Identity has won the 2026 PRNEWS Platinum Award for Campaign of the Year: Consumer Products & Retail, recognizing our work with Hudsonville Ice Cream and Little Debbie Ice Cream to launch Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches nationwide.

The campaign also received honorable mentions in Product Launch: Consumer, Campaign of the Year: Restaurant/F&B and Campaign of the Year: B2C.

I’m incredibly proud of this recognition. But more than that, I’m proud of what it says about the agency we are continuing to build.

Building an Agency Known for Delivering Meaningful Outcomes

At Identity, we want to help our clients solve complex business problems, find the right opportunities worth pursuing and bring together the strategy, creativity and execution required to create a real, meaningful outcome.

That requires people who can see around corners, know how to connect disciplines and take ownership of the work from the first conversation through the final result.

The Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches launch is a strong example. It began with an exciting product and two beloved brands. But turning that opportunity into a successful national launch required an integrated public relations program that could build awareness, create enthusiasm, engage the right audiences and help drive consumers to retail.

Our team brought earned media, organic social media, creator partnerships, paid social media and owned content together around that objective. The result was more than 220 media mentions, an estimated media audience of 1.3 billion and more than 25 million Instagram and TikTok impressions. Most importantly, the products became best sellers at major national grocery retailers.

That is the kind of work we want to be known for: results that make people raise an eyebrow — and maybe even make their heart flutter.

One of One

We have been intentional about the kind of agency we want Identity to become.

Beyond being recognized as Michigan’s largest and best independent PR firm, we are building one of the country’s most effective communications agencies while remaining distinctly Identity: ambitious, accountable, entrepreneurial and deeply invested in our clients and our people. We call that vision One of One.

This award represents the kind of work our teams are capable of when strong client partnerships, a clear strategy and exceptional execution come together. It gives us even more energy for what comes next.

I’m grateful to Hudsonville Ice Cream and Little Debbie Ice Cream for their trust, and I’m proud of the Identity team for delivering an integrated consumer PR campaign that stood among the best in the country.

Post Summary: Identity Wins 2026 PRNEWS Platinum Award for Campaign of the Year

• Identity won the 2026 PRNEWS Platinum Award for Campaign of the Year: Consumer Products & Retail.
• The award recognized Identity’s work with Hudsonville Ice Cream and Little Debbie Ice Cream on the national launch of Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches.
• The campaign also received three honorable mentions across consumer product launch, food and beverage and B2C categories.
• The program generated more than 220 media mentions, an estimated media audience of 1.3 billion and more than 25 million Instagram and TikTok impressions.
• The recognition reflects Identity’s focus on integrated work that creates meaningful business outcomes for clients.

3..2..1.. Did I catch your attention? Three seconds is how long it takes social media users to decide whether to stop scrolling and interact with a post or continue scrolling. 

Today’s fast-paced social media landscape has conditioned users to quickly filter out content that doesn’t immediately capture their interest. That internal filter is looking for content that sparks curiosity, emotion, surprise or immediate value. If a post doesn’t satisfy that craving, it immediately moves on to the next. 

So, how can your brand create content that grabs your followers' attention and stops them mid-scroll? There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for success. Rather, thoughtfully tailored content to your brand voice resonates with your audience and delivers value in a way that feels authentic and engaging. 

Should My Brand Hop on Every Trend?

Trends come and go on social media, but should your brand hop on every one that crosses your feed? Short answer: no. Trends can be a fun and engaging way to capture your audience's attention, but there are a few things to consider before hopping on. 

Trends are timely, and it’s all about posting at the right time. If you wait too long, the trend is over, and users are guaranteed to scroll. They’ve already seen this content too many times on their feed and are ready for fresh ideas.  

It's also important to keep your brand’s authentic voice and tone in mind. Ask yourself, “Does this trend resonate with who we are as a brand?” While meme-like, random posts from a brand you love can spark your attention, the brand loses its authenticity and leaves the user asking themselves, “Why are they posting this?” 

Before determining if your brand should hop on a social media trend, consider this: 

• Will this trend resonate with my audience and deliver value? 
• Does this trend align with my brand’s voice? 
• Is the trend dead?

Tailoring Content to Platform: Instagram vs. Facebook 

What works for Instagram doesn’t always work for Facebook, and what works for Facebook doesn’t always work for Instagram. It’s completely normal (and highly encouraged) for your brand to tailor content to each platform while your brand voice stays on track. 

While many consumers use a variety of social media platforms, the audience engaging with your brand can vary from one channel to another.. For example, an ice cream brand’s Facebook audience often consists of older, longtime fans who appreciate more detailed content paired with visually appealing static imagery. In contrast, Instagram tends to attract a younger audience that gravitates toward short, engaging captions and highly visual content — particularly Reels. Understanding these audience differences allows brands to tailor their content strategy for each platform while maintaining a consistent brand voice.

It’s perfectly okay to share the same content across platforms, AND it’s equally okay to post content exclusively where it makes the most impact. A trendy Reel that performs well on Instagram doesn't necessarily need to be shared on Facebook if that audience is less likely to engage with video content.

Thumb-Stopping Visuals & Captions 

What should your brand be posting to get your audience to stop mid-scroll? Lead with eye-catching visuals — strong design elements should communicate the core message quickly, even before someone reads the caption. Social media users consume content quickly, so the visuals should be clear and easy to understand. Otherwise, you lose the user. 

Once you have the user hooked with the visual, a compelling caption is the deciding factor in whether they engage with the content. Create curiosity, ask a thought-provoking question, or share an unexpected statistic — all depending on your brand and voice. Keep your audience in mind while still authentically being your brand. 

In a recent post for client Hudsonville Ice Cream Instagram post, the brand hopped on a trend. Brands and influencers who participated did their own take on “using my free will”.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hudsonville Ice Cream (@hudsonville_ic)

In Hudsonville’s case, the first slide of the carousel is a visually appealing shot of two Superscoop ice cream bars with the text “using my free will to eat two ice cream bars”. Eye-catching, while also hopping on a fun trend. This visual alone earned user engagement, and the caption that led with a question kept users hooked a little longer.

When the visuals and captions work together, your audience is hooked. 

What Does This Mean For Brands

Creating scroll-stopping content isn’t about chasing every trend or following a formula. It’s about understanding your audience and delivering content that feels authentic to your brand. Users follow your account for a reason, and we want them to stay. 

The most successful social content combines timely, relevant ideas with platform-specific strategies, eye-catching visuals, and compelling captions that spark curiosity and encourage engagement. 

When your content reflects your brand while meeting your audience, you’ll be far more likely to stop the scroll and start meaningful engagement. 

Post Summary - From Invisible to Unmissable: How to Create Scroll-Stopping Organic Social Content

• Social media users decide within seconds whether a post is worth their attention, making a strong opening essential
• Scroll-stopping content sparks curiosity, emotion, surprise or immediate value while remaining authentic to the brand
• Brands should not participate in every social media trend; each trend should be evaluated for timeliness, audience relevance and alignment with the brand’s voice
• Content strategies should be tailored to each social platform because audience expectations and preferred formats can differ across channels
• Brands can reuse content across platforms, but they should only publish it where it is likely to make an impact
• Strong visuals should communicate the main message quickly and clearly before users read the caption
• Compelling captions can sustain attention by asking questions, sharing unexpected information or creating curiosity
• The most effective organic social content combines audience insight, platform-specific execution, eye-catching creative and an authentic brand voice

There are some campaigns where you know from the beginning that you have the ingredients for something special. Launching Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches was one of those times.

