July 11, 2025 • 23 mins
Abbie Fink and Adrian McIntyre talk about the crucial role that public relations professionals have a within a well-integrated communications team.
They discuss how PR has evolved in response to technological advances in AI and automation, highlighting its importance as a strategic component in modern business.
Abbie shares her journey from journalism to PR and reflects on the historical focus on press releases, while Adrian underscores the need for strategic communications that align with organizational goals.
They also point out that effective communication involves collaboration among various departments, including marketing, internal comms, and customer service. Ultimately, they stress that a truly integrated communications team is vital for addressing challenges and achieving business objectives.
INTRO PARAGRAPH.
Read the transcript and notes for this episode on our website.
Key Takeaways
- Public relations has evolved from a tactical exercise of distributing press releases to a strategic discipline crucial for organizational communication.
- Strategic communication requires integration between various functions like marketing and internal communications to effectively align with executive goals.
- PR is pivotal in addressing diverse business issues, from crisis management to branding and employee engagement, necessitating its presence at the executive table.
- Effective communication strategies involve advising and collaborating across disciplines to ensure cohesive messaging and brand alignment.
- Executives should view PR professionals as trusted advisors who can help to guide organizations through complex communication challenges.
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Need to hire a PR firm?
We demystify the process and give you some helpful advice in Episode 19: "How to Hire a Public Relations Agency in Arizona: Insider Tips for Executives and Marketing Directors."
Credits
Copper State of Mind, hosted by Abbie Fink and Dr. Adrian McIntyre, is a project of HMA Public Relations, a full-service public relations and marketing communications firm in Phoenix.
The show is recorded and produced by the team at Speed of Story, a B2B communications firm, and distributed by PHX.fm, the leading independent B2B podcast network in Arizona.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like the PRGN Presents podcast, hosted by Abbie Fink, featuring conversations about PR, marketing, and communications with members of the Public Relations Global Network, "the world’s local public relations agency.”...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
The press release is not deadand public relations isn't either.
Now, there's a lot more to sayabout press releases. We'll probably
have to do a whole episodeabout this in the future. But public
relations in the era of AI andautomation and all kinds of innovation
is still thriving. And it'snot what people remember about the
(00:28):
old fashioned discipline ofPR. Abbie, what's on your mind?
Well, I was having aconversation earlier today with a
client. We were talking abouthow we got into the businesses that
we are in. And I was talkingabout when I was in journalism school
and had to make the decisionabout which version of journalism
I was going to go into. At thetime it was either editorial or public
(00:51):
relations or photography. Iwas terrible at taking pictures.
I didn't really want to writefor a newspaper that left public
relations as the default. Andif I had to guess, the textbook that
we use was probably 95% how towrite a news release or a press release
as it was called then. Maybe achapter on special events, maybe
(01:15):
a chapter on crisiscommunications. And that was basically
what the definition was when Iwas in school. And that's what we
all did. We wrote pressreleases all day long. We put them
in the mail. That will tellyou how old I am. And waited, hoping
that a reporter would call usback. And then if they didn't, we
would get on the phone andstart calling and asking them if
(01:37):
they got our press release.Were they interested in what we had
to talk about? Well, we stilluse press releases, news releases,
and they are still a valuablecomponent of what we do. But they
are not a strategy, they are atactic, an important tactic. But
there is so much more to whatpublic relations is and continues
(02:01):
to be that it's really in mymind right now this idea about how
do we take this discipline andremind our clients and our prospects
and our businesses that thisis a very important and very strategic
(02:23):
part of any business thatneeds to think about how to invest
in what you are communicatinginternally and externally.
I mean, I think you just saidthe two keywords that have to get
tied to this topic, which is"strategic communications." That's
the parent discipline, if youwill, that public relations falls
(02:46):
underneath, along withmarketing communications, internal
communications, many otherforms of communicating. I mean, look,
human beings are communicatingall the time. We talk to ourselves
and each theraboutourselvesandand each other. But being strategic
communicationsandreallyaligningcommunicationswithexecutivepriorities,withthemissionand thevaluesoftheorganization,with
(03:10):
theneedtoengagecommercially,inmany casesinaviableway,bring
in many cases,market,changethe perceptionofthepublic.Imean,thisislike,I
guessthissortoflikeMerlintoKingArthur.Imean,no I
guess this sort of like Merlinto King Arthur. I alittlewizardry
inthe mixtomakeit allworkout.AndwhatI'mseeing,tellmeifthisringstrueforyou, isthattherearesome
(03:38):
businessleaders,someexecutives,somemarketingleaderswhomaybedevaluepublicrelationsbecause they
thinksomeoftheothershinierobjectsaremoreinterestingormore compelling.Andtherearealotofinterestingand
compelling thingsoutthere.ButPRinaclassicsensehasaseatatthetable.
