PolyOne has finalized its acquisition of Clariant's masterbatches business and changed its name to Avient. The deal supports Avient's ongoing shift toward specialty chemicals.

Email-based phishing attacks are rising again, Proofpoint researchers report, after several years in which remote ports, public-facing servers and other enterprise weak spots were the primary focus of ransomware distributors. Avaddon, a fresh ransomware, this month was distributed in more than 1 million emails in a single week, mostly aimed at US organizations.

Distributors that want to change their sales operations in light of the coronavirus pandemic should get buy-in from salespeople and clearly define their roles, writes consultant Mike Marks. "Remember that sales reps want to win, and this driving force is hard-wired into the majority," he writes.

Empathy is the answer to creating messaging and experiences that deliver customer value and emotional connections, and has the added bonus of inspiring brand advocacy, Marketing Insider Group CEO Michael Brenner writes. He explains how to forge relationships with business-to-business customers based on empathy via thought leadership, authenticity and approachable, relatable social content.

Companies have tried remote work for over a decade, but many end up bringing employees back into the office, including Best Buy, Aetna, Bank of America, AT&T and Yahoo. "It's good P.R., and very romantic, and very unrealistic. We'll be back in the office as soon as there's a vaccine," said Richard Laermer, who in the past let employees work remotely at his RLM Public Relations.

Some employees are seeking voluntary benefits such as hospital indemnity, critical illness and accident insurance, pet insurance, identity theft insurance and legal insurance at higher rates, says Mark Hebert of Willis Towers Watson. Hebert says a "heightened sense of mortality and morbidity" as well as household changes wrought by the coronavirus pandemic are driving employees to seek more reassurances.

NAW Institute for Distribution Excellence Mike Marks writes, "The pandemic is affecting the ways in which many distributors operate -- especially how sales teams sell. Distributors have an opportunity right now to rethink their sales structures to innovate, despite this being a trying time. To do that, we must be curious about what the new normal looks like, return to a few fundamentals, keep a positive attitude to solve problems, stay relevant and come out ahead." Read his post.

Distributors have made progress in navigating through this unprecedented disruption, but much more is needed. In this live webinar, we will follow up with Michael DeCata, President and CEO of Lawson Products, to hear how he is navigating through COVID-19 and how it has accelerated his plans around innovation. Mark Dancer, author of NAW's "Innovate to Dominate," and Richard Blatcher of PROS will explore with Mike how distributors must implement an "innovation ecosystem" to compete in the new normal. Register today! Sponsored by PROS.