This week, we learned the campaign is a finalist in four categories for the 2026 PRNEWS Platinum Awards:

• Campaign of the Year: Consumer Products & Retail
• Campaign of the Year: Restaurant/F&B
• Product Launch: Consumer
• Campaign of the Year: B2C

Seeing this work recognized across four categories is exciting, but what stands out to me most is what it took to get there and the incredible work from our talented team at Identity.

As the account lead for our partnership with Hudsonville, this was a special campaign in which timing, coordination and a willingness to adapt mattered just as much as the big creative idea.

Protect the Moment, Then Make the Most of It

At its core, our campaign goal was to successfully launch Hudsonville’s two new ice cream sandwiches inspired by Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies and Cosmic Brownies. We already had brand recognition, nostalgia and passionate fans working in our favor.

Our challenge was turning that existing affinity into excitement for something completely new. We also faced a practical reality familiar to anyone who has worked on a major retail product launch: The product does not necessarily wait for your communications calendar.

Freezer resets can vary by retailer and geography. Products could begin appearing on shelves before our official announcement, and we knew consumers could discover them at any time.

Rather than build a strategy dependent on everything happening perfectly, we built one designed to capitalize on the moment as it unfolded. We coordinated earned media, social content, creator partnerships, paid social and owned channels around a central launch window, while maintaining enough flexibility to respond to actual retail availability.

Build Momentum Across Channels

Our official launch took place mid-January, timed around availability at major retailers. But the campaign did not begin that morning.

Social teasers went live 48 hours before launch. Consumers had already started spotting the products in stores, creating early organic conversation. We also worked with Parade on coverage that published just ahead of our official announcement.

When launch day arrived, we expanded media outreach nationally and across priority markets where retailer volume was high. At the same time, social content leaned into what consumers already loved about Little Debbie while giving them something new to discover.

Then came another critical part of the strategy: third-party voices. Six core creators helped amplify the launch to food-forward audiences. More than 20 microinfluencers brought retailer-specific messages into markets including Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit. We also distributed samples to more than 30 snack-focused creators and reviewers.

Each piece had a different job, but they all reinforced the same story: This product is here, people are excited about it and here is where you can find it.

Attention Is Great. Demand Is Better.

One of the most powerful aspects of a campaign like this is our ability to look beyond communications metrics to understand its impact.

Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches quickly became a best-selling product, while Oatmeal Creme Pies Ice Cream Sandwiches were named Best Ice Cream Sandwich in the 2026 PEOPLE Food Awards.

Overall, the B2C launch campaign generated:

• More than 220 media mentions
• An estimated media audience of 1.3 billion
• More than 25 million Instagram and TikTok impressions
• More than 1 million impressions from our six core creator partners
• An average creator engagement rate above 8%
• Nearly 9,000 net new social followers between January and May 2026

Those numbers matter. But the bigger takeaway is how they worked together.

Earned media created credibility and discovery. Social gave the launch energy. Creators provided authentic third-party validation. Retail-focused messaging helped turn that excitement into action. No single channel carried the campaign alone.

What This Launch Reinforced

Consumer product launches move fast. Even the best plans have to account for variables you cannot completely control, from retail resets and inventory timing to organic product discoveries and online conversation. We don’t respond to these challenges by planning less. Instead, we build a strategy strong enough to flex without losing the central idea.

For this campaign, that meant protecting the reveal while recognizing when organic discovery could actually add to the excitement. It meant thinking beyond the initial announcement and creating a sequence of moments that could sustain attention. And it meant connecting communications activity as closely as possible to what ultimately mattered: getting consumers to look for the product in stores.

That is the kind of consumer work our team loves.

A Track Record of Work That Gets Recognized

This is not the first time Identity’s work has been recognized by the PRNEWS Platinum Awards, and that makes this year’s four finalist honors even more meaningful.

Over the years, Identity has earned multiple Platinum Awards recognitions across a wide range of categories. We've been named a finalist for National Agency of the Year and won Best Crisis Management Campaign, while our client work has earned finalist recognition for PR Stunt of the Year, Best Rebranding/Repositioning Campaign, Best Media Event, Best Conference Marketing/PR Campaign, Best Anniversary Campaign and Campaign of the Year.

In 2023 alone, four different Identity client campaigns were named Platinum Awards finalists, recognizing work for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Pentastar Aviation, Motown Museum and Aimbridge Hospitality. In 2025, our work with Hudsonville Ice Cream was named a Campaign of the Year finalist for our launch of SuperScoop Ice Cream Bars.

That recognition extends beyond the Platinum Awards. Identity has also been named a National Agency of the Year finalist by Ragan’s PR Daily Awards, where our work has earned wins and finalist honors across crisis management, rebranding, food and beverage and Campaign of the Year. The agency has also earned recognition from the PRNEWS Digital PR Awards, Ragan’s Crisis Communications Awards and Ragan’s PR Daily Media Relations Awards.

There is an important thread connecting those honors. The industries, clients and challenges may be very different, but the work is grounded in the same goal: finding the idea and communications strategy that can create a meaningful outcome for the client.

That is why seeing the Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwich launch campaign join this list is especially rewarding. It represents another example of our team bringing together strategy, creativity and execution in a way that delivered measurable business results. Being named a finalist in four 2026 PRNEWS Platinum Awards categories is meaningful recognition of that work and of the many people who brought the campaign to life.

I’m proud of what our Identity team accomplished alongside Hudsonville Ice Cream, and even more proud that the campaign delivered results where they mattered.

We’ll find out the winners Oct. 6 in New York City.

Post Summary - Four 2026 PRNEWS Platinum Awards Finalist Honors and What Made This Launch a National PR Success

• Identity is a finalist in four categories in the 2026 PRNEWS Platinum Awards for its work launching Hudsonville Ice Cream’s Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches.

• The campaign is recognized in the Consumer Products & Retail, Restaurant/F&B, Product Launch: Consumer and B2C categories.

• Identity AVP of Consumer Lindsay Wyskowski led the campaign alongside the agency’s consumer team.

• The campaign integrated earned media, social media, creators, paid social and owned content around a carefully timed retail launch.

• The strategy generated more than 220 media mentions, an estimated media audience of 1.3 billion and more than 25 million social impressions.

• Six core creator partners generated more than 1 million impressions with an average engagement rate above 8%.

• Little Debbie Ice Cream Sandwiches became a best-selling ice cream sandwich, while Oatmeal Creme Pies Ice Cream Sandwiches were named Best Ice Cream Sandwich in the PEOPLE Food Awards.

• The four finalist honors add to Identity’s history of recognition from the PRNEWS Platinum Awards, including a Best Crisis Management Campaign win and multiple campaign and agency finalist honors.

Identity has been named to the 2026 Inc. 5000, recognizing the fastest-growing private companies in America. It’s an achievement I’m incredibly proud of, and one that belongs to the entire Identity team and the fantastic clients who have trusted us along the way.

Since 2021, our revenue has grown 55%. Our client portfolio has expanded 54%. Our team has grown 26%. We support more than 100 ongoing client programs, produce thousands of creative assets every year and navigate countless make-or-break crisis moments on behalf of the companies and organizations we counsel and support.

