The communications job has become considerably more complicated since Christina Stejskal first joined the music instrument corporation Fender nearly a decade ago—and a lot has changed since she left. The media landscape has expanded, while creators and employees have taken on greater influence over how brands are perceived. At the same time, AI is changing how information is produced and how audiences find it.
Stejskal has now returned to Fender as Chief Communications Officer, where she leads the company’s global communications organization. Her remit reflects how much the role has broadened, extending from consumer and product communications to internal and executive communications, creator strategy and corporate reputation.
Her return offers a useful lens on how the CCO role is evolving alongside those changes. In this Q&A, Stejskal discusses how communications teams can stay connected across audiences, balance a legacy brand with cultural relevance and navigate AI without losing the human judgment at the center of the work.
PRNEWS: Your role spans consumer and product communications, internal communications, executive and board communications, creator strategy and corporate reputation. How do you make those different functions work together as one communications strategy?
Christina Stejskal: We all have the same North Star. We’re working toward the same company goals and business priorities, and then those filter down into what each team or functional area needs to deliver.
That’s actually one of the things I love most about communications. At the end of the day, we’re telling a story, but there are so many different ways to tell it. How you communicate with an employee is different from how you communicate with a consumer, a journalist or the board. You adapt the message, the voice and the level of context for the audience, but there should always be a common thread connecting it all. My job is to make sure those different areas aren’t operating in silos and that together they’re telling a clear, connected Fender story.
PRNEWS: Fender is both a heritage brand and a company operating in a culture that shifts rapidly. How do you protect a brand’s legacy while making sure its communications remain relevant?
Stejskal: I think it’s both a big responsibility and a continued opportunity. Fender has 80 years of history and an incredible legacy in music and culture, and you want to protect what makes that special. But protecting the DNA of a brand doesn’t mean standing still.
Fender was built on original ideas and designs that changed what was possible for musicians. That spirit of originality is part of the DNA, and our responsibility is to continue building on it–through innovation, through the artists we work with and through how we show up in culture. Music keeps evolving, the way people create keeps evolving and the way people discover brands keeps evolving. We have to translate what has always made Fender special in a way that feels relevant to the next generation, while still unmistakably feeling like Fender.
PRNEWS: What does it mean for a communications leader to think about reputation beyond traditional media coverage today?
Stejskal: Reputation is being built everywhere, all the time. It’s not just what a journalist writes about you or whether you land a great story. It’s what employees experience, what creators and artists say about the brand, what consumers see on social and owned channels and ultimately the experience people have with the company.
Earned media is still incredibly important, but it’s one part of a much bigger ecosystem. Communication has to understand how all of those touchpoints work together and make sure they’re contributing to a clear, consistent story about who you are and what you stand for.
PRNEWS: How do you approach executive and internal communications differently from consumer-facing communications, while still keeping the organization’s story consistent?
Stejskal: The audience changes, but the North Star doesn’t. It’s really about meeting people where they are. Employees need context and clarity. Executive communications should feel authentic to the individual leader while connecting back to the broader company. And consumer communications have to earn attention and connect in a way that feels relevant.
The voice, level of detail and delivery may be completely different—and they should be. Every audience has different needs and expectations, and you have to be thoughtful and authentic in how you communicate with each of them. But underneath it all, the bigger story–who you are, what you stand for and where you’re going–should remain consistent.
PRNEWS: As AI changes how people discover information and how communications teams produce it, what do you think communicators need to be especially careful about?
Stejskal: The more AI can produce, the more valuable human judgment becomes. Communications is ultimately about people–understanding your audience, understanding culture and making thoughtful strategic decisions. AI can be a useful tool, and I think we’re still at the beginning of understanding where it can add value, but it should support human judgment and creativity, not replace them.
We also need to be really thoughtful about the very real questions around accuracy, context, authenticity and trust. As it becomes harder for people to know where information came from or what’s real, brands have an even greater responsibility to communicate clearly and credibly.
PRNEWS: What advice would you give communications leaders who are trying to move from being viewed as a support function to being a strategic voice in the C-suite?
It starts with showing up as a business leader first. Understand the financials, know the priorities and be genuinely curious about areas of the business that don't sit directly within your function.
Then bring the communications lens to those conversations. What are we not considering? Where is the opportunity? How might this land internally or externally? What's coming around the corner? Bring a point of view, be proactive and think ahead. Trust comes over time–not because you're the best communicator in the room, but because you're contributing to the business conversation, not waiting to communicate the outcome.