How to Get PR and Marketing on the Same Page

The concept of integrated marketing communications—advertising and PR working together every step of the way—is not new. But getting communications and creative teams on the same page is more important than ever in an age where one PR misstep can derail even the most carefully crafted ad campaign.

“The difference between marketing and comms is rapidly blurring because we live in a very blurry world,” says Jano Cabrera, chief communications officer at General Mills and former senior VP of corporate relations at McDonald’s.

Still, silos exist and without a conscious effort at collaboration, things can fall apart quickly. Here are some tips from PR and marketing pros on how to get the two departments running together like a well-oiled machine.

Start early

In the traditional model, the marketing team creates the campaign brief and the PR team is brought on later—often after ads are fully cooked—to help spread the word. But Allison Cirullo, a general manager at PR agency Edelman, says comms teams should help marketing craft the brief. “The marketing team comes at things through very strong data and segmentation for who the target audience is,” she says, while comms teams are well- versed in “the conversation happening in culture.”…[Read More]