I’m proud of our results and performance. But from where I sit as managing partner, the more interesting story is what’s behind our story and where Identity is going next.

For years, we’ve been intentional about setting ambitious five-year goals and building the agency for where we believe our clients’ needs are headed and who we want to be as a company leading the industry. We spend a lot of time thinking about what communicators, marketers, sales teams and executive leaders will need next, then investing in the people, capabilities and expertise to deliver it. That approach has helped us build a different kind of PR agency.

While many great companies do what we do, I believe Identity is the largest and best independent national PR agency in Michigan, with the best people and some of the most creative and exciting clients anywhere. 

But growth for an agency like ours has never been about simply getting bigger. It’s about getting stronger, getting better and becoming more valuable to our client partners and creating more opportunities for our people to live meaningful, rewarding lives as a result of our culture. 

Growing Through Change

The communications business we operate in today looks very different from the one we knew five years ago. Consumer behavior and spending have undergone massive shifts. The media landscape has fragmented further. AI-powered technologies are changing how people search for information, evaluate companies and make decisions. Even communicators had their moment in the sun for what feels like the first time in history, thanks to the Wall Street Journal.

All of these changes are creating an environment where clients do not simply need more tactics. They need sound counsel, expertise, perspective and judgment. They need communications partners who can understand the business problem, see around corners, connect disciplines and help determine what deserves attention in the first place. And increasingly, they need a partner who can manage every aspect of building, running and scaling a modern PR and communications program.

That has shaped how we have built Identity. The tools will continue to change. The channels will continue to evolve. The value of experience, speed and ownership will only increase.

Building a National Agency to Watch

We’ve always been proud of our Michigan roots and the amazing organizations, cultural institutions and brands that are forever connected to the state’s success. That will never change. 

But our ambitions, opportunities and our work have never stopped at the state line. From our headquarters here in Michigan, we’ve been serving clients across the country since the first day we opened our doors.

Over the years, we’ve continued to expand that reach, proving we can create value for organizations in more markets and across more industries. Along the way, we’ve built especially deep expertise in real estate, hospitality, tourism, attractions, entertainment and placemaking. In those sectors, our experience and national media relationships give our clients a real advantage.

Our intentional expansion into Tampa, with a focus on hospitality and creating meaningful experiences, is another step in that evolution. It gives us a presence in one of the country’s fastest-growing markets and puts us closer to clients and opportunities throughout the Southeast.

We want to build one of the best independent communications agencies in the country while remaining distinctly Identity. One of one.

Making the Inc. 5000 is another sign that we’re headed in the right direction.

Post Summary: Identity Named to the 2026 Inc. 5000

• Identity has been named to the 2026 Inc. 5000, marking the agency’s first appearance on the annual ranking of America’s fastest-growing private companies.
• Since 2021, Identity has grown revenue by 55%, expanded its client portfolio by 54% and increased its team by 26%.
• Identity supports more than 100 ongoing client programs and produces thousands of creative assets each year.
• Identity’s growth comes as the communications industry undergoes significant change driven by shifting consumer behavior, a fragmented media environment and AI-powered technologies.
• As communications becomes more complex, Identity believes clients increasingly need experienced partners who bring sound counsel, perspective and judgment alongside tactical execution.
• Identity has served clients nationally since 1998 and continues to expand its footprint and expertise across key industries and markets.
• The agency’s expansion into Tampa reflects a broader strategy to grow nationally while remaining independent and building a differentiated, “one of one” agency.

This week, I’ll be joining a group of commercial real estate marketing leaders at the 2026 ICSC+Specialty event in Orlando for a conversation about one of the fastest-moving topics in our industry: artificial intelligence.

Titled “Work Smarter, Market Better: AI Tools Built for the Modern CRE Marketer,” the panel will explore how AI and automation are reshaping the day-to-day realities of retail real estate marketing, particularly for teams managing multiple properties or developments, competing priorities and AI-curious stakeholders. We’ll dig into everything from content creation and campaign management to data analysis, paid media, search and discovery, social media, tenant communication and reputation management.

Joining me are Rob Frost-Dean of Imaginuity, Rob Armstrong of Biscred, Sarah Rose Darling of ID Plans and Corbett Guest of Imaginuity. It should be a great conversation because there’s no shortage of ground to cover.

AI is already influencing virtually every part of the modern PR and marketing operation. It’s changing the platforms and tools marketers use to better understand and reach shoppers. It’s helping teams analyze more information and make advertising decisions faster. It’s creating new opportunities to develop, test and optimize content. And it’s changing how consumers search for and discover properties, retailers, restaurants and experiences.

At the same time, the technology is moving so quickly that marketers are being forced to make decisions in real time about which tools are worth adopting, what should be automated and where human experience, creativity and judgment still matter most.

From a commercial real estate PR perspective, we’re seeing firsthand how media coverage and credible third-party content can influence how companies and properties show up in generative search results. And since launching our AI task force nearly four years ago, we’ve continued to adjust, evolve and experiment to see what works and what falls flat.

Those are some of the topics I’m most interested in exploring with the panel.

I’m also looking forward to being back at ICSC. Identity has been deeply involved in the commercial real estate industry for years, and ICSC events continue to be a great opportunity for our team to connect with clients, partners and industry leaders while getting a firsthand look at the trends shaping retail real estate.

If you’re attending ICSC+Specialty in Orlando, I hope you’ll join us Sunday for “Work Smarter, Market Better: AI Tools Built for the Modern CRE Marketer.”

Given the speed at which AI is evolving, there’s also a decent chance everything we discuss will change again a few months later.

All the more reason to compare notes now.

Post Summary - Identity’s Brandon Chesnutt Joins AI for CRE Marketers Panel at 2026 ICSC+Specialty Event

• Identity Partner Brandon Chesnutt will speak at the 2026 ICSC+Specialty event in Orlando on the panel, “Work Smarter, Market Better: AI Tools Built for the Modern CRE Marketer.”
• Chesnutt will join Rob Frost-Dean of Imaginuity, Rob Armstrong of Biscred, Sarah Rose Darling of ID Plans and Corbett Guest of Imaginuity.
• The panel will explore how AI and automation are changing retail real estate marketing, including content creation, paid media, data analysis, search and discovery, social media and reputation management.
• AI is helping CRE marketers better understand and reach shoppers, make faster marketing decisions and create and optimize content more efficiently.
• As AI adoption accelerates, CRE marketing teams must determine where automation can create meaningful efficiencies and where human experience, creativity and judgment remain essential.

Influencer marketing programs are an undeniable component for consumer and retail brands today. Reports show that a majority of influencer marketers say budgets are growing significantly in 2026, as is competition for visibility, attention and consumer interest on social media (2026 Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report). With that added pressure, how can brands break through the noise and connect with audiences in the loud digitally based jungle?

Consumers trust influencers less than they did five years ago, but they haven’t stopped trusting people. Social media audiences are becoming increasingly skeptical of influencers and sponsored content. Over 72% of Gen Z individuals surveyed trust authentic customer reviews as the primary way to evaluate if a brand is credible (2026 Gen Z Brand Credibility Study). More than ever, audiences and consumers want relatability, not aspiration. So who do they turn to? Real people with opinions and reviews versus celebrity and influencer endorsements.