(04:00):
Well, it should have a seat atthe table. It doesn't always, but
sure, you know, and it's comeup in the last couple weeks pretty
predominantly in someconversations as we're talking with
businesses, we're preparingresponses for specific projects.
(04:21):
Even the words that theclients are using for what they want
versus what they're actuallyasking for are not, you know, correct
or they are usinginterchangeably advertising and public
relations, or they're usinginterchangeably public relations
and marketing. And they allhave by definition, potentially the
same outcome (04:42):
awareness building, bringing attention, reputation
management. How you go aboutit might be a little bit different.
And we have always believed inhow do all of these things play well
together. And they need toplay well together. Gone are the
(05:03):
operatinginourownlaneandstayingputandjustdoingwhatwe'resupposed todo.There
supposed to do. There needs tobe conversations that happen, especially
if you bring together avariety of partnering organizations
or internally, someone with atitle of chief communications officer,
(05:24):
with a chief marketingofficer, with a director of advertising.
All of these individuals needto be talking and sharing and being
part of the conversation. Wemay come at the project in a different
way because of what we aretrained to do and educated to do.
(05:46):
But the end result and what weare all trying to do for the good
of the organizations werepresent needs to be considered
in all of these differentcategories. And certainly there are
other elements of thecommunications environment. Advertising,
marketing have all evolved andchanged, and there communication.Dowehavesomethingimportanttosay?Wherearewegoingtosayit?Whoarewetryingtotalkto?Buthow
(06:16):
wegoaboutitmightbealittlebitto the table. It's all rooted in
solid messaging, solidcommunication. Do we have something
important to say? Where are wegoing relationsproblem.Well,theydon'thaveapublicrelationsproblem.They
might be a little bitdifferent or more evolved over time.
(06:39):
And you know, there are, weall know a situation or have heard
a situation where it is said,oh, that company has a public relations
problem. Well, they don't havea public relations problem. They
have an operational problemthat istheabsoluterightthingto do.Butwearetrainedtothinkobjectively.We
(07:01):
aretrainedtobeconfidentinourrecommendationsandourcounselandlookatallsidesofaparticularissueandbring forthoptions.
AndIthink What will theramifications be? What will the impact
(07:21):
be? We aren't perfect. I mean,we'd thinkthateverythingwesuggestistheabsoluterightthingtodo.
Butwe aretrainedto But we aretrained to think objectively. We
our trained to be confident inour recommendations and our counsel
(07:43):
and look at all sides of aparticular issue and bring forth
options. And I think being,being to the extent we are a voice
of reason, but we're alsothere to say, this isn't going to
work. This is why. This is oursuggestion. This is why. And we are
(08:07):
better, we being public relati
So "integrated" is, you know,look, it can be something of a buzzword,
but "integratedcommunications," really that is the
goal. That is the ultimategoal. And if you're a leader of an
organization, consider this.How many different specializations
(08:29):
might you have that reallyneed to be talking to each other,
not siloed.hounderstandsyouraudience,your customers,other
other stakeholders the best?Well, tobe acombinationofyoursalesteam,
yourmarketingexperts,yourproductpeople. your
product people. Customerofthemostcurrent insights aboutwhatpeoplearedealingwithwithregard
(08:54):
toyour productor,oryour withregard to your product or your service.
Your internal comms folks andHR people know tohear.Likeourwonderful
episodeaboutinternalcommsandto hear, like our wonderful episode
about internal comms andfeedback discussed. So finding ways
(09:16):
to bring these peopletosayarevolutionthat'sgiving the
most sense. You know, there'sbeen a — I don't want to say a revolution,
that's giving these people waytoo much credit — but in the world
of which isanewwayof a serviceor other forms of tech, it's become
commonplace to talk about"RevOps," revenue operations, which
(09:39):
is a new way of thinking aboutthe bringing together of sales and
marketing and growth andproduct and other things. I think
you need to think about"communication ops," getting these
people together so thateveryone can bring their specialty
to bear on business problems.At the end of the day, that's what
(10:02):
you're trying to solve. Thisisn't about, you know, specialization
for specialization's sake.It's because you need to reach a
targeted audience. You need tochange a perception or point of view
about something. Yourgovernment relations or lobbying
people, if that's somehowinvolved, maybe you're dealing with
(10:25):
issues around regulations ortariffs or local zoning laws or something.
