PR isn't dead—it's evolved. And most brands are still playing by the old rulebook.

In this episode we sit down with three communications leaders to dissect how modern PR actually works: Pippa Doyle (Global PR at Whoop), Shireen McDonagh (Brand & Content at Legacy Communications), and Niamh Hopkins (Head of Consumer PR at Legacy).

This isn't theory. You'll hear the real story of how an agency changed a client's mind with a single email. Why Whoop runs exclusive events instead of chasing scale. How Krispy Kreme owned the news cycle in 24 hours when Leo Varadkar resigned. And why "freedom through structure" unlocks better creative than open-ended briefs.

If you're a marketer, brand leader, or agency professional wondering why your PR feels stuck in 2010, this conversation will rewire how you think about communications, content, and building brand fame in a cluttered market.

What You'll Learn:

Why PR should be renamed "communications" (and what that shift actually means)

The briefing framework that gets agencies to do their best work

How to turn one event into months of content across every channel

The truth about influencer numbers vs. engagement (and when each matters)

Why budget constraints unlock creativity instead of killing it

The "brand newsroom" model and who should be your editor-in-chief

How smaller brands can win with agility against bigger competitors

CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Introduction: The Evolution of PR

02:15 - Why "PR" Needs to Become "Communications"

04:25 - Case Study: How One Email Changed a Client's Mind

07:00 - What PR Actually Drives: Fame, Awareness & Word of Mouth

10:04 - Why Great Campaigns Start With Great Briefs

11:16 - The "Freedom Through Structure" Briefing Framework

13:14 - Why Budget Can Be a Beautiful Constraint

14:27 - Events as Content Machines, Not One-Day Moments

18:27 - Measuring Event Success: Beyond Who Showed Up

19:45 - Working With Influencers & Creators: Authenticity First

23:06 - Does Follower Count Actually Matter?

26:45 - Reactive Content Done Right: Aldi's Oasis & Krispy Kreme's Leo Moment

28:00 - The Brand Newsroom Model: Operating Like a Publisher

29:14 - Speed, Approvals & Team Alignment

32:05 - Practical Advice: Setting Up Your Comms Function for Success

37:52 - The Editor-in-Chief Role: Who Defends the Idea?

with Legacy Communications

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PR has always been about influence. Coverage, credibility, shaping the conversation. But in 2025, PR is becoming something bigger: the infrastructure that powers discovery itself.

In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, we unpack the collision of PR, SEO, and brand building in the age of AI search. Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and other tools are no longer sending users to ten blue links. They’re generating answers directly in the results. And those answers don’t come from nowhere.

Research shows that 89% of AI summaries trace back to earned media sources. Trusted outlets. Independent stories. Journalism that carries weight. Which means PR isn’t just a “nice to have” for reputation anymore — it’s becoming the raw material that decides whether your brand even shows up in the customer journey.

Across this conversation, we explore what that means for marketers:

• Why PR and SEO can’t live in silos, and how the brand newsroom model makes them work together.
• How to build visibility when there’s no guarantee of a click — and why being named in the answer might be more valuable than a referral.
• The role of blogs and owned content in the AI era — why they still matter, even if they never rank.
• How attribution is breaking down, and what marketers can do to rethink measurement when direct traffic and PPC get over-credited.
• Practical tactics: answering every related question in your content, writing for bots as much as for humans, and creating proof that compounds rather than one-off case studies.
• Why creative PR still matters more than ever, and how to structure stories that journalists — and machines — can’t ignore.

This isn’t a theoretical debate. It’s a frontline look at how PR is changing, why credibility is the most valuable currency in marketing, and what teams need to do to stay visible in a world where discovery is shifting beneath our feet.

If you care about where marketing is going, how to keep your brand discoverable, and why PR is entering a new golden age, this is the episode for you.

1:50 – The “oh shit” moment: Google AI Overviews

7:48 – PR as trust signals in AI

13:01 – Discovery beyond Google

15:35 – Blogs still matter

23:17 – Attribution is broken

31:22 – SEO becomes a brand function

44:08 – Writing for bots, not humans

49:20 – Don’t chase every shiny channel

57:00 – Building a Legacy

The Building A Legacy Series are in partnership with Legacy Communications

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Discover the challenges and strategies of leading brands such as Diageo and Indeed in navigating marketing spend and efficiency. Explore the rise and fall of BrewDog within the competitive beer category. Celebrate the unexpected but impactful engagement of Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce, and the buzz around Gordon Ramsay's new Wagyu burger collaboration with Burger King. With expert analysis from Tracksuit this episode is packed with valuable insights for marketers navigating a rapidly changing landscape. Don't miss out on these compelling stories rooted in brand data and strategy!

02:43 Marketing Strategies of Major Brands

04:40 Balancing Efficiency and Brand Building

06:13 The Role of AI and Organic Channels

06:32 Case Study: Indeed's Marketing Approach

08:42 Historical Evidence on Marketing Cuts

17:11 BrewDog's Market Performance

20:07 BrewDog's Brand Health and Challenges

20:35 BrewDog's Rebranding and Market Position

21:12 Cultural Impact on BrewDog's Brand

23:24 BrewDog's Competition and Strategic Moves

25:46 Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs: A Brand Collaboration

32:50 Gordon Ramsey and Burger King Collaboration

Find the hosts:

• Jasper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasperskinner/
• Dan:https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-fleming-a15854118/
• Conor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbyrne/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.