Kelly Stone

On a call with a client this morning, we talked about the biggest payoff of creating client success stories -- strengthening relationships. When the process is done well, your clients will: -take time to reflect on your partnership -examine and quantify the results and impact you've achieved together -feel recognized and appreciated Having trouble getting clients to commit to creating a story with you? Read our blog post, "5 Ways to Secure More Customer Stories and Testimonials."

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Worth reading from TimelyCare VP Katie Neal: 13 Leadership Lessons for PR Pros (Taylor’s Version). Let’s face it. Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated album, The Tortured Poets Department (out April 19), sounds like it should be about a corporate communications team. While most PR professionals will never win any Grammys, we share more in common with the megastar than you might think. We are creators, storytellers and writers. We find inspiration in life, work and relationships. And we are influential to our teams, across our organizations and in our communities — demonstrating daily how smart, strategic communications can advance your brand, even in times of crisis. In addition to Swift’s mastery of public relations, have you noticed that her catalog of leadership lessons is almost as extensive as her collection of songs? I curated 13 key Tay-keaways for comms pros — each paired with an album or song — to inspire your leadership style as well as your playlist. Are you ready for it?

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Over the past 20+ years, Mission North has supported companies through critical milestones and communications opportunities – such as launching out of stealth, creating a category, entering the public markets, or driving catalyzing industry movements. Many of our clients come to us for support during “champagne moments,” and stick with us to differentiate as they evolve, which often requires educating skeptics and confronting challengers. Our goal: to provide clients with a guide to what’s most impactful to their business — reputation management, thought leadership, content marketing, digital marketing, and beyond — to help them navigate and operate from a position of strength. We’ve codified our approach with Brand Navigator (unveiled today on our updated website!), which crystallizes our approach to support clients through critical moments: ⚒️ Build: Rally people around an audacious vision and category-defining opportunity. 🚀 Scale: Grow from idea to IPO with an undeniable performance narrative. 🗽Lead: Own the category and become the industry standard for your peers. 🔒Protect: Defend your license to operate while managing increased risk and stakeholder complexity. 🌱 Renew: Reclaim the lead and offer new reasons to believe your best days are still ahead. This framework helps us adapt to companies’ changing comms needs over time and partner with them for the long haul. When we all have so much flying at us at once, it can be hard to prioritize where to begin. It can be grounding to lean on Brand Navigator as a framework to guide clients, and reassure them that while their situation is unique and often decisions need to be made quickly, there are tried and true approaches we can lean on to craft a communications strategy that we are confident will work. Check out our blog on Brand Navigator and try to plot your business on the map. Where does your company fit? #communications #corporatecomms #PRstrategy #brandstrategy https://lnkd.in/eZkpTqzN

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I’m always honored and humbled to hear leaders share the impact of our work together. Collaborating with teams who need help communicating their organization’s brilliance to the right target audiences in the channels where they live, work, and play most often is where I thrive! And one of the reasons I’m fortunate enough to do this work is because people listen when I show them how engaging in a cross-departmental planning process will lead to a realistic, workable plan aimed at the audiences most critical to business success! If you’re looking for the kind of communications consultant who takes the time to understand your business, offers insights gleaned from research, and helps you make informed decisions that will positively impact the entire organization, let’s talk. We’ll discuss your company goals and explore how we can collaborate for your brand’s success. Click here: https://lnkd.in/evp3fc8E

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How can PR ramp up your personal brand? In today’s #MartiniMonday, I’m sharing tips for boosting your credibility as a thought leader in your industry. #Branding #PublicRelations #PR #PREntrepreneur

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Build Resilience from the Inside Out. What separates the good from the great in high-pressured careers like PR? According to research, 75% of performance is determined by character - not competence. In this episode of #imPRessions, Peter Rea shares how developing virtues like courage, compassion and hope can help you thrive under uncertainty. If you want to boost your ability to perform under pressure, stream this episode. The Pollack Group

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The latest edition of our Compass for the Chaos newsletter discusses challenges presented by the unsteady and complicated election-year environment for brand marketers and corporate communicators alike. #webershandwick #compassforthechaos #brandsafety #corporatecommunications 

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When the stakes are high, deep expertise delivers. #Digital experts know this better than anyone - the changing media environment is enough to make the most seasoned communications consultants shake in their boots, so can you really afford to turn a blind eye to what's happening outside of traditional media channels anymore? These changes are how I found myself sucked into the world of earned brand mentions and issues management on #TikTok. Somewhat against my will at first, but I must admit I can see the allure for the 8.5 million Australians with an active account (and any politician that finds themselves in an Election cycle). But how does one navigate this increasingly volatile and issues-rich environment, across #disinformation, #onlinevigilatism, #activism, and growing feelings of anger and mistrust towards institutions (and sometimes, unfortunately, all three things at once)? Luckily, my team and I spend a lot of our time working through situations exactly like these. Recently much of my time has been spent in training workshops for people leaders designed to raise awareness of the difference that being a digitally-minded professional can make - most recently this morning with NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Evie Madden. Some more info about our deep matter expertise in digital at FTI Consulting, and what we can deliver, here: https://lnkd.in/gzGcC-AK or feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss how we might structure an upskilling session on the risks and opportunities that social media, AI, and digital disruption present. Alice Palomba Angie Price Ant Moore Carlyn Taylor

