“Define your sector on your terms. Think about it holistically and three dimensionally.” This is sound advice shared by Mark Klein, SVP of corporate communications and public affairs at CommonSpirit Health. And he credits Steve Schmidt, well-known comms and public affairs strategist who has held top roles on numerous high-profile political campaigns, for helping him adopt this philosophy.
This podcast, presented by Padilla, offers numerous such examples of game-changing counsel that was gleaned by top industry leaders from their counterparts in other industries.
In recapping her company’s organizational transformation a couple of years back, Cargill’s VP of global communications Anna Lovely notes how she sought out guidance from numerous comms leaders. While those in the food sector were very helpful, it was a beauty-industry colleague who provided the most valuable advice. Among that counsel was determining the comms capabilities that were deal-breakers and ensuring you invested in those properly and positioned them as the foundations around which your comms function is built.
Representing the agency perspective, Padilla president Matt Kucharski discusses the numerous times his firm’s work in one sector helped a client in another, including during some particularly trying scenarios. He offers the recent example of a healthcare client dealing with an active shooter. Padilla’s experience facing a similar situation with a manufacturing client enabled it to bring those learnings – among them the need to prioritize outreach efforts by audience – to the healthcare client.
As the conversation continues, lessons were shared about diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the keys to decide if and when a brand should get involved in major societal events.
Click the video below for more insights from Kucharski, Klein and Lovely on the power of cross-sector collaboration.
