Surrounding yourself with smart advisors will make any entrepreneur better. But when it comes to the corporate boardroom, unfortunately, politics can push out the best.
Over the years, I’ve worked with entrepreneurs, CEOs, politicians and experienced marketers who wanted to elevate their brand with the media. Without any question, the leaders who shared the most information with their publicists got the best media coverage.
For more than three years, my PR agency led the publicity strategy for the highly popular weight loss program, Noom. Back in 2016, few people had heard of this brand, but today, it’s one of the largest weight loss programs.
Growth Driven by Intention
When I first started working with Noom, the health tech company didn’t have a CMO to keep me away from their cofounders. As a result, I had full reign to gather information and learn about new updates. This open-door policy with the founders gave me unfiltered access to conversations that kept me in the loop and inspired new ideas.
This access led to publicity with all of the major publications, including Entrepreneur, CNBC, NBC Today Show, TechCrunch and Washington Post. In 2018, Google named Noom one of the top search terms in the health and fitness section.
I don’t share this to brag. I share this as an example of what can happen when you let your PR team or publicist run with unfiltered information.
Believe it or not, there are many leaders who don’t like their outside publicist speaking directly with their CEO. I’m sure there are logical reasons for this: They don’t want to waste their CEO’s time, maybe the CEO wants a buffer with the publicist, or they want to keep internal information, well, internal.
That’s understandable. But internal check-ins provide your publicist with unfiltered information that could inspire new media campaigns. News must be new and timely. The hardest media campaigns involve stagnant brands that don’t introduce new elements.
And if an internal crisis begins brewing, make sure your communications person has a seat at the table. And not just any seat, but the most pronounced seat.
I always tell my team we sell the big picture but communicate the details. These details are the nuances that typically pique the interest of reporters. If your gatekeeper doesn’t communicate these nuances, you are less likely to succeed in the strategy of publicity.
About Mark Macias
Mark Macias is a former Executive Producer with NBC, Senior Producer with CBS, and frequent contributor to Forbes, CNBC and Entrepreneur. City & State Magazine named him to their PR Power 50 list in New York. MACIAS PR has led B2B and B2C media campaigns for brands across healthcare, tech, politics and nonprofits.