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A recent article in Semafor suggests the recent U.S. Presidential election result has prompted a new desire for leading company executives to ‘be more like Donald Trump’ and ‘less like Kamala Harris’ – at least when it comes to communications strategies.
It comes as a new sphere of media influence seems to have gained currency, along with a growing desire for individuals to be seen having more unscripted, raw conversations in order to infiltrate that new sphere.
Corporate executives, political figures, and PR firms are increasingly recognizing the power of alternative media platforms such as podcasts, YouTube, and other influencer-driven channels when compared to more traditional outlets like CNBC and mainstream news.
In particular, they are seeking ways to emulate the success of figures like President-elect Trump, who—whether we agree with his politics or not—mastered using informal, accessible media to reach diverse audiences and ultimately win the election.
Embracing the alternative media landscape
For companies and their key stakeholders to achieve this ability to influence, their comms strategies need to adapt. We’re seeing this happen as companies introduce concepts like the “newsfluencer” – individuals whose authority in niche media channels can shape public opinion. These voices engage people in ways that traditional media cannot, and it’s attracting a lot of attention.
This shift is partly due to changes in the media landscape and in people’s relationship to it. A recent study showed that people are on average spending an extra hour per day online, meaning there is an appetite for increased media consumption. But, importantly, the type of media being consumed is changing.
We’re even seeing traditional outlets adapt to this themselves, with many leading publications introducing their own podcasts in recent years. Bloomberg has 31 unique podcasts alone. And as people are hungry for content that genuinely excites, entertains and educates them in new ways, it’s understandable why this shift is taking place.
Does that mean traditional media isn’t important anymore?
Traditional outlets like Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) are still highly valuable for B2B PR, particularly when it comes to establishing credibility, authority, and visibility among key decision-makers. These publications often carry weight with senior executives, investors, and policymakers – audiences that tend to be more risk-averse and accustomed to authoritative, vetted sources. Being featured in Bloomberg or WSJ signals reliability and professionalism, which is vital for certain types of B2B companies.
However, as the Semafor article suggests, the rise of alternative media – podcasts, YouTube influencers, Substack writers – has created a new opportunity for outreach that is harder to tap into through traditional media.
These platforms offer access to more niche, engaged audiences who might not read WSJ or Bloomberg, but are nonetheless influential in other ways. Think entrepreneurs, tech professionals, and creators – they’re all people that are vitally important for B2B companies to be able to communicate effectively with. They could be partners, employees, or collaborators on future projects and overlooking these emerging media platforms could have consequences.
Traditional media will remain a cornerstone for many B2B PR campaigns, but alternative media can amplify a message in ways that traditional outlets cannot. It’s about diversification and understanding the nuances of where your audience consumes information. A successful PR strategy will incorporate both approaches.
Embracing corporate ‘character’ over reputation
As people seek to embrace the authentic and the unscripted, managing ‘corporate reputation’ will become less important than building ‘corporate character’.
Brands are starting to focus more on communicating a humanized, relatable persona rather than sanitized and carefully managed reputations. Given it is more fragmented, alternative media provides an opportunity to explore this in a less pressurized way.
A mistake in print in CNN or Financial Times could snowball into a full-blown PR disaster, but a small oratory blunder in a podcast episode isn’t going to attract the same kind of attention. You could say it’s a more forgiving environment, and one where brands can create and refine their corporate character in a more dynamic way.
Ultimately, people are looking for brands that they can connect with and embracing a corporate character (with its quirks!) make a brand feel genuine. Podcasts present a brilliant opportunity for this, as do other media forms like YouTube, Substack and social media (including emerging platforms like BlueSky).
What about ‘newsfluencers’?
The article emphasizes the importance of the “newsfluencer” as an avenue for brands to get their message across to the right people.
A ‘newsfluencer’ is essentially someone who has significant influence in a niche media space – often through unconventional outlets like podcasts, Substack newsletters, YouTube channels, or even social media platforms. These influencers have typically built a loyal following based on their expertise, personality, or unique perspectives, and they are often trusted by their audience to curate and deliver news in a way that traditional journalists or media outlets might not.
The influence they can have is great, and currently they’re relatively untapped. This is partly due to many B2B brands shying away from unscripted conversations.
Pragmatism over ideology
The new media landscape is showing people are favoring the pragmatic over the ideological when it comes to the content they want to consume, particularly in alternative media. Take business podcasts like the Tim Ferriss Show for example. They tend to zone in on business trends, and provide practical advice for their listeners and avoid getting caught in political or ideological debates.
In short, media content today is more focused on outcomes and practical advice rather than the sharp ideological divides of the past, or corporate altruism that audiences have grown wary of.
What the article, and the U.S. election result, tell us is that a constant media presence is now more important than perfect, carefully scripted messages. Mistakes in this space are less costly due to the fragmented media landscape, and engaging with a broader spectrum of voices can help build influence and relevance, as soon to be President Trump has proven with his electoral win.
Image: CoWomen / Unsplash
