Essays & Analysis
PR Insights
Senior, founder-led thinking on PR strategy, media relations, AI search, digital PR and brand-building.
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Showing 58 of 69 posts
- AI & Search Visibility
How PR Earns Your Brand a Citation in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews
AI search tools cite earned media, not adverts. Here is what the research actually shows about what gets cited, the mistakes to avoid, and the practical steps that earn a brand a citation in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
How to Know If Your Founder Story Is Actually Newsworthy
Not every founder milestone deserves a press release. Here is the seven-point news-values test journalists actually use, worked examples for each, and the self-test I run with founders before we pitch anything.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
How to Prepare for a Media Interview When You Have Never Done One
A first media interview goes wrong for one of two reasons: no message, or too much message. Here is the message-mapping process, the questions to expect and the pre-interview checklist I use with founders before their first interview.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - PR for Startups & Scale-Ups
How to Turn a Funding Round Into a Media Story, Not Just an Announcement
A funding round is company news the moment it closes. Here is what actually turns it into a story a journalist wants to run, including the timeline, the exclusivity decision and the pre-flight checklist I use with founders before a raise goes public.
FoundersScale-UpsRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
What a Senior Hospitality PR Hire Says About Specialist, Founder-Led Counsel
A global communications firm just added an 11-year Hilton veteran to lead one specialist practice. Here is what that hire signals about the kind of PR counsel serious travel and hospitality brands are choosing, and the questions to ask before you hire your own.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
What Does a PR Consultant Actually Do Before Pitching Your Story?
Most of a PR consultant's work happens before a single email reaches a journalist. Here is the step-by-step process, what the research says about why targeted pitching works, and what you should expect to be asked before anyone pitches on your behalf.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - AI & Search Visibility
AI Governance Just Became a Live PR Story, Not Just a Policy One
This week's AI governance news signals a new communications risk for every company using AI. Here is what founders and comms leads should do about it now.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
How Media Embargoes and Exclusives Actually Work, and When to Use Each
An embargo and an exclusive solve different problems, and picking the wrong one costs you either the coverage or the relationship. Here is how to set each one properly, and what to do in the ten minutes after an embargo breaks.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
How to Build a Press List From Scratch When You Have No Media Contacts
A working press list starts from relevance, not volume. Here is the process I use to build one from zero, verify every name, and keep it from going stale.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
How to Spot a PR Agency Overpromising Results Before You Sign
No agency can guarantee a named journalist will publish a named story. Here is how to tell a realistic PR promise from an inflated one before you sign.
FoundersScale-UpsRead essay → - PR for Startups & Scale-Ups
How to Get Media Coverage in a Market You Have Never Sold Into
The story that earned you coverage at home will not travel unchanged, because the reason it worked was local. Here is the market-entry process, what the first ninety days realistically look like, and the proof a new market will ask for.
