As PR and comms professionals, we’re always trying to stay up to date on the latest industry trends. But, OOF, that can be TOUGH, with so much change taking place all the time.
Fear not, as who better to help us get a handle on the happenings than Nicole Schuman, Managing Editor of PRNEWS?
Nicole is my guest on this episode of PR Explored, where we talk not only about trends and news in the public relations field, but also discuss what she looks for in a pitch.
Show summary:
PR Trends, Trust, and Nostalgia: Nicole Schuman of PR News on What’s Shaping Communications
In this episode of PR Explored, host Michelle Garrett, a PR consultant, author, and writer, interviews her guest Nicole Schuman, managing editor of PRNews, who describes her role planning editorial content, newsletters (including Friday Five and her weekly PR Roundup), podcasts, events, and social strategy.
They discuss industry trends including major agency mergers and acquisitions leading to layoffs, while smaller independent and specialized agencies benefit from available talent and strong profits, and consultants help lean marketing teams.
Schuman notes PRNews readership increasingly includes marketers as comms responsibilities expand, prompting new e-learning modules.
They note that Schuman is receiving fewer AI-written pitches but that there remains a sameness in AI-driven contributed content, emphasizing the importance of specificity, relationships, and unique storytelling.
They review Morning Consult’s 2026 Most Trusted Brands report (Dawn, Band-Aid, Google) and trust gains driven by nostalgia, including Mr. Pibb’s campaign and Tylenol remaining most trusted in medicine despite controversy.
They also discuss World Cup and Toy Story 5 brand tie-ins and using LinkedIn for sourcing and visibility.
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:06 Nicole Schumann Background
04:51 Life in DC and New York
08:10 Setting Up PR Trends
09:17 Agency Mergers and Talent Shifts
13:58 Going Independent and Niching Down
16:53 PR and Marketing Converge
22:04 AI Pitches and Inbox Fatigue
25:23 Thought Leadership Needs Specifics
28:39 Writing Voice Over Automation
30:51 AI Tool Overload and Reality Check
31:48 AI Jobs Rebound
32:45 Hiring Struggles Today
33:36 Brand Newsroom Boom
36:32 Trust Brands Report
38:58 Nostalgia Trust Wins
39:55 Tylenol Trust Case
44:02 Comfort Brand Consistency
45:35 World Cup Brand Plays
47:54 Lego Breakthrough Campaign
51:32 Toy Story Tie Ins
54:10 Long Game Marketing
56:11 LinkedIn Sourcing Tips
59:11 Wrap Up And Links
Show notes:
Follow Nicole Schuman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleschuman/
Visit PRNEWS online: https://www.prnewsonline.com/
Sign up for PRNEWS newsletters, including the Friday 5: https://www.prnewsonline.com/subscribe-newsletters/
Articles we discussed:
Full transcript:
Staying on Top of Current Trends in Public Relations
Michelle Garrett: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of PR Explored. PR Explored is the PR podcast where we delve into trends and topics related to public relations. I’m your host, Michelle Garrett, a PR consultant and writer. And today my guest is Nicole Schuman, the managing editor of PR News. And I’m so excited to have you, Nicole.
Welcome.
Nicole Schuman: Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be on. This is a big deal.
Michelle Garrett: I love your work and I, of course, I follow PR News and I follow you on social, and I always, learn a lot from everything that you, write about, share. And so thank you for what you do for our industry.
Nicole Schuman: No, you’re welcome.
It’s a fun industry to cover, so I, And the people are great, can’t complain.
Michelle Garrett: There’s always something going on, that’s for sure. Never, gets boring. That’s, that’s absolutely for sure,
Nicole Schuman: No fun.
Michelle Garrett: yeah, [00:01:00] before… We’re gonna be talking about, trends today, PR trends, that’s what we’re talking about, and what’s going on in the industry.
But first, I would love for you to just tell us a little bit about you and your role now and your background, anything that you would want to share, and I’ll put some links over here while you’re talking about that.
Nicole Schuman: Sure. I’ve been with PR News for over seven years now, which is crazy when I think about it.
I started off just as a reporter and then moved up to senior editor, and now I’m managing editor. what does that entail? it entails, taking care of and planning all the editorial content on the site. keeping, abreast with different trends going on, different times of year.
Examp- for example, right now is Cannes, and there’s a ton of PR stuff going on over there. So working with some contributing writers too since I am not there obviously, enjoying my air-conditioned room here as I’ve heard that it’s a little hot over there . [00:02:00] but, getting word from, for some, from some contributing writers that are there about what’s going on, so that’s cool.
we also do video interviews. We, started a new podcast called, Five Questions With, two months ago, we’ll have another one coming up, in the next couple days, which is always fun, to talk with people in the industry and see what they’re doing and, get their, objectives from a personal perspective on, the PR industry.
We also, I also, program our newsletters. I think I mentioned to Michelle, if you want to subscribe to a PR news newsletter, Friday Five is probably your best option because you get all of the latest posts and news that we did that week, including PR Roundup, which is, my signature that I do every week.
I try to look at what’s going on in the news and see how it applies to the PR industry. We get a ton of great research that comes in that I think, [00:03:00] comms folks like to hear about. so we try to do and reflect that, for our site. in addition to that, I MC at awards events. I’ve probably met some of you there.
those are always a fun time and, we really try to just provide, sometimes we get, confused with PR Week or PR Daily or, some of our competitors. But what we do is we try to differentiate ourselves in the fact that, we like to supply what I- what, I call solutions journalism, which is a term in the journalism industry where, you’re providing teachable, teachable news, teachable content.
things that help people out, when they’re reading. so we like to do that, which I, think is a good thing to do. as far as my background’s in journalism. but actually my first job o- out of journalism school was, a PR and events job with a non-profit . [00:04:00] So I do know the PR side a little bit.
not as good as you guys do in the industry, but, so I have a little background there. I also worked in social media for about 10 years before, I started at PR News. so I also work on our social media strategy. trying to do more video and things like that, seeing what moves the, needle and the LinkedIn algorithms and, all that fun stuff.
but yeah, I worked for, when it was about.com, which is now, I think, People Inc. It was Meredith. I don’t know. They just keep doing different things over there. But that was really fun. that was a great, time to be over there about 10 years ago. I’ve worked with, some different news organizations, things like that.