These are all communicationproblems. Everything that you are
trying to make happen has acommunication component to it. Now,
practically speaking, Abbie,you're running an agency. You're
(10:45):
often considered the outsidecounsel. You may have in-house counterparts
that you are working directlywith. But we've talked pastabouthow,youknow,theidealplaceis
tohavease
Yeah, well, that's, that's themillion dollar question. Right? So
(11:06):
it's, it's. Yeah, yeah, goodfor you. If we can get the idea entrenched
in organizations that we areall there for the same purpose, a
successful organization, asuccessful business, a successful
resolution to whatever we areworking with, we all bring to that
(11:32):
conversation differentexperiences. Either, you know, different
lived experiences, differenteducational experiences, different
talents that we bring to thisconversation. And each one of those
is valuable. They may not bewhat is ultimately carried out, but
the perspective of thoseindividuals is important and should
(11:53):
be valued. And so as you wouldbring your attorneys in or your accountants
in, or others to help guideyour business from a financial and
legal perspective,communication is critically important
in that same way. And so partof it is executive leadership needs
(12:13):
to understand the role thattheir communications teams play.
Then there's this part thathas all of us needing to work well
and play well with others. Soabout, youknow,IknowwhatIdo,I knowwhatIdo
well, I know whatmyteamiscapableof,what we canimplement,howwewantto
(12:36):
do itallthatstrategythat goesalong withit.And, butitmightnot betheresolution
that'srequiredforthisparticular project.Thismight bemoreof
aadvertisingstrategyorofamarketing strategy.Butunless
advertising strategy or of amarketing strategy. But myviewpoint,andrecognizingthat
(12:56):
webring thattogethertotheorganization,wewillnotgetintegratedandaligned.And we
have, asanagency,wehaveareasofexpertise,we have,you
know,strategictacticsthatwedoonan ongoingandregularbasis.Wehaveindustriesthatweareknownfor
(13:19):
andthatweworkwellin.Andthereare times,many,
manytimeswherewesay basis. Wehave industries that we are known
for and that we work well in.And there are timesIbringintothatconversation?Whatpartnersfromotherfirmsorfrom,youknow,specialcontractorsorwhateveritiscanIbringinandbeabletosolvethisparticularissueforaclient?Becausetheyarebringing,theyaretrustingmetobringthesepeoplein.Andfortunatelywehavethispartnershipwith,you
(14:03):
know,firmshereinthe,inthemetropolitanPhoenixarea.Wehaverelationshipswithfirmsaroundtheworldthatsays,you'rebetteratthisthanme,buttogether people
in. And fortunately we havethis partnership with firms here
in the metropolitan Phoenixarea. We have relationships with
(14:27):
firms around the world thatsays, you're better at this than
me, but together we will befantastic for our shared client.
And whether that's externalcommunity, you youhaveatyourdisposalandtoutilizethemthatwayandthinkbeyondthetacticandmoretostrategyandhowthedifferentelementsoftheseindividuals,thethingsthattheyknow,playintomovingyouforward,whateverthesituationhappenstobe.
(15:00):
You know, I was thinking abouthow closely in some people's minds
the idea of public relationsis tied with that old-fashioned idea
about the press release. Andas I said at the beginning, I think
we really should do an episodeon the new life press releases are
finding in this digital-firstand AI-focused era. So we'll have
(15:21):
to bracket that for thefuture. But I was thinking about
what are some things thatleaders might not realize their communications
experts can help them tonavigate. And I came up with a few.
One is this idea of anemployer brand. So how do you attract
top talent? What are you knownfor by the workforce such that you
(15:42):
are able to bring in some ofthe best people? I mean, the competition
for excellent talent is neverbeen more fierce. And I'm hearing
this from the trenches, fromprofessional services firms, law
firms, you know, how do weattract the top junior attorneys
to our firm, all the waythrough to big corporations, high
tech and innovation companiestrying to attract the best engineers.
