch the video replay whenever you want. Register here.

News

Accenture’s CEO attends meeting as a hologram—If the holodeck of the starship Enterprise seemed appropriately set in the 24th century, guess again. Accenture’s CEO, Pierre Nanterme, attended a meeting in Chicago while in a broadcast studio in Paris, all via hologram. The meeting also featured Nanterme and the head of human resources—who was in New York—sitting together on stage, talking about company issues, and taking questions from the audience. The takeaway: The technology is still expensive and consumes massive bandwidth. But pay attention as the gradual adoption of the technology leads to lower costs. For now, watching the Accenture video is immensely cool. Read more

Microsoft jumps on the bot bandwagon—Microsoft is rolling out the Bot Framework which developers will use to build chatbots for their applications, along with a new bot directory. CEO Satya Nadella told attendees at the Microsoft Build developer conference that “Bots are like new applications and digital assistants are meta apps, or like the new browsers.” The takeaway: Bots are the most important technology communicators have seen in many years. Even if you’re not ready to introduce bots, pay close attention to them as new uses—and new challenges—emerge. Read more

Snapchat is teens’ most important social network—No, teens are not abandoning Facebook, but the fact that they still have their Facebook accounts doesn’t make it their most important social network. A survey of 6,500 U.S. teens found most—28%—see Snapchat as their most important network. Instagram, the previous favorite, is one point behind at 27%. Nearly three-quarters of Snapchat’s users are age 12 to 24, compared to 66% for Instagram. The takeaway: There is no loyalty to messaging or social networking apps, and teens, in particular, are inclined to jump to the cool new tool as long as it meets their needs. But again, it doesn’t mean they’ll shut down their Facebook accounts. Read more

Facebook Live widens audience for bad customer service—A popular online figure who was kicked off an American Airlines flight because he complained about a long wait broadcast the entire experience to over 114,000 people via Facebook Live. “So now,” writes Jeff Jarvis, “when a company screws a customer, expect that to happen before an audience. No longer can one nice person stuck at a desk in Dubuque answering angry tweets handle a shit storm.” The takeaway: As the ability to live-stream bad experiences becomes easier and more common, the need to ensure great customer experiences assumes new urgency. Read more

New Chrome extension aims to take on bookmarking tools—I’m a fan of Pocket, formerly ReadItLater. You find a long-form article you don’t have time to read, click the Pocket bookmarklet, and you can open Pocket later—even if you’re not connected to the Net, and read it when you have time. Now, Google seems poised to threaten Pocket and its brethren with a new Chrome extension that lets you save any Web page to your Google account. Facebook has also announced that its “Save to Facebook” button will be made available across the entire Web. The takeaway: By getting people to use their tools, Google and Facebook not only keep them in their own ecosystems but gather more information about users that can be used to deliver more relevant ads. Read more

Facebook introduced video Rights Manager—One of the biggest complaints about Facebook from video producers is the flood of videos appropriated from YouTube (where the producers make money) for posting on Facebook (where they don’t). The practice is called “freebooting,” one that Facebook aims to stop with a new Rights Manager. Page admins upload video clips they don’t want freebooted, then Facebook monitors to see if anybody has uploaded that same video to Facebook. Content owners can apply for access, though the tool isn’t yet available to everyone. The takeaway: Facebook hasn’t just responded to a problem; it has created a rich tool that even monitors Facebook Live for any illicit rebroadcasting of a video. This should help improve Facebook’s reputation for being soft on content rights. Read more

Microsoft introduces QR code to blue screen of death—While I haven’t encountered the Windows blue screen of death in years, it’s nevertheless intriguing to see Microsoft add a QR code to the screen to simplify the search for solutions which used to be confined to cryptic error codes. Now, scan the QR code to find information about the issue that caused the crash and possible fixes. The takeaway: The haters continue to turn their noses up at the QR code, but it keeps on finding practical uses. I’m still waiting to see QR codes on the nameplates on cubicles and offices: Scan one and get that employee’s profile. Read more