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🗽 Breaking news: Brace yourself for the 2024 election season as the political environment is as stable as a Jenga tower built by a toddler. Check out the latest edition of our "Compass for the Chaos" newsletter, in partnership with our public affairs and social impact colleagues Meghann Curtis, John Files, and John McCourt. Hope is not a strategy, so read up on how brand safety is the key to protecting your PR campaigns and corporate reputation. #2024election #politics #businessimpact

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Thanks Lindsay Rittenhouse for the piece on being a business owner. The broad perspectives provided are much appreciated. We start businesses for a variety of reasons; we have a better or a different way of saying something, we want to be our own boss or we just see an opportunity. Regardless of how much planning one does, it is a bit like jumping from an airplane; you will experience many emotions on the journey. I would encourage anyone that's starting a company, especially a creative company, be clear with yourself that you and the company are very closely interwoven, but the company is an entity and you are an entity. Both must be cared for and nourished, but you the individual must find ways to develop healthy ways to feed your mind, the journey will challenge you in so many ways. Finally, have a group that can help sustain you, I found it especially helpful to speak with other entrepreneurs that had taken the step of building something and understood clearly that feeling in the bottom of your stomach that one experiences when dealing with something that may challenge you to your core. We learn to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, thanks! Tilt Creative + Production

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Us Comms folks are wired to navigate tricky situations. MacGyver was my favorite show growing up. ‘Mac’ had a knack for solving problems and extensive scientific knowledge.  → He could unlock a vault with a paperclip and some bubble gum. Comms doesn’t always have all the resources, either. But we know how to play the hand we're dealt. - Assess the situation  - Explore options  - Make it work Being great at Comms requires us all to be MacGyvers. → A mix of expertise, experience and resourcefulness. We're strategic. We're scrappy. We're problem solvers.

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At Ascend2, we enjoy analyzing groups to discover gaps in behavior, performance, perspective, etc. Those gaps result in challenges and opportunities for organizations that analyze the data and take action as a result of the data. I thank the Wpromote team for leading this new research study; Mind the Gap, a 30-page research study on the current state of the brand and agency relationship. From challenges to changes, the study provides actionable data and insight on the brand/agency relationship. Here is an article by MarketingProfs that details the research study. https://lnkd.in/gmgUVzem

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🎙️ Diving deep with Phillip and Stacy Jones on the transformative magic of brand integration! Learn how it drives impact and shapes success in our latest episode. https://lnkd.in/g4PUstEU 🔍💼 #BrandIntegration #PodcastPower"

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PRWeek's great 2024 Business Report highlights the key challenge facing our industry. Communications is more important than ever. Comms and policy leaders are being asked to play far larger roles as business partners supporting ever more stakeholders. So why did the industry suffer so much in 2023 after many years of growth? As an sector, we are not adapting fast enough to the needs. Organizations are desperate for help but also under tremendous financial strain. They now need both senior level counsel and advisory support as well as deep domain expertise to actually produce. By and large, our industry is still split by this chasm - between strategic and tactical. Clients cannot afford to separate these, either in time or money. At Bully Pulpit International our goal is to bridge this divide, building a team that can both 'think and do' at the highest levels. It's not always easy. Last year was a challenge. But if you share this vision for the future, please check out some of our open roles: https://lnkd.in/dGQwJUSG

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Dear aspiring and rising PR/comms pros: PR requires nonstop surveillance and connecting of dots: If you want to stand out in this role, you need to: 🎯 Know the top thought leaders on the topics critical to your business 🎯 Be familiar with the beats + recent coverage from the journalists you pitch 🎯 Be be deliberate about getting out of your bubble--track media across geographic, political, cultural, and industry groups 🎯 Understand (and be able to explain) what is and isn't newsworthy 🎯 Share insights and recommend meaningful action when appropriate Staying on top of current events is critical for: ⚡Differentiating yourself as someone who can bring current examples to the group and tell people things they didn’t already know. ⚡ Tracking competitors ⚡ Spotting emerging trends that you can create relevant pitches around ⚡ Identifying opportunities ⚡ Staying current on things impacting your customers lives and consumption behavior ⚡ Being aware of sensitive news cycles so you can know when you should hold off on soft news pitches ⚡ Guarding against crises ⚡ Being attune to looming threats to your company/industry ⚡ Catching news that you need to react to internally or externally 🚨 If you aren't genuinely interested in the news, this job is not for you.

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