(16:05):
Well, building an employerbrand is one way to do that. There
are legacy companies that haveadapted to current or new emerging
environments, but are stillthought of in a, in a traditional
way. Kind of like we'retalking about the PR firm. So repositioning
a legacy brand for the presentor for the future is essentially
(16:25):
changing the corporatenarrative. That's a communication
function. Mergers andacquisitions. You mentioned wehavedonean
episode onoursisterpodcastforpodcast for the Public Relations
really Network, really divinginto some do youcommunicate and whenandwithwhom?Youknow,the,the
with whom? You know, theinternal stakeholders, the investors,
(16:46):
the buyers, the employees.There's a whole you needtothinkabout
verycarefullythere.Andthensomeofthethingsthatwetalkaboutmoreoften,thingslikeinfluencers, findingmicrochannelstocommunicateyourmessages.Reallythisrunsthegamutfromallkinds
ofbusinessoutcomes,fromtheleadgenerationandsalesendofthespectrumallthe way
(17:06):
throughtointernalfunctions,retainingpeople,attractingnewones. And
thenofcourse,we'dberemisstonotmention.Isthathowyousaythat?Itwouldbe remissnottosaythat
crisiscommunicationsremainsoneofthemostcritical waysinwhicha
strategiccommsfunctioncanhelpyour company.I mean,youalluded
toitearlier.We'vetalkedaboutthePR WeekIncisionreporton
(17:31):
previousepisodes.Itfoundthat96% oforganizationshaveexperienceda
crisisinthe pasttwoyears.Well,the We've talked about
the PR Week and Cision reportin previous episodes. It found that
96% of organizations haveexperienced a cr
Right. And in all of thoseexamples that you listed and the
(17:55):
others that are still outthere to talk about, all start with
a basic premise like we, weare a 45 year old company. We are
known for X and Y and we'dreally like to be known for Z. How
do we, how do we get there?Well, you're going to bring in your
product development people whoare going to say, well, we need to
(18:16):
update, we need to do this, weneed to do this. We're going to bring
in your packaging people,whatever it all is. Well, it started
with a statement that said weneed to do this. All of those people
that you're going to bring inand have that conversation with also
need to include whoevercarries the responsibility for communications
of any kind, marketing,advertising, digital, public relations,
(18:40):
wherever it falls. Becausewhen you don't bring those People
in you will have a crisisproblem. I mean, there's that. That
is, again, they don't have a.They don't have a PR problem. They
have an operational problem.Right. They have a crisis because
something along the way didn'twork and which still happens. But
if you don't know and talk andadvise and role play and figure out
(19:01):
all the ways that this couldgo, good, bad or otherwise, you find
yourself in this situation.And not everything will ultimately
need a fully baked,comprehensive communication strategy.
It might just be a simplereminder. We need to update the website
with the new logo that we allapproved last month. How come that
(19:24):
hasn't been done yet? Well,because we didn't wrap in it and
we didn't talk to, you know,so it's just a good reminder that
these individuals on yourteam, again, whether that's internally
or externally, are there to bethose eyes and ears and to provide
that advice and counsel. Andthe tactics that if we go back to
(19:47):
just what public relationsdoes, does or can do, there's a variety
of different tactics, andthey've come and gone over the years
and what's valuable now is notgoing to be and what was will come
back. And I think that's whatwe're certainly seeing with the press
release and that we're nolonger writing a press release for
the media. We're writing thepress release for the chat boxes
(20:11):
and the AIs and the otherthings that are gonna find it from
an authoritative source.Fantastic. We still need to write
it. It still needs to have thekey messaging it. It still has to
align with the brand. It stillhas to be factual and clear and all
the other things. It's justbeing used for a slightly different
purpose than it was before. Soif there is a resolution in this
(20:33):
discussion around that PR asan industry isn't dead. The news
release as a tactic iscertainly not, but has evolved. The
answer for me in all of thisis smart. Businesses, large or small,
(20:53):
profit or nonprofitgovernment, all have a responsibility
to stakeholders, internally orexternally. And how we get information
to those stakeholders landswith your communications professionals
of all kinds. And so to besuccessful and to move in your audiences
(21:17):
to make decisionsappropriately and what you would
like them to know about yourorganization means all of us that
are responsible for gettingthat message out need to be part
of the conversationsthroughout the process. We will advise,
we will counsel, we willchallenge, and then we will develop
and implement on that responseand move through the idea to completion
(21:45):
in a clear, concise, strategicway that ultimately brings forth
what we sat at that table todo in the first place.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of Copper State of Mind.