Here’s why you should never base your ads on Reddit content—AXE, Unilever’s male deodorant brand, produce an online video series titled “Shower Thoughts” featuring men pondering to themselves in the shower. Reddit users are not amused, accusing AXE of “jacking our shower thoughts and not giving credit. Literally word for word.” There’s a subreddit called Showerthoughts and its members are sure their posts have been appropriated. The takeaway: Reddit contributors can’t actually claim ownership of content since content is so frequently recycled there. But the AXE video has been downvoted more than 18,000 times and the attention the brand is getting from the community is, at the very least, unwelcome. Read more

Trends

Writers are in demand with the rise of bots—Chatbots have taken the world by storm over the last few months, revealing a need for people who can write the responses bots deliver so they are consistent with the personality of the bot or the company. The words that will be used for bots have to mimic human conversation, and nobody’s better suited to that work than communicators. Hiring in Silicon Valley is already underway. The takeaway: Great content is at the heart of chatbots, which is why communicators must get up to speed and assume a leadership role within their organizations, especially around PR- and internal comms-focused bots. Read more

Corporate America has gone all in in favor of gay rights—Less than a decade ago, companies remained silent as politicians and interest groups mounted efforts to stop the shift toward equal rights for the LGBTQ community. Today, corporations of all kinds are going public with their opposition to state legislation to restrict LGBTQ rights. Gone are the days when a business leader taking a pro-LGBTQ position is considered “bold.” Now it’s commonplace as “the risk of speaking out has been superceded by the risk of not doing so.” Their views are being supported by public opinion, which finds more than 70% of Americans support laws that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. The takeaway: With public opinion shifting the way it has, companies risk losing more business by ignoring threats to equality than they do from opponents of equal rights. Some have been explicit, like WalMart, whose CEO noted that his company’s stores are open to everyone. Read more

Facebook sees decline in personal content—Personal posts help Facebook learn what its users like, so there’s some distress at Facebook HQ over a decline in the amount of personal information users are sharing. The content people used to share about themselves on Facebook has shifted to other tools, including Snapchat, Instagram, and messaging apps, leading Facebook to implore users to share more personal information. Sharing hasn’t declined, but it’s mostly news articles and other public information. Original sharing of personal stories dropped 21% over the course of a year. The takeaway: It will be interesting to see if Facebook can inspire more personal sharing. The increased sharing of content from other sites is an opportunity for marketers, as is identifying ways to infiltrate the apps people are using to share personal stories. Read more

It’s all over for brand mascots—If you’re hoping your team will create the next Tony the Tiger, give up. Even Dos Equis sent its popular mascot, the most interesting man in the world, on a one-way trip to Mars. Other brands have revamped their iconic mascots in hopes of breathing just a little more life into them while those with effective mascots (think Progressive Insurance’s Flo) work hard to keep them fresh, including making them relevant across multiple media platforms. The takeaway: The article offers its own takeaways for strengthening mascots: evolve, build long-term relationships with customers, empower, and listen. Read more

The news media isn’t dying, it’s just shifting from text to video—Even new media outlets like Buzzfeed and Mashable are struggling, signaling a “recalibration” with text-based content giving way to video. Vox, for example, sees itself as eight networks that depend on a business model based on mobile video ad rates that match rates for desktop video. At news outlet Mic, video will make up half of its content by mid-year. Even Mashable is focusing on video. The takeaway: Don’t be fooled. Higher ad rates, not consumer demand, are driving the shift. If your goal is to reach customers, not generate ad revenue, you have a luxury journalists do not: using the best tools for the job, whether it’s words, video, audio, images, or interactivity. Read more

Social media posts after bedtime—Conventional wisdom says you shouldn’t share social media content in the wee hours of the morning when people are asleep. Not everyone is asleep though, including those having trouble sleeping and turning to their smartphones to kill time. Marketers are tailoring content to these insomniacs using a quirky tone that appeals to what is essentially a captive audience. The takeaway: I remember hearing the former head of content marketing at the Cleveland Clinic explain that posting content on insomnia in late-late hours was particularly effective. Know your audience and, if it makes sense to reach out to them when they can’t sleep, don’t shy away from the idea. Read more

Companies embrace hyperlocal marketing—The adoption of mobile devices and some of the common features consumers use with their smartphones, like checkins, have led marketers to respond to the notion that consumers want local information based on their current location. Brands like Ritz Bits, Miller Lite, and Allstate have adopted hyperlocal social marketing. Ritz Bits, for instance, sponsored youth soccer teams and built positive relationships with parents, resulting in more than 100,000 digital brand engagements and a 77% lift in purchase intent. The takeaway: Amidst all the worrisome news in the newspaper industry, the success of several weekly newspapers is a bright spot. They focus on their hyperlocal markets and could represent another opportunity for communicators seeking to reach those audiences. Read more

