PR’s Top Pros Talk… Building and Maintaining a Collaborative Culture

Laura Brusca, Chief Communications Officer at Forbes, discusses her team’s strategies for success when promoting and protecting the brand. Laura talks about her involvement with New York Women in Communications. Laura also explains the important role of relationship-building.

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TRANSCRIPT:

DOUG: Laura for context, can you just start by giving us sort of a quick look into what your full job responsibilities are?

LAURA: I am the Chief Communications Officer at Forbes and I oversee both internal and external communications. And a big part of my focus is really on both promoting and protecting the brands. So that’s everything from our stories, our editorial stories, our business stories, as well as our internal stories, too. We do a lot of employee and internal communications, so it really runs across the board, both, you know, the external points and internal comms.

DOUG: Yeah. And the mix of both promoting and protecting your brand has become more common across the communications landscape. What are some of the keys to protecting your brand that you see that maybe are specific to it, but also really apply to many other brands?

LAURA: That’s a great question. And it’s something that my team and I actually met on last week just to discuss again, we always start the year off with a strategy session where we look at the year ahead and we think about the strategy and our planning for the year ahead. We also look at the year that’s passed and what happened that year, and where we need to make pivots or shifts, which I think is really important. So, I think really key to that protect and promote point is the prioritization, prioritizing things and planning from the start of the year and really making sure you’re on the same page with your team. A big part of what we do is really focusing on being proactive. So, we really want to be less reactive in 2024 and more proactive this year. So much more in touch with reporters building relationships, which, as we all know in the PR world, relationships are so key to that promote and protect, you know, combination. And then, you know, it’s really being flexible, I think when you know, we start our days and we expect our day to be one way, and then it ends up being turned upside down and thrown around and, you know, you didn’t get anything done that you said you were going to. And it ended up being focused elsewhere. But being flexible is really important, especially in today’s world where there’s social media conversations that drive new things. And you know, things pop up in the world and just, you know, being that that flexible self and being aware of the world that we’re in and how we operate is so critical. And finally, it’s really just trust. So, you know, for me, it’s the trust of my team. It’s the trust in our business. It’s the trust in our people. Having a team behind you that you can trust is really, really important.

DOUG: Yeah. Now, the world was very, very different in terms of consuming content when Forbes first really established its name, you’ve managed to navigate being successful, transitioning to be more than, say, just what the print edition was. How do you go about approaching those challenges?

LAURA: As you said, like we’re a very well-established brand. We celebrated our 100th anniversary, several years ago. And, you know, to I think the thing that the Forbes brand stands for is success and it’s something that every person can relate to. We have 42 licensed editions of Forbes in 68 different countries around the world and in every language. And this is something they always say in every language. Our brand stands for success. And I think that’s what’s really given us this, this global recognition and global appeal with so many different types of audiences.

DOUG: So important to sort of have a guiding light for what you’re about that you’ve defined so specifically. I mean, to be able to do it in one word is really valuable. And does that tie in all across the different products, services, and content that you’re offering?

LAURA: I definitely feel like that does tie across so much. So, whether it’s in our communities that we’ve built. Our Under-30 community, for example, or our 30/50 community. You know, it’s this, this feeling of achievement that people were with you in every bit of your journey to success, whether you’re aspiring to be successful and on the cover someday of Forbes, or if you’ve reached that point in your life and you’ve achieved success, how do we help those people share their stories and their inspiration for others? I think it really does connect across the brand. The other thing I was going to say is really something we’ve been talking a lot about is our cultural currency, which kind of keeps us relevant to today. And it’s so, um, amazing, this, cultural currency, you know, the fact that we’re in movies, there’s fake covers of, you know, Forbes magazine and succession and. In superhero movies and, you know, all these different examples. I watch a movie and like Dumb Money, for example, recently and there was another, you know, magazine cover and I’m, I always just pause and I kind of it gives me kind of like that. Oh, wow. Like, you know, that’s Forbes and that’s so cool. And you hear it in jeopardy, or you hear it on TV and in music. And I think it’s this feeling that people want to connect with our brand, and they want to be part of our brand. Every live event that we do, we have what’s the Forbes store, which is our apparel and different products there’s hats and, you know, backpacks and sweatshirts and the line for the Forbes branded merchandise, it’s out the door. It’s a lot of times sold out. I tried to buy a sweatshirt last time at Under 30 Summit and hit sold out of all the ones that I wanted. And so, you know, it’s just kind of a it’s just that I think that cultural relevancy and currency that really, you know, not every brain has that we’re able to maintain.

