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

Our 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 strategy

2. The balance of art, science, and passion in effective strategic planning

3. Practical ways communicators can advocate for audiences at the strategy table

4. How messaging and strategy must stay in lockstep to maintain credibility and consistency across audiences

5. 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 Dunham

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About Amy Dunham

Amy 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 LinkedIn

Habitat for Humanity website

Fact Fullness by Hans Rosling

Crucial Conversations

Additional Resources: