Four Strategic Power Moves for Elevating Your PR Playbook Now

When Kathleen Lucente, CEO and Founder of Red Fan Communications, shared her trending Fast Company article with our team, we knew that having her on the B2B Influence podcast was a great decision. Titled “PR Isn’t Dead: It’s the Most Strategic Business Function of 2025,” the timely article takes a deep dive into the value of PR to modern B2B organizations.

What we discussed with Kathleen on the podcast was an eye opener: many leaders across the B2B landscape, including marketers, share a common perspective that PR is a “nice to have”—a function limited to media outreach or company announcements. During our conversation, we unpacked how this perspective has become not only increasingly outdated but also detrimental to business success.

Kathleen, who brings deep experience from both the corporate and startup worlds, having led communications for global companies like JPMorgan and IBM before founding Red Fan, shared how modern PR has evolved. It’s now a powerful growth engine, fueling everything from sales enablement to stakeholder alignment and long-term brand equity.

Here are four powerful takeaways from our conversation that show why PR, when done right, is a critical driver of measurable business outcomes.

1. PR Bridges the Sales and Marketing Divide

PR should be viewed and executed as much more than an awareness play. It’s a strategic connector that unifies marketing, sales and other stakeholder under a shared narrative.

Kathleen described how her team begins each engagement by anonymously gathering insights from internal sales teams and external customer interviews. These findings reveal messaging gaps, friction points in the buyer journey, and missed opportunities that sales and marketing often overlook in isolation.

“When we start doing this together,” she said, “we can really make some magic happen.”

The result is more than refined language that reflects real pain points and what’s actually happening in the market. It also creates alignment—between departments, with customers, and across channels. This collaboration can eliminate friction, boost internal morale, drive more effective, revenue-focused campaigns, and ultimately, improve business outcomes.

2. Thought Leadership As an AI Imperative

With buyers now researching independently and AI tools surfacing authoritative sources before anyone clicks a link, the role of PR in building thought leadership has taken on new urgency. Kathleen emphasized that companies need to be proactive in positioning their leaders and subject matter experts as credible voices to gain share of voice (SOV) across the top AI-driven platforms.

“Eventually, what you want AI to do,” Kathleen explained, “is to cite your expert as the authority.”

That only happens when companies consistently contribute expert insights to the conversations that matter across their industry. This not only builds brand trust but it also ensures that your thought leaders are part of the information ecosystem that AI is learning from.

3. High-Stakes Moments Demand Strategic PR, Not Reactive Tactics

Kathleen noted that many companies still treat PR as an afterthought during critical moments, such as acquisitions, leadership changes, or product launches. But without a strategy, these events can backfire.

For example, during M&As, if customers learn about the deal through a press release or news article instead of directly from the brand, it can create confusion, mistrust, or even churn. Red Fan advises clients to map out stakeholder communication strategies well in advance, ensuring customers, employees, and partners all understand what the change means for them.

“If you don’t control the message,” she warned, “you could spend months cleaning up what should have been a celebration.”

This approach also applies to earned media. Before any announcement, Kathleen’s team aligns with clients on goals—whether it’s visibility, reputation management, or audience engagement—and defines what success should look like beyond simple press coverage.

4. AI Is a Powerful Tool, But Human Insight Still Leads

AI is transforming the PR function, but Kathleen is clear: it’s an enabler, not a replacement. From media research and competitive benchmarking to organizing speaker recommendations and tracking executive visibility, AI is helping agencies move faster and smarter.

She cautioned that success with AI depends on guardrails. Companies need policies around AI usage, especially when tools are used by different departments without central oversight. AI should be used to support strategy, not dictate it.

“AI is a friend,” she said. “But it can’t replace the human voice or thoughtful leadership.”

PR, at its core, is about storytelling, trust, and connection—elements that still require human perspective, creativity, and empathy.

At OMI, we’ve seen firsthand how strategic communications, grounded in data and aligned with business goals, can drive real outcomes. As PR continues to evolve alongside AI and the broader marketing tech stack, brands that treat it as a core business function, rather than an add-on, will be better positioned to lead with influence and integrity.

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Our team is always standing by to answer any questions you may have about our award-winning B2B2C prospect data and audience building services and our innovative approach to performance marketing, omni-channel campaign management and execution, and much more. Reach out to us at request@outwardmedia.com to discuss how our data and expertise creates measurable business outcomes.