We’ve been trying to get Melissa Rosenfield on the pod for about a year. As you’ll see through the episode, she’s a lady in demand! We finally made it happen, and it was worth the wait.

We met Melissa four or five years ago, and the friendship was instant. As was the admiration. Every time we run into her at Cannes or SXSW, we walk away wishing we’d gotten more Melissa time.

PR can be a strange, icky business. It never has to be but it gets that rep for lots of reasons. Melissa’s approach is totally the opposite. We get into what’s changed in PR in just the last eight months, why the spray-and-pray pitch is dead, the problem with over-optimized positioning, and why “generosity is a flywheel.”

If you run a brand or work in comms, this one’s for you.

Enjoy!

Meet Melissa Rosenfield

Melissa Rosenfield is the founder of IFP Communications, a New York agency known for making heritage brands relevant again and challenger brands impossible to ignore. Before IFP, she was the Viceroy Hotel Group’s first-ever Director of Vibe. She writes In Fine Print on Substack, and has been named a PR News Top Woman in PR and a multi-year Inc. Power Partner. Find Melissa on LinkedIn, subscribe to In Fine Print, and see more at ifpcommunications.com.

Hit the links to skip to the bits you fancy

02:22 — THE WORLD’S FIRST DIRECTOR OF VIBE // Melissa’s story. From director of vibes to today.

05:18 — CALCULATED RISK, ALWAYS // Every good move is a calculated risk, and you have to let an idea sit before you kill it.

07:20 — PR’S SUBSTACK MOMENT // The talented writers went independent, and earned media feels like the early days of Instagram.

09:24 — STOP SENDING THE GENERIC PITCH // Getting 700 pitches a week. Lazy blasts do more harm than good. Be a human.

15:23 — THE HAIR TIE THAT WON THE WORLD CUP // Over-optimized positioning kills discovery. Loosen the reins and let people run with it.

22:20 — WHY GOOD PR IS SLOW // In the age of AI speed, the things that actually build a brand take time.

24:15 — STILL HERE IN 150 YEARS // A watch CMO said the only real KPI was longevity of the brand.

28:01 — NOBODY FOLLOWS A BRAND ON LINKEDIN // People follow founders, not logos. Richard Branson is the OG blueprint.

31:01 — THE C-SUITE PERSONAL BRAND DILEMMA// Building up a great exec isn’t a threat. Done right, like most things, it raises the whole ship.

34:09 — HOW TO FIX CANNES // Fewer six-figure CEO panels, more of the people actually in the weeds doing the work.

40:07 — MAKE A SEAT AT THE TABLE // Stop asking where your seat is and start creating seats for other people.

46:56 — GENEROSITY IS A FLYWHEEL // Give it away. The pie is infinite, and abundance always beats scarcity.

50:10 — EVERYBODY LOVES A COMEBACK // Take the calculated risk, and do your own PR hard in your first three years.

Huge thanks to Melissa for coming on. If you need PR help. Or are starting out and want to learn the ropes from an expert, sub to her letter :

ABOUT

Chris and Kirsten are the founders of IN GOOD CO, a consultancy that ignites challenger brands with fearless positioning.

Chris writes a weekly newsletter for +17K subscribers that shares the best-of-the-best on culture, trends, marketing, etc. What she's dropping to friends on Slack or finding useful in meetings with brands | Follow her on Substack

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