Great weekend to all! Your Friday Daily PR Brief is here - October 31, 2025
How candy giants conquered Halloween through storytelling; Make your comms skillset stand out; Why 2026 demands fluid comms budgets; more!
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Read some of today's best PR and Comms industry news clips:
Why 2026 Demands Fluid Communications Budgets—And How To Prepare (Forbes - October 30, 2025)
How Candy Giants Conquered Halloween Through Storytelling, Strategy and Screen Time (CommPRO - October 31, 2025)
WPP Posts ‘Unacceptable’ Q3 Results (O’Dwyer’s - October 30, 2025)
5 ways to make your comms skillset stand out (PR Daily - October 31, 2025)
How space comms teams balance safety and showmanship (Axios - October 30, 2025)
PR Roundup: “Your Mom” and Media Relations, CEOs Go Quiet, and Capri Sun’s Tricky Halloween (PRNEWS - October 30, 2025)
Is Technology Changing the Way We Engage With News? (Institute for Public Relations - October 28, 2025)
ICON 2025 Recap: Dominic K. Hawkins II on Curiosity, Courage and Communication (PRsay - October 30, 2025)
LLMs think Reddit is the answer to everything — should PR? (PRmoment (UK) - October 28, 2025)
Hero content—what it is and how it’s driving agencies’ content marketing (Agility PR Solutions - October 30, 2025)
Why AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google now rely on earned media (Axia Public Relations - October 31, 2025)
Golin Study: CEOs Scale Back Visibility in 2025 (PRovoke Media - October 30, 2025)
Amazon squares good performance and job cuts; Target prioritizes new behaviors amid layoffs (Ragan Communications - October 31, 2025)
‘Terrible treatment’: How Waitrose’s crisis response failed to stack up (Media First (UK) - October 27, 2025)
Summary Section:
Why 2026 Demands Fluid Communications Budgets—And How To Prepare
By Lars Voedisch, Founder & CEO at PRecious Communications
Forbes - October 30, 2025
Communications leaders must plan for agility, algorithmic visibility and proof of impact—not simply increased spending.
How Candy Giants Conquered Halloween Through Storytelling, Strategy and Screen Time
By Paul Kontonis
CommPRO - October 31, 2025
Turns out, analyzing candy brands is a lot like eating chocolate—you tell yourself it’s research, but really, it’s pure joy.
WPP Posts ‘Unacceptable’ Q3 Results
By Kevin McCauley
O’Dwyer’s - October 30, 2025
WPP reported Q3 revenues less pass-through costs tumbled 5.9 percent to $3.3B, a performance new CEO Cindy Rose called “unacceptable.”
5 ways to make your comms skillset stand out
By Courtney Blackann
PR Daily - October 31, 2025
These are the skills companies are looking for now. The job market is quickly shifting and your skills need to reflect this.
How space comms teams balance safety and showmanship
By Eleanor Hawkins
Axios - October 30, 2025
Sara Blask, Blue Origin’s former principal of launch communications, referred to her team as the “Seal Team 6” of crisis communications during on an-stage interview at MB Live. Space tourism is a highly technical, highly regulated industry that is viewed with skepticism by many.
PR Roundup: “Your Mom” and Media Relations, CEOs Go Quiet, and Capri Sun’s Tricky Halloween
By Nicole Schuman
PRNEWS - October 30, 2025
PR Roundup explores a “Your mom” quip from Press Secretary Leavitt to HuffPost’s Dáte in regards to a story question, Golin’s latest CEO Impact Index, and Capri Sun’s Halloween “Trick & Treat” stunt.
Is Technology Changing the Way We Engage With News?
Institute for Public Relations - October 28, 2025
Reuters Institute conducted its annual survey to explore how people around the world are consuming and engaging with news in 2025. The study surveyed 97,055 individuals across 48 countries from January – February 2025, using census data and quotas to ensure a nationally representative sample.
ICON 2025 Recap: Dominic K. Hawkins II on Curiosity, Courage and Communication
PRsay - October 30, 2025
As vice president of communications at the NAACP, Dominic K. Hawkins II leads the organization’s integrated marketing and communications strategy to advance civil rights and social justice. Named PRSA’s 2025 PR Professional of the Year, Hawkins has built a career at the intersection of advocacy and impact — guiding narratives that uplift communities and drive progress.
LLMs think Reddit is the answer to everything — should PR?
By Barry Maginn, Strategy Director at Petal & Co
PRmoment (UK) - October 28, 2025
I’ve always thought Reddit is a little bit different from other social media platforms. It’s a corner of the internet where people actually help each other instead of tearing each other down, and a digital oasis where, most of the time, thoughtful discussion trumps clout-chasing. It turns out I’m not alone in that assessment. LLMs seem to agree.
Hero content—what it is and how it’s driving agencies’ content marketing
By Britney Steele
Agility PR Solutions - October 30, 2025
Today’s audiences are bombarded with content everywhere they look, whether they’re scrolling through social media posts, checking email, watching videos, or reading news. For agencies, this means breaking through the noise is harder than ever. You need something big enough to grab attention, memorable enough to stick, and valuable enough to get people talking.
Why AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google now rely on earned media
Axia Public Relations - October 31, 2025
You use AI tools like Google’s Search AI, ChatGPT, or Claude to answer questions or research topics. What you might not see is how these tools decide which sources to trust. It’s not about clicks but credibility.
Golin Study: CEOs Scale Back Visibility in 2025
By Diana Marszalek
PRovoke Media - October 30, 2025
Golin’s CEO Impact Index finds CEOs are becoming more selective and measured in public engagement.
Amazon squares good performance and job cuts; Target prioritizes new behaviors amid layoffs
By Sean Devlin
Ragan Communications - October 31, 2025
Greetings, comms pros! Let’s take a look at a few news stories from the past week and see what we can learn from them. Amazon squares good performance and job cuts; Target prioritizes new behaviors amid layoffs; plus, a look at communicating about SNAP benefits lapse.
‘Terrible treatment’: How Waitrose’s crisis response failed to stack up
By Adam Fisher
Media First (UK) - October 27, 2025
Waitrose has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. What crisis comms lessons can you learn from the story? Read this blog to find out.
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