Mobile and Wearables

It’s the year of live-streaming video—Periscope has been an unqualified success. Facebook has made a huge splash with the rollout of Facebook Live to all users. And Twitter made headlines by signing a deal to stream the NFL’s Thursday Night Football games. As one exec noted, “This is a significant moment in the online video market. Social platforms have moved from being the second screen for television to being the destination for live video consumption. 2016 may be regarded in the future as the year that TV changed forever.” The takeaway: Not considering the use of social live-streaming video for your communication efforts yet? What, exactly, are you waiting for? Read more

Longer videos or shorter? It depends on your age—Whether you prefer short videos on your phone or standard 30-second videos (that’s not short?) depends on your age. Millennials want them shorter while older users like the more traditional approach. The takeaway: Repurpose videos both ways, then place the shorter version on sites that appeal to younger audiences and the 30-second version on sites that draw older users. Read more

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Rukkus lets you see a stadium or arena from the seat you might buy—When you buy a ticket to a sporting event or concert online, you usually have access to a seating chart that gives you a rough idea of what your view of the stage or field will be. Rukkus makes it even easier to see the view you’ll have from your seat with a 360-degree immersive image option. It’ll show you the view from your seat and let you move the phone to see to your left, right, and behind you. The company has partnered with stadiums that host NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB games, as well as concerts. The takeaway: Watch for more very practical applications of VR technology to infiltrate businesses like this. Read more

Honda brings VR videos to the Indy 500—Honda plans to debut videos online that will allow fans to see what it feels like to drive the Dallara Indy race car. The videos will be released with the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 race on May 29. The takeaway: While VR is still a novelty, you’ll see plenty of content that let you “experience” something in a way still photos and two-dimensional video never could. Once it becomes more common, these uses of VR will be seen as mundane. Read more

Research

Marketers see desktop websites as most important to customer experience—The “customer experience” is the cumulative impression a customer has of a company based on every touch point, from a customer support call to post-purchase interactions. Which do marketers think are most important? According to a study from Econsultancy and Adobe, it’s the desktop website experience, which 90% called the most important focus for maximizing the customer experience. The mobile website took the second spot at 86%, followed by email, telephone support and sales, and digital advertising. Touch points that didn’t fare so well include messaging apps, mail order catalogs, text/SMS/MMS, push messages, events and conferences, and offline brand advertising. The takeaway: It’ll be fun watching messaging apps surge from the bottom of the pile to the top. It’s also interesting that marketers put so much stock in a website despite evidence that people increasingly are influenced by information they get elsewhere. Read more

Arthur W. Page Society redefines the role of the Chief Communication Officer—Chief Communication Officers (CCOs) aren’t what they used to be. A digital white paper from the Arthur W. Page Society, based on input provided by more than 200 senior communication leaders from three continents who participated in a two-day online forum, along with interviews and a literature review, reveals a host of factors affecting the CCOs role. Among the technology disruptors: disruptive business models, the changing nature of work, personal privacy vs. personalized services, cybersecurity, and a transformed media environment. Demographic and socio-political trends also add pressures to a CCO’s work. CCOs need to be mindful of where they invest, with social media, owned media, and media and tracking systems representing areas where investments are increasing quickly. The report sees three new roles for CCOs: as a leader in building corporate character and advising on business strategies, as a driver of cross-functional collaboration and integration, and as a builder of digital engagement systems. The takeaway: The Page Model is worth printing and taping to your wall. Read more

Companies are in denial about reputation-damaging risks—Most executives are happy with their organizations’ ability to build and maintain their reputations, but most are less confident that they’re able to identify potential risks to those reputations. The kinds of crises that have undermined reputations at BP, Volkswagen, and Chipotle aren’t on most companies’ radars, with only 53% of executives saying they can identify risks before they become crises, and only 45% say they can develop strategies to mitigate risks. The takeaway: Issues identification is a core part of crisis management. If it’s not part of your company’s operations, consider building it into the PR department’s task list. Read more