People Experience

The world had read about how Starbucks had two black men arrested for hanging around one of its stores without buying anything. This kind of news could be a public relations disaster of mega proportions but Starbucks CEO acted fast to stem the backlash. Here's what you should do and should not do in a crisis: Do: Be candid, admit the error State the actions to correct the error Don't do: Denial Blame

Social influencers are the hot trend right now. Every big event would have its fair share of influencers present. The tendency in the past, and perhaps still so now, is for brands to seek out the most popular influencer with the biggest following but statistics indicate that micro-influencers (those with far few followers than the mega-stars) are more cost efficient and give better value for clients. Read my NST article about the rise of micro-influencers .

Anticipating how trends in content marketing will change in the future -- even the near future -- is not an easy thing but this Forbes article outlines four new trends that will emerge for content marketing: 1. Interactive content The future of content will still be interactive. People want to engage with their content, rather than passively consuming it, VR and AR will be important components of content. 2. Speaker-based content Smart speakers are all the rage right now so it's only natural that audio-based content will rise in importance and popularity. 3. No more fluff In an age of information overload, consumers will be more choosey about what they choose to read/hear/watch. Fluff content has no chance in this environment. 4. Personal stories The less people trust companies' advertising campaigns, the more important it will be to share personal stories.