FoundersScale-UpsRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
What Makes a Media Pitch Subject Line Get Opened, and What Makes One Get Deleted
A journalist decides on your subject line in about a second, in a preview pane, before reading a word of the pitch. Here is what earns the open, what earns the reply, and why optimising for one costs you the other.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
Newman's Own Just Made Its Own Paperwork the Story. Most Companies Never Do
Newman's Own has given away 100% of its profits since 1982 and only now made it the headline. Here is the diagnostic I use to find the fact a business already owns and has quietly decided is not interesting enough.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
Do You Need a PR Agency or a Freelance PR Consultant? How to Decide
Choosing between a PR agency and a freelance PR consultant comes down to seniority, budget and speed. Here is how to decide, and where a boutique model fits.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Crisis & Reputation
What WestJet's Strike Resolution Teaches About the Second Half of a Crisis
Most crisis plans stop at the disruption. WestJet and CUPE's resolution is a clean, current example of why the second half of a crisis needs just as much care.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Crisis & Reputation
What to Do When a Journalist Gets Your Story Wrong
A wrong fact in coverage is fixable, but only if you ask the right person for the right remedy. Here is the first-hour checklist, the correction email that works, and what the IPSO route actually involves.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
Are CEOs the New Brands? What Cannes Lions 2026 Revealed About Leadership Visibility
Cannes Lions 2026 confirmed it: the leader is now part of the brand. Why founder visibility is a growth lever, not vanity.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
Cannes Lions 2026: The Campaigns to Watch and Who We Think Will Win
A senior PR read on the 2026 Cannes contenders, the work likely to win, and what it signals about earning attention.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
Claude's Super Bowl Ad Won the Cannes Film Grand Prix. Here's the PR Lesson
Anthropic's Claude took on the market leader and won Cannes' oldest category. The PR lesson: conviction beats spectacle.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
The Craft Comeback: Why Handmade Beat AI at Cannes Lions 2026
In the most AI-saturated Cannes yet, the standout winners were deliberately handmade. Why craft and a human touch won.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
Creators Took Over Cannes 2026. Here's What It Means for Your PR
Creators are now a core marketing channel, not a side tactic. What the Cannes 2026 creator surge means for how you earn attention.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - AI & Search Visibility
Does AI Content Actually Pay Off? The 2026 Shift From Output to Return
As AI makes content nearly free, the premium is shifting to earned human trust. What Cannes Lions 2026 revealed about AI that pays back.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Brand Building
Earned Media vs Paid: Why Earned Attention Wins in 2026
Buying reach is easy. Earning relevance is the harder, more durable win. A senior PR view on earned media in 2026.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - AI & Search Visibility
The Marketing Funnel Is Collapsing: What TikTok's Cannes 2026 Play Reveals
Discovery, consideration and conversion now happen in one place. What TikTok's agentic AI and the compressed funnel mean for founders.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Brand Building
The Marketing Industry Is in Flux: 5 Cannes 2026 Shifts Founders Should Act On
Leaner teams, substance over spectacle, AI, craft and creators. Five Cannes 2026 shifts and what founders should do about each.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Brand Building
Reach vs Effectiveness: What Marketing Spend Is Worth in 2026
The smart money is moving from reach to effectiveness and cultural credibility. What Cannes Lions 2026 revealed about brand value.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
Why PR and Marketing Leaders Should Be at Cannes Lions, Not Watching From Afar
Most people follow Cannes through recaps. The real value is in the room. A senior PR view on why attending still matters.
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
PR Agency vs Freelance PR Consultant vs In-House: Which One Does Your Business Actually Need?
Most businesses do not have a PR problem. They have a PR structure problem. They know they need visibility, credibility and coverage, but they pour budget into the wrong delivery model and conclude that PR does not work. The model matters as much as the work.
FoundersMarketing LeadersStartupsScale-UpsRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
Do You Need PR Yet? How to Know When It's Worth the Money
PR is one of the few investments that can quietly transform a business or quietly drain its budget, depending almost entirely on timing. Start too early and you spend money telling a story the market is not ready to hear. Start too late and competitors own the narrative you shoul
FoundersStartupsRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
How to Hire a PR Consultant Without Wasting Money
Plenty of founders have a story about money spent on PR with little to show for it. Almost always, the problem was not the discipline. It was the brief, the fit or the expectations. Hiring a PR consultant well is a skill, and getting it right is the difference between coverage th
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
How Much Does PR Cost in 2026, and How to Know If It's Worth It
PR pricing is famously opaque, which is exactly why so many businesses overpay or underinvest. Understanding how PR is priced, what drives the cost, and how to judge value puts you back in control of the conversation before you ever sign a contract.
FoundersSmall BusinessesRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
How to Brief a PR Consultant So You Actually Get Results
The quality of a PR engagement is often decided before any pitching begins, in the brief. A sharp brief gives a consultant everything they need to find angles, reach the right journalists and move fast. A vague one guarantees months of polite activity and little coverage. Briefin
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
PR vs Marketing: What's the Difference and When You Need Each
PR and marketing are often treated as the same thing or, worse, as rivals competing for the same budget. They are neither. They are different disciplines that do different jobs, and knowing which one your business needs right now saves money and prevents a lot of frustration.
