On Top of PR with Jason Mudd

• Corporate Gifting Done Right with The Expressory’s CEO Jamie Shibley

  Send us a textIn this episode, Jamie Shibley, CEO of The Expressory joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how to strengthen relationships through thoughtful, strategic corporate gifting.Tune in to learn more!Meet Our Guest:Our episode guest is Jamie Shibley, CEO of The Expressory, a strategic engagement agency helping businesses strengthen relationships through thoughtful, relationship-first strategies. She’s a best-selling author and recognized expert in strategic gifting and relationship marketing, with insights featured on “Entertainment Tonight” and Forbes.com.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. Strategic and themed gift giving for internal and external audiences2. How to redefine “gifting” beyond presents3. The three emotional pillars that build strong business relationships4. Ethical considerations and best practices for corporate gifting programs5. Why systems and consistency are essential to meaningful engagement Quotables“To form a relationship with somebody, that person needs to feel three things. They need to feel that you understand them, they need to feel that you validate what's important in their world, and they need to feel that you care.” — Jamie Shibley“You recognize that it's not only the people that you already know and have some sort of relationship with. It's about nurturing the ones you want for the long term as well.” — Jamie Shibley“When your vendor partners feel valued and seen, they will work harder for you.” — Jamie Shibley“Sometimes a gift is your smarts. Sometimes a gift is just something that's simply helpful to someone so you don't have to spend. The budget does not matter.” — Jamie Shibley“We would be better off not sending a gift or not sending a note card to somebody if it has something that has a negative unintended consequence or ramifications.” — Jason MuddIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.More About Jamie ShibleyJamie Shibley is the CEO of The Expressory, a strategic engagement agency that believes the key to accelerating business growth and profitability in the post-COVID era lies in your ability to maintain personal connections and build emotional loyalty in your relationships. Jamie is the best-selling author of “Relationship-First Strategic Engagement” and is widely respected as a market leader. Her work has been featured on “Entertainment Tonight” and Forbes.com.Guest’s contact info and resources:Jamie Shibley on LinkedInThe Expressory website“Relationship-First Strategic Engagement” bookRecorded: June 23, 2025Support the show On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands. On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

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• Leveraging market insights to shape PR strategy with Habitat for Humanity’s Amy Dunham

  Send us a textOur Guest:Our episode guest is Amy Dunham, chief communications officer at Habitat for Humanity International. Overseeing the organization’s global brand, marketing, and communications strategy, she helps reach audiences across all 50 U.S. states and more than 70 countries. Amy is a seasoned communications leader passionate about using market insights to shape strategy and strengthen engagement worldwide.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. How to leverage market insights to shape and guide PR strategy2. The balance of art, science, and passion in effective strategic planning3. Practical ways communicators can advocate for audiences at the strategy table4. How messaging and strategy must stay in lockstep to maintain credibility and consistency across audiences5. How brand perception gaps create opportunities for stronger audience engagement Quotables“The human brain always absorbs things best in threes. And communications know if you’ve got 15 priorities, you have no priorities. When setting priorities, it has to be a clear way to say yes and to say no. If it doesn’t give you the ability to say no, then it’s not really helping you set a strategy.” — Amy Dunham“You can't have good communication or public relations strategy without messaging. They're in lockstep together.” — @JasonMudd9“To really stand out in PR, whatever you're doing, is to make sure you're saying things that are provocative, contrary, and have a unique point of view from what everybody else is saying because otherwise, you're just going to blend in and not stand out.” — @JasonMudd9“It's not a conversation about ‘I know better’ versus ‘you know better.’ It's much more about ‘Here's what the data indicates, and now here's the flexibility to be able to use it in the way that works best in your market.’” — Amy Dunham“It's really through the lens of ‘How can I add value in a way to enable their work?’ rather than to direct how things should get done.” — Amy DunhamIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.About Amy DunhamAmy leads Habitat for Humanity’s brand, marketing campaigns, and communications efforts across its global footprint in all 50 U.S. states and in more than 70 countries. Before joining Habitat in 2022, she held brand and communications roles at the NCAA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and US Airways.Guest’s contact info and resources:Amy (Kudwa) Dunham on LinkedInHabitat for Humanity websiteFact Fullness by Hans RoslingCrucial ConversationsAdditional Resources:Support the show On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands. On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

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• 96% of AI citations come from PR content

  Send us a textIn this solocast episode, On Top of PR host Jason Mudd discusses why 96% of AI citations come from PR content and how brands can lead with media relations in the age of AI.Tune in to learn more!Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. Why 96% of AI citations come from PR-driven content2. The six types of content AI trusts most for brand visibility3. How earned media, thought leadership, news coverage, and press releases shape AI search results4. Why reviews, social media, and web content boost generative discovery5. Seven steps to ensure your brand and not your competitors gets cited  Quotables“PR has become the front door to artificial-intelligence-powered discovery.” — @JasonMudd9“PR isn't just part of the marketing mix anymore. It's the backbone of your visibility in 2025, the age of AI.” — @JasonMudd9“AI is shaping first impressions of your brand, and PR determines what AI learns and repeats back to them.” — @JasonMudd9“When you combine earned PR content with the supporting signals, you're feeding AI the content it needs to cite your organization.” — @JasonMudd9“You must feed AI platforms the content they crave that's credible, quotable, and consistent.” — @JasonMudd9If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.About Jason Mudd, Axia Public RelationsJason Mudd is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America’s most admired brands. Since 1994, he’s worked with brands including American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon. Jason founded Axia Public Relations in 2002. Forbes named Axia one of America’s Best PR Agencies. At Axia, Jason oversees strategic communications for national clients and leads top PR talent. Clients love his passion, innovation, candor, commitment, and award-winning team. He consults with leadership teams at billion-dollar global business-to-business and business-to-consumer brands, advising them on spokesperson training, crisis communications, analytics, social media, online reputation management, and more. In an increasingly tech-forward world, Jason’s grasp of the technological demands companies face helps his multiple-sector clients reach their target audiences. After teaching himself HTML in 1994, Jason helped pioneer internet marketing strategies as an early adopter of e-commerce, search engine optimization, and social media, inspiring tech giants like Yahoo. He speaks to corporations and industry groups and writes about PR trends and best practices for American City Business Journals and other national outlets.Contact info and resources:Axia AI VisibilitySupport the show On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands. On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