So, that’s my background currently. I am living outside of DC, which is an interesting time to be here. [00:05:00] and, it’s great. I also spent 10 years before that in New York, still, a part of my heart. So excited about the Knicks winning and, all the celebration last week.
Just seems like the city is, just aglow right now with all kinds of fun and joy and the World Cup and all kinds of stuff. So-
Michelle Garrett: Yeah …
Nicole Schuman: so big part of me, big part of my heart. originally I grew up in Buffalo, New York. go Bills. Yes.
Michelle Garrett: That’s what I was gonna say. I think you’re a Bills fan. That’s what I was just gonna write myself a note
Nicole Schuman: to ask.
I am. I’m a Bills fan. I am a, recovering Sabres fan, ’cause they made the playoffs for the first time in 20 years this year, so that was exciting. so big sports fan overall. and big Buffalo fan. And, was really happy to get my, feet wet in the industries there before I moved on.
And, yeah, we also, just personal stuff, I have a husband. He works in film and TV, which is fun. [00:06:00] And, we have a cat named John Wick, and he is Not an assassin, but he’s likes to cuddle, so his name is exactly the opposite of who he is. So that’s, a little bit about me and, what we’ve been doing over here as of late,
Michelle Garrett: That’s so fun. I love… of course I was telling you I have kitties, so I’m a big- Oh … kitty fan, so
Nicole Schuman: I love it, and if, Unfortunately, my door closed right now,
Michelle Garrett: but- Ah, yep …
Nicole Schuman: I’m going to have to let him in later if I hear, the crying. Yeah … so we’ll see. You might get a, you might get a cat, appearance, but we’ll see.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s… I th- I thought I remembered about the bills. I was thinking that. And I also thought you were in New York, and now I rem- now I know why, ’cause we were talking beforehand. You’re in DC now, and I, for some reason, I was thinking you were in New York, but you used to be in New York. So that wasn’t in my… I didn’t imagine that,
Nicole Schuman: I’m there, almost every month, so it’s, like I never left,
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. Yeah. [00:07:00] that’s… I love, those are… DC and New York are pretty, pretty, fascinating places to be, so I think that’s, cool.
Nicole Schuman: Yeah. And great for PR industry.
A lot of, a little bit of a different scene, in DC than in, in New York. just ’cause, people are a little more, they, have… a little more buttoned up here just ’cause they have, a lot of them work with politics, government, those sorts of things- which is totally understandable. but, New York, you get a lot of brands, entertainment, that kind of stuff, which is, always fun to talk about. so but both in, both, environments are just so great to be a part of. so many people are doing so much great work. So it’s, it’s really been a blessing to, be a part of all of those.
So, it’s been great.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. I just always [00:08:00] feel like there’s so much, energy, electricity in the air when I, visit, so I… Those are two of my favorite places to go. But anyway. We are talking about, there’s, th- there’s so much we could talk about and, of course, if you have questions as you’re listening, please feel free to post them and we will get to them.
be happy to take questions. but first we’re just gonna talk about industry trends a little bit. I think Nicole is perfect for this because obviously she ha- she’s watching what’s going on for her, her, to write for the site and the newsletters, and, also just, keeping a finger on, who your audience is and what are they interested in.
Current PR Trends
I would love to talk a little bit about just some of the bigger trends that you’ve been watching this year. It doesn’t have to be this month, but things do change quickly,
Nicole Schuman: Yes, they do. and fortunately for you guys, [00:09:00] I had to do a, I did an interview on this, keynote interview at a PRSA event back in, Oh, geez, do you hear the beeping outside of my office? I
Michelle Garrett: thought it was outside, but I’m like, “Wait, what is that? I hope that’s not like
Nicole Schuman: a-” It’s me. It’s a nice day. I have the window open, but it’s done now. Okay. I was able to go to the PRSA Counselors Academy, conference the beginning of April, and that was the theme of our, interview was, just trends going on in the industry.
And, to be completely honest, I don’t really cover, the business end of the industry that closely. So I had to do some research, in just regards to, what agency people were dealing with. And the Counselors Academy is really interesting because, it’s, composed of people who own their own agencies.
and they’re not, they’re not like the bigs, they’re not like an Omnicom or anything like that. They’re more [00:10:00] small, mid-size, really nobody, bigger than 50. Some of them are looking to get bigger. so it was an interesting conference to go to for that. so one of the… So I did research about the trends and, so one of the biggest trends I’ve seen just business-wise- obviously everybody’s heard about all the mergers and acquisitions this year.
just, Omnicom is gigantic now, and then Golin and Ketchum just merged and-
so there’s a lot of, a lot of nervous people out there that work for the bigger agencies, because they’re consolidating and, when that comes, then they’re gonna say, we don’t need two of you,” “We don’t need two of this position,” or “We don’t need this.”
so, so there have been layoffs. however, if you are a smaller independent agency, you are benefiting from this because there’s so much great talent out there right now. and [00:11:00] people that have amazing experience from working at these big agencies. They’re obviously gonna try and keep the people that are of, the most, worthwhile to them.
not saying that everyone they let go is not worthwhile, but obviously they just… when there’s a merger, you can’t keep everybody on staff. So, there’s a lot of people out there available that have worked with big brands, worked on big campaigns, that are available for, these independent or mid-tier agencies.
And a lot of these people too that I talk to that have started these agencies, they used to work at the big brands, But they were just like, “I want to run an agency the way I want to do it. I want to make sure me and my employees are only working 40 hours a week. We’re not doing overnights, we’re not doing that kind of stuff.
I want to make sure that, everybody has a good work-life balance, that everybody’s getting the type of health benefits that they need.” [00:12:00] or, a lot of people are just like, “I really liked working in this one specialized field. I really liked working with legal.” So we work, there’s some agencies that are just, doing stuff with, legal.
there are some agencies that are just doing stuff with, I’ll say, manufacturing, things like that. And, I think it was PAN Communications was… did some research on this and, the, smaller specialized agencies are running away with profits. They are doing really well. this is just something somebody told me.