If you enjoyed theconversation, please share it with
a colleague who might alsofind this podcast valuable. It's
(22:06):
easy to do. Just click the"Share" button in the app you're
listening to now to pass italong. You can also follow Copper
State of Mind in ApplePodcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast
app. We publish new episodesevery other Friday. Copper State
of Mind is brought to you byHMA Public Relations, the oldest
(22:26):
continuously operating PR firmin Arizona. The show is recorded
and produced by the team atSpeed of Story, a B2B communications
firm in Phoenix, anddistributed by PHX.fm, the leading
independent B2B podcastnetwork in Arizona. For all of us
here at Speed of Story andPHX.fm, I'm Adrian McIntyre. Thanks
(22:48):
for listening and for sharingthe show with others if you choose
to do so. We hope you'll joinus again for another episode of Copper
State of Mind.
The press release is not deadand public relations isn't either.
Now, there's a lot more to sayabout press releases. We'll probably
have to do a whole episodeabout this in the future. But public
relations in the era of AI andautomation and all kinds of innovation
is still thriving. And it'snot what people remember about the
(00:28):
old fashioned discipline ofPR. Abbie, what's on your mind?
Well, I was having aconversation earlier today with a
client. We were talking abouthow we got into the businesses that
we are in. And I was talkingabout when I was in journalism school
and had to make the decisionabout which version of journalism
I was going to go into. At thetime it was either editorial or public
(00:51):
relations or photography. Iwas terrible at taking pictures.
I didn't really want to writefor a newspaper that left public
relations as the default. Andif I had to guess, the textbook that
we use was probably 95% how towrite a news release or a press release
as it was called then. Maybe achapter on special events, maybe
(01:15):
a chapter on crisiscommunications. And that was basically
what the definition was when Iwas in school. And that's what we
all did. We wrote pressreleases all day long. We put them
in the mail. That will tellyou how old I am. And waited, hoping
that a reporter would call usback. And then if they didn't, we
would get on the phone andstart calling and asking them if
(01:37):
they got our press release.Were they interested in what we had
to talk about? Well, we stilluse press releases, news releases,
and they are still a valuablecomponent of what we do. But they
are not a strategy, they are atactic, an important tactic. But
there is so much more to whatpublic relations is and continues
(02:01):
to be that it's really in mymind right now this idea about how
do we take this discipline andremind our clients and our prospects
and our businesses that thisis a very important and very strategic
(02:23):
part of any business thatneeds to think about how to invest
in what you are communicatinginternally and externally.
I mean, I think you just saidthe two keywords that have to get
tied to this topic, which is"strategic communications." That's
the parent discipline, if youwill, that public relations falls
(02:46):
underneath, along withmarketing communications, internal
communications, many otherforms of communicating. I mean, look,
human beings are communicatingall the time. We talk to ourselves
and each theraboutourselvesandand each other. But being strategic
communicationsandreallyaligningcommunicationswithexecutivepriorities,withthemissionand thevaluesoftheorganization,with
(03:10):
theneedtoengagecommercially,inmany casesinaviableway,bring
in many cases,market,changethe perceptionofthepublic.Imean,thisislike,I
guessthissortoflikeMerlintoKingArthur.Imean,no I
guess this sort of like Merlinto King Arthur. I alittlewizardry
inthe mixtomakeit allworkout.AndwhatI'mseeing,tellmeifthisringstrueforyou, isthattherearesome
(03:38):
businessleaders,someexecutives,somemarketingleaderswhomaybedevaluepublicrelationsbecause they
thinksomeoftheothershinierobjectsaremoreinterestingormore compelling.Andtherearealotofinterestingand
compelling thingsoutthere.ButPRinaclassicsensehasaseatatthetable.
(04:00):
Well, it should have a seat atthe table. It doesn't always, but
sure, you know, and it's comeup in the last couple weeks pretty
predominantly in someconversations as we're talking with
businesses, we're preparingresponses for specific projects.
(04:21):
Even the words that theclients are using for what they want
versus what they're actuallyasking for are not, you know, correct
or they are usinginterchangeably advertising and public
relations, or they're usinginterchangeably public relations
and marketing. And they allhave by definition, potentially the
same outcome (04:42):
awareness building, bringing attention, reputation
management. How you go aboutit might be a little bit different.
