Collision, one of the world’s biggest tech conferences, landed in Toronto recently and offered insight into emerging opportunities intersecting sports and business.

FleishmanHillard was on site for the conference, which took place from June 17 to 20 and featured almost 38,000 attendees from 117 countries. Fortune 500 companies, investors and start-ups packed into the Enercare Centre to see and hear from the top voices in the industry.

FleishmanHillard is always staying on top trends in communications and sports, and Collision was an opportunity to hear unique perspectives that could positively inform how we guide our clients.

Tennis legend Maria Sharapova and NFL stars Austin Ekeler and Ndamukong Suh headlined one-on-one conversations between journalists and athletes. Here are three key opportunities and takeaways brands should consider when getting involved in sports.

1.           Redefined fan and athlete connection provides brands’ opportunities

Austin Ekeler wants to provide sports fans with the opportunity to stay connected and be closer to athletes. It’s why the veteran running back created the app Eksperience to bridge what he feels is currently a gap between athletes and fans.

From one-on-one chats, recorded video messages, social media requests and more, Eksperience allows fans from all over the world to connect to their favorite stars. It’s a more direct pipeline to the athlete than what’s already available to fans, Ekeler says.

Ekeler is looking for partners to help him expand his venture into other leagues. The app currently only connects NFL players and some college football players as well. There are opportunities for brands to partner with Eksperience, but Ekeler says it can’t just be about the money or branding. He wants his partners to have a deep rooted and authentic interest in sports — either as a player or a fan.

2.           Brand opportunities in women’s sports continues to grow

According to Diana Matheson, women’s sport wasn’t treated as a business until the last five years. Now, the CEO and co-founder of Project 8, is launching the Northern Super League (NSL) next year — the first professional women’s soccer league in Canada — and sees a plethora of opportunities for women’s sports.

The six-team NSL will have franchises in Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. Canada has the third-largest women’s soccer talent pool in the world, Matheson says, and building the pathways like this new league will be a solution to grow the game.

Matheson says building the league’s audience over the first three to five years is crucial for its success. There’s a unique opportunity for brands to align themselves with start-up leagues like the NSL to not only connect with athletes and fans of women’s sports but also to integrate products and services that will help the league grow.

3.           Gen AI creating new lead-ins with brands and athletes

If there’s one thing that’s evident from Collision, more and more athletes are getting into business when their playing careers are finished. Collision heard from athletes like Suh and former NBA star Metta World Peace, both of which have created successful ventures post-retirement.

Generative AI is one of those current business opportunities and Collision highlighted countless organizations leveraging this emerging technology. Sharapova spoke about the use of AI in tennis and pointed to the U.S. Open’s removal of line judges as an example of AI’s use in the sport.

AI technologies will continue to be developed for sport, whether for in-game use, athlete performance or elsewhere. Brands should consider getting involved with advertising on these new emerging platforms that will be seen by millions at some of the world’s biggest events.

While the three opportunities outlined above are great examples of ways brands can better align with fans through technology and sport, brands must also consider how these partnerships are amplified through communications. Ensuring there’s a robust communications plan that positively influences target audiences is almost just as important as the program or partnership itself. When evaluating potential opportunities like those above, it’s integral to keep in mind how you plan to promote them and bring value to fans and key audiences.

Get in touch with FleishmanHillard today to discuss these opportunities and ways for your business to get involved.

Ryan McKenna is a communications counsellor for FleishmanHillard based in Toronto, specializing in sports, issues and crisis management. Prior to joining FleishmanHillard, Ryan was an award-winning reporter with The Canadian Press and Sportsnet.

Here’s the TLDR, yes. The longer answer is yes, and.

Let’s get into it. An effective crisis playbook should achieve at least three primary objectives:

Codifying the process and framework you will rely on when your organization faces its toughest challenges.

Providing you with strategic considerations, templates and agreed upon content for your most likely and threatening scenarios.

Identifying a plan and process for moving the organization beyond the crisis when you get to the right moment.

These objectives are critical because in a moment of crisis, ordinary business practices don’t match the pace needed to respond. Think I’m wrong? Try and get a contract through procurement in under an hour… good luck.

Ultimately, a crisis communications playbook’s true value is ensuring that the organization has aligned on the responses to critical questions before you’re scrambling to prepare an executive to apologize on YouTube. Those questions include:

Who has the final say on decision making?

Who is authorized to do what on the communications team? (This is especially true for global organizations)

What needs to be reviewed and approved and by whom?