This is… don’t, take my word for it or anything like that.
specialized agencies are doing really well because, people just, they feel comfortable going there. They’re, getting what they need. smaller agencies, independent agencies are, showcasing profits because, [00:13:00] a lot of clients just want that direct attention.
they want more one-on-one. even, big brands and things like that are going to some independent agencies because, they just can keep a closer eye on their narratives and their, goals and things like that. And, so, the sky’s kind of been the limit for, smaller, mid-size agencies right now.
which is good because I know there’s a lot of people that- You know, are having a tough time out there looking for jobs and, there’s a lot of people starting, just starting their own businesses, and it seems to be, for some people it seems to fit the bill and it’s going okay for them.
So, that’s, an interesting trend that I saw on the, on like the business end of things. Yeah … and I know Michelle, you’re a consultant, you have your own thing going. I’m, sure that’s, it’s going all right. You seem like you’re… [00:14:00]
Michelle Garrett: I think the thing, here’s my question or here’s my thought is like, if you’re starting your own business now, is now a good time to start?
I have been doing this for so long that I have a body of work out there and I’m, not… It just, it’s just what I, it’s just my life now, Yeah. It’s I’ve been doing it a long time. but I just wonder for people launching, if it is… I, that’s, not a question I expect you to answer, but it’s a question in my head ’cause I do see people trying to do that.
And- Yeah
Nicole Schuman: There were, a lot of… I met a lot of people at Counselors Academy that were just starting their own business, maybe they’re one or two years in, and, they’re working on their own. They’re, by themselves, and it’s a lot of work. But, they said it’s been good, it’s rewarding, they’re learning new things.
you know- Yeah … and, going to, developing cohorts and, relationships with other people that have done it, I think is a beneficial tool, [00:15:00] for people that are thinking about going out on their own. a lot of these people specialize in certain things. I talked to someone who’s just doing stuff with influencers.
and, being a liaison to agencies and brands that are, trying to bring on influencers to different things. Or, maybe they do more with experiential and events, or, maybe they’re just, a digital PR person, and they’re into, video and, or thought leadership, things like that.
a little more specialized, but they have the, the background and the proof of what they’re doing well with. so it’s, working out for them, rather than trying to be an all-stop shop for everything.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. No, I think that’s really smart, because I think the more you can specialize in niche, that, that helps you, stand out a little bit more.
And it’s not like you’re not gonna get inquiries from other, people that need different, things. It’s, it… That doesn’t… I think that’s a [00:16:00] mindset sometimes. It doesn’t cut you off from opportunities. That actually is, good, a good thing,
Nicole Schuman: Yeah.
Michelle Garrett: Good. I’m glad to hear that.
Nicole Schuman: Yeah, absolutely.
And, I will say, some people might feel, shy about talking to other people, or other people might thinking, might think that they’re looking at them as, competition or something. But everyone I’ve talked to in the PR world that’s, doing consulting and things like that right now are like, “Reach out here.
Reach out to the community, because people will come, and they will help you, and they will answer questions that you need answered.” it’s not looked at as, a competition thing. It’s- it’s really, everybody that I’ve talked to says, you put something out on LinkedIn, “I’m starting this,” people will offer their help and their expertise, and which I, think is really cool about the industry, so that’s… So don’t be afraid. Go, speak out if you need to, if you’re thinking about doing that. Yeah … but yeah.
More Marketing and PR Overlap
another trend that I’ve been seeing, that we’ve been seeing personally at PR News, our readership has [00:17:00] been changing. we’ve noticed that our readership is not just- strictly PR or comms people anymore.
it’s almost half with marketing, titles. it seems like, PR and marketing should always be intertwined, I think. I don’t think they should be siloed, but not everybody does that, right? So-
I think, more is being asked of marketing people now, in terms of communications, in terms of, PR, whether there’s, some organizations are smaller and they don’t have the resources to hire a PR person and a marketing person, so everything falls under the marketing person.
And hey, a crisis hits, so you know, “Hey, marketing person, you need to fix this.” which is, it’s scary and it’s tough, if you’re in those positions. we have noticed [00:18:00] that more, people with marketing titles are, looking at our resources on our site, reading our pages, going to our events, different things like that.
because, and it’s, I know we, we’re, ugh, AI, God, we always have to talk about AI, AI is intertwined in it. Yeah. AI is intertwined in it now, in PR, and,
Michelle Garrett: Absolutely …
Nicole Schuman: marketing is a part of that, in, in how they’re, distributing content and how they’re, measuring what’s being reached, things like that.
It’s, all part of it. so I have noticed that, and I wonder, if your viewers too are, seem to be melding more with, marketing folks. but yeah, it, it does seem like a lot of the topics, are more overlap, especially as more people become chief, creative, or [00:19:00] not chief creative, chief communications officers, Chief communications officer is no longer just like a PR gig. It’s, you’re working with internal, you’re working with external stakeholders, you’re working with investors. There’s a lot of different stuff going on. I think Perry Hedrick on LinkedIn posted about this yesterday, that, if you’re, a CCO and you’re just doing media relations work and pitching, like you’re not a true CCO.
Like you which Perry I know always posts things that people can discuss. but yeah, and he mentions like the different aspects of being a CCO and all that kind of stuff now that differ from just a traditional PR role. So-
Michelle Garrett: Okay …
Nicole Schuman: so I think that’s been really interesting and also one of the reasons that we just, we launched, we haven’t done a huge launch yet, but it’s, on the website, some new e-learning modules, that people can do when, [00:20:00] on their own time, that, say if you’re a marketing person and you need to level up on, how do I work with executives on communications, things like that.
How do I media train them? so we have those available, for anybody along the spectrum, whether, PR, comms, marketing, to level up and, learn- Not necessarily like new… for some people it might be a new, a new skill, that they need to do their job correctly.
so you know, we, put those out there and, in the hopes that, maybe we can help people out with that kind of content that they may need. so you know, that’s what we’re seeing. It’s fun. I love, following brand marketing and that too, so it’s, it’s, always an interesting mix of what’s going on there.
but yeah, and also it’s [00:21:00] about everybody having to do more with less, right? I mean-
Michelle Garrett: Yeah …
Nicole Schuman: budgets are always cut or, we’re gonna- That’s
Michelle Garrett: where I see my clients, they, like you mentioned, one person marketing team- or a very small marketing team, and they don’t have a PR person, so they need a resource to help them, with their announcements, maybe with a crisis.
fingers crossed, but it could happen to anybody anytime now, very quickly. And so and just any number of things, just, ghost writing for the CEO for LinkedIn or whatever it might be. yeah. I’m, that’s… I think that’s interesting.
