In this in-depth webinar, the LA-based pioneer shares her leadership secrets from a lifetime in public relations and her vision for her new agency, Blue PR
In spite of disruptive new platforms, Lissa predicts that PR will flourish
As a Hispanic PR professional, you’ve likely daydreamed about a parallel universe where:
- You secure substantial Hispanic marketing budgets for all your campaigns
- Buzz phrases like “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) become obsolete as brands recognize the value of multicultural marketing, no longer viewing it as an afterthought, but as a strategic imperative
- Fortune 500 CMOs allocate their budgets equitably based on rigorous demographic research, targeting their Hispanic outreach hyper-locally
While these aspirations may seem to hail from a science fiction thriller, Latina PR Pioneer Roxana Lissa experienced this reality in 2020 during her work on the California Department of Health’s COVID Awareness campaigns. After representing numerous brands and organizations over the years, this government account, Lissa says, was a revelation.
“It was amazing. I was so impressed,” Lissa says. “I was sitting in these meetings with people from the State of California at different levels of the government. We always have this perception of government people, right? Well, they understand multicultural. They allocate dollars to multicultural communities like I’ve never seen. You don’t have to sell anything. The efforts that they made on multicultural marketing are unheard of.”
For the Argentina-born and Los Angeles-based Lissa, the lesson was crystal clear: Corporate America has much to learn from the government when it comes to effectively managing DEI initiatives. The government — at least California’s – can serve as an inspiring role model.
This thought-provoking idea is one of many that Lissa shared with Hispanic PR Blog during an in-depth, one-hour webinar, co-sponsored by the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) and Noticias Newswire.
A lifelong PR practitioner and entrepreneur, Lissa has launched, grown, and sold several successful PR and marketing agencies or divisions since the 1990s, shortly after she emigrated to the U.S. These include RL Public Relations, Sportivo, Rox United, and Sensis Agency’s Amplification PR practice. Recognized by her colleagues as a visionary leader and great team builder, we caught up with the trailblazer as she pivots to a new career chapter with the January launch of Blue PR.
With her latest agency, Lissa is leveraging all of the relationships and lessons she cultivated in recent years. What wisdom can we glean from Lissa about PR leadership and the evolution of PR in this new world of social media marketing, influencer marketing, and integrated marketing?
Here are more inspiring lessons that Lissa shares in the webinar:
- In spite of disruptive new media platforms and the rise of influencers, PR as a discipline continues to flourish and will never go away.
- Hispanic PR leaders who want to grow their agencies should surround themselves with professionals that know more than them.
- Being a successful PR leader requires working on yourself, your own personal issues, and learning your own leadership style
Moderated by Noticias Newswire CEO and Hispanic PR Blog Co-Editor, Bill Gato, the webinar offers an opportunity to step into Lissa’s public relations journey and learn:
- The motivations behind Lissa’s decision to sell her long-standing PR firm, RL Public Relations, to United Collective in 2016, and her subsequent departure
- The challenges of merging a PR firm with an advertising agency and how to best prepare for such an opportunity
- The inherent difficulties of implementing a “Total Market Strategy”
- Keys to cultivating exceptional PR teams and fostering their growth
- The Argentinean perspective on successful marketing and PR practices
- The enduring power of PR when collaborating with TikTok influencers
- Lissa’s rekindled love for writing, reflected in her regular column posts on LinkedIn
- Lissa’s favorite PR campaigns over the years, along with cautionary tales illustrating how even well-researched campaigns can backfire
- Lissa’s profound views on the noble essence of public relations
To view the webinar, click here.
To read the full transcript, click here.
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