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - AI & Search Visibility
How to Get Your Brand Cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews
A growing share of buyers no longer start with a Google search. They ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google\'s AI Overviews, and they act on the handful of brands those systems mention. If your business is not part of that answer, you are invisible at the exact moment a decision is fo
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - AI & Search Visibility
Answer Engine Optimisation: How PR Shapes What AI Says About Your Brand
Search engine optimisation taught a generation of businesses to compete for a ranking. Answer engine optimisation, or AEO, is the discipline that replaces it as people shift from searching to asking. The goal is no longer just to rank a page. It is to shape the answer an AI gives
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Digital PR & SEO
How PR Supports SEO and Search Visibility (Without Paying for Links)
Search visibility and PR are often run by separate teams who barely speak. That is a missed opportunity, because earned coverage is one of the most powerful and durable ways to improve search performance, and it does it without buying a single link. Understanding the connection l
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - PR for Startups & Scale-Ups
PR for Startups: When to Start and What to Prioritise First
For a startup, PR can feel like something that belongs to bigger, later-stage companies. In reality, the right PR at the right moment can accelerate a startup more than almost any other investment, and the wrong PR at the wrong moment wastes scarce money and goodwill. The skill i
StartupsFoundersRead essay → - PR for Startups & Scale-Ups
The Signs You're Ready for PR (and the Signs You're Not)
Plenty of money is wasted on PR that was simply premature. The work was competent, the consultant was capable, yet the business was not in a position to convert the attention into anything. Knowing whether you are ready is a more valuable skill than knowing how to pitch, because
FoundersStartupsRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
How to Make Your Story Newsworthy Enough for Journalists to Care
Every week journalists delete hundreds of pitches about news that is news only to the company sending it. A new hire, a minor update, a rebrand: significant internally, invisible externally. The gap between what a business finds exciting and what a reader finds interesting is whe
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - PR for Startups & Scale-Ups
PR for Scale-Ups: How to Build Visibility While You Grow
The PR that gets a startup noticed will not carry a scale-up to the next stage. Early on, the founder origin story does most of the lifting, because the company is small enough to be the story. Once you are growing fast, hiring across functions and selling to a wider market, that
Scale-UpsFoundersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
How to Build Founder Visibility That Brings In Real Leads
Founder visibility has a bad reputation among people who confuse it with vanity. The version worth pursuing is not about applause or follower counts. It is the quiet commercial advantage that comes when the right buyers already know who you are, trust your judgement and think of
FoundersRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
PR on a Small Budget: How to Get Coverage Without a Big Spend
Budget rarely decides who gets covered. Relevance does. Plenty of well funded brands spend heavily and earn almost nothing, while a sharp founder with no retainer lands a national feature because the angle was right and the timing was better. Coverage rewards usefulness to a jour
Small BusinessesFoundersStartupsRead essay → - Crisis & Reputation
Brand Reputation in the AI Era: How to Protect What Machines Say About You
Buyers increasingly meet your brand through a machine before they ever meet your website. They ask an AI assistant what your company does, whether you are any good, and how you compare to alternatives, and they take the answer at face value. That answer is assembled from whatever
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - PR Strategy & Hiring
How to Choose the Right PR Support for Your Stage of Business
The most common PR mistake is buying the support that worked for a company two stages ahead of you. A pre launch startup does not need the machine a scale up runs, and a scale up is poorly served by the scrappy improvisation that suited it at the start. The right support is the k
StartupsScale-UpsFoundersRead essay → - Digital PR & SEO
Digital PR Explained: How Earned Coverage Builds Authority and Links
Digital PR sits in a confusing middle ground for many people. Some treat it as a fancy name for link building, others assume it is just traditional press work done online, and both descriptions miss what it actually is. Digital PR is the practice of earning credible online covera
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
Thought Leadership That Drives Leads, Not Just Likes
