#19 PR in 2025

One of the terms I'm most tired of hearing these days is, "mainstream media."  Usually it refers to TV networks or newspapers, and depending on who's saying it whatever media they don’t watch.

The alternatives are “social media” and/or “new media,” aka podcasts and your scroll hole.  Whatever you want to call it, it all thrives in only two ways. 

The first is algorithmic, of which we're all ambiently aware.  Basic principle: algorithms reward extreme statements. We called this “headline grabbing” back when people in green visors were the algorithms.

The second is slightly more subtle: brand loyalty.  Your mom likes CNN, and you like Joe Rogan. (Or vice versa, I don't care. How either of you has 3 hours a day for it, I'll never know.)

The point is, media doesn't really change. The content might, but these two forces will always stay the same in all media forever: headlines are at the top, and you watch what you watch because that’s what you like to watch.

Yet it still clearly feels like media has changed. Why? Because we have. 

One of the biggest changes we've made in the last few years, as it relates to media, is exactly that: how we relate to media.  

Several years ago, in the Trump 1 admin, Steve Bannon coined a term that's getting re-popular now, "flood the zone."

That’s really just a grizzled old politico describing basic SEO. The MUCH more interesting Bannon quote from those days is the one where he describes the media as "the opposition party."  

That’s what changed. The comms, not the media.

The reason this matters is I think we're witnessing another step-change in this relationship over the last 2-3 months, and what that means for your press efforts is still crystallizing.  More on that in section 2.

First, let's go further back in time than ole Stevie-B tryna to sound smart. 

In 2008, the writers of Family Guy did something I've never heard of anyone else being able to do. They convinced the CEO of a major media company (FOX) to sign a union-worker contract (SAG). Just for a cameo!

Who on earth is the C-something with enough highly evolved personal confidence (and/or lawyers) to do such a thing??

Peter Chernin. 

You'd think 20 years at News Corp with titles including President, COO, and CEO would be a career highlight (or, appearing on Family Guy would be the peak of his career). But it might actually be starting his fund The Chernin Group, or TCG, with Jesse Jacobs (and later Michael Kerns).  

Now, coming from Silicon Valley, it's downright silly to say any former C-something's investment fund is unique. 

(I mean, sorry. Of course they're all unique. So are flowers. But tulips all kinda look like tulips and daisies like daisies.) What's TCG got going for a thesis that makes them worth mentioning?

Well it sounds obvious now, but back in 2010, these old media dawgs had the clever thought that a better use of media companies may not be ads but commerce. 

Aka, instead of selling people space to sell people stuff, just own all the spaces and sell people your own stuff.  Tada, a new relationship with media.

TCG has invested in media and product companies like Barstool Sports, Surfline, Lovevery, Epic Gardening, Oura, The Athletic, Ring, SoundCloud, Substack, Food52–-the list goes on and on through dozens of brands you probably know and buy.

Why does this matter about the media today? Well, let's look at the updated status quo:

Bannon: use media against itself to sell you something.

Chernin: own media to sell you something. 

This isn't to say the media of yesterday wasn't selling you something. Instead, it's to say that, purely from a communications perspective, media (all media) now has to be used differently than PR professionals are used to. Because it’s now very low-funnel.

Specifically, media is less and less useful to inform, educate, share ideas, or drive any upper-funnel activity of any kind. 

I think this has accelerated wildly since December.

The result is for the last 2 months, PR agencies and publicists are either scrambling to adapt, or struggling to adapt—or lying to themselves and their clients about the need to adapt.  

So what the heck do you do about it?

How do you win in the suddenly-new 2025 media ecosystem?

I'm just going to be straight up with you on this one: I don't know.

And I don't trust anyone who says they do. (Or, I’ve just had too much Mucinex and Flonase to even see the world we live in.)

BUT, we are beginning to see three core strategies emerge for C-somethings who want some press and aren't sure what to do about it. 

1. Command attention with dramatic action. 

This strategy works pretty much only if your name is E. Musk. Actually, that's too obvious, and this newsletter tries not to name names. This strategy works pretty much only if your name is Elon M. (Much better).  