When retail purchases are driven by trust and peer validation, authenticity becomes a competitive marketing advantage for brands.

Key Takeaways

• Microinfluencers build more trust than macro influencers.
• Consumers increasingly prefer authentic product recommendations.
• Retail brands should balance awareness with credibility.
• Layered influencer programs outperform one-size-fits-all approaches.

Authenticity In Influencer Marketing

For retail brands, larger influencers who post mostly sponsored content are increasingly limited in their capacity to influence consumers. They still generate awareness and visibility but often lack the relatability consumers associate with trust.

Overtly sponsored posts and elevated influencer experiences feel disconnected from everyday consumers. While they generate awareness, they rarely reflect how people actually discover, buy or use products. In some cases, those campaigns can even spark criticism.

Large consumer retail brands like Poppi have faced backlash from audiences over campaigns that gifted influencer partners a full Poppi vending machine ahead of the Super Bowl. Though intended to be a fun campaign that aided Poppi’s Super Bowl ad splash, responses on social media indicated consumers felt it was extravagant, out of touch or unengaging.

The backlash wasn't about the vending machine, but growing consumer fatigue with unrelatable influencer experiences and lifestyles. This campaign had an unintended outcome, which reflected growing consumer demand for relatable, realistic content. Consumers don’t want products shown only in aspirational moments. They want to see how they fit into their everyday lives.

Why Microinfluencers Resonate

According to data from the NAD Influencer Trust Index, 62% of consumers feel micro-influencers understand their audience better and foster stronger community and belonging than larger influencers (NAD Influencer Trust Index 2025). Audiences lean toward influencers with smaller but engaged communities and content that feels more personal.

The report also shows consumers feel overwhelmed by the volume of sponsored content on social media. As sponsored posts become more common, trust declines—especially for creators whose feeds are dominated by paid partnerships.

Microinfluencers are more closely aligned to real consumer behavior and product experiences, making them less likely to be filtered out by skeptical audiences. But what actually drives consumers to engage and purchase?

Today, influencer marketing is less about maximizing reach and more about building credibility. Microinfluencers create content in the same stores, neighborhoods and everyday settings where their audiences actually shop, making recommendations feel like part of the retail experience. They bridge the gap between brand storytelling and the retail experience, and make products feel relevant and accessible. Consumers trust microinfluencers because their recommendations more closely resemble advice from friends than advertising from brands.

For younger consumers, reports show the two most important factors are clear and useful information and seeing real people talk about a brand (2026 Gen Z Brand Credibility Study). What is the product? What does it look like? Where can I find it? Microinfluencers check all these boxes, along with an authentic experience or review. These authentic voices play a key role in how audiences evaluate brands today.

Cost Efficiency

Influencer programs are a necessary tool for building brand awareness and driving retail conversions among consumers. However, influencer marketers report the top challenges facing influencer marketing in 2026 are rising creator costs and budget constraints (Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2026).

Microinfluencers can  be a more efficient use of marketing budgets. Reports show that roughly 80% of UGC creators and 45% of microinfluencers shared a rate of under $500, with the remainder mostly between $500-$2,000. The costs of larger influencers quickly rise to $5,000-$10,000 and higher for posts — unsustainable for awareness at scale.

Brands with tighter budgets can partner with multiple creators across different markets instead of relying on a small number of higher-cost influencers. Lower costs also give brands greater flexibility. Brands can test messaging across multiple regions, retailers or audience segments and generate richer insights with reduced risk.

An Integrated Approach

Across retail campaigns we support at Identity, we’ve consistently found that the strongest influencer programs don’t rely on a single creator type, but on a layered approach. Identity has seen this play out across our portfolio, working with microinfluencers for CPG brands, restaurants, destinations and attractions to create content rooted in real consumer experiences.

For brands like Hudsonville Ice Cream, larger creators can amplify key campaign messages, build broad visibility and create bigger brand moments. Microinfluencers reinforce trust through consistent content that reflects how people actually discover, purchase and experience brands in their everyday lives. They also help drive awareness and retail behavior through geographically targeted and store-specific campaigns.

The most effective influencer strategies balance reach with credibility, using larger creators to build awareness and microinfluencers to bring consumers closer to the point of purchase. By understanding how different creator types support different stages of the consumer journey, brands can build campaigns that feel both scalable and authentic.

In today’s crowded social media landscape, brands that treat authenticity as a strategy will be better positioned to earn consumer trust, improve campaign performance and influence purchase decisions. Microinfluencers are not a replacement for reach, but they are an essential part of building influencer programs that feel credible, local and connected to real consumer behavior.

Post Summary

• Microinfluencers are becoming a key strategy for retail brands looking to build consumer trust and influence purchase decisions.
• Consumers are becoming more skeptical of sponsored content, making authenticity and relatability a competitive advantage for influencer marketing campaigns.
• Research shows Gen Z and younger consumers rely on authentic reviews and real people to evaluate brands and their credibility.
• Larger influencers are still valuable for brand awareness and reach, but microinfluencers can generate stronger trust and community engagement.
• Microinfluencers can create authentic content that reflects real shopping experiences and helps consumers see products in everyday life and raise awareness of where to find consumer goods.
• Rising costs and budget constraints can make microinfluencers a more cost-efficient option for many retail influencer marketing programs.
• A layered influencer strategy that combines macro influencers with microinfluencers can strengthen both campaign visibility and retail conversion.
• Geographically targeted and store-specific campaigns can help drive consumers closer to the point of purchase.

Retail centers are constantly evolving. New tenants arrive, concepts expand and established brands enter new markets, all contributing to how a property is perceived by the community and the industry. While each new opening is an important milestone, building meaningful awareness requires a communications strategy that engages audiences before, during and after opening day.

For shopping centers, tenant announcements represent an important opportunity to reinforce momentum, attract visitors and demonstrate continued investment in the property and sustained consumer interest. They also introduce new experiences and concepts that can re-engage longtime visitors while attracting new guests to the broader retail center.

At Identity, we support tenant announcement and visibility efforts for shopping centers, entertainment districts and mixed-use projects across multiple markets, including:

• Easton Town Center
• Deer Park Town Center
• Eden Prairie Center
• The Avenue Peachtree City
• The Avenue West Cobb
• University Place
• The Mall at Partridge Creek
• Arena District
• Grandview Yard
• Cavasson
• Live! at The Pointe Orlando
• Kansas City Live! 
• Stateside Live!
• Nashville Live!

From food and beverage concepts to apparel, experiential and service-based tenants, each addition plays a role in shaping the overall guest experience and tenant mix at a property.

Our approach transforms a single press release into a broader communications strategy that extends from the initial announcement through the grand opening and beyond.

• Identity leverages a six-phase communications strategy designed to extend visibility beyond a tenant announcement.
• Story development identifies the tenant's unique value, market relevance and connection to the property.
• Strategic media outreach targets local, regional and retail/commercial real estate trade media.
• Grand opening communications generate additional awareness through events, promotions and media engagement.
• Post-opening storytelling opportunities help sustain momentum through television, influencers and seasonal angles.
• Ongoing visibility efforts reinforce property momentum, community engagement and tenant attraction.

Phase 1: Gathering the Story Behind the Tenant

Before drafting any announcement, our team works closely with on-site property marketing managers to gather the key details that will shape the overall narrative.