Nicole Schuman: Yeah. And that’s where the consultants and smaller agencies benefit too, where-
Michelle Garrett: Yeah
Nicole Schuman: if you have a company with a smaller, marketing type department, and y- like you said, something happens or there’s, you need narrative for a campaign that’s coming up, a lot of times they will, go outside the organization to hire a consultant to- Okay … move them through on those things, which is [00:22:00] beneficial for that part of the industry, for sure.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah.
Fewer Pitches Written by AI
one thing you mentioned that I’m gonna ask you about is pitches written with AI have become less frequent. Let’s… I’m happy to hear this. So you, do you, are you seeing, fewer of those?
Nicole Schuman: So last year- … I was getting- I feel like I’m getting pitched less this year. I don’t know what that’s all about.
But, I, yeah, I- every pitch I read was the same thing. Now, a- and it’s, the same phrases. This… I, can just tell. I can just tell when something’s w- everybody can tell now when something’s written by AI. and it was just flooding my inbox all the time because people could… were doing more with less effort, right?
you were able to send out some things out to more people. You were able to write more pitches, just, with that, like the click of a button. [00:23:00] I have seen less of that now because I think so many people in the industry called it out, journalists and other PR folks, things like that. your…
A- and also probably the success of pitches. your pitch isn’t going to get noticed if it’s just full of jargon and, sounds like everybody else’s, right? I mean- Yeah … the pitches that are most interesting to me, and I think we’ll get into this later, I love studies that, have specific data on, specific things going on.
with great, individual quotes from, people in the organization. that kind of stuff catches my eye. or, or just someone, sends me an email that I have a relationship with that, it can be a couple sentences and be like, “Hey, we did this,” or, “Hey, I was [00:24:00] thinking about this.
Do you think this is, a good idea for a story- or for a contributed piece?” And I’m like- Yeah … “I’ll either say yay or nay.” I do still like press releases, like, I was saying in terms for, like, when I write about reports and… or if I write about, a campaign, I like seeing the details.
but just y- I feel like the AI pitches are so long and I just, I have so much email, I can’t even get through everything. So, yeah, I feel like those have definitely waned a bit, so that’s, I’m happy about that. because I can only read media landscape so many times before I want to vomit.
so Oh,
Michelle Garrett: man.
Nicole Schuman: Please don’t make me write media landscape ’cause I can’t handle it anymore. Just use another word for landscape, please. because I just… it’s, my most hated phrase right now. [00:25:00] but yeah, and yes, AI is useful for a lot of things. but I do think when you’re…
and I, write about PR, I’ve worked in PR, I’ve, So I, I get, both sides and in this weird, but beneficial, middle ground where- I can see what is beneficial and what isn’t. what I will say is, not pitches, but I get a lot of contributed pieces that people would like to publish to the site.
Oh. And a lot of those are sounding very similar. thought leadership pieces, jar- any- anything about, mostly articles about AI in PR. It’s very hard for me to yay or nay them because they’re all blending together and sounding the same. And we do have a lot of content on AI and PR and I think people just don’t read the [00:26:00] website.
I think they’re like, we wrote this,” da. I’m like, “This sounds just like something we published a week ago, or two weeks ago.” You have to review where you’re pitching to and your ideas and things like that. And you have to make your ideas specific and less general. AI is, moving fast in the world of PR and, or here’s how to like, use AI to power up your PR.
that kind of stuff, like it’s just not gonna work. so yeah, I, like specifics and I think, that works if you want stuff picked up by AI. if you want stuff picked up by AI answers, specificity is really important as well. if you have these It’s it’s weird because, the AI companies want you to use AI to create stuff-
but then [00:27:00] the AI companies that have AI search results don’t want that AI stuff in the results. So it’s like, what is going on here? you may have heard that, if you’re on LinkedIn a lot, which is a lot of people are, you may have heard that LinkedIn is penalizing, posts that sound like they were written by AI.
Whether that’s true or not, I have no idea. I can’t figure out the LinkedIn algorithm for my life. But, you know- We’ve
Michelle Garrett: talked a lot about it on here, but it changes. That’s the, thing. It’s we could talk about it right now and then next week it’d be some- So it’s like-
Nicole Schuman: Yeah
Do I post one photo? Do I post many? Do I write a big post for the, from the heart and nobody reads it? And I’m like, “Ah, what am I doing?” so you know what? I just, I feel like don’t try to like game the algorithm just anywhere. Just do what I, think, [00:28:00] write things- From, a, personal creative standpoint, and then, it’s great to use for editing and that kind of stuff.
But I really think what stuff that’s gonna be noticed is very individual and unique. And-
Michelle Garrett: Yeah …
Nicole Schuman: I just, I think, even though you might get something done, quicker and more succinctly, it’s, still, time lost because it’s not gonna be, really acknowledged. So, sometimes take the extra time, and, do something more thoughtful and unique, and I think that’s important.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah, I think, for example, for my newsletter I always write an original piece. I sometimes I reuse that piece as a blog post or as a LinkedIn or something. But I would maybe use AI, like Perplexity or something like that, to do some research to find some statistics or to back up my, what I’m hearing out there, which is this accurate?
What do you [00:29:00] And then I would always check the source on those. But as far as the writing, that feels like something you’re really giving up. you’re really… ‘Cause the writing is the, learning and, it’s the thinking, right? it’s developing thoughts about whatever the topic is.
So if you’re just spit- letting AI spit something out for you, I feel like you’re missing a lot. you can do that, but I just, to me, it’s a very valuable, piece of, it, I just, I, I value that too much to turn it over to AI. So I don’t
Nicole Schuman: know. Yeah. No, I get it. And then everybody’s stuff starts sounding the same, and it’s just I don’t know.
Like when we’ll hit, that point where it’s just oh, this is too much.
Michelle Garrett: But- I’m just so bored, I’ll be honest. and I mentioned it to you when we were getting ready for this. I am just so bored by… I know, yes, I know about it and in the marketing world, PR world, it’s just oh.
