Learn step-by-step how businesses are earning media exposure (without ads) from a TV reporter turned PR agency owner every Thursday.
If you’re going to speak, please say something useful
|
Hi friends, I’m at NRF this week with Storyblok, running around taking photos and video for social, plus ducking into sessions so I can write articles and bring back smart takeaways. And wow. I am frustrated 😣 These are some of the highest-level executives in retail and tech. I'm talking massive brands with huge budgets and years of experience. And yet… so many sessions sound like a greatest hits album from 2019. "Meet the customer where they are." Then they stop talking. That’s the part that’s killing me. Because saying those things without showing how you actually do them is useless to the people sitting in the audience trying to go back to work on Monday and make decisions. You know what would be genuinely helpful? Tell me how you met the customer where they are with a real story, a moment that surprised you, a mistake you made, or a thing that didn’t work. If you say you got your team involved in AI adoption, tell us what AI you’re using. Which tool? Why that one? How is it specifically helping instead of "just doing routine stuff"? Right now, “AI” is being used in the same way people say “social media.” Cool. Which one? TikTok is not Facebook. They all do different things, reach different people, and solve different problems. AI is the same. Saying “we’re using AI” tells me nothing if you don’t explain what it’s doing specifically, how it's solving your problem specifically, and why it matters... again, specifically. What’s missing from so many of these sessions are specific stories and tangible takeaways. The stuff that makes you scribble notes, that you want to text to your team, that you want to start implementing when you open your laptop. Big ideas are fine (we all love a quick Google AI overview), but we already know all of that. Specific examples with tangible takeaways are way better. If you’re going to stand on a stage, please do not stop at the headline. Give us something we can actually use. Christina PS - While I was in NYC, I saw SIX on Broadway with a colleague. It's like a modern feminist pop concert by Henry VIII's six wives talking shit about him. It's so freaking good. PPS - Why does everyone rave about the book, The Correspondent?! I'm nearly done, and it did not do it for me. |
Become a Media Maven
Learn step-by-step how businesses are earning media exposure (without ads) from a TV reporter turned PR agency owner every Thursday.
Airbnb is doing that thing where a brand makes one move, and the entire internet goes, “Wait… that’s actually genius.” Because they listed the Heated Rivalry cottage. And suddenly the book world, the TV world, the hockey world, and the “I don’t even read romance, but I’m invested” world are all standing in the same circle chanting: GET ME. TO. THE. COTTAGE. Airbnb turned a cultural moment into a real-life experience. When you do that, you don’t need a huge campaign because the fans become the...
Some people running massive brands still need Marketing 101 because they keep spending like experts… while reacting like rookies. For years, this hockey-playing TikToker has been loyal to Bauer. Not because anyone paid her, but because that was her ride-or-die brand. Then Bauer reached out about a collaboration. She was pumped. It felt like the payoff for all those years of free promotion. Like the brand she’d been shouting out on her own, finally noticed and wanted to do something official....
Weird messages are pretty normal when you’re a TV reporter and anchor. You cover enough crime scenes, city council fights, and breaking news, and eventually someone emails you something unhinged. It comes with the territory. But these were different because they all came at once... and they were all from teenage girls. Back when I was a TV reporter, I got sent to cover Justin Bieber’s arrest in Miami Beach. He was arrested for drag racing. Got a mugshot. It was breaking news. Absolute chaos...