DOUG: Speaking of leading different groups of people and being inspirational, inspirational, you’ve taken a leadership role  it. Women in communications. Are there things you learned from that role that help you in your work at Forbes? And maybe then we can get into the other side of that coin. So first, anything you learned from your engagement there that helped you in your work at Forbes?

LAURA: Absolutely. I have been part of New York Women in Communications since 2019, and I got involved because I was in the audience of our Matrix Awards, and it was my first big NYWICI event I’d been to, and I felt so inspired. After that event, I really wanted to get involved. So, I joined a committee, and then they invited me to join the board, and I had so many different positions. And, you know, I’ve the reason I love NYWICI and being involved with an organization or, you know, that’s connected to our industry is the things that both I learned from other incredible leaders and other incredible women that I meet as part of the board, as part of, you know, meetings and events that we go to, the connections I make, but also just the cross-industry connection that we have, because New York Women in Communications is not just PR and comms, it’s also advertising. It’s, you know, broadcast journalism, so many different industries that are unique. And I feel like we learn a lot from one another, which is something I really, truly value.

DOUG: Are there some leadership ideas that maybe you want to share about how you motivate your team?

LAURA: Well, first, that goes back to what I said about trust with your team and building trust with your team and relationships with your team. I think it’s so important. And, there’s a bit of togetherness that’s really nice when we all come together in person. I think that really working together as much as we can to build those togetherness moments in person really, really helps and goes so far. But beyond that, it’s just really the, the communication and empowering everyone on the team to know that there’s plenty of opportunities all around and that, you know, there’s plenty of things that we can all achieve together. I, you know, someone on in our leadership organization said that one of the things that’s unique about, you know, Forbes, is that when you’re at a live event, for example, everyone picks up an oar and they row and they all support one another no matter how senior they are. And it’s this mentality that, you know, no matter if it’s, you know, someone needs help pitching a reporter, I’m there. I’m happy to, you know, I’m not above those things still. And I think there’s an ability of like everyone pitches in and we support one another when we need it. Because going back to my earlier point about being flexible, you know, you can’t always predict your day. You can’t always predict what you’re going to be working on. And you need a team that’s both ready to go and flexible and able to work with one another. That’s really, really critical.

DOUG: Yeah, interesting. And as we wrap up, obviously 2024 is an election year and there’s a lot of intensity around that as a communicator, is that something that you feel it makes sense for your organization to adjust to separate. And I’m not talking about endorsing candidates etc.. It’s more because of what the media environment is that’s out there. Do you have to do things a little differently?

LAURA: It’s a good question. I mean, from an editorial perspective, we have reporters who cover the business of politics. They cover the wealth of various individuals, you know, which can sometimes also present, you know, things from a PR perspective where, you know, we might be called out for things. So we do have to sometimes adjust our strategy in terms of being ready to respond and really stand by our editorial products and our editorial team. Our journalists work so hard on their reporting and their investigations and what goes into it. But I do think you’re right. Like there’s so much going on, that’s going to affect our entire industry this year you know, it’s going to be a very heated year, I think, around the world. I think the Edelman Trust Barometer also said something like, there’s 60-plus elections taking place globally, and half of the world’s population is now able to vote. And that’s, you know, so it’s not just here in the U.S., I think that’s also important to remember that this is something that’s taking place globally. And it’s going to be a very, you know, interesting year for everyone. And we all have to again, just be aware of our environment and, and where our brand sits within it and just continue to work, you know, to, you know, for Forbes at least, like our great editorial team, they’re going to continue to do really great work. And I think our team will continue to just encourage, you know, that great work and continue to promote their great work and continue to just keep our eyes focused on ensuring that, you know, the that the facts matter in that, the facts are presented.

DOUG: Excellent. Well, you’ve clearly presented some really interesting facts and approaches. Congratulations on the multiple contributions you’re making to the public relations community. Thanks so much for being with us.

LAURA: Thank you so much for having me again. This was so fun, so great.