SHIFT Communications

These words our VP Rebecca Pocock recently spoke about thought leadership really hit home. It's one of those things that most every company wants but few achieve, partly because of the boldness required and partly because of the work and creativity needed to continually activate it. Thought leadership only rises above its competition with these must-haves that she references: -A unique and ownable POV -Insights and assets that support and draw attention to it -Trend and news alignment that continually adds relevance -Frequent distribution If thought leadership is a strategy you're pursuing, this can help you understanding how to create an effective platform ⏩ https://bit.ly/3TUvCZD

In B2B tech, it feels like someone is always nipping at your toes. That’s why products and features aren’t the story. A vision and a narrative are. That’s how Talkdesk, who’d had AI-powered solutions for years, combatted competitive creep. As a slew of AI news from competition hit the market, we partnered with Talkdesk on building an ownable narrative around “responsible AI” and executing it across original data, thought leadership, rapid response and product announcements. It made an impact — as strong positioning and narratives usually do — reinforcing its category leadership in more ways than one.

Let's hear it for the working parents 👏 Parents, make up ~75% of our staff at SHIFT and Padilla, and today we are celebrating all that they give to us, our clients and their families! We're super proud that the flexible environment we work hard to maintain lets our people be great in their jobs and at home.

We just opened up some account coordinator roles on our tech team 👀. What we offer ⏩ mentorship, learning opportunities, social/DEI/wellness programs & events, competitive benefits. What we're looking for ⏩ https://bit.ly/4d9n2Nj #prjobs

At some point in most companies' journeys, they transform, and so too must their story. If that's in your future, this issue is for you. Our VP Darren Weiss wrote up some of what he's shared with the handful of companies who've asked him for guidance on this in the past couple months. A few strong case studies (our clients + others) are also in here. We hope it helps anyone looking to shift away from a legacy narrative and toward a new one. ↗ #businessstrategy #communications #PR

Thought leadership may seem like a simple activity where business leaders just tell us what they want to talk about and we magically secure coverage around said topic. The truth is that it's much more complex. It requires a unique vision and narrative supported by data, insights, proof, news and ongoing content creation paired with really good media relations, writing, rapid response, proactive storytelling and much more. If one of your 2025 goals (because yes, it's 2025 planning time) is to be a leading industry voice and shine a light on the issues you're solving, we’re sharing some of the principles we've developed over time and live by ⬇. #thoughtleadership #communications #PR

We are so proud to share our time and passion with some very worthy nonprofits, at both an agency and individual level. So, ahead of National Nonprofit Day tomorrow, we're spotlighting a few that we work with. If you're not familiar, please take a minute to learn about the impactful work of Giants Community Fund, Ronald McDonald House Charities, The Ocean Cleanup and The Massachusetts CCMV Coalition.

Talk about a midweek pick-me-up. Our launch campaign with PreVue is up as a PRNEWS Platinum finalist with some *giants* as competitors (👋🏾 hi Dunkin, Nissan and Hydro Flask, to name a few). We're beyond proud of the team and thankful for an amazing client, whose turning its vision of a better future for dating into reality.

Executive visibility doesn't just happen. It requires time, discipline and (usually) a team of people rolling up their collective sleeves on: -upfront strategy work -thought leadership and messaging that punches above competition -ongoing calendaring, hooks and assets -copywriting content -pitching appearances -measuring & optimizing If getting started feels daunting, we created this is 9-step approach to make it more manageable. It's also useful if you're looking to ramp up or re-evaluate an existing program. Real world examples ⏩ https://bit.ly/3ARQ2vC #executivecommunications #executivevisibility #PR #publicrelations

🐻 Coming out of newsletter hibernation to share thinking and examples on B2B influencer growth, something that is now baked into most of our client programs (to varying degrees) and that we're increasingly being asked about.