Emily Hallie, Communications Director at Condé Nast Britain Industry Talk
The Condé Nast College was delighted to welcome Communications Director of Condé Nast Britain, Emily Hallie for a dynamic industry talk this February via our virtual lecture theatre.
About Emily Hallie
Emily oversees the Press Office and communications for Condé Britain across all 12 titles; Vogue, GQ, GQ Style, Vanity Fair, LOVE, Tatler, Wired, Condé Nast Traveller, Glamour, House & Garden and World of Interiors.
Originally from Minnesota, USA, Emily joined Condé Nast from beverage brand Diageo, where she was a member of the global communications team. Prior to this, she worked in global media relations at Unilever and multinational SABMiller – admitting that she really gained a lot of PR experience in the former role and learned the importance of global communications at the latter.
Emily’s intention is to highlight the global brand portfolio through excellent storytelling and high impact communications activities. Emily has a proven track record of developing and executing global communications and media relations across FTSE consumer goods brands, including Diageo where she led campaigns across key markets and brand categories, aptly preparing her for her role at Condé Nast, where she joined in 2018.
Emily Hallie Industry Talk
Joining Condé Nast at a time of change for the publications with various new editors and strategies in place, Emily had to quickly understand all 12 magazine brands and their various personalities and profiles.
Emily’s job entails overseeing all the PR and communications around each brand and carefully managing their public persona – as well as working on around 120 events across all the brands.
During Emily Hallie’s industry talk, she gave a fantastic run down of a typical day, and touched on the functions of various jobs within the communications department. She admits that there have been difficulties spinning positive stories at a time when there are so many challenges going on in the world.
“The agility and the innovation that the media industry has had to go through to communicate positively with audiences will only make us stronger in the post-pandemic world we’re going to be in.”
Emily spoke passionately about her busy role, and how navigating tasks such as managing interviews with Condé Nast editors and the press has now moved into the more informal setting of Zoom – bringing its own set of hurdles, and how alien it has felt having previously been meeting with journalists in person, on a weekly basis.
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24/7 Communication
Alongside the digitised communication of running the day to day, Emily spoke about the supersonic nature of how quickly PR crises unfold in a virtual world and how she has to be prepared to react at any time of day or night if trouble starts unfolding on social media. Noting how important it is for businesses to communicate in a considered way and recalling the media frenzy around movements such as #metoo and #blacklivesmatter.
“It’s becoming more vital for organisations and businesses to communicate and communicate well.” Emily Hallie, Industry Talk
Quizzed by one of the Conde Nast College students on just what it’s like overseeing 12 world renowned brands, Emily explained, “It’s like having 12 kids that all want your attention at the same time” and how she has to work out – much like with a baby – whether you need to react now, or let things play out, admitting that she struggled to sleep when she first started the role for fear of missing anything in the press or on social media relating to the brands.
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Getting the conversation right…
When quizzed about the importance of diversity and inclusion across the organisation’s communications, Emily commended British Vogue’s Edward Enninful and Vanessa Kingori on leading the charge when it comes to opening up the important conversations to be had, and putting these into mainstream media.
Emily also mentioned how content strategy is approached in a way where how age, race, gender and more are represented is now the starting point – rather than traditional column inch driven coverage.
Key takeaways from the Emily Hallie Industry Talk
- Communications will continue to evolve – so keep an eye on what is going on, download the latest apps and how they work.
- Be curious, agile and open to new platforms.
- Passion, energy and goodwill will get you far
- Transparency in communications is important and not something to be ignored
- You must be sensitive to the external environment
Emily’s talk was inspiring and informative giving the Condé Nast College students a fantastic insight into the world of PR and communications.\
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