Navigating comms and PR with Lulu Cheng (Substack, Activision Blizzard)

Lulu Cheng (comms lead @ Substack, Activision Blizzard) believes the foundation for communicating as an up-and-coming company is to identify the cultural erogenous zones of your audience. This should be a phrase that’s resonating with a something the audience deeply cares about. In the case of Substack it was freedom of expression. For the phrase to work it should be:

• short
• catchy
• memorable

Examples: Mark Andreesen’s “It’s time to build”, Trump’s “Make America Great Again”.

The company’s message can not be broadcasted. It needs to spread from in concentric circles:

• It starts with the founders and the employees. They have to be excited about it
• The message should spread to the power users who are gonna share it with their base

For Substack the power users were the early writers (like Lenny) who were passionate about the platform.