Insights from Janel Hlebak, Senior Account Supervisor

The media landscape continues to evolve, with mass layoffs, niche publications and the rise of generative AI reshaping approaches to media relations. Earned media success now depends on strong relationships, tailored pitches and emerging platforms like podcasts, newsletters and journo-fluencers. Brands must also redefine success metrics beyond traditional placements to measure long-term impact on awareness and audience engagement. 

Insights from Jess Spar, SVP, Head of Social Media + Influencer Marketing

The influencer landscape is shifting, and brands need more strategic, collaborative partnerships to stand out. Moving beyond traditional endorsements, influencers can offer valuable insights in areas like product development, event coordination and brand strategy. As influencers increasingly launch their own brands, companies must view them as strategic partners—not just marketing tools—to stay competitive.

Insights from Matt Panichas, SVP, Corporate  

Press releases have lost their purpose and utility; the reasons abound, but the overarching cause is that they don’t tell us anything. Press releases should adhere to the journalistic standards of news writing: the who, what, where, when and why. Instead, press releases have devolved into a confusing mix of hyperbolic mission statements and executive quotes saying a whole lot of nothing. But the good news? Not all hope is lost and, in fact, there’s quite a bit that we can do to get back on track.

Insights from Jess Spar, SVP, Head of Social Media + Influencer Marketing

Following the election, we’ve seen a significant exodus of users from X to Bluesky, with the app increasing to over 20 million users in recent weeks.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a platform emerge after a political shift or social dynamic change; Lemon8 surfaced amid fears around a TikTok ban. When Elon Musk first took over Twitter, Bluesky entered the scene as an alternative (scroll down to see the POV we shared in May 2023).

Will trends continue to shift heading into 2025, given that Bluesky didn’t seem to significantly take off when it first emerged? Does this re-emerging platform warrant our attention and investment? Let’s walk through the top considerations for brands thinking about launching a Bluesky presence.

Insights from Kelly Hudson, Vice President, Social Media

A single incident can damage your brand's reputation, so to ensure long-term success, organizations need to adopt proactive approaches to brand protection. Enter KWT Global's Brand Vulnerabilities Audit, which starts with in-depth social listening to identify potential risks and culminates with tailored strategies to mitigate any issues.

Insights from Jordanna Gualtieri, Vice President

Now, more than ever, brand spokespeople need to know how to deftly navigate conversations about their companies and authentically drive back to key messages while avoiding sticky situations. A well-prepared executive not only fends off these potentially tough moments but transforms them into opportunities to reinforce their brand’s strengths.

Insights from Jeremy Page, EVP, Global Director of Creative

In today's crowded and competitive landscape, brands that embrace discomfort and break free from traditional norms can achieve standout creativity. Moving away from polished visuals and safe narratives, bold campaigns that highlight uncomfortable truths resonate more deeply with audiences, while brands that prioritize comfort risk losing relevance. Discomfort fosters innovation, and by leaning into it, brands can differentiate themselves and create meaningful connections.

Insights from Dara Cothran, EVP, Global Strategy + Insights 

Insights from Lauren Wright, Vice President

Brands have long leveraged major cultural moments to generate excitement and make lasting consumer impressions. From the Olympics to New York Fashion Week, the opportunity to capitalize on existing conversations to build brand heat can be as big as creativity allows. However, success requires careful alignment with brand values, perfect timing and a thoughtful strategy to sustain momentum once the news cycle dies down.

Insights from Jess Spar, Senior Vice President, Head of Social Media and Influencer Marketing

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, brands often struggle to keep up with the scale of content expected from them and the rising costs of influencers. Content creators can provide the solution, offering innovative, cost-effective and platform-specific content essential for content marketing success. Through a specially assembled Creator Collective, KWT empowers brands to effectively scale content, drive engagement and foster authentic connections with consumers.

