USC Center for Public Relations Presents #PRFuture USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations, Fred Cook

This end of semester episode is a discussion about “The Future of Corporate Activism ” as seen through the lenses of communication leaders at four companies very active in communicating about and supporting social justice issues: Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's, Lyft and Rare Beauty. It was recorded live at USC Annenberg, and moderated by Dean Willow Bay.

VP of Social Impact and Inclusion at Rare Beauty Elyse Cohen gives us a behind-the-scenes look into building the brand with purpose. Cohen explains the authentic roots of Rare Beauty’s initiatives to spread mental health resources as well as how she works with celebrity founder Selena Gomez to drive Rare Beauty’s social impact, and offers tips for startups on building purpose into their organization from the beginning to create a pioneering, socially engaged beauty brand.

CEO and Founder of Ad Fontes Media Vanessa Otero discusses the origins and growth of the Media Bias Chart, and the polarized media landscape we find ourselves in today. Otero offers advice to public relations professionals and news consumers on navigating today’s landscape and cultivating a healthy “news diet.”

Center for Public Relations associate director Burghardt “BT” Tenderich and director of strategic planning at Weber Shandwick Julia Kiefaber, co-authors of the study “Trends and Best Practices in Brand Purpose Communication,” discuss their top tips for creating authentic, impactful purpose campaigns, how to use your interactive channels to make change and purpose in the global landscape.

Guest host and executive producer ZaZu Lippert sits down with our regular host, Chairman Emeritus of Golin and Director of the USC Center for Public Relations Fred Cook, to discuss what he’s learned from this season’s guests and the 2021 Global Communication Report research. ZaZu and Fred dive deep into the findings from our surveys of journalists, PR professionals and the American public, discuss some strategies for combating polarization and talk about some new projects and tools from the center that can help businesses take an informed stance on prominent social issues.

Senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation Jennifer Kavanagh discusses “truth decay” — a term she coined with co-author and RAND CEO Michael D. Rich in “Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life” — and what we can do to combat it as communication professionals, scholars and businesspeople. This episode is part of our series reviewing the findings of the 2021 Global Communication Report.