Q&A with Center board member Ellyn Fisher

By Cerrena Lewis, Page Center intern

Page Center advisory board member Ellyn Fisher is the senior vice president of marketing and communications at the Ad Council. She works to promote the organization and its more than 30 national public service communications programs to key audiences, such as the public and industry stakeholders across the communications and marketing industry. Fisher has more than 20 years of experience in public relations and expertise in media relations, influencer engagement, content development and marketing, strategic partnerships, and brand positioning. She is a graduate of Penn State, and she received the university’s Alumni Achievement Award in 2012. Fisher has served on many boards including Penn State’s Communications and Marketing Committee. She joined the Page Center advisory board in 2016. I chatted with Fisher about her career in the communications industry and why ethics continues to be a significant factor for successful public relations.

What interested you about working in communications? What qualities do you credit for your success?

I started at the Ad Council six weeks before 9/11. It was rewarding to go to work at a place where you could share messages and resources that helped people heal following the tragedies.I love telling stories that move people. I love telling stories that motivate change. Public relations provides us with the opportunities to use different channels, both offline and online, to share human interest stories whether in news or social media through trusted sources. There’s never been a better time for social causes and purpose-driven marketing.

Why (and how) do you think Ad Council has stayed relevant? What work is being done at the Ad Council to integrate the changes happening in our world?

What’s made us stay relevant is how we’ve evolved the ways we communicate and engage with our audiences. We partner with the best of the best in the communications industry to reach people. We develop culturally relevant programs to reach specific audiences.

The Ad Council has remained relevant over its 80-year history due to constantly evolving research disciplines and tapping into the latest innovations and tools in communications. We do research at every stage during the development, optimization and evaluation of our campaigns, including continuous tracking studies with our target audiences to make sure the messages and content are resonating. We’re also using AI technology and other methods to optimize in real-time. We have a strong strategy and evaluation team internally, then we partner with research partners and vendors externally. Every approach is customized to who we're trying to reach and what we're trying to communicate.

We’re also communicating our messages through newer technologies, like Amazon’s Alexa skills for people to learn about opioid abuse, food waste and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Why do you think integrity in public relations and communications are important What role does integrity have at the company level versus the individual level? Has communicating with integrity changed your overall career? If so, how?

Integrity is at the heart of everything we do. In terms of communications today there is so much misinformation out there and our role as communicators is to tell the full truth, to tell the whole story, whether you're in public relations or journalism. As you know, if you don't, not only do you risk credibility but it's just not the right thing to do. Integrity plays a role every day in our lives as communicators. Integrity couldn't be more important in what we do across my organization, not just in the marketing and communications department, but how we look at developing our campaigns, how we look at our public relations strategy, and how we look at content and choosing the most relevant trusted messengers (or “influencers”) to communicate our messages. So, we have a lot of checks and balances to make sure that we are really being true.

Do ethics and integrity concepts appear every day in your job? Is it something you talk about with employees?

Ethics and integrity are very closely intertwined. The research part is so important. Doing our homework and knowing that we're speaking to our audience the right way is a way for us to build trust. Ethics and integrity are a part of everything we do across the organization. How we communicate internally and externally with our partners is a part of developing our staff culture. The Ad Council is at the intersection of so many different industries. I think we need to bring this kind of integrity to every relationship, every partnership and every activation to make sure we're putting the cause first. Everything is for the cause. It's not about any single partner. It's about what's the right thing for the cause and what's the right thing for the audience to get that message. We also have to make sure our messages resonate in the cultural context so we’re constantly doing social listening and looking at the environment to make sure it’s the right message at the right time.

How do you think the Ad Council prepares to navigate the constant changes of social media?

Some of our partners and our board of directors are the heads of marketing for all different kinds of companies and platforms across the industry. They kind of keep us aware of the latest technologies, products, ways to communicate messages, and they give us significant donated media and donated talent. We’re always at the forefront of the latest technologies in communicating our messages thanks to our extraordinary partners in the marketing, media and technology spaces.

What advice do you have for young professionals?

I always tell young professionals to go with your heart and trust your instincts. I didn't know what I wanted to do after college. I was a journalism major who was very indecisive, and one job led me to the next, and I learned something valuable from every job before my current role at the Ad Council. It's OK not to know and it's also OK to make a change if you don't know. It's OK not to have it all figured out, but I would say, develop your relationships with alumni and with others. I would say, don't be afraid to reach out to a company, a social media company, or a platform that you're interested in, to schedule an informational interview or just learn more. Don't just focus on job descriptions that you see posted. Build your network. Do your homework and get all the education you can on the company and investigate. Keep using the skills of the platforms that you want to work at and stay up to date on what they’re up to. It’s important to have hands-on experience, do a lot of internships, and remember to keep your relationships going.