Stories by Daniella Sampson

PR and communications leaders have historically been trapped in a reactive loop. We build strategies around what we already know to watch, measuring keyword volumes after a trend has already spiked, instead of following fandom.

America 250 arrives at a moment when employees, customers and stakeholders increasingly scrutinize whether organizations actually live the values they promote publicly.

Between the marketing jargon, branded tote bags and exclusive yacht brunches, Cannes conversations around the future of communications gained momentum on some of the biggest stages.

Anyone can search a CEO’s name and instantly see a full AI-generated profile. So what should a communication team do? Executive visibility is no longer optional.

Cannes Lions has long been considered a marketing and advertising festival, but as the media industry fragments and the ways brands reach audiences multiply, communicators can no longer afford to watch from the sidelines.

When The Barbed Wire and Texas Observer reported that Silo Mills—a residential development with an on-site elementary school—may have been built on a site where radioactive fracking waste had been dumped, the companies involved gave communicators a masterclass in what not to do in a crisis.

Getting your brand noticed comes down to whether your expertise stands out when AI citations pull snippets from your pages—and whether it holds up in a world where people consume content fast.

Like-minded independent PR agencies are proving that impact does not have to come with unnecessary overhead, endless layers or a model that mistakes size for strength.

The most successful attendees don’t treat Cannes as a series of meetings, panels and parties. They approach it with a clear strategy and a disciplined plan.

The more consequential question is about vulnerability: What does AI search reveal when someone is actively looking for controversies or criticisms?