Every tenant opening has a story. The goal is to identify what makes each brand meaningful for the property and its audience, while understanding how the addition supports the center’s broader merchandising strategy.

• Anticipated opening timeline
• Market significance (first-to-market, regional concept, etc.)
• Unique aspects or offerings of the tenant
• Local ties or community connections
• Grand opening details or promotional plans

We also take the time to understand any potential sensitivities surrounding the announcement. Is the new tenant a national retailer going into a space that was previously occupied by a beloved mom-and-pop shop? Is there a similar concept at a competitive center nearby? These nuances may not impact our recommended approach, but it’s important for us to have all the information at the outset to develop the right messaging and rollout plan. 

This phase ensures the announcement reflects more than a leasing transaction. It becomes a story about what the new tenant brings to the property, its guests and the broader retail landscape.

Phase 2: Crafting the Announcement

After gathering the initial details and background information, we draft the official press release announcing the new tenant.

Each announcement is tailored to highlight the most compelling aspects of the addition, whether it's a first-to-market concept, notable expansion, local connection or broader relevance within the retail landscape. The messaging is structured to clearly communicate the tenant’s arrival while reinforcing the continued activity and evolution happening across the property.

Phase 3: Strategic Media Distribution

Once the press release is finalized, we distribute the news across a mix of local, regional and industry media outlets to maximize visibility.

Outreach is tailored to each tenant and property, allowing us to position announcements across community news outlets, business publications and retail and commercial real estate trade media. While local visibility is critical in driving foot traffic to the new concept upon opening, industry awareness in trade publications could result in another great tenant considering the center for its next location. 

This approach helps broaden awareness surrounding new openings while placing the tenant within larger conversations happening across the retail and commercial real estate industries.

Phase 4: Monitoring Coverage and Reporting Results

Following distribution, our team monitors for media coverage and tracks placements across outlets.

Coverage is shared with client teams through monthly reporting and recap materials, providing visibility into how announcements are performing across earned media channels.

Reporting often includes:

• Number of placements
• Audience reach
• Media type and outlet mix

This phase helps document overall media performance while identifying opportunities to build on future visibility efforts. For example, if a particular narrative about the new tenant gains the most traction (e.g. family-owned by a local, multigenerational operator who left the corporate world to fulfill their dream of owning a restaurant), we’ll know that’s an angle we can build upon for future coverage. 

Phase 5: Supporting the Grand Opening

As a tenant approaches its official opening, the communications strategy shifts toward generating visibility around the grand opening itself. At this stage, we develop a secondary press release focused on the opening event and local engagement.

These announcements often highlight details such as the official opening date, event activations like ribbon-cutting ceremonies, limited-time offers and hiring opportunities, which helps generate excitement around the tenant’s arrival and encourages guests to visit the property. This phase helps sustain momentum beyond the initial announcement through on-site experiences and community participation. 

In addition to a grand opening-focused release, we identify opportunities for media attendance and coverage. Depending on the tenant, this may include coordinating on-site interviews, facilitating television segments, arranging photo opportunities, supporting ribbon-cutting ceremonies and providing media with access to grand opening activations and guest experiences.

For media outlets unable to attend in person, we provide follow-up assets such as event photography, b-roll video footage, interview clips and grand opening highlights. This can also include key event details, such as number of attendees, notable milestones, community participation and other event outcomes that help tell the broader story. These materials can help secure additional coverage after the event concludes while extending the reach of the opening beyond those who attended on-site.

Together, these efforts help sustain momentum beyond the initial announcement while maximizing visibility through both in-person media engagement and post-event storytelling opportunities.

Phase 6: Sustaining Visibility After Opening

Even after a tenant officially opens, there are continued opportunities to maintain visibility and engagement. To help sustain momentum, we work collaboratively with property teams, retailers and restaurant operators to identify additional media and visibility opportunities.

This phase also creates space to brainstorm creative, timely angles that help extend the tenant’s story beyond opening day.

These efforts may include local television segments introducing the new concept, influencer collaborations that reach community members through social media and timely story angles tied to holidays, retail trends or unique on-site experiences designed to encourage continued foot traffic.

For example, at The Avenue West Cobb, we secured a cooking TV segment on Good Day Atlanta featuring Chef Kevin Dash of Le’Zia and Hey Linda’s. The segment introduced viewers to the unique dual-concept dining experience, highlighting Le’Zia’s blend of Caribbean, Thai and Southern-inspired flavors alongside Hey Linda’s authentic Mexican cuisine, specialty cocktails and community-focused programming. By showcasing the restaurants’ distinct offerings and inviting viewers to visit the property, the coverage helped maintain momentum beyond opening day while generating awareness among potential guests throughout the Marietta community.

Similarly, at The Avenue Peachtree City, we secured a lifestyle TV segment on ATL Live featuring Southern Home and Garden shortly after the retailer opened its doors. Timed to coincide with Fourth of July celebrations, the segment showcased summer entertaining inspiration, outdoor living trends and seasonal décor ideas drawn from the store's curated collection of home and garden furnishings. The coverage also introduced viewers to the local husband-and-wife team behind the concept and their vision for creating inviting, personalized indoor and outdoor spaces. By aligning the retailer with a timely seasonal topic, the segment generated awareness among local audiences while highlighting a new shopping destination within the property.

This approach creates additional opportunities for tenants to tell their brand story, engage with the surrounding community, connect with potential customers and build loyalty.

The Results

Across efforts from 2025 to 2026, results included:

• 40 tenant retailers, restaurants and entertainment concepts announced
• 74 media placements secured
• An estimated audience reach of nearly 31 million
• Local, regional and national media coverage

More importantly, these announcements reinforced broader stories of retail evolution, property momentum and community engagement. In a shifting retail landscape, the openings helped demonstrate how shopping centers continue to evolve through strategic leasing decisions and tenant concepts that align with changing consumer interests, retail industry trends and community needs.

Why It Matters

Tenant announcements represent more than a leasing milestone. They help reinforce the long-term value, relevance and continued evolution of a retail destination while shaping how a property is perceived within the market and surrounding community.

By approaching each opening as an ongoing communications opportunity rather than a one-time announcement, we help shopping centers generate sustained visibility while elevating awareness around the property, its tenants and the overall guest experience.

Post Summary: Retail Tenant Visibility Strategy

• Identity supports shopping centers through a multi-phase communications strategy designed to extend visibility beyond a single tenant announcement.
• The process begins by identifying the story behind each tenant addition and its relevance to the property, community and broader market.
• Identity drafts and distributes announcements across local, regional and retail and commercial real estate trade media outlets.
• Grand opening communications help generate continued excitement through opening details, event activations, promotions and local engagement opportunities.
• Post-opening visibility efforts include television segments, influencer collaborations and timely retail or seasonal story angles designed to sustain awareness and guest engagement.
• Across efforts from 2025 to 2026, the strategy supported 40 tenant retailers, restaurants and concepts while generating 74 media placements and nearly 31 million in estimated audience reach.

In today’s communications and media environment, the press release has taken on a second life.

It’s no longer just written for journalists. It also has to function as structured content for AI systems like generative search tools, answer engines and large language models.

