When we talk about communications strategy we often tend to think of an initial document, a neat presentation that precedes “the interesting part,” that of content, campaigns, press releases, and events. In reality, more and more evidence shows that the difference between projects that generate value and initiatives destined to fizzle out in a few weeks comes much earlier, in that work space where media are observed, sectors are studied, hypotheses are formulated, and priorities are carefully selected.

Data on the relationship between the public, media and institutions tell a demanding picture.

The Digital News Report 2024 of the Reuters Institute records stable levels of trust in news around 40% globally and a growing share of people who say they avoid news due to saturation, distrust or cognitive fatigue.

In parallel, the 2024 Global Comms Report by Cision and PRWeek highlights that for more than 400 senior communicators surveyed, the main pressure is about the ability to demonstrate impact, use data systematically, and preside over an increasingly complex ecosystem of channels.

PR thus stops being an ancillary activity and returns to its more substantive definition: A managerial function that affects decisions, helps build and protect reputation, and guides stakeholder perception.

This is also pointed out by the joint report Institute of Directors - CIPR on the role of public relations in strategic planning and crisis management, which describes communication as a structural element of decision-making processes, not a final “staging” phase.

At the agency, we work on exactly this plan: before any operational activity, we focus on the choices (and analyses) that hold up the entire strategic framework. Below, we try to get inside some of these choices, as we deal with them every day in building a communications project.

1. Choosing to study: continuing education must be a strategic infrastructure

Any solid strategy stems from a very concrete provision: to continuously study both the dynamics of the media and the industry to which the brand belongs. The idea of being able to build effective plans without a thorough understanding of the information ecosystem and internal industry logics is unrealistic, especially considering how news and content consumption habits change.

The Digital News Report has been showing a progressive fragmentation of sources for years: social platforms, creators, vertical newsletters, podcasts, and hybrid forms of information and entertainment are emerging alongside traditional media. There is also an increase in “news avoidance” in some markets, with people consciously choosing less exposure to news. This means that those designing PR strategies need to understand where audience attention is really formed and what narrative codes turn out to be credible in each context.

At this level, the study stops being an ancillary activity and becomes a real working infrastructure: systematically reading the press, monitoring industry reports, observing online conversations, listening to communities. Analytical skills are also complemented by an adaptability component: in such a mobile information environment, strategy cannot be a rigid document, but a kind of framework that is updated in light of new signals, shifts in public debate, regulatory or technological changes.

Continuous updating is not only about “what” you communicate, but also about “where” and “how”-there arises the first fundamental choice, which we could summarize as follows: Decide to consider the context study as an integral part of the project, not as a preliminary phase to be exhausted before moving on to “the rest”.

2. Choosing a broad view: the integrated approach as a criterion, not an option

Once the framework is defined, the second choice concerns the perspective to be taken on communication. Looking at the project through a single channel or lever risks returning a partial and compressive image, whereas organizations today live on multiple planes: traditional media, digital platforms, institutional relations, community, physical and digital events, and internal leadership.

Again, data from the 2024 Global Comms Report show that the most influential communications teams are precisely those who can orchestrate a truly integrated approach, where digital PR, traditional media, owned content, creative, and data dialogue organically.

In this perspective, integration does not coincide with the accumulation of tools, but with the ability to choose, for each objective, the combination of assets: engaging creators and editorial profiles in digital PR, planning events and press trips, strategic partnerships, digital leadership paths for key figures, working on brand digital touchpoints.

In practice, this means considering each activity in the light of the overall system: a PR campaign that does not connect to the brand's presence on its channels risks dispersing value; likewise, thought leadership content that does not graft into a coherent corporate narrative struggles to settle (and be considered recognizable). The key choice here is to reject the logic of “channel of reference” and instead design an ecosystem, in which each piece contributes to building positioning and reputation.

3. Choosing to consult: from “responding to the brief” to leading the direction

A truly strategic approach implies a consultative disposition that goes beyond the execution of what the client expects or requires in the first phase of the relationship. The work of a communications agency takes on value when it is able to test the initial hypothesis, put goals and context into dialogue, and propose avenues that may not coincide with initial expectations but are more likely to affect perception and reputation indicators.