And there’s so many bad takes, and then there’s just so many repetitive, takes. Yeah. [00:30:00] And I get pitched, products, because, I’ve d- been doing PR for a long time, from people trying to develop products using AI, “Would you like to take a look at this? Would you use this to write your LinkedIn posts?”
I got one like that this week. I’m like, “No, I would not.” I would never do that because, I, I don’t know. There, again, I’m sure AI has its place, and I’m sure- if you work a corporate job, you’re in meetings all day, you need to take notes, you’re getting a million emails, that’s, to me, that’s, first of all, it’s a problem in and of itself, but that might be more the person that’s gonna use AI to summarize and, things.
But, I just, for me, I, no.
Nicole Schuman: Yeah. I other journalists may feel differently, but, this is just what I’ve seen. And, like you said, I get pitched, an AI tool, almost every day, which, good for the people that are doing that. I think it’s [00:31:00] great. I just, I, yeah, I don’t n- really know what to do with that information.
So I just put it in a folder that says AI. Maybe someday I’ll do a review of all the AI tools I’ve been pitched.
Michelle Garrett: Oh, God, that would take you… I don’t know if you could…
Nicole Schuman: I would have to use AI to- … to go through all of them and tell me about all of them, because there’s a
Michelle Garrett: lot. I one thing I’ve seen, is that some companies are getting rid of their AI initiatives.
I saw Starbucks, I saw McDonald’s, I saw Uber. So there’s, there are companies that are like saying, it’s got errors. It’s, it’s problematic. It’s it’s really not saving us the time and money that we thought.” So I don’t know. I’m, I don’t know. There’s probably a middle ground here somewhere.
Here’s what I’m
Layoffs and Job Searching in the PR Field
Nicole Schuman: wondering, yeah, when I was at my conference, one of the questions was, do you think AI is going to, take people’s jobs? And- I think, initially [00:32:00] we’ve seen a lot of, layoffs, a lot of- at tech companies, things like that, because they’re going to use AI. But I think a lot of these people are gonna be end up getting hired back.
I think that just happened at Facebook. Like-
Michelle Garrett: Yeah …
Nicole Schuman: because you need people to deal with people. I just, I think, I, think there’s gonna be like a rehiring surge. I hope so, for a lot of people. so I… we’ll see which way that goes, but, I would bet that yeah, they’re gonna … They’re overestimating on, what they can get rid of, and they’re gonna end up needing people back.
So we’ll, see how that works out.
Michelle Garrett: on that note, I have never seen, as many, people in my own circle looking for work. like I keep a list on my desk, and sometimes I… they will… I see that they… One this week I did see found a job and, that they do find [00:33:00] things, some, but some really struggle.
And people that are working for themselves-
I hosted freelance chat on Twitter for five years, and I’m connected to a lot of people that work for themselves, and they’ve had, they’ve struggled to find work. So again, I feel like this is a unique time, and I’m hoping like, that we see, the tide turn a little bit for those people.
‘Cause some of them are, really… a lot of them are great at what they do, it’s an odd time.
Nicole Schuman: Yeah, and it’s really fascinating. Like I, I think I mentioned this before, we went on. one of the other trends I’m seeing is that, there’s always been brand newsrooms, but now brands are really aggressively like putting jobs out there to employ journalists or, creators to tell their story.
the job openings that are director of content are, at brands, are everywhere. and they pay really well, most [00:34:00] of them. and it’s a newer position, so it’d be interesting, to see what the responsibilities are for different people at different places, and how that’s going to turn out.
But, especially like people wanna get picked up by AI search and all that kind of stuff now, which I think- To be honest, it’s very similar to SEO, is that you have to put new content out and tell your story. brands are picking up on that, and they just, they want someone to sh- shepherd their entire story, which I, think is, smart.
and, I think it keeps brands out of trouble that way. if you can proactively, explain who you are and what you stand for and the people that you’ve impacted through storytelling, I think that’s important. so yeah, and I think it helps consumers. I think it’s a great thing. [00:35:00] if people are into writing, if they are into storytelling, things like that, looking for, head of content positions, they, seem to be all over the place.
so that’s a positive there.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. Yeah, again, I, really… This, I think it’s getting maybe a little bit better, but this, I don’t know, when the year started, I just was ha- it just, seemed every day somebody else in my network was looking for a job and, saying, “Please keep your eye open, for me.”
And like it just, it’s hard, it’s it’s just hard to watch, it’s,
Nicole Schuman: You feel really helpless. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s, I know people that have been looking for over a year. especially in the DC area. Yeah. So many people lost jobs here. especially in the communications, realm because, whether they were working for the federal government or whether they were working for an organization that, had contracts with the federal government or, benefited from [00:36:00] funding from the federal government.
every- everybody is connected somehow. so there’s a lot of great PR people down here that are still looking and, they, when someone grabs them, they’re gonna be, they’re gonna be very happy,
Michelle Garrett: Yeah, I, have a, I have hope that it’ll, work out for everyone, but anyway, it’s, it’s- something. I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been in the industry for quite a while, so it’s, it’s interesting. okay.
Which Brands Do Consumers Trust Most?
So let’s see. I want to touch on, can we talk about trust for a minute? ‘Cause I know that you recently wrote about trust, in one of your, your PR roundups. it w- had to do with Tylenol, but honestly I feel like trust is something we talk about a lot and, I think the point was that, the importance of trust because, y- you need something familiar.[00:37:00]
You’re probably gonna gravitate towards something you’re familiar with if your trust is lacking, right? And I don’t know, just- can we talk about that a little bit maybe?
Nicole Schuman: Yeah, absolutely. So Morning Consult, who does amazing, reports and polls and that kind of thing. So they released, last week, their Most Trusted Brands report 2026, which I always think is very interesting for PR.
you, think you’re, you know what the most trusted brands are gonna be, but sometimes you get surprised. this year, Americans are gravitating, like you were saying, towards the familiar. Dawn dish soap held the top spot for the second consecutive year. Can you really think of anything bad about Dawn dish soap?
