Q & A With Alice

What are the biggest strategic communication challenges leaders are facing today? 

The biggest challenge in the age of attention deficit is getting and keeping people’s attention.

In”The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource” Chris Hayes describes our current reality and invites us to “use every tool and strategy imaginable to wrest back our will, to create a world where we point our attention where we… want it to go.”

We’ve become zombies addicted to our mobile devices, with attention spans that are noticeably shorter than the were 10 years ago.

Reading Hayes makes you want to be respectful of your audience’s time and attention. Does a daily or weekly communication versus a less frequent, high quality one really serve your reader’s needs?  Start to notice yourself if you’re more dismissive of regular communications than communications you receive less frequently that tell you something you really need and want to know.

Misinformation and disinformation also present challenges for leaders of both small and large organizations in every industry. The best course of action is to be authentic and speak the truth plainly.

In “Post-Truth,” Lee McIntyre recommends repeating the truth. He makes the point that the truth also needs amplification and points out that “empirical evidence suggests that the repetition of true facts does eventually have an effect.”

With A.I. we now may find ourselves asking a few times a day if something we’re reading is real or fake. With so much fake news, there’s an opportunity; it can be easier to stand out as a credible and trusted source of relevant information by being real.

What’s the difference between traditional marketing/PR and strategic communications?

Unlike traditional marketing and PR, strategic communications are not promotional. They’re objective, factual and often educational. They’re designed to accomplish specific objectives – to solve problems, to drive growth, to increase engagement, and generally to influence, educate and inform audiences in order to achieve wide-ranging goals.

It’s not surprising that web usability researchers have found users prefer objective rather than promotional writing. I think that’s true for both online and print communications.

How are strategic communications used in different industries?

For a global bank, strategic communications might include a substantive global trade press program that provides guidance on how to use new technologies or navigate a changing regulatory environment.

For nonprofits, strategic communications help increase engagement, loyalty, and donations needed to fulfill the organization’s purpose.

In property management, when insurance rates are rapidly rising, an important strategic communication is the building’s narrative.   The building narrative I wrote for our building enabled us to reduce our umbrella insurance premium by 62% and 65% two years in a row (for twice as much insurance coverage in 2025) at a time when most buildings are seeing annual increases of 25% or more.

What’s unique about you as a strategic communications consultant?

All of my communication positions – in the publicity department of a book publishing company, in high tech, in global banking, and as a consultant serving clients in different industries – have required me to do one thing: tell the truth skillfully, either to resolve an issue or take advantage of an opportunity.

A lot of the work I’ve done has been in technical areas – high tech and global banking and now property management which can be quite technical.

My early training was in technical communications, not traditional PR, and I remain today, a fan of the pioneers of minimalism-Steve Jobs and user experience expert, Jakob Nielsen, who championed simplicity and “aesthetic and minimalist design.”

I’m a critical thinker. In branding, I focus on the competitive differentiation, the analysis that enables us to review your organization in a broad context, vis a vis your peers,  to craft the strongest, most salient messages for your organization.

Sometimes the information we uncover about the competitive playing field for an organization impacts the strategy for the business, not just the messages. In one case we discovered the competition was not who they thought it was. It was small companies that were about to merge that would be well-positioned to take significant market share, not the traditional players.

What has changed since you became a consultant in 2000?

So much. With the Internet and social media, we’ve all been living in a transparent global fishbowl. The days of a central marketing department controlling “messaging” are long gone and that’s a good thing.  It puts pressure on individuals and organizations to be real, which has always been the best course of action.

Of course, misinformation, disinformation, and attention deficit – already noted – are the new normal.

On the bright side, people care deeply about purpose. Younger generations want to hold the corporate world accountable for doing the right thing for all stakeholders and for the environment. How can that not be a good thing?

There’s more talk (at least) of collaboration between the government, nonprofits, and the corporate world/private sector. I highly recommend reading Rockefeller Foundation book. I do think the companies that step up and have a genuine commitment to solving the world’s problems will thrive.

Who inspires you from a leadership perspective?

I grew up hearing my father talk about Peter Drucker at the dinner table. Quickly perusing one of his books can put me back on the right path if I have veered off of it. Example: I realized as a Co-op Board President, you can spend all of your time focusing on fixing issues. It’s equally important not to miss opportunities.