Which stakeholders are you going to prioritize and how are you going to reach them?

What information do you need in order to formulate your response and ensure your stakeholders have the information they need?

How can you get out of the quagmire that comes with fighting the fire right in front of you and think strategically about the larger event and response?

What are the values or principles that will guide decision-making when you’re faced with a problem that forces you to deprioritize profit for safety or the long-term viability of the business?

That said, sometimes playbooks lay forgotten in times of crisis. A dusty playbook represents a failing on two fronts:

Your playbook no longer fits the needs of your org and therefore needs to be updated to ensure you have streamlined materials with templates and considerations that strengthen your response (or the need to explore alternative mediums, like an app or others).

You don’t have a culture that prioritizes crisis preparedness and are either overconfident in your abilities or love living life on the edge.

The first point speaks for itself, the second requires explanation.

Amid an increasingly polarized stakeholder landscape and corporate environment that prioritizes extreme efficiency, organizations are navigating operational and reputational disruptions weekly if not daily. Some organizations have grown confident in their ability to survive these situations, however, these don’t rise to the tenor of a crisis, when the future viability of the business is on the line and your employees, customers or others are in peril due to your practices.

It is incumbent upon organizations to ensure they are doing their due diligence and are prepared to meet or even exceed the expectations of their stakeholders in the face of a true disaster. That said, while having the right crisis playbook can be an invaluable resource, it is only as effective as the culture surrounding it.

A culture that prioritizes crisis preparedness understands the importance of ensuring processes are established and followed, recognizes that decisions should be contingent on the identification of facts and data, and utilizes forethought as an invaluable tool when navigating moments of extreme pressure. That crisis readiness culture is realized and reinforced when an organization’s leadership team requires the following:

The establishment of principles that will guide-decision making in times of crisis.

A requirement that those charged with responding to crisis situations test and train the muscles required to do so through dynamic simulations and explorations of crisis response methodologies.

Ongoing intelligence reports on the wider-risk landscape and regular briefings on how others are redefining and incorporating best practices to navigate their toughest challenges.

In summary, yes you need a playbook, but if you have a playbook that is collecting dust, it is probably better than nothing, though not by much. The best playbook in the world isn’t going to do much good if you’re not meeting your responsibility in maintaining a culture that prioritizes readiness.

The last four years have demonstrated how quickly a crisis can hit – society and organizations. Increasingly C-level executives and boards of directors expect a crisis playbook, plan and practice to be in place for their organization.

If it has been over a year since you last looked at your playbook, then it’s time to reevaluate your overall readiness. There are plenty of organizations that wish they had.

As businesses have become increasingly reliant on digital tools, cloud solutions and online customer engagement, the attack surface for cybercriminals has expanded exponentially. These trends are likely to accelerate further as threat actors leverage emerging technologies like AI for malicious purposes, making cyber attacks more sophisticated and effective.

AI-powered cyber attacks are becoming more advanced, with criminals using AI to streamline and enhance the effectiveness of their attacks. This includes:

Deepfake-Enabled Fraud and Impersonation

Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scams: Criminals leverage deepfake audio or video to impersonate executives or business partners in email, phone call or conference call, diverting fund transfers and obtaining sensitive information

Deepfakes are used to create social media influencers for phishing campaigns and scams such as fake real estate listings and product marketing, tricking victims

AI-Powered Reconnaissance 

AI chatbots divulging sensitive information from their training data

AI used to analyze vulnerabilities and customize attacks like ransomware to increase chances of success

Threat actors leverage AI-powered reconnaissance to gather detailed information for more personalized and effective phishing and other attacks

AI automation makes it faster and easier for criminals to deploy and spread malware and ransomware

Bridging to Preparedness and Communications

As cyberthreats to organizations around the world continue their exponential growth, communications professionals have a critical role to play in helping organizations strengthen their overall security posture and incident response plans:

Collaborate with security and legal teams to ensure clear protocols are in place for verifying stakeholder identities and responding to suspected incidents.

Conduct crisis simulation exercises to test the organization’s preparedness for a range of cyber attack scenarios, focusing on validating processes for stakeholder verification, incident response activation, and communications with key stakeholders.

Coordinate with industry groups and authorities to stay informed on the latest threat trends and effective mitigation strategies.

Develop robust crisis communications plans to protect the organization’s reputation in the event of a successful attack.