Insights from Jeremy Page, EVP, Global Director of Creative, and Cressida Payavis, Senior Director of Design

Over the past year and a half, AI has started to transform how we connect and create. Yet, like any disruptive force in communications, many fear that it will erode trust and stifle human creativity, though AI is here to enhance our capacity to innovate and forge deeper connections rooted in data. By coupling the power of AI with the ingenuity and integrity that only humans can possess, the possibilities for our field are endless.

Insights from Dara Cothran, EVP, Global Strategy + Insights

One’s influence is the new imperative for communications and business success. Our research revealed that executives recognize their role in business success, yet lack the confidence or acumen necessary to leverage their external presence in service of organizational objectives. These insights led us to develop KWTxVoice^SM, an offering that elevates the role of the executive in brand communications through tailored persona mapping designed to define their voice, a thoughtful content strategy across channels and an actionable plan that achieves communications objectives and impacts business goals.

Byline: Jessica Goodman, Director, Social + Influencer Marketing

Google is saying goodbye to third-party cookies by late 2024. This means brands are going to need to innovate how they target, measure and collect data. By tapping into paid social platforms, marketers can utilize first-party data, pixels for tracking, attribution and retargeting and limit the disruption this will have on the advertising industry.

By Kelly Hudson, VP Social Media

Savvy social media teams use data to predict what content will resonate with audiences, which includes keeping an eye on emerging trends to participate in culturally relevant conversations. To make sure you’re ready to strike when a trend hits, develop a plan to identify and assess trends with the following tips.

By Matt Panichas, SVP, Corporate

Boeing’s recent woes can help us understand how to design and implement effective change management communications strategies. At the most fundamental level, whenever change management occurs – be it around digital transformation initiatives; leadership changes; mergers and acquisitions – employees want to know how they will be affected, first and foremost, and what these changes mean for the company, more broadly.

By Erin Ally, VP, Social Media + Influencer Marketing

Athletes are no longer viewed as just players, but as dynamic personalities who can influence a wide range of audiences. Brands that choose to collaborate with athletes can benefit from their wide-ranging appeal, personal brand ethos and resonance in the mainstream media; however, when deciding to engage athletes for partnerships, brands should consider their goals, the format of the collaboration and how athletes fit into their customer journey and larger talent relations programs.

By Bailey Hospodor, Director

This New York Fashion Week, the CFDA picked up its home at Spring Studios and moved west to the Starrett-Lehigh building on the West Side Highway. Fashion show-goers have mixed feelings on the move and whether this show format is sustainable for large crowds and high-profile attendees. Publicists and production teams need to be nimble and flexible with the new venue format and learn how to navigate New York City, manage challenging requests from clients and the feedback from show-goers.

By KWT Global’s Special Situations Group

While we’re just a month and change into the new year, unforeseen challenges have already battered the reputations of numerous companies. Within the intricate tapestry of corporate landscapes, crises loom ominously. While their arrival is as unpredictable as they are disruptive, there are often steps that could have been taken to prevent the ensuing fallout — or even the situation from occurring in the first place.

Navigating the treacherous waters of crisis management in 2024 demands a keen awareness of the blind spots that can sink even the strongest organizations. Through proactive measures and strategic communications, organizations can emerge stronger and more resilient than ever.

By Jess Spar, SVP, Head of Social Media and Influencer Marketing

2023 was a remarkable period of growth for generative AI, as the tech made significant strides and became more widely available for commercial use. Brands entered the race to explore new tools to create a competitive edge, making headline after headline from AI-based fashion games to personal shoppers.

However, one area of opportunity that has flown under the radar is AI for employee advocacy. While perhaps not the “sexiest” form of marketing, employee advocacy can be crucial to the success of a company — not only from a recruitment standpoint, but also for awareness, brand sentiment and even conversion. Content shared by employees not only drives seven times higher engagement than a brand’s own channel — it drives eight times higher conversion as well.

By Jeremy Page, EVP, Global Director of Creative

As hot a topic as AI was in 2023, its prominence on the agendas of both Davos and CES made it clear that the trend will continue this year. This is unsurprising given AI’s seemingly endless use cases and implications — topped off with the trepidation that comes with change.