And we have always believed inhow do all of these things play well
together. And they need toplay well together. Gone are the
(05:03):
operatinginourownlaneandstayingputandjustdoingwhatwe'resupposed todo.There
supposed to do. There needs tobe conversations that happen, especially
if you bring together avariety of partnering organizations
or internally, someone with atitle of chief communications officer,
(05:24):
with a chief marketingofficer, with a director of advertising.
All of these individuals needto be talking and sharing and being
part of the conversation. Wemay come at the project in a different
way because of what we aretrained to do and educated to do.
(05:46):
But the end result and what weare all trying to do for the good
of the organizations werepresent needs to be considered
in all of these differentcategories. And certainly there are
other elements of thecommunications environment. Advertising,
marketing have all evolved andchanged, and there communication.Dowehavesomethingimportanttosay?Wherearewegoingtosayit?Whoarewetryingtotalkto?Buthow
(06:16):
wegoaboutitmightbealittlebitto the table. It's all rooted in
solid messaging, solidcommunication. Do we have something
important to say? Where are wegoing relationsproblem.Well,theydon'thaveapublicrelationsproblem.They
might be a little bitdifferent or more evolved over time.
(06:39):
And you know, there are, weall know a situation or have heard
a situation where it is said,oh, that company has a public relations
problem. Well, they don't havea public relations problem. They
have an operational problemthat istheabsoluterightthingto do.Butwearetrainedtothinkobjectively.We
(07:01):
aretrainedtobeconfidentinourrecommendationsandourcounselandlookatallsidesofaparticularissueandbring forthoptions.
AndIthink What will theramifications be? What will the impact
(07:21):
be? We aren't perfect. I mean,we'd thinkthateverythingwesuggestistheabsoluterightthingtodo.
Butwe aretrainedto But we aretrained to think objectively. We
our trained to be confident inour recommendations and our counsel
(07:43):
and look at all sides of aparticular issue and bring forth
options. And I think being,being to the extent we are a voice
of reason, but we're alsothere to say, this isn't going to
work. This is why. This is oursuggestion. This is why. And we are
(08:07):
better, we being public relati
So "integrated" is, you know,look, it can be something of a buzzword,
but "integratedcommunications," really that is the
goal. That is the ultimategoal. And if you're a leader of an
organization, consider this.How many different specializations
(08:29):
might you have that reallyneed to be talking to each other,
not siloed.hounderstandsyouraudience,your customers,other
other stakeholders the best?Well, tobe acombinationofyoursalesteam,
yourmarketingexperts,yourproductpeople. your
product people. Customerofthemostcurrent insights aboutwhatpeoplearedealingwithwithregard
(08:54):
toyour productor,oryour withregard to your product or your service.
Your internal comms folks andHR people know tohear.Likeourwonderful
episodeaboutinternalcommsandto hear, like our wonderful episode
about internal comms andfeedback discussed. So finding ways
(09:16):
to bring these peopletosayarevolutionthat'sgiving the
most sense. You know, there'sbeen a — I don't want to say a revolution,
that's giving these people waytoo much credit — but in the world
of which isanewwayof a serviceor other forms of tech, it's become
commonplace to talk about"RevOps," revenue operations, which
(09:39):
is a new way of thinking aboutthe bringing together of sales and
marketing and growth andproduct and other things. I think
you need to think about"communication ops," getting these
people together so thateveryone can bring their specialty
to bear on business problems.At the end of the day, that's what
(10:02):
you're trying to solve. Thisisn't about, you know, specialization
for specialization's sake.It's because you need to reach a
targeted audience. You need tochange a perception or point of view
about something. Yourgovernment relations or lobbying
people, if that's somehowinvolved, maybe you're dealing with
(10:25):
issues around regulations ortariffs or local zoning laws or something.
