The New Normal: Advocacy Communications in the Midst of a Global Pandemic

In just a few weeks, the global pandemic has had immeasurable impacts on healthcare, economic and communications. Social distancing to flatten the curve of infected people needing testing and care has led to across-the-board cancellations and postponements of in-person meetings and events communicators and advocates rely on heavily. The coronavirus has also spurred wholesale remote work environments and a refresh of planned message platforms on all communications channels.

The future scope and length of the healthcare and economic crisis is uncertain, forcing us all to be flexible, patient and innovative in conducting and meeting our communications and advocacy goals.

Today’s session will focus on virtual advocacy communications while incorporating key elements of integrated marketing communications to help amplify our activities. 

Mike Fulton

Mike Fulton directs the Washington, D.C., office of Asher Agency and teaches public affairs in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media’s Integrated Marketing Communications program. Mike worked on Capitol Hill for 10 years and focuses on advocacy communications strategy, relationship development, coalition building, earned media placements, and events.

Joshua Habursky

Joshua Habursky is the Head of Federal Affairs at the Premium Cigar Association and Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. He has also taught strategic social media at WVU.  Josh’s experience is in digital and grassroots advocacy, as he founded the national non-profit Grassroots Professional Network, but his past two positions have broadened his government relations to state capitals as well as federal government relations.

WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Karen Freberg from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel. 

Are data departments the modern-day renaissance capability?

As data become easier to access, manage, and analyze, the responsibilities of data professionals have changed. Once the wild west of specialization where few companies were really investing in “data” people, today companies are a lot better at democratizing insights and closing the data literacy gap. This shift has resulted in an evolution of the data professional where pivot table gunslingers are a thing of the past and now communication skills are coveted above all else. In this podcast, we will learn what’s expected of data professionals today, what this means for people coming into the industry, and why data departments are the modern-day renaissance capability.

About Matthew's Guest:

Tradd Salvo is a Data Strategy Director at Droga5 in New York. In this role, he works with clients like Harley-Davidson, Under Armour, and HBO to integrate rich insights into every stage of their marketing campaigns.

Some of his responsibilities include measurement, business strategy, consumer insights, and data systems and tool automation.

Before Droga5, Tradd worked for several agencies including Digitas, FCB, Y&R, and W20 Group for clients such as Samsung, the FDA, Warner Bros, and Verizon.

Tradd grew up near Baltimore Maryland and currently resides in New York City. He received a B.S. in advertising from West Virginia University as well as a master’s degree in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.

___________________________________________

WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Matthew Cummings from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel. 

Amplifying Executive Voices with Social Media

Consumers today expect businesses and executives to take a stand. It has never been more important for the C-suite to have a voice and a platform on which to share it.

Many companies dedicate time and energy to their brand’s social media presence but don’t feel that it’s the right channel for executive communications, or that it’s already too late in the game to get started from scratch. In this podcast, we’ll talk about the shifting expectations for CEOs, how social media can help with positioning, and ways for organizations to build or enhance a successful digital executive communications program.

About Nathan's guest:

Lindsey Neary brings over a decade of client and project management experience to her work as a Vice President on Edelman’s corporate team.

In her current role, Lindsey focuses on digital corporate and executive communications strategy and implementation for clients across a variety of sectors, including e-commerce, technology, finance, and healthcare. She works with integrated teams to reach target audiences with strategic and creative content through owned, paid, and earned media.

Prior to joining Edelman, Lindsey managed multiple client relationships at iostudio, a full-service advertising agency. A highlight of her work there was overseeing the launch of a digital application that has helped 25,000+ military veterans brand their skills in a traditional resume format and connect with potential employers. She also previously worked at IXI Digital, an Equifax company, across corporate marketing, sales, and product development. Lindsey partnered with financial services firms to better understand their target audiences and measure digital campaign effectiveness using proprietary data products.

Lindsey graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and minor in Spanish. She also holds a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from West Virginia University.

___________________________________________

WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Nathan Pierratt from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel. 

I said what I said. The art of internal and executive communications.

Internal communications are critical to building an informed and connected workplace. What happens when what you intend to communicate doesn’t have the outcome you desired? This is what happens when you don’t listen and frame messaging the wrong way.

Today, we live in a world where every internal communication can easily become external and trending on Twitter. As communicators, we have to understand this and navigate the environment to write for outcomes. The graveyard is littered with companies who have died when they were abandoned by their customers. In this podcast, we will learn how to write a communication for the desired outcome and not fall into the trap of tone-deaf.

About Courtney Hughes:

Courtney has extensive communications experience, currently leading communications for the Client Product Group at Dell. Over the last seven years at Dell, she’s held various roles in internal and executive communications, most recently leading communications for Client Solutions Group Sales. Prior to joining Dell, Courtney was a writer, video editor, DJ, and radio personality.

When she’s not writing, creating and executing communication plans, you can find her cooking, working out, modeling, watching and playing sports, spending time with her daughter McKenzie, eating snacks in the closet and answering “yes” to mommy for the gazillionth time. Courtney is a West Virginia native, who grew up in the small town of Beckley, W.Va. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from West Virginia University.

 ___________________________________________

WVU Marketing Communications Today is hosted by Michael Lynch from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel. 

B2B Demand Generation: What Really Works in Digital Advertising?

Digital advertising has greatly evolved since the turn of the century. Search engine advertising is still around, but campaigns are more complicated than ever before. Social media as we know it didn’t begin for a couple more years. Flash forward to 2019. Not only have Google and LinkedIn become behemoths in the B2B digital marketing space, but we also have more targeting options than ever before. In this podcast, you will learn how B2B advertisers can leverage the latest digital advertising tools to build and scale profitable lead generation programs.

___________________________________________

WVU Marketing Communications Today is broadcast from West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel. 

Building crisis readiness into the skillsets of students

With the ease in which a negative event can go viral these days, effective crisis management is a valuable skillset that students need to bring into the workforce with them. In this session, Melissa Agnes, a globally recognized and leading expert in crisis management, shares some of her experience in working in the field as well as how she helps professors bring crisis management best practices into their classrooms to help their students build and hone this critical skillset.  Her immensely popular book, Crisis Ready is available where fine book sold.

---more---

CRISIS READY.

Building an INVINCIBLE Brand in an Uncertain World

The potential risks in modern-day business are greater, more dynamic, and less predictable than ever before. And yet, the greatest exposure does not lie within these risks. Rather, it lies in having a team that is not prepared to anticipate, foresee, or respond to a rising threat, and its impact on your reputation, revenue, and relationships in real-time.

No matter your level of security, due-diligence, or control, the reality is that we live in uncertain times. Organizations are prone to a multitude of risks that can attack from every angle. When your team is crisis ready, your organization is prepared for anything and everything that the modern world can throw at it.

In Crisis Ready, Melissa Agnes draws from her remarkable experience in helping global brands, government organizations, and world leaders prevent and overcome a range of real-world, high-impact crises. She uses this experience to provide your organization with a clear roadmap to implementing a crisis ready culture–and thus building an INVINCIBLE brand.

Order Crisis Ready on Amazon 

 ___________________________________________

WVU Marketing Communications Today by West Virginia University which is a program on the Funnel Radio Channel.