These systems pull information from press releases, earned media and other online sources such as forums like Quora and Reddit. They then summarize that information and determine how it appears in search results and AI-generated answers. In fact, research from Semrush found that over 58% of Google searches now result in zero clicks, reflecting how often users are getting answers directly on the results page rather than clicking through to source sites.

That shift is accelerating alongside the rise of AI-powered search experiences. Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini increasingly synthesize information from multiple sources rather than simply presenting lists of links. As a result, visibility is becoming less about whether someone clicks a page and more about whether the information on that page can be accurately understood, cited and reused.

And this shift changes how press releases need to be written.

The question is no longer just:
“Will a reporter cover this?”

It is also:
“Will an AI system understand this well enough to reuse it?”

And increasingly, the second question determines the first.

In an AI-mediated ecosystem, visibility increasingly depends on comprehension. If a machine cannot understand your message, it cannot amplify it.

Why Press Releases Now Need to Work for AI Systems

The traditional press release strategy focused on one primary gatekeeper: the journalist. Now there are multiple layers of “readers”:

• Journalists scanning for story relevance
• Search engines indexing for keyword relevance
• Answer engines extracting direct responses
• LLMs summarizing and synthesizing content into answers

Unlike traditional search, LLMs and answer engines don’t just rank pages—they pull out and reuse the actual meaning of the content. If your press release is unclear, full of jargon, or poorly structured, it becomes harder for these systems to understand and use accurately.

In contrast, well-structured press releases can become source material for:

• AI-generated summaries in search results
• Voice assistant responses
• Chat-based research tools
• Featured snippets and answer boxes

In other words, your press release is no longer just a pitch asset—it’s content AI systems actively use to shape answers.

Distribution also plays a role in how often and where content is surfaced. For example, wire distribution can increase citation likelihood by expanding the number of indexed placements and reinforcing authority signals across the web.

What GEO, AEO and LLM Optimization Actually Means in Practice

While the terminology varies, the underlying idea is consistent: make your content easy for machines to understand, pull apart and reuse without losing meaning.

This isn’t about “gaming” the systems either—it’s about clarity. AI systems prioritize content that clearly communicates the who, what, when, where and why. The easier that information is to identify, the more likely content is to be accurately interpreted and surfaced in AI-generated summaries and search results.

Whether you embrace it or not, that’s an added win in today’s media environment — your press release working not just for earned media, but for AI visibility too.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Focuses on how content is interpreted and combined by AI systems that generate answers from multiple sources. Instead of showing a list of links, these systems build a single response and your content is one of the inputs they may draw from.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

Focuses on structuring content so it can directly answer people’s questions in search results and AI tools. Think: “What did this company announce?” or “Why does this matter?” The goal is to make those answers easy to lift directly from your release.

LLM Readability

Focuses on clarity, structure and semantic completeness so language models can reliably extract facts, relationships and context. If key details are buried, vague or overly complex, the model is more likely to miss them or misrepresent them.

To put it simply, if a journalist skims it, an AI model must be able to make sense of it even faster.

The New Structure of an AI-Ready Press Release

Traditional press releases often bury the lead. GEO/AEO-optimized releases do the opposite—they surface meaning immediately and reinforce it structurally.

A strong AI-ready press release typically includes:

1. A Front-Loaded, Declarative Lead

The first 2–3 sentences should clearly state:

• What happened
• Who it impacts
• Why it matters

No setup. No throat-clearing. Just clarity.

2. Explicit Entities and Context

AI systems perform better when key elements are unambiguous:

• Named organizations
• Products or services
• Locations
• Dates and timelines

Avoid vague references like “leading provider” without naming the who.

3. Modular, Skimmable Sections

Break content into discrete blocks that can stand alone:

• Headlines with meaning, not creativity
• Subheads that answer questions
• Short paragraphs (2–4 lines max)

Each section should function like a self-contained answer. And if you’ve been writing releases for some time, this may feel a bit out of your comfort zone compared to the usual format. This is where drafting two versions—one for media-facing audiences and one for AI-facing systems—can be an effective strategy.

4. Data That Is Immediately Interpretable

Numbers should not require interpretation gymnastics.

Instead of:
“significant growth was observed in engagement metrics”

Use something more direct like:
“engagement increased 38% year-over-year”

LLMs prioritize clarity over nuance when extracting facts, especially when information is clearly sourced and easy to verify.

Writing for Questions, Not Just Announcements

One of the biggest shifts in GEO/AEO strategy is thinking in questions. People don’t search for press releases, they search for answers like:

• What did this company announce?
• What does this announcement mean?
• Why does this partnership matter?
• How will this impact the industry?
• What changed in the market?

Your press release should anticipate and directly answer those queries. A helpful approach is to embed “answer language” throughout:

• “This means that…”
• “The impact of this change is…”
• “For customers, this results in…”

This improves both human readability and machine extraction—it’s the best of both worlds.

Making Your Press Release Citation-Ready

LLMs and answer engines prefer content that is easy to quote and attribute. To increase citation potential:

• Use clear, standalone sentences for key claims
• Avoid burying statistics inside long paragraphs
• Attribute insights explicitly (“According to…”)
• Repeat key facts in consistent language

Think of each key line as something that could be pulled out of context and still make sense on its own. In an AI-driven environment, sentences are often lifted, summarized, or reused independently, not just read as part of a full narrative. If a sentence cannot survive being lifted out of context, it probably won't survive AI summarization either.

And if it is, you better make sure it still stands on its own, because that becomes your reputation in the wild.

The Role of Structure in AI Visibility

The structure of a press release now directly affects how visible it is in AI search and answer tools. These systems don’t just read content—they break it into parts, pull out facts and rebuild it into summaries.

When a press release is clearly organized, AI systems can more easily identify the main topic, separate key facts from supporting detail and understand how people, companies and events relate to each other. This leads to more accurate summaries and reduces the chance of misinterpretation.

Because of this, formatting choices like headlines, spacing and section hierarchy now affect discoverability, not just readability. Each paragraph should communicate a single clear idea that can stand on its own if it’s pulled out of context. Information is increasingly being retrieved and shown in fragments, not full documents.

Distribution also plays a role in visibility. When a press release is syndicated across wire services and partner networks, it appears in more indexed locations online, which increases the chances it will be found, referenced and reused by AI systems.

Why This Matters for Communications Teams

Communicators are no longer optimizing exclusively for journalists and search engines. They're optimizing for systems that retrieve, synthesize and reuse information. This means press releases are evolving beyond just media assets. They are becoming machine-readable knowledge assets.

Coverage still matters. Distribution still matters. But comprehension matters too.

A Simple Framework for GEO/AEO-Ready Press Releases

To consistently produce press releases optimized for AI discovery, follow this framework. The goal isn’t just what you say, but how it’s structured and formatted so that both humans and machines can quickly understand it.

1. Lead with the Answer

State the announcement in plain, direct language upfront.

2. Define All Key Entities

Name organizations, products and stakeholders clearly and early.

3. Break Information into Modular Blocks

One idea per paragraph. One concept per section. One thing at a time.

4. Include Interpretable Data

Use precise, contextualized statistics wherever possible.

5. Write for Extraction, Not Just Reading

Assume every sentence may be lifted, summarized or rephrased by an AI system.

In Closing

In the GEO and AEO era, visibility is no longer just about distribution. It’s about structure.

