Home

Don't Ask Your PR Agency for a List of Placements. Ask How They Create Market Memory.

Jul 27, 2026

PR

"Anyone can show you logos. The better question is whether they can build a market that remembers you."

One of the most common questions I hear from prospective clients is also one of the most important.

"Can you show us examples of your work?"

Of course.

I can point to articles in Fortune. I can share podcasts, keynote presentations, conference campaigns, original research, and thought leadership programs. I can provide links to press coverage and customer success stories.

But over the years, I've realized that isn't the question companies should be asking.

The better question is this:

How do all of those things work together?

Because public relations isn't supposed to be a collection of isolated activities.

It's supposed to become a system.

Most Companies Buy Activities

Many organizations approach communications like they're filling a checklist.

"We need a press release."

"We should get our CEO on a podcast."

"Let's sponsor this conference."

"Can someone write a blog?"

Individually, none of those ideas are wrong.

The problem is that they're usually disconnected.

Each campaign starts from scratch.

Each announcement has a different message.

Each event is treated as a one-time opportunity.

When the activity ends, so does the momentum.

Months later, the company wonders why nobody seems to remember them.

The Waterfall Strategy

During a recent client conversation, I described my approach using a simple analogy.

Imagine dozens of small streams flowing down a mountain.

One stream doesn't change much.

But as those streams merge together, they become a river.

That's how I think about strategic communications.

A customer success story should reinforce your conference presentation.

Your conference presentation should reinforce your podcast interviews.

Those podcast interviews should reinforce your media outreach.

The media coverage should strengthen your sales conversations.

Your executives should expand on those same ideas through LinkedIn, webinars, customer meetings, and industry events.

Every piece of work should flow toward the same destination.

I call it The Waterfall Strategy because every activity cascades into the next, creating far more value together than any single piece could generate on its own.

The goal isn't more content.

The goal is more reinforcement.

Market Memory Is the Real Product

I've written previously about what I call the Market Memory Framework.

Market Memory is the collection of evidence, relationships, stories, and repeated signals that cause a market to remember, trust, and recommend a business.

Companies rarely become category leaders because of one viral article.

They become category leaders because customers keep encountering the same ideas in different places.

A prospect reads an article.

Weeks later, they hear the CEO on a podcast.

Then they see the company speaking at an industry conference.

Someone shares the CEO's LinkedIn post.

An analyst references the same research.

A customer forwards a case study.

None of those moments closes the deal by itself.

Together, they create familiarity.

Familiarity creates credibility.

Credibility creates trust.

And trust creates momentum.

Proof Isn't a Placement. Proof Is the Pattern.

When prospective clients ask for examples, I don't want them to see individual wins.

I want them to see the pattern.

HiringBranch: Building a Consistent Industry Narrative

HiringBranch is one of my favorite examples because it demonstrates how multiple communications efforts can reinforce a single market position.

Rather than treating each opportunity independently, the strategy connected conference appearances, executive interviews, podcasts, original content, and national media coverage around one consistent story: how artificial intelligence could improve hiring decisions.

That included:

  • A coordinated podcast tour exploring the future of AI in hiring.

  • Conference presentations that expanded on the same ideas.

  • Original blog content designed to educate buyers.

  • Executive interviews with industry media.

  • National coverage in Fortune.

Each appearance strengthened the next.

Each conversation made the following conversation easier.

Instead of dozens of unrelated marketing activities, the company built one larger narrative that continued gaining credibility over time.

Related reading:

VirgilHR: Building Trust Through Executive Visibility

Not every company needs national headlines.

Sometimes the objective is becoming the trusted voice within a specific industry.

For VirgilHR, the focus centered on CEO Jocelyn King's expertise in HR compliance.

Rather than relying on a single keynote or media interview, we built a steady cadence of visibility through podcasts, executive thought leadership, LinkedIn conversations, and educational content.

Each appearance reinforced her credibility.

Eventually, people weren't simply discovering Jocelyn.

They were recognizing her.

That's an important difference.

Recognition dramatically lowers the amount of trust required to begin a business relationship.

Related examples:

ERIN: Turning Customer Data Into Industry Conversations

Some of the strongest stories never begin with a press release.

They begin with data.

ERIN had something incredibly valuable: millions of employee referral records representing real hiring behavior.

Instead of publishing those findings once, we transformed the research into multiple assets.

Original research.

Executive content.

Media outreach.

Industry discussions.

Sales enablement.

That strategy ultimately generated broader industry attention, including coverage from SHRM, while giving the sales team evidence they could continue using long after publication.

One dataset became dozens of conversations.

That's the Waterfall Strategy in action.

Related examples:

Your PR Program Should Compound

When I begin working with a new client, I don't start by asking where they want coverage.

I start by asking:

"What should the market remember about you one year from now?"

Usually the answer isn't twenty different messages.

It's four or five.

Those become the foundation for everything else.

Conference presentations.

Customer stories.

Media interviews.

Podcast appearances.

Original research.

LinkedIn content.

Executive visibility.

Sales presentations.

Analyst conversations.

Partner marketing.

Every activity should reinforce the same narrative.

That's how companies become associated with an idea instead of simply participating in a conversation.

PR Isn't About Publicity. It's About Memory.

Traditional public relations often measures success by outputs.

How many articles?

How many interviews?

How many impressions?

Those metrics matter.

But they don't tell the whole story.

The real objective is creating enough consistent evidence that your market begins connecting your company with a specific idea before anyone else.

That's when your sales conversations become easier.

That's when journalists begin calling you instead of the other way around.

That's when conference organizers invite you back.

That's when customers start repeating your messaging for you.

That's Market Memory.

And that's why, the next time you're evaluating a PR agency, don't begin by asking for a list of placements.

Ask how they build a market that remembers you.

Continue Reading

If this philosophy resonates with you, these articles expand on the ideas behind it:

VIEW ALL STORIES

VIEW ALL STORIES

VIEW ALL STORIES