Sinead Conlon

CALIFORNIA

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Fellow Chicago communicators! I'll be speaking at the upcoming ALI Conferences later this month. If you haven't already secured your spot, make sure to do so. You won't want to miss it 💡 My panel will be focused on #changemanagement and fostering adoption with your internal audience. They say change is the only constant in life.... so join us for examples and tips on how to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, build trust, belief and excitement with your employees, and how to plan for the unexpected. ⚡ #ALIcomms #internalcommunications #digitalcommunications #corporateculture #corporatecommunications

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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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Nothing beats an "in-person" meeting with an industry analyst or consultant. Relationships are the meat and potatoes of boosting your value as a company. I always to try to line them up with my key spokespeople or even myself at conferences, trade shows, events, analyst days, or when traveling to their local city. And listen to their ideas, vision and thoughts NOT just your agenda. #analystrelations #relationships #analysts #consultants #tradeshows #events #conferences #strategy #marketing

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"It's PR not ER" - I received this advice 14 years ago and it's perhaps the best career advice I have ever received (ironically it did not come from my father who is an ER surgeon - he does give great advice though). As comms and brand leaders, the job can be filled with intense deadlines, a lot of pressure to "get it right," and managing crises (real or hypothetical) on a daily basis. Through it all, having this perspective has helped me enjoy the challenges and learning to manage the curveballs rather than panic. Deep breaths. Take a second. Move ahead. Have fun! What's the best advice you've ever received?

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In the dynamic world of PR and Communications, 2024 brings both challenges and opportunities. Media landscapes are shifting constantly, key topics are polarized, and with that comes uncertainity. But amidst this flux, there's a chance for bold, proactive actions. It starts with a mindset shift. We must rewrite the playbook to embrace disruption, challenge conventions, and deliver meaningful messages. So we know when to enter the conversation - and how! Join our free webinar on May 16th, "Focus Amidst the Frenzy: Communications Strategies in a State of forever Crisis", to explore scenario planning and crisis management with myself and Lauren Condoluci So, dive in, embrace the uncertainty, and secure your spot. https://lnkd.in/ekk94Hmi #webinar #innovation #CrisisComms #PR #comms

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SPOILER ALERT 🚨🚨🚨 I don't think TikTok is going anywhere. But, the debate happening among policymakers makes for pretty good conversation. In my latest thought piece for H/Advisors Abernathy, I examined the newscycle to see how a potential #TikToK ban could play a big role in the 2024 election cycle, rankle #BigTech data collection and lay the groundwork for more #dataprivacy advocacy. https://bit.ly/T1kT0kban

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One of the great challenges I have faced in my #publicrelations career is to hear, "we don't sell to the public so we don't need community relations." Tell that to your #brand if you have a crisis. This article has some great tips on building effective community relations. https://lnkd.in/d7iizvip

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Audience identification is an area of improvement for many #communications and #marketing pros. We tend to stop at broad categories. We should get to more targeted levels. Doing so requires closer collaboration among sales, marketing, and communications than is typical. A lot of orgs don’t dedicate the time or resources to do it. Then we wonder why we miss the bullseye.

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OK, so it happened. What's next? ▪ Sale Deadline: ByteDance has up to a year to sell TikTok to a U.S.-approved buyer to avoid a complete ban. ▪ Potential Buyers: Speculation surrounds potential buyers, including groups led by former financial officials and large corporations. ▪ Legal Challenges Expected: The legislation is likely to face legal pushback from various stakeholders, including the Chinese government. ▪ Continued Availability: TikTok remains accessible in the U.S. for now, but future access is uncertain pending legal and governmental outcomes. ▪ First Amendment Concerns: There are significant First Amendment challenges, as the platform is widely used for political and educational content.

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“You’re very good at putting yourself out there on LinkedIn”, one of my former colleagues once told me. “But I wouldn’t know what to say, or feel like I could write anything about the company.” The next day, the same colleague shares a post prepared by the corporate comms team, without context. Their last post was the same sort of thing….three months ago. And two months before that they shared a job vacancy at the company. Personal branding is about you. It’s about what you want to be known for. It’s your career. Take charge of your knowledge and share your expertise. You are not on LinkedIn to be a mouthpiece for your company. You can be, and employees do make amazing advocates, if they have something genuine to add. From employer brand to extolling the service or offer, employees can seriously help an organisation by promoting things online – but it needs to be in their words, and in their context. So please – companies, can you please stop asking your employees to post specific things advertising your company. It’s not their words, and if they don’t publish anything else on LinkedIn, it won’t have much reach – and isn’t authentic, so won’t have cut through. And if you're unsure about posting, or what to post, it's ok to be a lurker - it's equally ok to experiment posting things. Try pushing outside your comfort zone though....that's where the growth happens. #personalbranding #corporatecomms #employerbranding