The IoD-CIPR report mentioned above on the role of public relations in strategic planning emphasizes this very dimension: effective communication is that which intervenes “upstream,” helping to define priorities, risks, and opportunities, and which does not simply translate decisions already made into messages. In other words, PR strategy becomes a forum where the agency brings to the table an autonomous vision based on data, media observation, experience of similar cases, and understanding of social dynamics.

In everyday life this translates into choosing not to stop at the “minimal” perimeter of the brief, but to open up questions:

  • What are the narratives that the brand has already activated that no longer work today?
  • What narrative spaces exist in the field but are not yet manned?
  • What reputational risks emerge from public conversations?

The goal is to build strategies capable of accompanying the company on a varied and multidisciplinary path, including different channels, languages and interlocutors, while always maintaining consistency.

4. Choosing priorities: working on the impact of perception

An effective communication strategy requires an understanding that not all actions carry the same weight on people's perceptions. The fourth key choice is therefore about the order of priorities: understanding which angles, which stories, which public presences really affect how the brand is interpreted.

Research on trust levels and information habits shows a selective audience, filtering messages based on perceived relevance and credibility of sources.

A dispersed strategy then, which attempts to preside over every space with the same level of intensity, tends to produce a background “noise” effect. Working on priorities, on the other hand, means choosing a few strong, well-founded narratives that are consistent with the organization's identity and stakeholder expectations, and building medium-term work around them.

Specifically, selecting priorities involves an exercise in subtraction: deciding which topics need not be presided over, which initiatives risk saturating brand presence without really shifting perception, which messages are perceived as redundant. The strategic work then consists of aligning the company's internal goals with an external perception map, so that campaigns, content and press releases are not isolated episodes, but stages in a journey in which the public image progressively approaches the defined goals.

5. Choosing to measure and recalibrate: listening as a permanent phase

The fifth choice concerns the dimension of time: to consider strategy not as an initial act concluded with the presentation of the plan, but rather as a process that systematically takes advantage of listening and measuring results to recalibrate course and priorities.

This does not mean reducing the evaluation of the strategy to a few quantitative indicators, but building an observation system that combines analysis of results (media coverage, quality of outputs, engagement, qualified reach, sentiment) with qualitative elements: the type of media outlets that begin to consider the brand as a source, the issues on which the company is being asked about, the evolution of the language used in online conversations, the reactions of key stakeholders during meetings and events.

The choice to measure in depth carries with it an important consequence: accepting the need to revise initial decisions in light of the data. In this sense, listening becomes a permanent phase, allowing for weak signals, reducing the risks of crystallization of the narrative, and intercepting timely changes in the information climate. A communication strategy that organically integrates this logic of continuous feedback comes closer and closer to a directorial function, capable of maintaining coherence without stiffening.

A shared responsibility

Getting inside a strategy means recognizing at the heart of a communication project are preliminary and recurring choices regarding study, integration, advice, priorities, and measurement.

And building this kind of facility is not a formal exercise, but an assumption of responsibility to the organizations and to the stakeholders to whom one is addressing.

For companies, this means viewing strategic work as an investment that requires time, access to inside information, willingness to engage in discussion, and openness to alternative assumptions than initial insights.

For agency workers, it means fitting in and staying in an in-between space where the ability to read media, interpret sectors, formulate scenarios and propose choices becomes an integral part of the value offered, on par with the flawless execution of a campaign or event.

The quality of decisions made in this “invisible” phase produces effects that are measured in the medium term: stability of reputation, ability to credibly preside over complex issues, more mature relationship with the media, greater lucidity in managing moments of crisis. It is here that strategy stops being a document and takes the form of a daily practice, shared between agency and company, oriented not only to “get the word out,” but to build over time a public presence that is recognizable, well-founded, and lives up to the expectations of its ecosystem.

If our approach-which we share through all our channels-the results we achieve, our way of working, and the values that guide us resonate with your brand and the people who work in your organization, contact us.

We work alongside companies to build authentic and lasting media relationships through structured and targeted PR strategies. We can share dozens of case studies to show you concretely the impact of our work.

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