These are all communicationproblems. Everything that you are
trying to make happen has acommunication component to it. Now,
practically speaking, Abbie,you're running an agency. You're
(10:45):
often considered the outsidecounsel. You may have in-house counterparts
that you are working directlywith. But we've talked pastabouthow,youknow,theidealplaceis
tohavease
Yeah, well, that's, that's themillion dollar question. Right? So
(11:06):
it's, it's. Yeah, yeah, goodfor you. If we can get the idea entrenched
in organizations that we areall there for the same purpose, a
successful organization, asuccessful business, a successful
resolution to whatever we areworking with, we all bring to that
(11:32):
conversation differentexperiences. Either, you know, different
lived experiences, differenteducational experiences, different
talents that we bring to thisconversation. And each one of those
is valuable. They may not bewhat is ultimately carried out, but
the perspective of thoseindividuals is important and should
(11:53):
be valued. And so as you wouldbring your attorneys in or your accountants
in, or others to help guideyour business from a financial and
legal perspective,communication is critically important
in that same way. And so partof it is executive leadership needs
(12:13):
to understand the role thattheir communications teams play.
Then there's this part thathas all of us needing to work well
and play well with others. Soabout, youknow,IknowwhatIdo,I knowwhatIdo
well, I know whatmyteamiscapableof,what we canimplement,howwewantto
(12:36):
do itallthatstrategythat goesalong withit.And, butitmightnot betheresolution
that'srequiredforthisparticular project.Thismight bemoreof
aadvertisingstrategyorofamarketing strategy.Butunless
advertising strategy or of amarketing strategy. But myviewpoint,andrecognizingthat
(12:56):
webring thattogethertotheorganization,wewillnotgetintegratedandaligned.And we
have, asanagency,wehaveareasofexpertise,we have,you
know,strategictacticsthatwedoonan ongoingandregularbasis.Wehaveindustriesthatweareknownfor
(13:19):
andthatweworkwellin.Andthereare times,many,
manytimeswherewesay basis. Wehave industries that we are known
for and that we work well in.And there are timesIbringintothatconversation?Whatpartnersfromotherfirmsorfrom,youknow,specialcontractorsorwhateveritiscanIbringinandbeabletosolvethisparticularissueforaclient?Becausetheyarebringing,theyaretrustingmetobringthesepeoplein.Andfortunatelywehavethispartnershipwith,you
(14:03):
know,firmshereinthe,inthemetropolitanPhoenixarea.Wehaverelationshipswithfirmsaroundtheworldthatsays,you'rebetteratthisthanme,buttogether people
in. And fortunately we havethis partnership with firms here
in the metropolitan Phoenixarea. We have relationships with
(14:27):
firms around the world thatsays, you're better at this than
me, but together we will befantastic for our shared client.
And whether that's externalcommunity, you youhaveatyourdisposalandtoutilizethemthatwayandthinkbeyondthetacticandmoretostrategyandhowthedifferentelementsoftheseindividuals,thethingsthattheyknow,playintomovingyouforward,whateverthesituationhappenstobe.
(15:00):
You know, I was thinking abouthow closely in some people's minds
the idea of public relationsis tied with that old-fashioned idea
about the press release. Andas I said at the beginning, I think
we really should do an episodeon the new life press releases are
finding in this digital-firstand AI-focused era. So we'll have
(15:21):
to bracket that for thefuture. But I was thinking about
what are some things thatleaders might not realize their communications
experts can help them tonavigate. And I came up with a few.
One is this idea of anemployer brand. So how do you attract
top talent? What are you knownfor by the workforce such that you
(15:42):
are able to bring in some ofthe best people? I mean, the competition
for excellent talent is neverbeen more fierce. And I'm hearing
this from the trenches, fromprofessional services firms, law
firms, you know, how do weattract the top junior attorneys
to our firm, all the waythrough to big corporations, high
tech and innovation companiestrying to attract the best engineers.
