Hold the phone
Wisdom 💡: Comms has come a long way from faxed pitches and newsroom phone calls to LinkedIn thought leadership, AI and the apparently scandalous use of an em dash. But beneath all the new tools and channels is a bigger shift: communicators no longer just control the message, they help organizations earn attention, navigate reputation and build trust in real time. That makes good judgment, genuine relationships and great storytelling more valuable, not less, especially when shrinking newsrooms and endless content make it harder to break through. The tools will keep changing, but the communicators who can read the room, tell a story worth hearing and know when to listen will always have something worth saying.
Street cred
Wit 😁: Reese’s is taking neighborhood Halloween bragging rights very seriously, assembling its first-ever Halloween Council to crown America’s “Trick-or-Treatiest Street.” With spooky-season royalty Christina Ricci and Kathy Najimy helping judge everything from decorations to walkability, 150 streets will battle for the sweetest title in suburbia. The winner gets a Reese’s-fueled block party with Zillow, while the brand gets to move beyond the candy bowl and plant itself squarely in one of Halloween’s most beloved traditions. Because apparently keeping up with the Joneses now means better cobwebs, more peanut butter cups and a celebrity panel judging your curb appeal.
B2B, or not to B2B?
Wisdom 💡: B2B brands are discovering that social media doesn’t have to mean posting a white paper on LinkedIn and hoping someone, somewhere, feels something. The brands breaking through are treating social less like a billboard and more like a conversation, using real people, distinct points of view and actual engagement to turn followers into communities. The trick is knowing how to flex for each platform without developing a completely different personality every time you log in. And as AI fills feeds with more content, sounding unmistakably human may become the smartest algorithm hack of all.
Pepper Pick
With the internet currently debating whether Gen Z bringing iced coffee to a job interview is a red flag, we’re throwing it back to a Laughing Matters episode with Monday Talent CEO Jamie McLaughlin, who tackled another interview etiquette dilemma: to joke or not to joke? His advice still holds up: humor can help you connect, but whether it’s a sarcastic quip or a Starbucks cup, read the room before making it part of your first impression.