The press releases and PR efforts that will succeed in this environment are not just well-written, they are well-structured, easy to interpret and built for reuse across both human and AI systems. The ones that perform are the ones that can be cleanly broken down, accurately summarized and confidently repeated without losing meaning.

Because if your press release or message can’t be cleanly understood by both people and machines, it doesn’t make it into the conversation at all.

Post Summary:

• Press releases now serve both journalists and AI systems, including LLMs, answer engines and generative search tools.
• These systems pull, summarize and reuse content across search results and AI-generated answers.
• A growing share of searches end without clicks as users get direct answers on results pages.
• Success Increasingly depends on whether content is clear enough for both humans and machines to understand, summarize and reuse.
• GEO, AEO and LLM optimization all focus on making content easy to extract and summarize accurately.
• Well-structured press releases are more likely to appear in AI summaries, snippets and voice or chat answers.
• Clarity, structure and explicit language matter more than jargon or narrative complexity.
• Strong press releases lead with the answer, define key entities early and use modular, skimmable sections.
• Data should be precise and contextual so it can be easily interpreted and reused.
• Writing should anticipate the questions audiences and AI systems will ask.
• Citation-ready content uses standalone, clearly stated sentences that hold up when extracted.
• Structure and formatting now directly impact discoverability in AI-driven environments.
• The most effective press releases are built for both human readers and AI systems.
• In the GEO/AEO era, visibility depends on structure as much as distribution.
• If content can’t be clearly understood by both people and machines, it won’t surface in the conversation.

When a potential customer, job candidate, investor or journalist discovers your company, their first stop is rarely your website.

They search for your leadership team. They look at your CEO's LinkedIn profile. They read recent interviews. They scan articles, podcasts and social content. Long before a sales conversation begins or a job offer is extended, they are forming opinions about the people leading the organization. They look for signals that the people leading your organization know what they’re doing and are worth trusting.

In many cases, they are evaluating leadership before they are evaluating services, solutions and products. That shift has changed the role of executive visibility.

What was once viewed as a personal branding exercise has become a business strategy. Executive visibility now influences how organizations build trust, attract talent, shape industry conversations and compete for attention in increasingly crowded markets.

The principle itself is not new. People have always preferred to do business with people they like, know and trust. What has changed is the speed and scale at which trust is established or lost. A single LinkedIn post, a podcast appearance or a quote in a trade publication can now reach thousands of relevant stakeholders within days.

Yet many B2B organizations still treat executive visibility as optional. Something leaders prioritize only when time allows, which is often never. The result is a visibility and trust gap that brand advertising or content marketing alone cannot help.

Why B2B Executive Visibility Is No Longer Optional

The most significant change is not that people trust individuals more than institutions. It’s that they research individuals before engaging with institutions.

Edelman’s Trust Barometer has documented this shift for years, and the gap is only widening. Edelman’s 2026 report found that nearly 7 in 10 people globally fear institutional leaders are deliberately misleading the public, while 70% say they are hesitant to trust people with different values or perspectives.

An executive team with little public presence often creates uncertainty. Not because stakeholders expect leaders to be influencers, but because visibility has become a proxy for expertise, accessibility and credibility.

Moreover, 42% of respondents said they would not invest in companies that do not share their values, highlighting how closely trust is tied to human connection and credibility. When executives maintain a credible public presence, they reinforce something a brand alone cannot communicate: that knowledgeable, trustworthy people stand behind the organization.

The “Dark Funnel” Problem

A decade ago, buyers typically moved through a predictable process. They visited a company website, downloaded information and eventually contacted a sales team.

Now, a significant portion of B2B buying decisions are made before a prospect contacts a company and much of that evaluation happens independently. Prospects consume LinkedIn content. Candidates research leadership teams. Journalists look for expert sources. Investors follow industry commentary. By the time many stakeholders reach out, they have already formed opinions based on what they found — or failed to find.

Executive Visibility in the AI Era

A new dynamic is making executive visibility even more important. AI has changed how people research companies.

Platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity increasingly help users gather information, compare B2B vendors and understand industry trends. These systems draw heavily from publicly available content, including earned media, thought leadership articles, interviews, podcasts and social commentary.

As a result, executive visibility is no longer just about what people can find. It is also about what AI can find.

AI systems increasingly reward organizations that have already established credibility across multiple channels.

Media interviews, contributed articles, podcast appearances, conference presentations and executive commentary create a network of publicly available signals that help establish authority. As AI-driven search becomes more common, organizations with visible leaders are more likely to appear during early-stage research and evaluation.

The implication is significant: executive visibility is becoming part of how organizations are discovered in the first place.

What's Actually at Stake

Executive visibility directly affects four business priorities.

• Brand Credibility: Organizations gain authority when executives publicly share expertise, commentary and informed perspectives on industry developments.
• Talent Attraction: Candidates increasingly evaluate leadership before accepting opportunities. Visible executives help communicate culture, vision and confidence in ways recruiting materials often cannot.
• Pipeline Influence: Many buying decisions are shaped long before a prospect contacts a company. Executive thought leadership helps build familiarity and trust during that early research phase.
• Crisis Resilience: Leaders who have already established public credibility can communicate more effectively during periods of uncertainty. Trust built before a crisis becomes invaluable during one.

How B2B Comms Teams Should Own It

One of the most important shifts communications professionals can make is moving from gatekeeper to builder. The old instinct to protect executives by keeping them off of public platforms is now working against the business. What B2B organizations need is visible expertise with the right executives who are most willing to participate. 

For each participating executive, define:

• 2-3 topics they can speak to consistently
• A voice and tone guide capturing how they naturally communicate
• A realistic, achievable and sustainable posting cadence for social media

The goal is to post authentic ideas. A lot of executives have great ideas for content, they just simply don’t have the time to write. 

Then, build a simple workflow process. The programs that actually work are the ones that remove hurdles. A simple process: sharing a draft via Slack, email, or Microsoft SharePoint while instituting one round of feedback allows content to move quickly. More steps equal more roadblocks. 

Measuring Executive Visibility Like a Business Asset

Executive visibility is often deprioritized because organizations fail to measure it against business outcomes. That is beginning to change, and there is a scalable formula you can deploy to show value. Initial indicators include:

Activity Metrics

• Content published
• Media interviews completed
• Speaking engagements secured

Visibility Metrics

• Reach
• Engagement
• Share of voice
• Audience growth

Influence Metrics

• Media inquiries
• Podcast invitations
• Speaking opportunities
• Industry recognition

Business Metrics

• Candidate references during interviews
• Prospect mentions during sales conversations
• Partnership inquiries
• Influenced opportunities and pipeline

At the program level, tracking share of voice against key competitors can help leadership understand measurable market presence. Over time, those insights can connect to broader business objectives such as brand perception, media sentiment and pipeline quality.

The objective is not to turn executives into influencers or require daily posting. The goal is consistent visibility that builds credibility over time.

For marketing and communications professionals, executive visibility represents an opportunity to strengthen organizational credibility in a measurable and scalable way. When approached strategically, and kept manageable for leadership, even small, consistent efforts can compound into meaningful business impact over time. 