I think about those advertisements where they’re cleaning the-
Michelle Garrett: The ducks. …
Nicole Schuman: from the oil. Oh my God. and Dawn, you don’t hear really anything about, [00:38:00] toxic crises or, people getting hurt, those kinds of things. So- so they’re still in the top spot, and that’s followed by Band-Aid, which like, what can you say bad about Band-Aid?
Nothing really. and Google, which did surprise me, I will be honest, I think people, I don’t know. I know people love tech, but I also feel like they’re a little wary of tech companies at the moment, so- That’s
Michelle Garrett: just me.
Nicole Schuman: But Google ranked as the most trusted technology brand, they do have really great commercials, many of which I have watched during the World Cup, and always bring a tear to my eye.
so they’re doing something right there in terms of narrative. so that’s been good. but yeah, there’s a broader pattern. household stable- staples, childhood favorites kinda dominate. different cereal brands, things like that were in there that, people feel comfortable with, which is good.[00:39:00]
the one, thing I, that I talked about on PR Roundup, which I think was funny, that in the report the biggest trust gainers told a nostalgia story. So the biggest jump… Have you ever heard of Mr. Pibb?
Michelle Garrett: Yes.
Nicole Schuman: So Mr. Pibb led all brands with a huge jump in trust over the past year. and this, was fueled by, they created a campaign with, do you remember, Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen?
Michelle Garrett: Yes.
Nicole Schuman: In the NBA back in the day? Yeah. So Scottie Pippen worked with Mr. Pibb to launch a viral campaign called Mr. Pip, which I guess went bonkers online and people loved it. And, so that was… That, that campaign, that partnership really helped them to get more in the conversation again with people, which I thought was really interesting.
And then the, other part that stood out in the [00:40:00] report was Tylenol’s performance. Now, if you remember last year, earlier this year, I think it was last year. Was it last year? I can’t remember.
Michelle Garrett: there was, last fall I think, and then there was another. it, it comes back sometimes.
Nicole Schuman: Yes.
So, some folks in the federal government tried saying that Tylenol, caused autism and, all different kinds of ailments and blah, blah, blah. However, Tylenol is used in hospitals with pregnant women and it has been for years, and there was no, studies that actually could, prove what was going on here.
but Tylenol, so it you have leadership telling you, “Don’t take Tylenol. It’s not bad, it’s not good for you,” and some people will adhere to that because they trust leadership. the majority did not listen to that. Tylenol still remains the most trusted brand in medicine.[00:41:00]
Of, all the medicines out there, which I think after battling this high profile controversial, with people at high profile places saying, “Don’t use Tylenol,” to still be the most trusted healthcare brand says a lot. And I think that just comes from, like we’re saying, familiarity, trust.
this is years of goodwill, built up, for people to, keep using a product or, to, ignore, outside noise, talking- Yeah … about that product. So, I thought that was really interesting. And, I think it’s just these brands that have been around for a long time, that work, that aren’t, harming people really in, in any kind of way, like that, that will stand the test of time, even [00:42:00] if you’re getting attacked from another side. it’s a company that stands by their, research and their, science, and that, that seems to work with the, the public.
And, I interviewed, Danny Maiello. He’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer over at Mission North, m- mid-size firm, and he had a great quote that I, really liked that I put in the story, was that he says, “A strong brand is not just about your market share.” Okay? and Tylenol has a big market share.
it’s, you know- can you think of another acetaminophen brand off the top of your head? I just think of gene- generic ones, but I can’t really think of anything else. But, but i- he says it’s not even about that. It’s about, you can be everywhere, but you might not be trusted, because you’re not reliable or transparent about the things that you’re doing.
So- I thought that was a really good point that he made. So cheers to [00:43:00] Tylenol. I’m an Advil girl, so completely different thing, but…
Michelle Garrett: some people can’t take that because it- Yes … affects their blood pressure, ibuprofen, that kind. So a Tylenol is what’s used by hospitals, So to, come out against that is pretty, yeah, it’s just in- interesting, right?
‘Cause-
Nicole Schuman: Yeah …
Michelle Garrett: I’m just happy to see that, they are a brand that has weathered a number of, issues over the years. there was giant scandal, Yes … I don’t even know if that was the ’70s or ’80s, but, but yeah, so- 50 or …
Nicole Schuman: no. Yeah.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. So it’s, amazing that they, and I also like what it says about consistency over time.
It, if you’re a new company starting out, it’s really hard to, get on the map, but you’re, if you’re an established brand that has earned trust, people know you, love you, trust you, it makes a huge difference. I’m kinda glad to see these results, so I think that’s, I thought [00:44:00] that was an interesting piece.
Nicole Schuman: Yeah. Yeah. And they don’t really, change the formula. they don’t, do too many things that are different. and I think people- I think people tr- you know, they like that. they, know what they’re buying. they, don’t have to choose from, 8,000 different things.
they, just know it, and it works for them. And, I think that goes to show just, for… Think of, Kraft cheese. My, my k- my husband loves, American cheese. we tried, to save money by buying, a generic brand, and he was like, “It’s just not the same.
We’ll pay more for Kraft.” Because if they’ve just… It’s, always the same. It is what you’re looking for, and it works. you know-
Michelle Garrett: Yeah …
Nicole Schuman: so people might, they… I- it works with a brand, too. They’re… People are willing to pay more for something that they trust and that they- that’s familiar to them, I think,
Michelle Garrett: Yeah, no, I definitely have that sometimes, ’cause you can buy [00:45:00] the generic store brand on some things and it doesn’t matter, but then there are certain things that are just like, no, I’m not giving up my…
Nicole Schuman: Blows my mind. So- Yeah. So we’re big Kraft cheese fans here, over here, so there you go.
Michelle Garrett: I put the link, in there, and I will put it in the show notes, too, so people can check that article out.
It’s really interesting, and I wanna do… I wanna go back and look at it a little closer, do something else with it, ’cause I do think it’s always interesting to see those, studies. and you… Sometimes things change a lot, and other times they don’t,
Nicole Schuman: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Brands Taking Advantage of Pop Culture
Michelle Garrett: let’s talk about your piece about culture that you wrote a couple weeks ago.
you mentioned, the World Cup. You mentioned Toy Story 5, and some other things in there. Do… Let’s talk about, pop culture, brands that are, capitalizing on hot topics. Can we talk about that a little bit?