Preparation and proactive communication are essential. Companies must anticipate a range of cyber threat scenarios, identify and rehearse with response teams and integrate communications strategists throughout the process. Effective crisis management can help mitigate reputation risks, preserve organizational credibility and stakeholder trust.

As the threat landscape evolves, businesses must be ready to navigate more advanced cyber attacks. A robust security and incident response plan, with communications fully integrated, is essential for protecting business operations and company reputation.

The women’s health and ‘femtech’ industry is exploding. And rightfully so — women’s health, which encompasses much more than reproductive issues (menstruation, fertility, menopause), has historically been overlooked, underfunded and highly stigmatized despite women comprising more than half of the population and making 80% of consumer healthcare decisions.

While strides are being made within the healthcare and venture capital community to pay increased attention to this underserved sector, more work remains. As recently as 2019, women accounted for only 40% of participants in clinical trials for three of the diseases that most affect women — cancer, cardiovascular disease and psychiatric disorders — despite representing 51% of the U.S. population, according to a 2022 study. And representation in studies is even worse for women of color. President Biden recently called on the U.S. Congress to make a bold, transformative investment of $12 billion in new funding for women’s health research to address this disparity.

But changing systems and structures will take time. We can start with communications and transforming how we talk about women’s health now. This becomes even more important when we remember that women’s health advertising is still being censored – most recently, a breastfeeding start-up’s advertisements were removed from Times Square in New York City. 

While brands continue efforts to push the boundaries, more can be done to drive conversation amongst specific audiences and communities and continue to raise awareness and truly address women’s health needs.

We should take the time to understand women’s experiences and avoid making assumptions about what they want and what solutions will work, and treating them as monolithic—or simply not considering them at all. Our language also needs to become more human. Medical jargon and an overemphasis on ‘patients’ exclude the people we aim to serve: the women worldwide who may feel misunderstood, unseen or unempowered. 

Take menopause, for example. Despite being a medical issue most women will experience in their lifetime, research and understanding are limited. Stereotyped as hot flashes and irritability amongst women in their 50s, menopause can affect women as young as 30 years old, with wide-ranging symptoms from memory loss and increased risk of anxiety and depression. Not only that, but Black and Latinx women tend to enter menopause earlier and have longer-lasting, more intense symptoms. So, how can we develop solutions that will make a meaningful difference?

To drive real change, we need to dig into the nuances of the conditions women face and how they affect different communities and demographics. We also need to look at what other aspects of their lives may be affecting their health outcomes. For example, women in low-income communities are at a greater risk of being uninsured, which leads to less preventive care, such as Pap smears and mammograms. Uncovering authentic and powerful insights is the key to creating communications with impact. 

By better understanding women, we can create conversations within culture that reach the right people in the right places. If you are a healthcare brand or a brand targeting women about health issues, consider these guiding principles as you plan your next campaign:

Set clear objectives and identify the right solution: A clear understanding of your audiences, their experiences and how they are impacted by various issues will help you determine what success looks like and differentiate the core products and services that can best respond to those pain points.

Craft the right communications strategy: Strong insights about the audience and the landscape they operate within will allow you to craft emotional and impactful messaging that will resonate with the target audience and their lived experiences.

Execute with impact: Use data to inform the channels and communities you need to reach your consumers. Your strategy and insights should inform precisely how you will execute to achieve your objectives. Reaching the right people in the right places is critical to encouraging engagement  — whether through events, podcasts, online communities or traditional media, you will want to be sure you can track what is resonating and what works. 

Femtech is poised to drive change and start to balance the scales in women’s health. To have the best chance of success, we need to start with listening to women. 

This year’s New York Tech Week was abuzz with innovation and anticipation, with the Axios AI+ Summit event standing out as a pinnacle of cutting-edge advancements and thought-provoking discussions. Held in the vibrant heart of New York City, the event brought together industry leaders, pioneering researchers and eager enthusiasts to explore the latest trends and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. From groundbreaking keynote addresses to interactive networking, the event was a testament to the relentless march of AI technology and its profound impact on various sectors.

Onsite at the event

The event lineup was rife with industry leaders from IBM, the Allen Institute for AI, Spotify, the NFL, celebrity partners such as Maria Sharapova, notable Axios reporters and numerous others in both the public and private spaces. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with Axios’ own cutting-edge AI software, delve into sessions focused on AI in creative industries such as influencer marketing and learn how AI takes harnessing the power of data analytics to the next level. Overall, the Axios AI+ Summit was a compelling and informative event, providing valuable insights into the current state and future potential of AI. It highlighted the vast opportunities AI presents while also addressing the critical challenges that need to be managed to ensure its benefits are widely and equitably realized.

