Werth Knowing

Our president and CEO recently sat down with Mikaela Hunt for the Columbus Chamber's cbuzz podcast to discuss AI, public relations and what it takes to build a reputation that lasts.

Across the country, local journalism is getting rebuilt from the ground up with new nonprofit business models and racking up Pulitzers along the way. Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project, is leading one organization at the center of it all.

Dr. Christian M. M. Brady became the president of Wittenberg University in 2025 after a distinguished academic career and leading honors colleges at two of the nation’s largest academic institutions.

Ross Bjork, Director of Athletics at The Ohio State University, has a front-row seat to everything from championship runs to the evolving business of college athletics.

We're back at it with our Fearless Forecast for 2026.

The first edition of Werth's new interview series starts with Nancy Kramer, Chief Evangelist, IBM Consulting.

I’m happy to say, our team is back at it with our Fearless Forecast for 2025. Take a look at what we see unfolding in the year ahead. 

I’m happy to say, our team is back at it with our Fearless Forecast for 2024. Take a look at what we see unfolding in the year ahead. 

For more than a decade, our Chairman Sandy Werth Harbrecht Ratchford shared her thoughts in a monthly email on an array of important and topical issues.

Sandy was a rare gift, and we will miss her deeply. Last week, we marked the end of an era as we paused to remember our leader, mentor and friend Sandra Harbrecht Ratchford, who lost her courageous battle with cancer on June 18.

If you took a poll of CEOs, our guess is that all of them would say resilience is key to business longevity. So, knowing this, why do so many companies close before reaching their full potential?

Every team involved in an upset win this year believed it had the talent to win. They refused to listen to experts who told them the favorites would cut down the nets.

The emergence of artificial intelligence programs for use in everyday life has received a lot of attention recently. Not surprisingly, this has brought about a mix of excitement and fear over AI’s ability to act as if it were human.

Julie Granillo, who joined Werth in December 2019 after a successful career in the Nashville, Tennessee, startup space, has been named president of the strategic communications firm.

Werth began its journey in May 1963 when my father opened a one-man public relations firm on Olentangy River Road.

Things seem to get more unpredictable every year. Luckily for you, our crackerjack team of prognosticators has your back with our Fearless Forecast for 2023.

This week we are counting our blessings: those who pick us up when we fall, those who believe in us when we don’t, and a country where anything is still possible.

Sometimes, it’s the counterintuitive facts that make a difference.

We’re pleased to announce a new addition to the Werth team: Political veteran Jason Knox is our new Vice President of Federal and State Public Affairs.

Is a growing tolerance for false narratives creeping into all parts of society. If that’s the case, we as business leaders must figure out how it may be affecting our organizations. 

Many organizations focus only on big ideas and immediate wins. Such a narrow focus, however, can stifle the creativity that exists within every part of the workforce and the potential of small ideas to grow into game-changers over time.

We’ve seen glimpses of common ground at the Statehouse. Most encouraging were answers to a question asked in 2021: whether lawmakers have made a friend in the opposing party. One hundred percent of respondents of both parties said they had.

This year’s Pulitzers illustrate again how both local and national journalism are so vital to our understanding of what is often hidden away, either deliberately or because no one else has thought to ask.

Intel is poised to set up shop just a stone’s throw away from here. Along with its $20 billion semiconductor project will come at least 3,000 new Intel employees, some from here, but many from elsewhere.

Despite extreme voices on the left and right, we may be closer together than we think. 

The underdog story is as American as apple pie — and football. A team like the Bengals stirs in ourselves the notion that we can overcome our most challenging obstacles, despite the odds.

We are pleased to announce our two newest members to the team: Laura Arenschield and Kerelle Sampson.

2022 figures to be a long year. So rather than making you wait the entire 12 months, we’ll tell you what’s going to happen now — in our Fearless Forecast for 2022. To learn how smart we were one year ago in predicting 2021, click here.

Last December, we made some bold predictions for 2021. Here’s how we did. To see our predictions for 2022, click here.

