In an exclusive conversation with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Janine Allen, President of Kaiser & Partners, sheds light on the evolving landscape of marketing and communications. With over two decades of experience, Janine delves into the transformative impact of disruptive technologies like AI, the importance of fostering inclusive storytelling, and how small businesses can adapt to the unpredictable media and social media environment.
Janine shares her expertise on building diversified brand voices, navigating ethical challenges in AI-driven strategies, and ensuring narratives respect lived experiences while achieving strategic goals. As a recognized leader in the PR industry, her insights offer a roadmap for small businesses to stay agile and authentic in today’s competitive and rapidly changing market.
Janine Allen is a seasoned senior communications advisor for clients across all the agency’s industry sectors. As president, she also oversees and has responsibility for the overall operations and strategic direction for the agency.
Janine specializes in developing communications programs and platforms that enhance visibility and transform relationships with key media, stakeholders and influencers, aligning with and advancing corporate business goals. Before joining Kaiser & Partners, Janine served as senior director of marketing at a national retailer where she managed brand marketing and communications activities for the organization. Earlier in her career, she held the position of vice president at a global communications agency where her clients benefited from her extensive experience in change and issues management, stakeholder, media, employee and investor communications, marketing communications and social media.
Janine holds a postgraduate degree in public relations from Humber College and an honours Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Queen’s University. She also holds her Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is currently serving as past president of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS). In 2017, CPRS honoured her with the award for PR Practitioner of the Year, and in 2024, the Lois Marsh Award.
How have disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, shaped and transformed the marketing and communications industries, and what impact do they have on the diversification of voices?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged not simply to add to, but to revolutionize the way we work. Its profound impact has compelled various industries to adapt and evolve in response to its disruptive nature. In the marketing and communications industries AI is enabling more personalized, efficient, and data-driven strategies that are transforming consumer engagement. This innovation has significantly influenced several key areas:
- Streamlining content creation: Generative AI tools can provide first drafts of content, which can be used for proactive and reactive social media, which could allow teams to add more value due to more time to focus on more strategic activities.
- Personalization at scale: AI helps to develop increasingly personalized content and more targeted marketing and PR. When used appropriately, it can enhance and improve the relevance of messages to diverse audiences.
- Data-driven insights: AI tools can help marketers and communication professionals digest and understand large datasets to identify emerging trends and preferences, which can help us better understand certain demographics.
The ease of access to AI has made content creation more accessible, possibly resulting in a broader range of voices and perspectives represented.It’s important to note algorithms can inadvertently perpetuate biases if not carefully managed, limiting the opportunity for marginalized voices to be fairly represented. Ethical AI design is crucial to mitigate these risks and ensure inclusivity in both content and representation.
What does it mean to build a diversified voice or brand in today’s evolving media landscape, and how do you approach this challenge at Kaiser & Partners?
Building a diversified voice means genuinely and authentically incorporating a variety of perspectives and experiences in brand communications. This doesn’t happen automatically – it requires intentional efforts. At Kaiser & Partners (K&P), this process begins at the strategic development stage: involving individuals with a range of cultural and social perspectives helps us to incorporate various cultural, social, and demographic viewpoints to resonate with a broad audience.
We also make it a point to engage with diverse stakeholders, like community members, business leaders or experts who have a direct interest in or are impacted by the initiative.
Simultaneously, we’re very conscious of avoiding anything that might feel inauthentic or like tokenism. It takes a long-term commitment to continuous learning and openness to feedback. Sometimes, being truly receptive to feedback means adjusting the strategy as you go. Perspectives evolve, and your approach must change with them.
Can you share how your experience as a small business leader in the PR industry has changed while navigating the unpredictable media and social media landscape, particularly in fostering inclusive storytelling?
As a small business, there is more pressure to react and adapt quickly. At K&P, our agility allows us to respond to changes in the media landscape or emerging trends faster than large organizations in a highly competitive market and helps us guide our clients effectively.
Adaptability has been critical as the industry has shifted from tradition print to consuming news online. Within the last decade, there were reporters who worked on just one story a day, with a late afternoon deadline for the next morning’s paper. Today, the digital news environment requires so much more from the media – stories can be filed and changed repeatedly with new or updated information. We need to recognize these pressures and adapt our approach to support their work, not create more of it.
The rise of social media has similarly made it a necessity to master digital tools and analytics to monitor the effectiveness of programs and public sentiment. In an ever-changing media environment and a race to be first to publish a story, there can be desire to take commentary or interview subject that is nearest and quickest. However, it’s important to remain intentional about fostering inclusivity in our stories, ensuring we’re amplifying diverse voices and perspectives. By cultivating a broad range of diverse spokespeople, we can position ourselves as a valuable resource for content creators and media alike.
When framing diverse narratives, how do you ensure that the messaging respects individual lived experiences while still meeting the strategic goals of your clients?
It starts with building strong client relationships. Our clients understand the importance of inclusion and choose to work with us because we share these values.
We begin with research and engagement – soliciting input and ideas from people of diverse backgrounds to ensure the messaging accurately reflects their lived experiences. We’re transparent about our program objectives to create a mutual understanding of how the information will be used, helping us not to exploit or misrepresent communities.
When crafting these stories, our goal is to avoid stereotypes or assumptions. If data is involved, we carefully examine the process to identify potential biases and ensure that assumptions aren’t influencing the interpretation of results. Additionally, we incorporate a review and feedback process with our stakeholders to confirm that the narrative is both respectful and comprehensive.
How do you see the small business marketing and communications industry evolving in the next few years, and how are you positioning your firm to adapt to these changes?
As the media landscape evolves, there will be new opportunities to deliver personalized and targeted communications through regional, niche or special-interest channels and platforms, allowing us to connect to influential audiences with more certainty. However, with these opportunities comes the responsibility to engage responsibly and amplify diverse voices. Our role will be to closely monitor emerging trends and audience needs, responding not only creatively but also with innovation to stay ahead of the curve.