Plenty of so-called thought leadership earns a flurry of likes and then disappears. It feels productive, it strokes the ego, and it changes nothing about the pipeline. Real thought leadership does something harder. It shifts how a specific audience thinks about a problem, and it
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Purpose-Led & Nonprofit PR
How Purpose-Led Organisations Can Use PR Without Sounding Performative
Purpose has become a crowded word. Almost every organisation now claims to stand for something, which means audiences have grown sharp at spotting the gap between what a brand says and what it does. For organisations whose purpose is genuine, that scepticism is frustrating. The w
NGOs / Purpose-LedFoundersRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
Press Release vs Media Pitch: Which One Gets You Coverage
Ask ten people the difference between a press release and a media pitch and you will get ten fuzzy answers. The confusion costs coverage. These are different tools built for different jobs, and using the wrong one, or using both badly, is why so many announcements vanish without
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
How to Plan a PR Campaign That Cuts Through the Noise
Most PR campaigns fail before a single email goes out. They fail in the planning, where a vague ambition to raise awareness substitutes for a real objective, and a scatter of activity substitutes for a single sharp idea. Cutting through a crowded media landscape is not about doin
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
Why Human-Interest Storytelling Still Wins in the AI Era
Artificial intelligence can now produce competent content at a scale no human team could match. That abundance is exactly why genuine human stories have become more valuable, not less. When the web fills with fluent, forgettable text, the thing that still stops a reader and earns
NGOs / Purpose-LedFoundersRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
Media Relations 101: How to Build Relationships That Lead to Coverage
Coverage rarely arrives because of a single clever press release. It arrives because a journalist trusts that you understand their work, respect their time, and have something genuinely useful to offer their readers. Media relations is the long game of earning that trust, and the
FoundersStartupsMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
What Cannes Lions Teaches You About Campaigns That Actually Work
The world\'s biggest celebration of creativity is easy to dismiss as a parade of big budgets and expensive parties. Look past the glamour, though, and the work that wins tends to share a set of principles that any founder or marketer can use, regardless of how much money sits beh
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Crisis & Reputation
Crisis Readiness for Small Companies: What to Do Before Something Goes Wrong
Most small companies assume crises happen to large ones. The opposite is often true, because smaller organisations have fewer people, thinner reserves and less margin for error when something goes wrong. The difference between a manageable incident and a lasting reputational woun
Small BusinessesFoundersStartupsRead essay → - Brand Building
How to Build Brand Credibility From Scratch When Nobody Knows You Yet
Starting from zero is the hardest moment in any brand\'s life. Nobody has heard of you, nobody has reason to trust you, and every claim you make about yourself is treated, quite reasonably, with scepticism. Credibility cannot be declared. It has to be earned, piece by piece, thro
FoundersStartupsRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
What Wimbledon Teaches Brands About Earning Attention Without a Sponsorship Badge
Two weeks each summer, the attention of the British and international press concentrates on a few acres of south-west London with a force that money alone cannot buy. The brands with official rights, the watchmaker, the carmaker, the champagne house, secure their place on the bro
Marketing LeadersFoundersRead essay → - Campaigns & Creativity
How an AI Feature Became the World's Most Downloaded App: What Deep Nostalgia Got Right
Deep Nostalgia, the MyHeritage feature that animated still photographs of relatives who had long since passed, became the number one most downloaded app globally on both iOS and Android. It did so not because the technology was unprecedented, but because of what the technology le
FoundersMarketing LeadersRead essay → - Founder Visibility & Thought Leadership
How a Founder Earns Media Coverage Before Anyone Has Heard of Them
The most common assumption among first-time founders is that the press covers people it already knows. The reverse is closer to the truth. Journalists are looking constantly for new voices, fresh perspectives and stories that have not been told a hundred times. Being unknown is n
FoundersStartupsRead essay → - Media Relations & Pitching
How to Launch a Product the Press Has No Reason to Cover
Most products launch into silence, and the reason is rarely the quality of the product. It is that a product, by itself, is not a story. A new device, a new formula, a new range, a new app: each is an input that a story can be built around, not a story in its own right. The press
FoundersMarketing LeadersStartupsRead essay →