Kari Heron, PCC

A key data to gather is what gaps exist in your competitors strategies and how you could utilize those gaps to position yourself to stand out in the marketing communications clutter. See what everyone else is doing and do something completely different. Sometimes old school can be the coolest “new kid” on the block when everyone else is going for trendy.

Show up early. Stay late. Eat the frog. Do the work that your supervisor/boss doesn’t want to do and make him/her look good. If you can shine whilst helping others to look great, you’ve embodied the essence of public relations.

Whilst the analysis of traditional media forms is very important to gauge a company's reputation, social media analysis allows brands to step into the court of popular opinion and eavesdrop in the grapevine long before a topic can make the evening news or a broadsheet in publication. Social media is where crises form and magnify at lightning speeds in the modern media landscape. This is why casting off social media only to interns to post catchy things and not having a proper social media integration with a well-thought out integrated marketing communications/public relations campaign is such a dangerous idea at the worst and a missed opportunity at the least. Modern newsrooms gauge newsworthiness from viral stories on social media.

Goodwill is a bankable brand currency. How public perception forms around a brand is a extremely critical gauge in brand reputation. How do journalists report about your brand in a conflict or crisis situation and what is the public default perception in those situations? The strategies that build goodwill must be in full swing long before any crisis and must remain at prominence in the minds of all stakeholders. That is the ultimate objective of great PR.

Invest in a mentor who can help you create an effective executive branding presence! I love working with semi retired or newly retired leaders and professionals because they are a treasure trove the entire world Is waiting to glean from and they have all the time in the world to grow and share! Plus it’s a great way to keep them engaged and active during retirement for the retired high achievers who are easily bored after exhilarating careers.

Chunk it down. Get short and sweet. Employ storytelling to take your audience on a journey. Be as animated as your subject matter and audience allows.