Science has transformed our world. It has led to better nutrition, made our water safer, improved sanitation and boosted the world’s food supply. But it’s critical that scientific leaders articulate clearly and honestly about what is known, what isn’t known, and how our actions can make our homes, communities and our world a safer place.

We almost never hear leaders concerned with what we might call routine or low-stakes communication, at least not until it’s too late.

Businesses are being rewarded for sustainability efforts, as are investors. Portfolios that include ESG investments seem to have greater long-term success than those that don’t.

As America reopens, several questions loom: How has COVID-19 changed us? Has it changed our culture and our companies? Will these changes be permanent? Are those changes for the better?

The Public Relations Society of America recently recognized the success of Insuring Ohio Futures by bestowing Werth and our client, the Ohio Insurance Institute, with the PR industry’s highest national award, the Silver Anvil.

Thought leadership, of course, can take many forms, from e-blasts, to speaking engagements to social media posts. An op-ed, however, is an opportunity to add credibility by communicating through a respected third party.

A bias for addition and against subtraction can get in the way of success.

Mary’s editorial experience and deep roots in the central Ohio community bring invaluable perspective and insight to the issues that matter to our clients and the audiences they want to reach.

My third graders taught me something that has never left me: There is no one way to reach an audience. 

All signs point to change in 2021, from new COVID-19 vaccines to a new presidential administration to an evolving workplace. While it's helpful to reflect on these external things and what they may mean for us, there's not a lot we can do individually to change them. However, there is much we can do to change ourselves.

Could 2021 be more unpredictable than 2020 was? We’ll certainly find out – about this time next year. In the meantime, we are not daunted. For your consideration: our Fearless Forecast for 2021.

Last December, we made some bold predictions for 2020. Here’s how we did. To see our predictions for 2021, click here.

Werth's print and digital creative work honored with numerous communications, marketing and design awards

Werth's president and CEO Sandra Harbrecht Ratchford was one of 21 people honored by OSU College of Engineering with one of its 2020 Excellence in Engineering and Architecture Alumni Awards. 

It’s often said that it takes a village to raise a child. It’s also said that transformational change seldom happens without a burning platform. In this case, a world village, prompted by a burning virus, came together to achieve the nearly impossible. 

Taking a closer look at our new workforce. Just when we think we have Millennials figured out, along comes Generation Z.

As "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" ends, we look at the role of the influencer.

Professional athletics have returned to provide an occasional escape from the real world. But, kind of like the return of restaurants and school during the pandemic, sports aren’t quite like we remember them.

Is there a problem with masks in this country? It sometimes seems so.

What can be said when it’s all been said before? But remaining silent also sends a message. And so, I’m going to tell you how I’m feeling right now.

Among the many lessons of our time is the role small businesses are playing in finding creative solutions to one of the most challenging economies in decades. 

There are some things we have gained during this pandemic. But we also have been devastated by the loss of things we always took for granted.

While our country has faced tough times before, we have never been confronted with a health crisis that all at once put us in fear for our families, crippled our economy and forced us to live in a whole new way.

In 1992, James Carville coined the phrase – [it’s] the economy, stupid. Today economists are sharing a surprising message of their own: Economics needs storytelling. The point of both statements is essentially the same: We need memorable ways to convey complex ideas.

Is our society becoming less ethical? It’s a good question to ask as we guide our companies and our employees into a new year. 

We’re thrilled to share the news that Werth has recruited to Columbus a veteran member of Nashville’s thriving technology community. Julie Granillo has joined Werth as Vice President, Client and Business Strategies.

It's that time of year again when we dust off our crystal ball, peer into it deeply, and choose our best and boldest predictions for the coming year.

Last December, we made some bold predictions for 2019 from LeBron James' Twitter to the flip phone making a comeback. Here’s how we did.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for one of our most important American traditions: a free press. Most of all, we’re grateful for those who refuse to give up on that ideal in the face of all odds.