Obviously, a few other folks can get some press amidst the fray right now (Donald something-or-other keeps popping up), but I think the big risk here is for anyone who's close enough to getting in the headlines that they’re tempted to try.  

Here's an easy way to think about it: conferences.

Agencies and companies typically rank conferences as Tier 1, 2, or 3.  T1 is the big stuff like SXSW, CES, Davos, TED.  Everyone, especially your ego, wants to get on that stage. 

Tier 2 is mid-range stuff. Stripe Sessions is emerging as a strong one this year, with Zuckerberg rostering for a keynote. And Tier 3 is the "long tail" stuff even your outside agency won't manage. 

One of the big lessons of moving your idea through the world is that most companies and agencies prioritize the tiers wrong. It's not the size of the stage you're on, it's how many people talk about what you said on it. 

In other words, one of my favorite Pulbera-isms: it's not what you say, it's what people say you said.  

Now let me ask you this: Do you think that hallway chatter at Stripe Sessions is going to be about (A) What the EVP of an insurance underwriter talked about, or (B) the quality of snacks at Moscone Center, or (C) literally anything Zuck said or did or wore?

(Answer is C, B, A, in that order). 

BTW, want a powerful secret? Tier 3 events will get you this effect tenfold. You just have to spend a year on the road doing them (big fish, million small ponds).

This is an extremely important analogy in the media reality of 2025. We are at a T1 conference every single day, every time we open NYT or TikTok. 

Do you want to say you were in the paper, or do you want to other people to say what you said? 

2. Keep waiting.

Hey, has anyone seen Sundar Pichai this year? If you did, it was probably on an earnings call or there weren’t any reporters around. Also, he was probably talking about AI, and conspicuously almost nothing else.  

I like this strategy a lot.

It’s an interesting strategy for a C-Something right now, and he’s far from the only one deploying it. (I apologize for calling him out, he's just the most visible one taking this track and won’t be harmed by my little light.)  

And I've been recommending this strategy in most situations we're dealing with right now. 

Aiming for a headline today is almost exclusively a bottom-funnel activity—the competition for share of voice, turnover rate of headlines, it all means: The half-life of an idea in the media is the shortest it’s ever been.

Another upside of this strategy is the C-somethings who take Track 1 above will be inevitably sorted by algorithms and niched by loyalties.

What does that mean? New models of audience demographics are emerging.

I suspect by May of this year, audience fatigue will mature, and several niches will have whole new distribution models for your ideas.

Blaise Pascal said in 1654, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” 

Pascal was either using “man” to mean all of us, or his wife is also managing multiple teams by day and at night walking barefoot across legos like people do hot coals at a Tony Robbins seminar.

In any case, I predict Sundar and other stoics are on the proper track right now. 

3. Get Better At Brand. 

That great big wave of DTC that Peter Chernin rode to billion-dollar shores? It's the same wave Mark Zuckerberg built a whole surf industry on, by creating and constantly innovating one of the best performance advertising machines since snake oil was made from actual snakes. (God blesssss 🐍 Meta ads.) 

My theory is this: AI is uniquely great for performance marketing.

Right now, we just think AI is good at brand marketing, but in real life nah. Two reasons:  (1) it's been so long since we had real brand marketers build a business we don't even know what it is, and (2) generative ≠ creative.  

Here’s some big brands we thought understood brand marketing in the last few years:  Peloton; Allbirds; Casper. 

Unfortunately, these companies all took a toke on the CAC pipe of performance and live in the streets now. I strongly believe we are overdue for the next See's Candy. (Now linking one of my favorite old letters on that topic).

As media continues to move lower and lower funnel, I think brand chops and long-term storytelling will become increasingly valuable skills for an AI-driven marketplace.

For C-somethings, their ideas, and their companies, creativity and brand thinking will matter more and more.

This will also temporarily deprecate PR and media as a driver of ideas and brand distribution. What will win?? Hopefully, you.

Truly yours, all dayquil and all nyquil,
Jesse

PS: 1-question survey for you. The world noticed this week that Anthropic is politely requesting job applicants not use AI for their applications. I'm super curious to hear everyone’s take on this, and I'll share the results next week.

PSS: Share this one with your friends who are trying to get in the news right now or work in PR.