The strategic role of public relations as seen through the discerning eyes of Maxime Chagnon
On November 16, 2023, the team welcomed Maxime Chagnon for an enriching lunch-and-learn session!
The team was privileged to welcome to its table Maxime Chagnon, a communications and public affairs expert with almost 20 years' experience in public affairs and more than eight years of experience as a journalist. He generously recounted his rich professional experience, and we discussed the role of communications as a highly strategic lever, particularly when it comes to managing an organization's reputation.
At the heart of our discussions was the PR professional's distinct ability to navigate the media landscape with ease and cultivate positive relationships with journalists. Maxime emphasized the PR professional's indispensable and strategic role between an organization and its audiences. Able to understand different environments and their specific realities, the public relations professional has the ability to quickly decipher diverse pieces of information to guide business decisions. A fine strategist and reputation guardian, he or she is able to anticipate potential crises in a constantly evolving ecosystem, but also to recognize and take advantage of every opportunity to enhance the positive image of his or her organization.
Our discussions with Maxime also highlighted a key requirement for a public relations role to be part of an organization's success: communications and public affairs experts must be part of the meetings leading up to major strategic decisions.
Their holistic vision of the organization and their in-depth understanding of current events and stakeholders enable them to proactively assess reputational risks and thus positively influence decision-making. This is an important strategic function for achieving the organization's objectives, particularly in a context of social acceptability.
Maxime also stressed the fundamental importance of cultivating bonds of trust within an organization. These strong relationships are the cornerstone of not only achieving the mission of the communicator's role, but also elevating the organization to new heights.
All in all, the entire team is very grateful to have shared this privileged moment with Maxime, and to have benefited from a rapid-fire session on the highly strategic field of public relations.