Board members have a fiduciary obligation to protect shareholder value and can be held liable for not doing so. That responsibility includes asking the hard questions and holding management accountable for protecting a company’s most important asset: its reputation.

Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. is getting good use out of reuse. The $1.3 billion Hilliard-based manufacturer of plastic pipes and water management products turned its attention toward recycled materials years ago. That move is now paying dividends in the business, the company says.

Taking a stand on a controversial issue poses risks, and sometimes the risks are not worth taking. However, there also is something to be said for standing on principle. When that time comes, how a leader makes the argument is just as important as his or her position on the issue.

Crises present companies with a tangle of challenges, from who to notify, to what to say, to how to resolve the issues that led to the crisis. However, when push comes to shove, all those challenges boil down to two – the threat of legal exposure and the threat of reputational damage.  

If the soothsayers were completely honest, they’d say we can’t accurately predict how technology – or anything else – will change the way we work in the next 30 years. So, let’s stop obsessing so much over the future of work and think about what we should be telling young people that we already know to be true.

Montgomery County, in southwest Ohio, is ground zero for the opioid crisis. The region has one of the highest overdose death rates in the country — mostly due to the illicit use of these narcotics. This statewide plague has rocked communities as prison populations for drug offenders swell.

The truth still matters to our brands. It means we must be increasingly vigilant about how we portray ourselves and our companies.

At this point in the campaign, almost a year before the first primaries, it can be just as fun – though completely subjective – to ruminate on the candidates’ logos.

It has been a year since White Castle added its Impossible slider to its menu. The plant-based burger, which costs $1.99, is “a lot more” popular than expected, White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson said during an interview with FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Friday.

In a crisis, actions always speak louder than words. In some cases, actions even speak louder than facts.

I recently came across an interview with Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, who was asked what crucial workplace skill is becoming harder to find.

By objective marketing analytics, Amazon’s H2Q competition was a smashing success. But somewhere along the line, conversation shifted from the benefits of opening an Amazon headquarters to the costs.

We recently facilitated a workshop with industry recruiters and college program directors to learn from each other how to more successfully place graduates into in-demand jobs.

It’s that time of year again when we dust off our crystal ball, peer into it deeply, and choose our best and boldest predictions for the coming year. So let’s get to it: Werth's fearless forecast for 2019!

When it comes to making predictions, we choose to be bold. With that in mind, the Werth team offers you another year’s worth of fearless forecasts. Bring on 2018!

Today there are more ways than ever to ask questions, get answers and place orders without ever interacting with a human. Is that what people really want?

How have role models guided your personal and professional growth? Our CEO, Sandy Harbrecht, shares her perspective in our newest blog post. Give it a read!

Taking a corporate position on a controversial subject is a tricky affair. Our new blog examines the outcomes of Nike's ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick.

Not that long ago, CMO's were most concerned with building awareness and driving conversions. Today, leadership's biggest concern is the data breach.

Does a new dynamic between corporate communicators and the media spell the “death of business reporting”? Our newest blog explores further.

What can we do to ensure that our brands don’t fall victim to fake news? We can’t control what others say about us. But we can lessen the impact.

In the 2nd video of the Insurance Innovators series, Grange Insurance discloses its formulas for innovation in an industry that is riding a wave of change.

1963 was a year that changed many lives. That year Mr. Paul Werth hung a shingle outside a former candy shop reading “Paul Werth Associates.”

We can. By subscribing, advertising, tuning in and staying informed. As citizens, it may be one of the most important things we can do. More on our blog.

Who are the great persuaders of our day? Are they the top advertising execs who make their brands stand out from the competition? Are they the great attorneys who combine their knowledge of the law with their command of the English language to sway juries in their favor?

Advancements in technology are disrupting the way the insurance industry does business and the way it communicates about insurance jobs.

Today, there are plenty of “hot mic” moments for those whose lapses in judgment come back to haunt them. Our newest blog examines the microphone always in the room.

A 1996 issue of BusinessWeek offers a healthy reminder to that, as business leaders, we can never let ourselves believe that we have it all figured out.