Unanimous considerations

Across the board, speakers set an inspiring tone for the event, all of which leant into the transformative power of AI, emphasizing its potential to revolutionize industries. In addition to the broadly shared positives, speakers were in agreement on a few points of consideration, regardless of industry as their merits are universal:

Regulation is needed: AI systems require regulatory frameworks to ensure they operate within ethical and legal boundaries, which necessitates human oversight and governance. This topic was particularly pertinent when addressing creative content. The creation and dissemination of AI-generated media needs careful monitoring to prevent misuse and to uphold intellectual property rights.

The human element is irreplaceable: The unique qualities of human intuition, empathy and ethical judgment are essential and cannot be fully replicated by AI. Making human involvement crucial in the deployment of GenAI in areas where nuanced understanding and moral considerations are paramount, will pave the pathway for strong standards.

Efficiency is one of the clearest use cases: While AI can enhance efficiency in various tasks, the strategic application and integration of AI systems still depend on human decision-making and insight. This has the potential to maximize organizational goals.

Final note

The consensus was clear: While AI presents significant challenges, it also offers unparalleled opportunities for innovation and growth. As the curtains fell, it was evident that the future of AI is bright, and its journey is just beginning. New York Tech Week once again proved to be a fertile ground for fostering innovation and forging connections that will drive the next wave of technological advancement.

The annual RSA Conference is one of the biggest events in the cybersecurity industry. Tens of thousands of security professionals, business leaders, academics and government leaders from around the world attended the show in San Franisco to discuss the latest trends and developments in security.

Unsurprisingly, AI dominated the show for the second year in a row. According to Deloitte, the AI cybersecurity market is expected to hit $102.78 billion by 2032. Based on the number of AI solutions and integrations announced at RSA, the sector is certainly growing quickly, spurred on by an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape. According to Cisco data, more than half of organizations have experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past year and 73% believe they are likely to experience a security incident in the next two years. The security industry is betting big that AI will help them mitigate this risk and three AI trends stood out.

1. Leveraging AI for Enhanced Prevention and Advanced Security

At the show, many security companies released AI-powered solutions and capabilities designed to augment cybersecurity workers and traditional security measures. Some AI solutions can now detect software vulnerabilities before they are exploited, for example, or detect and respond to suspicious network activity before any data is compromised. These capabilities enable companies to respond to incidents and remediate vulnerabilities faster, mitigating cyber threats more efficiently.  

AI is unlocking a new level of proactive security. Companies can more easily predict and prevent threats, versus responding to attacks. In an evolving threat landscape, detection, response and patch time is critical to preventing a headline-generating data breach.

2. Securing AI Deployments in the Race for Adoption and Innovation

Companies are incorporating AI across their businesses and tools as we enter a new phase of digital transformation. Business leaders are in a hurry to deploy AI so they can find efficiencies, make employees more productive, get more value from their data and innovate faster. If they don’t implement AI effectively, they risk falling behind competitors.

There is also a risk to moving too quickly, however, as AI tools could introduce new security and data protection risks. Organizations need comprehensive data governance to avoid sensitive or protected data from being fed into AI models, which could violate data privacy laws or other industry regulations. Too lax use of third-party AI tools could also increase risk of a data breach. On the other hand, if companies place too stringent restrictions on their employees’ AI use, they could miss out on key insights and opportunities for innovation. Data and security teams have the challenge of keeping data secure while also enabling experimentation and fostering innovation within their organizations.

3. AI is Supercharging Security Threats

Security professionals aren’t the only ones using AI to their advantage. Cyber experts warn that AI will make threat actors more efficient and better at perpetrating attacks —– exacerbating the threats security professionals are already racing to outrun. Supercharged by AI, the industry will see more sophisticated phishing attacks that involve voice cloning, deepfakes that can be used for blackmail and a generation of cyber attackers that can use AI bots to help them execute better attacks.   

Amidst these evolving threats, the stakes have never been higher for companies. The average cost of a data breach increases every year and reputational damage of a breach can threaten brand credibility. Compounding these challenges, according to the World Economic Forum, the global cybersecurity talent shortage could reach 85 million workers by 2030. AI can help fill gaps and address the issue of burnout among short-staffed security teams. Industry leaders agree that AI will never replace human security workers, but it can help support them and enhance their capabilities.

