The Impossible Institute’s Challenge To PR Pros

<> on November 23, 2014 in Brisbane, Australia.
Neil O'Sullivan MPRIA
By Neil O'Sullivan MPRIA



Culture change organisation The Impossible Institute’s Dan Gregory challenged PR practitioners at the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) National Conference. “Your reputation is what people say about you when you’re not in the room,” chided Gregory.

More than 250 of Australia’s eminent public relations practitioners descended on Brisbane post G20 to attend the conference. Sunday kicked off with Dan Gregory’s Gruen transfer directness. “Other companies are leading the way when it comes to marketing to diverse demographics; we need to make someone’s issue someone else’s problem. What is in it for your customer?’’ he said.

Brisbane PR Conference - Assignment

Gregory said the first step was figuring out why your company – or your client- is in business:

  1. Find out why you do things
  2. Align your values with your customer
  3. Love someone better than anyone else does
  4. Foster truly open collaboration

“Collaboration is the key. It needs to be part of a team, and it needs to be judged as a team, and not just the individual. We need to incentivize collaboration. Why are company silos fighting each other?”

  • Companies fail to plan for failure. Design your organisation around human nature. Make failure hard.
  • Profit from the inconvenient truth. Don’t be afraid to tell a surprising truth and gain thrust with your customers.
  • Make your vision tangible and visceral. Your mission should be brief, specific, and MEAN something.
  • Create stories that are worth sharing. What’s the cultural narrative in your organisation? All cultures are shared by stories. That’s what brings culture to life.

Brisbane PR Conference - Assignment




Please login with linkedin to comment

Corality Financial Group GE Commercial production houses

Latest News

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
  • Media

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm

Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
  • Advertising

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA  Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]