Post Summary - Executive Visibility as a Competitive Advantage

• Executive visibility has evolved from a personal branding initiative into a strategic business asset that influences trust, talent acquisition, pipeline growth and organizational resilience.
• Modern stakeholders often research executives before engaging with a company, evaluating leadership credibility through LinkedIn, media coverage, podcasts, speaking engagements and thought leadership content.
• The rise of AI-powered search platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity has increased the importance of publicly available executive content in the discovery and evaluation process.
• Executive visibility helps organizations build familiarity and credibility before sales conversations, recruiting discussions or media interactions occur.
• In B2B industries, a significant portion of buying decisions takes place within the "dark funnel," where prospects consume content and form opinions before contacting a company.
• Organizations with visible executives are more likely to appear in industry conversations, earned media coverage and AI-generated research results.
• Executive visibility contributes to four core business outcomes: brand credibility, talent attraction, pipeline influence and crisis resilience.
• Effective executive visibility programs focus on consistent expertise rather than personal branding, aligning leadership perspectives with organizational goals and market priorities.
• Communications teams can support executive visibility by developing content themes, creating streamlined approval workflows and maintaining sustainable publishing cadences.
• Executive visibility should be measured through activity metrics, visibility metrics, influence metrics and business impact metrics, including candidate engagement, sales references, media opportunities and pipeline contribution.
• As trust in institutions declines and digital research behaviors increase, executive visibility is becoming a competitive differentiator for B2B organizations.

I've attended a lot of conferences over my nearly 20 years in the commercial real estate industry. Some are great for deal flow. Some are great for market intelligence. Most are great for maintaining relationships and forging new ones.

But GlobeSt.’s Women of Influence Conference hits differently.

Last year was my first time attending, and I left genuinely energized by the depth of the conversations, the quality of the content and the intentionality behind the entire experience. Mostly, I left inspired by the remarkable women across commercial real estate who are not just participating in the industry’s evolution, but actively shaping what comes next.

That’s why I’m excited to head back to Denver for the 7th Annual GlobeSt Women of Influence Conference and Awards, where CRE leaders from across disciplines will come together to talk about the issues, strategies and relationships moving the industry forward.

And this year, I’m especially looking forward to moderating a breakout panel that sits squarely at the intersection of leadership, communication and career growth.

Inspiring Down & Managing Up

On Tuesday, July 14, I’ll be moderating “Inspiring Down & Managing Up: Invaluable Tools for Effective Communications & Career Growth.”

The title says a lot — leadership is rarely one-directional.

Yes, leaders need to motivate teams, set expectations, provide clarity and create momentum. But they also need to influence decision-makers, build trust with senior stakeholders, translate complexity across functions and communicate with confidence when the path forward is not always obvious.

That’s not easy in any industry. It’s especially complex in commercial real estate, where every project can involve owners, investors, developers, brokers, lenders, tenants, municipalities, civic partners, community stakeholders, brands, data users and internal teams all trying to move toward a shared outcome.

The best leaders I know are not just good at having a vision. They’re great at making that vision digestible, relatable and applicable across internal and external audiences.

That’s what we’ll dig into.

A Conversation With Leaders Across CRE

I’m truly looking forward to joining three thoughtful, accomplished female leaders who bring different perspectives from across the industry:

Courtney Ettus, CMO of REsimplifi, brings a sharp perspective on brand, trust, leadership and how companies communicate value in a noisy market. Having served as CMO of Crexi during arguably the company’s most explosive growth years, she understands navigating dramatic change at an extremely elevated level.

Ekta Naik, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development at SoLa Impact, brings deep experience in real estate development, acquisitions, affordable housing and impact-driven investment. In the nuanced affordable housing sector, Ekta’s transactions are rarely straightforward. Her communication style commands confidence from investors and municipal leaders alike.

Deena Zimmerman, Principal at Baum Realty Group, brings a relationship-driven point of view from brokerage, retail real estate, redevelopment and national business development. Known for her incredibly adaptable approach to leadership and management, Deena believes in curating the right team for every project, setting expectations — and presenting growth opportunities — with absolute clarity.

We’ll talk about the real tools women leaders use to communicate clearly, advocate effectively and create alignment between vision and execution.

We’re not talking in generalities. We’re getting real with practical applications for emerging and existing CRE leaders.

• How do you create and reinforce the right messaging — even when teams are stretched?
• How do you create accountability without killing momentum?
• How do you adapt your communication style for different audiences without losing the core message?
• How do you communicate in a way that commands stakeholder confidence at critical turning points?
• How do you keep human relationships authentic as technology and AI continue to reshape how the world works?

Those are the kinds of questions I’m excited to explore.

Communication Is a Leadership Advantage

As a PR leader and people manager, I think about communication constantly.

Not just polished messaging. Not just media statements. I think about daily communication as one of the most important leadership tools we have.

It is how we build trust before we need it. How we create clarity. How we help top talent understand not just what we do, but why it matters and how they fit into the bigger picture. Communication is how we speak out on behalf of our teams, our clients and our ideas.

And, when done well, it is how we develop rockstars. Or, as we say at Identity, Gamelovers.

CRE today is a sector defined by change: shifting capital markets, evolving tenant expectations, new workplace norms, technology adoption, AI acceleration, housing pressures, community expectations and an increasingly complex stakeholder environment.

Amidst change, communication cannot be an afterthought. It has to be a leadership discipline.

Effective leaders know how to listen and learn. They know how to communicate where a team is headed in a way that inspires others to want to be in the room where it’s all happening. They give not only direct feedback, but proactive coaching and guidance before the misstep occurs. And they communicate in a way that makes the people around them stronger people and professionals. Gallup research shows that managers who have at least one meaningful conversation each week with every employee lead substantially more engaged teams, highlighting the importance of consistent communication over occasional check-ins.

That kind of leadership matters right now.

What Attendees Can Expect

If we do it right, attendees of this panel will walk away with actionable ideas they can implement immediately. An interesting communications tactic they can apply in their next team meeting or during that really critical growth conversation. A slightly different approach to creating messaging that motivates.

I hope attendees hear something relatable and feel a part of a broader supportive community.

Because leadership is incredibly rewarding, but it’s complicated. People are complex. Companies are complex. Change is complex. And communication is often where that complexity shows up first.

That’s why conversations like this matter. They give us a chance to talk transparently about what it takes to lead effectively, grow thoughtfully and support the next generation of women shaping CRE.

I’m looking forward to being back in the room with so many smart, generous, high-impact leaders at GlobeSt.’s Women of Influence Conference.

See you soon, Denver.

Post Summary - Globe St. Women of Influence 2026 Event

• Erin Sabo will moderate the breakout session "Inspiring Down & Managing Up: Invaluable Tools for Effective Communications & Career Growth" at GlobeSt.'s 2026 Women of Influence Conference.
• The discussion explores how commercial real estate leaders build trust, communicate through complexity and inspire teams while influencing executive stakeholders.
• Panelists represent leadership across brokerage, affordable housing, development, technology and marketing, offering practical perspectives from different areas of CRE.
• Effective communication has become a competitive leadership skill as commercial real estate faces shifting capital markets, AI adoption, evolving tenant expectations and increasingly complex stakeholder environments.
• Women of Influence provides a forum for networking, leadership development and industry collaboration among some of commercial real estate's most influential professionals.
• Identity works with commercial real estate owners, developers, investors, brokerages and service providers to strengthen executive visibility, thought leadership, media relations and strategic communications that build trust with key stakeholders.