AI-augmented solutions can’t come soon enough. As security professionals continue to integrate AI into solutions, we’ll be keeping an eye out for where this technology goes next.

FleishmanHillard recently hosted a timely and deeply illuminating panel discussion on the impact of Generative AI (GenAI) in modern journalism. Held at the Axel Springer Haus in downtown New York City, the event brought together senior newsroom leadership from leading publications, including AdWeek, Axios, Business Insider, Harvard Business Review and POLITICO. Moderated by Ephraim Cohen, FleishmanHillard’s global managing director of Media, Platforms and Storytelling, the panel addressed the challenges, fears and opportunities GenAI presents for newsrooms worldwide. The event attracted an audience of more than 40 attendees, including senior communications professionals from top-tier companies and clients like Novo Nordisk, Meta and Samsung, among others.

To accompany the panel discussion, FleishmanHillard also published a study on the current state of GenAI in the newsroom – from the early adopters and the critics to the initial successes as well as the emerging cautionary tales.

Panel Highlights

The discussion featured a stellar lineup of panelists who provided deep insights into GenAI’s evolving role in journalism including:

Aja Whitaker-Moore, Editor-in-Chief of Axios

Aja emphasized the importance of distinguishing between commoditized content and unique reporting delivered by expert journalists. She highlighted how GenAI can streamline workflows but stressed the necessity of maintaining trust and community:

“Trust is at the center of what we do. We are reorienting our newsroom and business around subject matter experts that can deliver something specific to them, their experience, and their skillsets. If we orient around trust and expertise, we are confident we can weather the technological storm that is coming.”

Cadie Thompson, Executive Editor of Business Insider

Cadie shared how Business Insider is leveraging GenAI to enhance productivity, such as using AI to digest meeting notes or news reports to decide on story depth. She also highlighted AI’s role in transcribing podcasts and shows, freeing journalists to focus on more critical tasks. Cadie’s approach reflects a balance between innovation and journalistic integrity:

“No one likes change, and the integration of Generative AI is a big change. One of the blessings of working with journalists is that they are naturally skeptical of everything, so we trust them to be careful with new tools. As the executive editor, I try to show them the possibilities of how gen AI tools can make their lives easier and allow them to focus on the things they want to be doing.”

Ryan Joe, Editor-in-Chief of AdWeek

Ryan highlighted the need for journalists to understand the craft of journalism before integrating AI tools into their work. He cautioned against giving AI tools to junior reporters without proper training. Ryan also pointed out practical uses of AI in generating drafts for complex advertising content. His thoughts reflected a careful and measured approach to AI adoption:

“Retaining readers’ trust is fully in our control, regardless of Generative AI. AI used to be a dirty word in the ad industry. But now, even if we tried, we couldn’t not cover it.”

Francesca Barber, Executive Newsroom Director of Politico

Francesca focused on the importance of transparency in AI integration. She discussed how Politico is using AI to do things like generate bill summaries and enhance storytelling while maintaining transparency with their readers. Francesca’s emphasis was on building and maintaining trust through open communication:

“When we think about building trust and protecting against erosion of that trust and accuracy, we have to be self-aware that we are not the single voice. The integration of Generative AI into our storytelling strategies brings about questions. How did we get the reporting? Who was involved? So the more we can focus on transparency, the better.”

Adi Ignatius, Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Business Review

Adi shared Harvard Business Review’s investment in developing a proprietary AI model to ensure accuracy and reliability. He highlighted the duality of AI as both a powerful tool and a source of concern. Adi’s insights captured the cautious optimism surrounding AI’s future in journalism:

“Part of the reason we’re investing in generative AI internally is because it’s going to be table-stakes. Another part is because existing LLMs (Large Language Models) are error prone. If we can build a model that doesn’t hallucinate and is based on our own content, then we have a clear alternative to big tech platforms. But obviously, trust is everything.”

Key Learnings

Trust and Expertise Are Crucial: Emphasize the irreplaceable value of experienced journalists to maintain reader confidence amid GenAI integration.

Transparency Enhances Credibility: Ensure clear communication with readers about GenAI’s role in reporting processes to build and maintain trust.

Balanced Integration of AI: Utilize GenAI to enhance productivity while maintaining human oversight to ensure accuracy and quality.

Guardrails and Ethical Considerations: Implement strict measures to prevent GenAI errors and prioritize ethical considerations, including privacy and misinformation.

AI as a Tool, not a Replacement: View GenAI as a supportive tool that enhances, rather than replaces, the core human elements of journalism.