(16:05):
Well, building an employerbrand is one way to do that. There
are legacy companies that haveadapted to current or new emerging
environments, but are stillthought of in a, in a traditional
way. Kind of like we'retalking about the PR firm. So repositioning
a legacy brand for the presentor for the future is essentially
(16:25):
changing the corporatenarrative. That's a communication
function. Mergers andacquisitions. You mentioned wehavedonean
episode onoursisterpodcastforpodcast for the Public Relations
really Network, really divinginto some do youcommunicate and whenandwithwhom?Youknow,the,the
with whom? You know, theinternal stakeholders, the investors,
(16:46):
the buyers, the employees.There's a whole you needtothinkabout
verycarefullythere.Andthensomeofthethingsthatwetalkaboutmoreoften,thingslikeinfluencers, findingmicrochannelstocommunicateyourmessages.Reallythisrunsthegamutfromallkinds
ofbusinessoutcomes,fromtheleadgenerationandsalesendofthespectrumallthe way
(17:06):
throughtointernalfunctions,retainingpeople,attractingnewones. And
thenofcourse,we'dberemisstonotmention.Isthathowyousaythat?Itwouldbe remissnottosaythat
crisiscommunicationsremainsoneofthemostcritical waysinwhicha
strategiccommsfunctioncanhelpyour company.I mean,youalluded
toitearlier.We'vetalkedaboutthePR WeekIncisionreporton
(17:31):
previousepisodes.Itfoundthat96% oforganizationshaveexperienceda
crisisinthe pasttwoyears.Well,the We've talked about
the PR Week and Cision reportin previous episodes. It found that
96% of organizations haveexperienced a cr
Right. And in all of thoseexamples that you listed and the
(17:55):
others that are still outthere to talk about, all start with
a basic premise like we, weare a 45 year old company. We are
known for X and Y and we'dreally like to be known for Z. How
do we, how do we get there?Well, you're going to bring in your
product development people whoare going to say, well, we need to
(18:16):
update, we need to do this, weneed to do this. We're going to bring
in your packaging people,whatever it all is. Well, it started
with a statement that said weneed to do this. All of those people
that you're going to bring inand have that conversation with also
need to include whoevercarries the responsibility for communications
of any kind, marketing,advertising, digital, public relations,
(18:40):
wherever it falls. Becausewhen you don't bring those People
in you will have a crisisproblem. I mean, there's that. That
is, again, they don't have a.They don't have a PR problem. They
have an operational problem.Right. They have a crisis because
something along the way didn'twork and which still happens. But
if you don't know and talk andadvise and role play and figure out
(19:01):
all the ways that this couldgo, good, bad or otherwise, you find
yourself in this situation.And not everything will ultimately
need a fully baked,comprehensive communication strategy.
It might just be a simplereminder. We need to update the website
with the new logo that we allapproved last month. How come that
(19:24):
hasn't been done yet? Well,because we didn't wrap in it and
we didn't talk to, you know,so it's just a good reminder that
these individuals on yourteam, again, whether that's internally
or externally, are there to bethose eyes and ears and to provide
that advice and counsel. Andthe tactics that if we go back to
(19:47):
just what public relationsdoes, does or can do, there's a variety
of different tactics, andthey've come and gone over the years
and what's valuable now is notgoing to be and what was will come
back. And I think that's whatwe're certainly seeing with the press
release and that we're nolonger writing a press release for
the media. We're writing thepress release for the chat boxes
(20:11):
and the AIs and the otherthings that are gonna find it from
an authoritative source.Fantastic. We still need to write
it. It still needs to have thekey messaging it. It still has to
align with the brand. It stillhas to be factual and clear and all
the other things. It's justbeing used for a slightly different
purpose than it was before. Soif there is a resolution in this
(20:33):
discussion around that PR asan industry isn't dead. The news
release as a tactic iscertainly not, but has evolved. The
answer for me in all of thisis smart. Businesses, large or small,
(20:53):
profit or nonprofitgovernment, all have a responsibility
to stakeholders, internally orexternally. And how we get information
to those stakeholders landswith your communications professionals
of all kinds. And so to besuccessful and to move in your audiences
(21:17):
to make decisionsappropriately and what you would
like them to know about yourorganization means all of us that
are responsible for gettingthat message out need to be part
of the conversationsthroughout the process. We will advise,
we will counsel, we willchallenge, and then we will develop
and implement on that responseand move through the idea to completion
(21:45):
in a clear, concise, strategicway that ultimately brings forth
what we sat at that table todo in the first place.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of Copper State of Mind.
If you enjoyed theconversation, please share it with
a colleague who might alsofind this podcast valuable. It's
(22:06):
easy to do. Just click the"Share" button in the app you're
listening to now to pass italong. You can also follow Copper
State of Mind in ApplePodcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast
app. We publish new episodesevery other Friday. Copper State
of Mind is brought to you byHMA Public Relations, the oldest
(22:26):
continuously operating PR firmin Arizona. The show is recorded
and produced by the team atSpeed of Story, a B2B communications
firm in Phoenix, anddistributed by PHX.fm, the leading
independent B2B podcastnetwork in Arizona. For all of us
here at Speed of Story andPHX.fm, I'm Adrian McIntyre. Thanks
(22:48):
for listening and for sharingthe show with others if you choose
to do so. We hope you'll joinus again for another episode of Copper
State of Mind.
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