PR for Executives and CEOs

Executive PR gets you, as a chief executive or senior leader, written about in the publications your board, investors, customers, peers and future employers read, and makes sure that coverage is what they find when they search your name. A PR agency for executives does this by developing your point of view, writing it to the publication's standard and managing the placement, so your public profile reflects how you actually lead.

This page explains what PR for executives involves, how it relates to media training, the stories that work, where we place senior leaders and how to choose an agency.

Why press works for executives

Senior leaders are searched constantly. A prospective client checks who runs the company. A candidate for a senior role looks up the person they would report to. A board weighing a successor, or a headhunter building a shortlist, reads what is public before anything else.

An executive with no profile leaves that impression to chance, usually a sparse professional profile and a line in an old company announcement. An executive with thoughtful coverage reads as someone with a view worth hearing.

Executive coverage also strengthens the company. Customers and partners often trust a business more when they can see the people leading it and understand how they think.

What an executive PR agency does

• Develops your point of view. Turns experience into a clear position on your industry, your discipline or leadership itself.
• Finds the examples. The decisions, turnarounds and hard calls that make that position credible, cleared with the company where needed.
• Writes it to the publication's standard. In your voice, measured and specific, without the corporate language that makes executive profiles unreadable.
• Places it. In business and leadership titles your peers and stakeholders read, managed through to a live link.
• Builds your search results. Several pieces over time, so a search for your name shows a consistent, current picture.

PR training for executives

Some leaders searching for executive PR are looking for media training: rehearsing interviews and handling difficult questions on camera. That is a specialist service, and we do not present ourselves as a training provider.

What we do helps in a related way. Working on a feature means sharpening your message, finding the examples that make it land and deciding what you will and will not say about your company. Many executives find that process makes them clearer in interviews, on panels and in front of their own teams. If you speak regularly, our page on PR for speakers covers that side.

The stories that work for executives

• Leadership through change: how you steered a company through a merger, a restructuring or a shift in strategy, and what you would do differently.
• The industry view: where your sector is heading and the assumption you think most leaders have wrong.
• The career path: the unusual route to the top and what it taught you about hiring and developing others.
• The operating philosophy: how you make decisions, run a leadership team or build culture across sites and countries.

If you lead a listed company or work in a regulated sector, coverage follows your company's own compliance rules, and your legal or compliance team signs off before publication.

Where we place executives

We work across business and leadership publications whose readers include senior leaders, boards and investors, including CEO Weekly, CEO World Biz, CEO Official Magazine, The Business Journals, US Business News, Yahoo Finance and MSN.

The mix depends on your goal, whether that is supporting the company, preparing for a board role or building a profile that outlasts your current position. We tell you where we are pitching and why before anything is written.

How to choose an executive PR agency

• Do they understand your constraints? Ask how they handle company approval, confidentiality and anything market-sensitive.
• Which publications, specifically? A vague answer usually means a vague result.
• Will it sound like me? Ask how they capture your voice, and confirm you approve every word before it goes live.
• What are they promising? Certainty about staff-written titles is a warning sign. Our guide on how to vet a PR agency explains what to check.

What executive PR costs

It depends on the publications, the number of features and over what period. We quote each executive individually rather than selling a fixed package. For a full picture of how agencies charge, see how much a PR agency costs.

How it works

Tell us about your role and where you want to be seen. We develop the angle, write the piece to the publication's standard and manage the placement. You review and revise until it is right, and nothing publishes without your approval. Leaders thinking beyond their current role may also want to read about PR for personal brands.

Frequently asked questions

What is PR for executives?

It is public relations focused on a senior leader rather than the company: developing your point of view, writing it in your voice and placing it in business titles, so a search for your name shows how you think and lead.

Do you offer PR training for executives?

We do not run formal media training. The work of developing a feature does sharpen your message, and many leaders find it helps in interviews and on stage.

Should a CEO's profile be separate from the company's?

They should support each other but not be identical. Company coverage explains the business, while executive coverage explains the judgement behind it and stays with you if you move on.