Nicole Schuman: I think the World Cup is so fun right now with pop [00:46:00] culture. and I think the brands…
it’s not even, it’s not even about brands right now, but in my piece I just talked about, one of the things that Lego did was they actually, And every… I feel like everybody has a World Cup product right now or, I will say an America 250 product, okay? Okay. And some of these things work, and some of these things don’t.
I was at the store the other day, and- I won’t say what brand, but a mac and cheese brand has… You can buy an America 250 mac and cheese, and I’m like, “Why? Why? Why is this a thing?” I don’t understand. Has it
Michelle Garrett: got sprinkles, like red, white, and blue,
Nicole Schuman: No, they’re, like, shaped, like in… You can get, they’re like shapes of America, like of- Oh, okay … which I’m like, “Eh.” I almost did buy it just out of, ridiculousness, but, someone’s gonna buy it, I [00:47:00] don’t know. but it’s But, so you, have these brands, co-opting these, different events, and, some things work and some things don’t.
But, so World Cup you’re seeing all kinds of different things. I’m trying to think. Whoever the company is that owns Nerds. F- Ferro, F- I can’t remember the name, but they’re, like, a huge World Cup sponsor. And, so they have, World Cup branded, Nerds gummy clusters that I’ve seen in the, stores.
And I’ve had them. They’re actually pretty good. So they’re, like, red, white, and blue- Yeah … and, like, little Nerds, and they’re tasty, and so that’s fun. definitely the candy industry, that’s a whole other conversation, really has co-opted every holiday and event, and which I think is… I love candy, so it’s fantastic to me.
But, it might not be great for other people. But anyway, getting back to Lego and the World Cup. [00:48:00] one of the cooler things that I’ve seen, And it’s hard to break through, because there are so many brands involved with the World Cup right now. Yeah … and it is, it’s really hard to break through.
You need, a good, message or a good gimmick. Like I was saying, Google has really great ads that are playing during the World Cup that I think are very effective in messaging, and messaging is part of PR, so it’s the way you’re perceived. it’s important the story that you’re telling.
Lego released, special, FIFA World Cup sets. I think you can actually build, some of the famous players, which are, Lionel Messi, Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo. I forget who else there is. But, so Lego actually got these men in a room together, which is really difficult, [00:49:00] and showed them…
They had this whole campaign of, just, they just recorded them trying to put these Lego kits together of themselves, which is so fun. it makes, these are, like, really famous people like-
Michelle Garrett: Yeah …
Nicole Schuman: very rich, very famous people, but doing something relatable, like, putting together, a Lego kit, and sitting there and doing it.
It just, It’s “Oh, hey, this, billionaire is like me,” or, “This millionaire is just like me,” doing this. So I thought that was really cool. Now, the thing is, Lego is not even an official sponsor w- of World Cup. they’re a non-sponsor. So for them to break through, without having that official sponsorship, is just, it’s really fascinating.
I would just say, keep an eye out, in the, article, I posted the, the actual video, which is really [00:50:00] fun to watch. and, just, to see, it’s not like any wild, big thing. It is a big thing, ’cause they’re huge celebrities that they got to come and do this, but-
but just the simple story of “Oh, hey, let’s watch these people put Legos together.” that’s all they did, and that’s, what people do with Legos. they’re not doing anything weird or, AI graphics or anything like that. it’s just “Hey, let’s get together and do this,” which we talked about familiarity before.
I think it wins. I just think it really wins. so I think that’s interesting, and, I think for people that aren’t necessarily soccer fans in general, I’m not a gigantic soccer fan, but, the World Cup just, It’s not even the promotion of it. It’s watching- It’s watching the people there that are so excited about it.
It’s seeing the people here that are, like you’ve [00:51:00] seen like the Norway, the guy’s rowing like in the subway and like… Or you’ve seen, there’s some videos online, TikToks of, Europeans going to like Waffle House for the first time and just, it’s those personal stories that are, really the most exciting thing.
Like you can show your product, but it like, I think the, the people that are breaking through are just with these organic stories and, you have to keep an eye out for them. So I think that’s- Yeah … interesting there. But, but that’s been really fun. and then, Toy Story 5, oh, Toy Story 5 did come out last week.
Okay. I need to go see it.
Michelle Garrett: Made a lot of money, and I heard it was actually good.
Nicole Schuman: I feel like most of those have been written really well. They’re just… I don’t know what they have. They have some kind of magic on that Toy Story team. that’s another thing that brands have tried to co-op and some of them have [00:52:00] done a really good job with it.
and you just have to keep your eye out, like Papa Johns recreated some of the iconic Pizza Planet, actual places. They like changed the Papa John’s to like a Pizza Planet. And also like Kellogg’s, has gone back to, putting to- I didn’t even know they don’t really put toys in cereal boxes anymore.
I had no idea. I was like just flabbergasted by that. But like Ke- Kellogg’s have gone back and they’re putting, Toy Story 5, like related items in the cereal boxes. it’s another, nostalgia play. It’s another familiarity play. But, people, love it and I think people are just looking for comfort right now and in a lot of ways, remembering stuff about their childhood and, things like that is a great way to do that.
and yeah, I don’t… I would like to know the story about [00:53:00] when and why, cereal stopped putting toys in the boxes. I’d love to know. I really would. also Cracker Jack, I get a lot of Cracker Jack from when I go to baseball. Oh. Cracker Jack doesn’t put toys in there anymore. They give you like a little sticker I don’t want the stirrers.
Michelle Garrett: wonder if it was a problem, if somebody swallowed or somebody… I’m like…
Nicole Schuman: Probably. one, one bad, one bad apple ruins the whole bunch, right? but yeah, the cereal thing was interesting to me. So, I’m glad- Yeah … it’s back. But, but it’s fun. there’s a lot of, tough stuff going on right now, but so it’s nice to look at the joyful things that, are bringing people happiness and the stories that surround it, for sure.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. No, I love these examples and I, I think that, yeah, the… I’m in my head now. I’m writing some notes like trust, comfort, nostalgia, fun and joy. okay, so the brands that capture those, feelings for [00:54:00] consumers, might be winning right now. So that’s a good note to, news jack, but do it with, those things in mind maybe,
Nicole Schuman: Yeah.