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• Rethinking press releases with the rise of AI

  Send us a textIn this episode, Serena Ehrlich joins On Top of PR host Jason Mudd to discuss how AI-powered search engines take data from press releases, and how they decide on what to show their users.Tune in to learn more!Our Guest:Our episode guest is Serena Ehrlich. She’s the go-to-market director at Notified, the parent company of GlobeNewswire, which provides global press release distribution services.Serena helps spread the “good word” of up-to-date, evolving PR strategies to help PR pros navigate an ever-shifting landscape.Five things you’ll learn from this episode:1. How AI ingests press releases and what sticks 2. How the rise of AI-powered search engines parallels the rise of traditional search engines like Google3. Who actually reads press releases and why they’re the most important to your business4. The current and future impact of fake press releases5. How to build a quality press release that will reach your intended audience Quotables@4:20 — “When somebody says a press release doesn’t work, the very first thing I think of is, ‘Oh, you don’t know what it’s supposed to do.’” – Serena Ehrlich@13:33 — “Search, social, and AI.” – Serena Ehrlich@22:21 — “If it’s as easy as you and me releasing a press release and having that impact AI, look at the opportunity.” – Serena Ehrlich@25:35 — “I love you guys, but your press releases are terrible.” – Serena Ehrlich@ - “People read in an F pattern. If you don't have images, you’ve lost them” – Serena EhrlichIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.About Serena EhrlichSerena Ehrlich is a veteran professional in the fields of investor relations, public relations, and marketing. She currently serves as the director of product marketing at Business Wire. Over more than 25 years, she has become a trusted authority on emerging communication technologies and strategies, helping guide organizations through evolving trends in media and consumer behavior. Her deep-rooted experience began in advertising, where she honed her understanding of large-scale branding before continuing through two decades in the newswire industry. She has driven successful local, national, and global campaigns for major brands such as Kraft, Kohl’s, Avon, Mattel, and more.Serena transitioned into a strategic go-to-market and social media leadership role, currently serving as the go-to-market director at Notified. Known for her dynamic approach to modern media, she blends content creation, data insights, and format innovation to drive education, advocacy, and revenue. Her philosophy encapsulates this approach: Data + Content + Format = Education + Evangelists + Revenues. A recognized thought leader in the industry, she was named one of the Top 25 Women in Mobile to Watch in 2013 and continues to leverage her prSupport the show On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands. On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

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• How earned media is fueling PR’s resurgence in the generative AI search era

  Send us a textIn this episode of On Top of PR with Jason Mudd, we welcome Matt Dzugan, senior director of data at Muck Rack, to unpack the findings from Muck Rack’s new report, “What Is AI Reading?” Together, they explore how generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini rely heavily on earned media coverage — especially journalistic content — to shape their responses. Learn why timely, credible PR coverage is more important than ever, how to optimize your brand visibility in AI-driven search, and what PR pros need to do now to stay relevant.Tune in to learn more!Our Guest:Our episode guest is Matt Dzugan, senior director of data at Muck Rack. As a software engineer, he contributes to building tools that help journalists and PR professionals collaborate more effectively. With a strong background in full-stack development, he focuses on creating scalable, user-friendly solutions in the media tech space.Five things you’ll learn from this episode: 1. How generative search engines source answers from earned media coverage2.  How best to influence AI-generated answers in your brand's favor 3. Why credibility is crucial to consumers and generative AI models 4. How much AI will rely on legacy media going forward 5. The importance of earned media and how to use itQuotables“We’re building tools that PR pros actually use and value every day.” — @mattdzugan“Better media outreach starts with better journalist insights.” — @JasonMudd9“PR is evolving fast. You need the right tools to keep up.” — @mattdzugan“Good PR tech doesn’t replace relationships — it enhances them.” — @mattdzuganIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a professional colleague or friend. You may also share your experience with others, buy me a coffee, or leaving us a quick podcast review.About Matt DzuganMatt Dzugan is a senior software engineer at Muck Rack, where he helps develop tools that empower journalists and PR professionals to collaborate more effectively. With a background in full-stack development, he brings a thoughtful, systems-oriented approach to building reliable, scalable software that meets the media industry’s evolving needs. His work spans from backend architecture to user-facing features, all designed to enhance the transparency, speed, and efficiency of media workflows.Beyond writing clean, maintainable code, Matt is known for his collaborative mindset and dedication to continuous improvement. He actively engages with cross-functional teams to ensure that engineering decisions align with product goals, and he’s always looking for ways to optimize performance and user experience. At Muck Rack, Matt plays a key role in helping the company scale its platform to support a growing user base while staying true to its mission of supporting a free and sustainable press.Guest’s contact info and resources:Matt Dzugan on X (@mattdzugan)Support the show On Top of PR is produced by Axia Public Relations, named by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies. Axia is an expert PR firm for national brands. On Top of PR is sponsored by ReviewMaxer, the platform for monitoring, improving, and promoting online customer reviews.

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