Comms TLDR - PR Daily Editor Loves Surveys; ChatGPT in Academic Writing; Singapore PM Makes Influencers Famous
Weekly Newsletter to Get One Percent Better at Communications
Welcome to the inaugural weekly issue of Comms TLDR, your go-to newsletter for the latest trends, research, and interesting — often unintended — case studies in communications. Our mission is to curate concise and impactful communications insights. The goal is to help professionals become one percent better. Mathematically speaking, if you become 1 percent better daily considering you are starting from 1, you will be 37.38 times better after a year(!)
In This Issue:
Allison Carter, PR Daily Editor-in-chief, Loves Surveys
The Rise of ChatGPT in Academic Writing
Lawrence Wong, Singapore PM, Makes Influencers Famous
Manner Coffee Confronts PR Storm Following Employee Violence
Allison Carter, PR Daily Editor-in-chief, Loves Surveys
Alison Carter makes her love for corporate survey data — appropriately used and non-salesy — loud and clear. She notes that PR Daily has a weekly 'By the Numbers’ feature!
Key Insight: Publishing survey data is half the battle won, and she mentions including graphs, raw data as an appendix, expert quotes, and how she defines 'sufficient' sample size — a couple of hundred, no need for thousands since the statistical findings are unlikely to change with a huge sample size.
Actionable Strategy: When a leading PR publication's editor-in-chief calls for survey data, communications professionals should listen hard. It's also important to note that journalists want the data nicely packaged (see above) and adorned with a ribbon (memorable expert quotes).
Further Reading:
Survey communications example: Heart Foundation Women’s Heart Health Survey
Follow-up media report: CNA Report on Women’s Heart Health
The Rise of ChatGPT in Academic Writing
A recent study co-authored by Dmitry Kobak analyzed 14 million PubMed abstracts from 2010 to 2024 to understand the prevalence of ChatGPT-assisted writing. The study found an increase in "excess vocabulary" indicative of AI assistance (such as up to 25 times more 'delves'), shedding light on the evolving role of AI in academic publishing.
Key Insight: The use of AI tools like ChatGPT is becoming more prevalent in generating academic content. If this study was replicated for media reporting or corporate press releases, my hunch is that we would see an even higher percentage increase in "excess vocabulary" indicative of AI assistance.
Actionable Strategy: Leverage AI tools for content generation, but maintain a balance by incorporating human oversight to ensure authenticity and relevance. Avoid commonly seen words identified by this study such as "delves", "showcasing" and "underscores."
Further Reading:
Lawrence Wong, Singapore PM, Makes Influencers Famous
Lawrence Wong, Singapore PM, was recently featured in The Straits Times interacting with two influencers in an article headlined 'Influencers, cause champions, businessmen: The new friends of the PAP'. Subsequently, Google Trends spiked for both influencers (+1,000%) and the social media agency (+250%) that they are associated with.
Key Insight: It is refreshing to see a political party being transparent about its engagement targets, i.e., folks who could influence more voters. In my opinion, it would be great if more political parties worldwide could display similar transparency.
Actionable Strategy: Remember personalities (the two influencers) draw more attention than brands (the agency that employs them). If you are planning a brand campaign without personalities, don’t. Also, when writing your next press release, bear in mind that pictures (especially the first picture) and captions are likely to catch readers’ attention.
Further Reading:
Influencers, cause champions, businessmen: The new Friends of the PAP
SGAG Facebook Video: Xiao Ming Interviews DPM Lawrence Wong At CAT CAFE
Manner Coffee Confronts PR Storm Following Employee Violence
On June 17, 2024, two separate incidents occurred involving Manner coffee baristas: one threw coffee grounds at a customer while another assaulted a customer who started filming their argument. The social media discourse surrounding the incidents quickly became focused on Manner baristas’ low pay and often facing understaffed situations. These are factors that may lead baristas to ‘snap’ at demanding customers.
Key Insight: With increasing inequity, the have-nots (baristas) tend to garner attention and sympathy. In this instance, the haves (Manner coffee founders and their investors) have not indicated how they could reach their ambitious goal of opening 2,000 stores (an 800-store increase) by the end of 2024 while accounting for baristas’ financial and emotional well-being.
Actionable Strategy: Any product or service needs to be served with a heart. Coffee, sandwiches whatever. Without addressing barista issues, customers are likely to see Manner as cynically exploiting their staff and choose other competitors. There are plenty of Weibo and Toutiao videos showing empty Manner stores since this incident.
Further Reading:
Crisis in a cup: Manner Coffee faces PR debacle following incidents of employee violence
Two ill-mannered cases within a day: What’s wrong with Manner Coffee?
JX (Jaxon) Tan founded Momentum AI Communications, a boutique PR consultancy based in Singapore, on a mission to simplify science and spark engagement. He was previously based in China, where he led international communications for a leading biotech company, and was head of content (APAC) for PR Newswire. Reach him on LinkedIn.