And the, one other thing that made me feel very old, but, so when the first Toy Story came out it was, like, 1995. So I think I was in, I was just starting high school. so a lot of those people now that had seen that first Toy Story are now adults, with maybe families of their own. So it’s this interesting, generational, rainbow of, okay, you were marketed to in 1995, now you’re getting marketed to in, 2026.
And, like- Yeah … does the same… obviously, messaging and, things have changed, platforms, what kind of stuff works that… can you carry that first generation all the way now to, this fifth movie? I think- Yeah … that’s a really interesting point is just, [00:55:00] familiarity.
you’re staying with a generation from time, to time, Yeah. And how did you approach them then? How are you approaching them now? I think that’s really interesting.
Michelle Garrett: Long game consistency. I j- I’ve seen an ad for, I think, Disney Cruises where it’s, a dad and a son, and then that son’s son.
Yeah. And then that… so they’ve played off that. and not every brand can do that because some brands are in startups or newer. They’re trying to, get, attention. But I really feel like, this, is a winning formula for, if you can, get there,
Nicole Schuman: I also, I always laugh at the Disney cr- I’ve seen that Disney Cruise commercial and I’m like, “Ooh boy, they’ve spent a lot of money over the-” Should give them a free cruise
Michelle Garrett: Well- just getting anybody on a cruise, in my opinion, I’m kinda like, I don’t know.” a lot of, things happen on, with the cruise ships, but, but-
Nicole Schuman: Disney,
does a good job.
They do.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah, I haven’t seen D- I will say yes, I di- [00:56:00] I don’t mean to, to say that it’s about Disney, but we all have seen the stories about the cruise ships, Okay.
Nicole Schuman: Yes.
Leveraging LinkedIn for PR Purposes
Michelle Garrett: We’re- All right … gonna wrap up. but I di- I have a question for you just about using LinkedIn, ’cause that came up- a little bit earlier. I know that you post a lot of, queries, like kinda looking for people to weigh in- sources on LinkedIn. H- is that working for you? How’s that working for you?
Nicole Schuman: Yeah, it’s great. that LinkedIn algorithm seems to so not always, but, I would say 75% of the time. and I get a lot of responses.
and it also introduces me to some contacts that I may not have had before. So it is a good, media relations tool, I think on both sides.
Michelle Garrett: Okay …
Nicole Schuman: so yeah, I do that, and I, I have noticed other journalists doing that as well. so- Yeah. Okay … so it’s, it might not be, [00:57:00] it might not j- sometimes, I lift a lot of things from there.
I, identify that in my post that I’ll be doing that. but for some people- Oh, yeah … yeah, but for some people it might just, initiate a chance to, maybe get an interview or something like that, to expand on, what they’re talking about. So, yeah, I, I think it’s a good tool.
I, it’s worked for me, so maybe, i- yeah, keep an eye on it if you’re in the industry. I always like new sources and voices.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. it’s back in the day was Twitter. Now I feel like maybe it’s gonna be LinkedIn, which is funny to me because for a long time, I don’t think LinkedIn was really the place to connect with reporters.
But I think we’re seeing, we’re seeing more of that now.
Nicole Schuman: Yeah. Yeah, a lot of reporters. I used to be a Twitter power user, and I don’t go on there that much anymore. but there’s also, so many other places now, like we were talking about Threads, Blue Sky. but [00:58:00] everyone still seems to be on LinkedIn,
Michelle Garrett: Yeah.
Nicole Schuman: So that can work.
Michelle Garrett: Yeah. No. I, I, that’s an interesting thing to me. And another thing to think about, if you’re in the PR industry and you’re trying to get in front of reporters, obviously the same, don’t, pester or don’t… just be If it’s a natural fit, that makes a lot more sense than trying to just, you know-
Nicole Schuman: Yeah
Michelle Garrett: bug somebody over there,
Nicole Schuman: Don’t, pitch in a LinkedIn DM. Please do not. I get that, and I don’t like it ’cause it’s just this, little square. I’m like, “Just send me an email, please.” My email is, in the contacts. I don’t really understand the pitching via DM. I don’t like it. But other people might like it, I don’t know. It’s just my personal preference.
Michelle Garrett: And you also referenced something that I wrote about on LinkedIn, was I had a colleague that posted about something in her industry. She’s in the SEA industry, and it got picked up and put right into a story, and nobody even… The reporter didn’t even come to her.
They just, they obviously cited the, post- and she got a quote in an article, which was great for [00:59:00] her. So again- Yeah … if you’re trying to get media attention, media coverage, LinkedIn, again, might be a good place to, be actively posting and engaging. Yeah.
Nicole Schuman: Absolutely. Yeah.
Michelle Garrett: is there anything else?
I think, we’re, almost at our hour,
PR Trends Wrap-Up
Nicole Schuman: I think I’m good. This was a great conversation. Sorry if I babbled on a little bit, but there’s so much going on right now with, messaging and PR and marketing and all that kind of stuff, so it’s fun to talk about all the stuff happening.
Michelle Garrett: It’s really fun, and I have really appreciated you being here today, and I’m putting the links up one more time, if people wanna follow, Nicole on LinkedIn or follow PR News. I’ll put those links up. And of course, subscribe to the newsletter. I- tell me the name again. It’s five. What… One more time.
Nicole Schuman: it’s just The Friday Five. The Friday Five. That’s the best one to subscribe to, yeah, because you’ll get the PR round-up and all the other, stories that we’ve published throughout the week,
Michelle Garrett: And I’ll put those links in the show notes as well. And I [01:00:00] just want to thank you so much for being here, Nicole.
This was great. Thank you so much. Thank
Nicole Schuman: you, Michelle. Thank you for all you do for the industry. We appreciate it.
Michelle Garrett: Thank you.
Bye, everyone.
About the host: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant, media relations consultant, writer and author of B2B PR That Gets Results, an Amazon Best Seller. She helps companies create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Michelle’s articles have been featured by Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Institute, Muck Rack, and Ragan’s PR Daily, among others. She’s a frequent speaker on public relations, marketing and content. Michelle has been repeatedly ranked among the top ten most influential PR professionals.
Learn more about Michelle’s freelance PR consulting services here. Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here. Buy Michelle’s book here.