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“I just need a few key messages that I should hit.” It’s a common request that every communications pro has encountered many times ahead of a media interview. And if you’re anything like me, you roll your eyes. Why? Because key messages are fine and good, but only if they are used to form a broader narrative. More often than not, they’re seen as a license to be repetitive, robotic and focused only on your own outcome. Brute-forcing key messages down a reporter’s throat doesn’t help them do their job. Media opportunities are a two way street - you give value, share expertise and contextualize whatever you’re talking about in exchange for the profile the media outlet can give you and your business. The best and only way to respect this duality is to shape a simple and memorable story which contains the messages you want to hit, and which shows instead of telling why what you’re discussing is important and meaningful. I used to keep a folder of video clips that could’ve been titled “when key messages go wrong” - often depicting some hapless executive or politician stumbling through a repeated response straight from the message sheet he or she was handed. They universally looked silly and unprepared, and the interview did nothing but undermine trust and damage the speaker’s reputation. Next time, before the camera starts rolling, think about a story instead of a key message. Your brand will thank you.

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Thank you to PRNEWS for publishing my piece on lessons brands and communications leaders can learn from the recent fallout at NBC News and the pitfalls of binary thinking. "This debacle is one of many scenarios that remind us of why deliberate, well-coordinated and consistent internal communications are even more important in today’s climate where sensitive information leaks are becoming commonplace." If you're so inclined, you can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eSjSG26d

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It is not what we want to say, rather what our customers want and need to hear and, more importantly, see in action. High growth organizations know this and invest in brand and public relations experts who help them keep fingers in the pulse of the client experience. Knowing your customers needs has never been more important. Make sure you are investing in the right team that has your back and sometimes that means telling you “ No, let’s try this instead.” You’ll be glad you did. Great piece from Inc. Magazine and Jeff Haden. 👇 #brand #customersfirst #brandreputation #publicrelations #clientexperience

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An important insight here. A lot of planning goes into the big events like Money20/20 with my fintech clients, and we've had to have these types of conversations with them to make sure the announcement clears the bar to be meaningful, or if they should announcement something before to build some momentum (or announce after on your own terms).

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Are brands pulling back on support for Pride this year? It has been a few weeks since I chatted about this with Allison Carter at Ragan Communications and PR Daily and I still believe that they are not. Rather, I think we are seeing fewer brands veering into the rainbow-washing space given the heightened risk of criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates (and vocal anti-LGBT activists) on inauthentic or superficial and performative allyship. However, those brands that understand that action earns trust are continuing to support Pride by uplifting their work to embrace inclusive policies, creating impact-focused purpose-driven campaigns, and promoting a culture of belonging by celebrating and uplifting their employees, consumers, and partners. These brands are not backing away from those values and there is plenty of data to show that this will continue to drive growth, as noted by this year's #ReturnOnLeadership (ROL) Index, comprised of companies with strategic clarity, alignment, focus, and a sense of meaning, showing that the ROL Index (+49%) has outpaced both the S&P 500 (+26%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+11%) over the past three years.

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BOSTON

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EGC (employee generated content) is a powerful type of #influencermarketing organically, so imagine its impact when guided opportunistically. But sometimes employee policy handbooks get in the way of realizing the full power of EGC. Of course governance is imperative but let's not over-govern unnecessarily. Easy for competitors to swoop in: https://lnkd.in/g4V9K5PG

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Bloomberg News: "In a new partnership with Vote.org, people will be able to register to vote, sign up for election reminders and make a plan for Election Day from within Snapchat. In 2020, the app registered 1.2 million people to vote, making it a prime platform for political advertisers to reach voters. More than 80 million Americans of voting age use Snapchat every month, according to the company. Snap will also prominently feature politically focused content from NBC News, including on-the-ground coverage of key events from conventions to rallies and speeches. In order to help those users make more informative decisions, Snap launched in 2016 its Good Luck America news show, which offers perspective and explanation around key events from both political parties. This year the show will launch a new series called Campus Tour from colleges across the country. Also, Snap’s partnership with NBC News’ “Stay Tuned’ program will present a series that talks with Gen Z voters in local, state and federal elections about issues that resonate with them. Political ads on Snap are vetted through a 'rigorous human review process,' as well as fact-checking with nonpartisan partner Poynter Institute, and a registration and certification process for potential ad buyers. The app will screen for misleading information, including those using artificial intelligence to create deceptive images." https://lnkd.in/gWKJM-EF

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