Ever feel like you're just the "hands" in a marketing campaign? You put in the hard work, craft the perfect message, but it feels like something's missing? But here's the thing, marketing folks. Our industry thrives on understanding the cultural climate, not just trends. It's the secret sauce for injecting wit, intelligence, and cultural relevance into campaigns. Relational dynamics, social movements, evolving slang – it's all fertile ground. Yet, if we miss those subtle clues, well we might end up with a "just hands" approach - so dive deep! Pay attention to the bigger picture! Immerse yourselves in the culture, listen to the nuances, and then craft messaging that resonates with your audience.

The back half of last year saw NewsWhip undertake an exhaustive strategy review - dozens of customer interviews and 6 months of guidance from Howard Bell we clarified our crown-jewels, marketecture, mission critical needs, core use-cases, segmentation, positioning and more. Then came the fun part of messaging, how do we boil down a 20 something page strategy deck into a short impactful headline that captures the growing demand from comms leaders to have predictive insights that will help them proactively protect their brand's reputation? Well we got it down to four words; 'From Hindsight to Foresight' - more on what this means in the video below from NewsWhip CEO and co-foudner Paul Quigley

🌟 Employee Spotlight: Meet Emily Giddings 🌟 With ten years of experience and a passion for technology, she is the creative force behind our marketing efforts. As Marketing Manager, her work spans many initiatives, including events, analytics, brand awareness, case studies, and more. Emily’s arts and science background shows in her approach. "I'm always curious and enjoy working through hard problems because they strengthen my critical and creative thinking skills." What does she love about her role? "Working with our incredible team! Beyond that, I'm a geek for the total tech immersion and the challenge of communicating tough concepts to our followers through experiences and content." Her advice to fellow marketing leaders? • "Love learning! Learn marketing skills, business strategy, and tech fundamentals." • "Don't put all of your skill eggs in one basket. Be broadly capable across content, operations, strategy, and events." • "Truly, honestly, deeply care about helping your colleagues and bosses achieve their goals." • "Most importantly, remember that the odds of existing at all are so unfathomable; don't take work so seriously that you stop enjoying the adventure of life." Join us in celebrating Emily for her creativity, strategic thinking, and the positive impact she brings to our team. #MarketingLeadership #CreativeStrategy #ExperientialMarketing

Explore the future of communication and beyond with Ruder Finn latest partner content. From emerging trends to innovative strategies, discover what's next in the ever-evolving world of PR and beyond. Dive in for a glimpse into the future: https://brnw.ch/21wJpjM #Communication #Innovation #PR #PartnerContent

Interested in understanding how media are reaching Gen Z? 👀 Join industry leaders on May 22nd in NYC as we explore the impact of Gen Z on media. Our panel of experts from TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Who What Wear, and Yahoo Finance will discuss tailored storytelling for Gen Z, including action-oriented content and social-friendly videos. Drop me a note if you're interested in attending! #GenZ #MediaImpact Meltwater Edelman Under Armour

🌟 Exciting things are brewing at Rushfirth Creative! 🌟 As we reflect on past projects from a LOOOOOONG time ago, like the 'town halls' I produced the creative for industry giants like #Google way back in the day, we're reminded of the power of meaningful internal communications. But what if I told you that we're currently cooking up something fresh and innovative in this space? Something that celebrates the heart and soul of your organisation, just like our Personal Brand Works service already celebrates the people behind the brand. We've got some really cool stuff lined up that's sure to shake up your internal comms game. Hint: It's all about culture – it's about fostering connection, collaboration, and authenticity within your team. Because we believe that great brands are built from the inside out. Get ready to ignite your company culture and unleash the full potential of your team.⏳✨ #InternalComms #CompanyCulture #Teaser #Innovation #StayTuned

This is it. This is the battle between so many comms professionals and their clients. If you’ve hired us to help you get coverage, to get attention, believe us when we tell you: you gotta do something. If we are telling you that the thing that *you are* doing is not going to get attention, remember you are paying us to know that and to help focus your efforts and dollars accordingly. (It’s why you should bring your comms team in at the beginning, during ideation, so that we can pressure test it alongside your creative and account teams.) Newsrooms are decimated. People’s attentions are divided not just by apps and platforms but by issues and culture. You have to have a plan and you have to do some heavier lifting to get your brand or messaging to break through. (Hit me up if I can help you figure this out!)

DE&I  Listen to the sentiment and the conversations being had to understand what true representation of your audience and your brand is within your organization. Then you can advise stakeholders accordingly. Celebrating people from different backgrounds isn’t just a month-to-month moment, it’s year-round. It’s all the time. #RaganDisney

In 2023, I launched South Asian Trailblazers Agency arm because I realized we had inadvertently built a roster of the best talent out there: Founders, CEOs, CIOs across industries and disciplines. Our role, to put it simply, is as intermediaries, as agents: finding and connecting these leaders with visionary organizations seeking to tap into their expertise through a variety of formats: speaking engagements that resonate with their employees, brand campaigns to better reach certain customers, or advisory/expert consultations to tap into our leaders’ knowledge more directly. More learnings to come on building a media business of a different sort in 2024 (content, community, agency) — the learnings, the pivots, and beyond. But for now, I’m curious what do you want to know? 👇🏽

Main takeaway here: top-of-funnel is shifting to social, away from legacy SEO methods. With AI making it easy to mass produce content (especially text posts/articles), people are turning more to influencers/curators and short-form video. TikTok/Reels search is becoming the go-to place for some over Google search. If you've seen a drop in your search campaigns, check how the same keywords are performing on TikTok and Meta. Comment below if you're wondering how to do that.