Business leaders with the best PR skills

Being the head of a company is more than just about being a leader and making sound business decisions. You are the face of the company’s brand and often seen as the personification of the corporation.

If something goes wrong, you’re the first one that comes to mind, and people look to you for explanations and solutions. So it only makes sense that business leaders have a great personal brand and the PR skills to match. Here’s my list of the top 5 business leaders who have proven to be PR mavens, and what makes them so popular.

[The writer is Chris Reed, who is speaking at Marketing magazine’s 3rd annual PR Asia 2015 conference, happening 26-27 November in Singapore.]

Sir Richard Branson

Founder of Virgin Group, it’s no surprise that Richard Branson is on this list. Businessman, investor and philanthropist, he’s known as the man that “walks the talk”. If he makes a bet and loses, he carries it through, and if he believes in a cause or charity, you can be sure he’s up front and centre, donating almost half his fortune to it.

But he’s not just all fun and personable; he’s known for his leadership too. Virgin’s success and profit margins aside, his LinkedIn profile has amassed 8.3 million followers. His page is peppered with podcasts, leadership quotes, his ethos in regards to work, creativity and more, all of which people somehow find relatable and insightful. Let’s not forget, he’s also literally reached for the stars with Virgin Galactic, and bounced back like zero gravity despite his rocket dreams seemingly crashing and burning.

Branson’s PR profile strength is in showing that you can be both a likable person and still have your opinions taken seriously as an industry leader, despite putting on a dress and makeup for the world to see. With over 400 companies under the Virgin Group and almost no signs of slowing down, Sir Richard Branson’s business bravado has garnered him business rock star status.

Get into his headspace and follow his LinkedIn blogs here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbranson

James Caan CBE

Entrepreneur and investor James Caan is probably best known for his TV appearance as an investor on the hugely popular BBC show – Dragon’s Den (UK version). Similar to the US’ Shark Tank premise – where people pitch business ideas to receive funding – Caan played a Dragon, which inspired him to write “How to Pitch to a Dragon.” But don’t be fooled by this 'Dragon'; his charity work has seen him working closely with the charity Children in Need. Through this, they filmed a youth version of Dragon’s Den.

Caan made his mark as a serial investor, as he truly believes in helping to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit, and is always on the lookout to help SMEs, charities and the “next big thing.” From hosting CNBC’s “Business Class,” to launching the “James Caan Business Secrets” mobile app and the “Start Up Loans” Initiative, the man really knows how to put money where his mouth is. And of course, as a serial entrepreneur, he’s also known for his many recruitment portals and brands, such as Alexander Maan (since sold) and HBRIDA.

His PR accolades include being a LinkedIn Influencer, with over 2.38 million followers, making him the 7th most followed profile on LinkedIn. He’s even surpassed U.S. President Barack Obama (by about 400,000). He also joins the likes of Steve Jobs as a fellow “ne'er-do-well” in school.

Check out his blogs and for tips on growing your business, leadership advice and career advice: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescaan

Arne Sorenson

The President and CEO of Marriott International, Arne Sorenson is the first non-Marriott to head the hotel empire, which comprises of 4,087 properties in over 80 countries and territories globally. And it’s safe to say that several of these are thanks to Sorenson, who, over the past 3 years of his career, managed to raise the company’s stock and add tens of thousands of rooms worldwide annually, putting it on pace to pass 1 million rooms open in 2015.

It’s no wonder that Sorenson managed to break through a “family-owned-and-run” empire, when Bill Marriott (son of the company’s founder) offered him the job. As the head of a known name in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, you can be rest assured that his PR skills are on-point – his blogs on LinkedIn attest to that. He is the only one among his peers that is actively churning content – both videos and blogs – thus making himself available to people, which is fairly unique for a person in his position.

Follow Sorenson and read his blogs here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnesorenson

Arianna Huffington

Of course, no list would be complete without some strong female players, and to say that Arianna Huffington - co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post - is a power player, is an understatement. A frequent Forbes-lister, her accolades range from ranking 12th in Forbes' 'Most Influential Women in Media' list in 2009 and 52nd in Forbes' ranking of 'Most Powerful Women in the World' in 2014.

Other than a plagiarism scuffle decades ago, Arianna has yet to step one foot out of place. This is a tall order given her industry, showing that her PR game is most definitely beyond reproach. Clearly as a great content creator, curator and storyteller, she is on every social media platform that’s worth following, such as Instagram (92.4K followers), Facebook (1.34 million followers), and Twitter (2.11 million followers). But her largest following is on LinkedIn; naturally, she, too, is a LinkedIn Influencer, with over 3.5 million followers - more than James Caan CBE.

Nobody knows better than Huffington the importance of reach, cross sharing, and driving traffic across all platforms, which why despite having the Huffington Post, she is also actively blogging on LinkedIn.

Follow the media maven and read her writing here: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/arianna-huffington/40/158/aa7

Elizabeth Holmes

Yet another college dropout (proof again you don’t need a degree to be brilliant), this medical genius is the youngest female billionaire at age 30. Her company, Theranos, revolutionised the blood testing industry. Goodbye vials of blood and needles – with Theranos’ new testing methods, a pin prick for a single drop of blood can yield tons of health information, and far more quickly too.

While she doesn’t have a personal profile up on LinkedIn, Theranos’ company page does a good job of branding and bringing forth the company’s ethos of innovation, and providing affordable, efficient healthcare. In her words, “We’re successful if person by person we help make a difference in (people's) lives. Our purpose is to give people access to the basic right of being (blood) tested when they need to or want to. If we can do that, then we will have made a difference.”

So why is Elizabeth on this list? Because she’s proof that sometimes good PR is not all about broadcasting far and wide. As an extremely private person, she shows that quality versus quantity is just as effective in building a huge brand quietly, while still causing disruption in the medical arena. Follow Theranos’ company page here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/30702

She’s not the only one who values her privacy; other leaders such as Marissa Meyer (Yahoo), Cheryl Sandberg (Facebook) and Sundar Pichai (Google) have also “sworn off” some forms of social media. For example, you’d think that they’d at least have a decent LinkedIn page as professionals, but their number of followers and posts are negligible.

And there you have it – 5 Top CEOs who show what good PR and personal branding can do for you. There are several others who deserve to be on this list as well, but to include all of them would require an entire volume on its own. That said, how are you harnessing the power of good PR to bolster your own (and your company’s) brand?

The writer is Chris Reed, global CEO & Founder for Black Marketing.

Hear more from Reed at Marketing magazine’s 3rd annual PR Asia 2015 conference, happening 26-27 November in Singapore.

To book your seats for the conference contact Carlo Reston at carlor@marketing-interactive.com or +65 6423 0329, +65 9727 0291

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