This episode features Greg who is an accomplished marketing professional with years of experience in the industry. He shares his insights on the intersection of marketing, communication, and education and emphasizes the importance of using data to tell compelling stories that inform people about critical issues.

Introduction

I’m Greg Hedgpeth, currently serving as the Director of Marketing and Communications for North Carolina State University’s graduate school programs. My journey in the field of marketing, communications, and public relations has been full of twists, turns, ups, downs, challenges, and successes. I’ve spent the past 15.5 years working in higher education, starting in the UNC North Carolina system, and later becoming the Chief Communications Officer for Student Affairs Enrollment Management at Florida Atlantic University in South Florida.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to explore various creative roles such as photography, videography, web development, and journalism. I’ve also worked on crisis communications from a local government perspective and have been involved in public-private partnerships. Currently, I also run my own PR marketing and communications firm and am a certified digital marketing professional.

I call myself a “competitive learner” because I’m always eager to learn and grow in my field. I find working in the higher education space to be particularly rewarding and continue to be passionate about it after all these years.

First Interaction with Data

When I think about the role of data in public relations and communications, it’s clear that it’s all around us. We use data to justify ad-spend, create proposals to influence decisions, and allocate resources. My first experience working with data was when I had to create a proposal to start a marketing and communications team for the Division of Student Affairs at a public university. We had to use data and metrics to justify the need for such a team and to secure resources for salaries and equipment. Even after we developed the team, we continued to use data to demonstrate its impact and justify its ongoing existence.

This experience taught me the importance of using data to support our work in PR and communications, not just from a consumer perspective, but also from an internal perspective. By understanding the priorities of the university and creating data points that supported those priorities, we were able to make a strong case for our work and demonstrate its value. Overall, this experience was a crucial introduction to the power of data in our field, and it has informed my approach to PR and communications ever since.

Favourite Campaign

I have a lot of experience working with data and one of the highlights of my career was when I was the Director of Marketing, Communications, and Technology for the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at Florida Atlantic University. One of the tasks given to us was to prove the impact of the division and what it was doing to improve student life and retention on campus. Being a data champion, I was excited to take on this challenge and work with our assessment unit to create the first-ever digital assessment showcase.

We collected data from 32 different departments, offices, and colleges at the university and created a digital data showcase with infographics, animations, and unique storytelling for each department. We even rented out the student center and set up 50 to 75 inch televisions throughout the room with a strategic map for viewers to navigate. We had a lot of data to work with, from campus ranking wellness to counseling services, but we were able to make it less boring and more engaging through data visualization and storytelling.

The showcase was a hit and we were able to showcase the work and impact of the division of student affairs and enrollment management to our president and vice president. We were able to take data and turn it into a user experience that took viewers on a journey through the different departments and showcased the work that so many staff members were doing to help students throughout their academic journey. This experience taught me a lot about the power of data visualization and how it can be used to not only support the need for further investment in certain units but also to champion the work that staff members are doing to help students succeed.

Data as solution in PR & Comms life

I wear many hats in my professional life. Besides my work in higher education marketing and communications, I am also the president and CEO of my own communications, marketing, and public relations firm. I mainly work with small businesses, particularly those that are minority-owned and located in rural eastern parts of North Carolina.

Through my firm, I have had the opportunity to champion the eradication of chronic disease in rural black communities across North Carolina. This issue is close to my heart, and I am passionate about the role of healthy food in combating this problem. I was even able to attend the historic White House Conference on Hunger Nutrition and Health, thanks to my work with a particular organization that focuses on this issue.

Data has played a significant role in our efforts to address this issue. When I first joined the organization as its marketing and communications consultant, I conducted extensive research to better understand the market and the need for our services. We looked at factors such as brand awareness, qualitative and quantitative feedback, socio-economic status, food deserts, and more.

Using the data we collected and additional research, we were able to identify significant gaps that needed to be addressed, such as access to healthy foods and knowledge gaps related to healthy eating habits. This information helped us to create the narratives and tone we needed to communicate the urgency of this issue effectively.

I believe that data plays a crucial role in public relations, marketing, and communications, especially when it comes to subject matter that requires urgent attention. It’s not just about metrics like social media engagement and website traffic, but about using data to tell compelling stories and inform people about critical issues.

Through our work, the organization I worked with became the go-to resource for addressing chronic illnesses and promoting equitable food systems in black communities in rural eastern North Carolina. We were proud of our accomplishments, but we also recognize that there is still much work to be done.

As a professor and adjunct professor, I often tell my students that communication is powerful, and the way we communicate can shape how people understand and respond to important issues. We need to understand the power of communications and use it to make positive changes in the world.

Future of PR and Communications

As I mentioned earlier, I always use an example in my mass communications courses to emphasize the importance of staying informed. I ask my students to tell me the next big thing, and if it hasn’t yet been communicated, then they simply don’t know about it. In today’s world of misinformation, having trusted resources for marketing and communications is crucial.

When I think about my public relations marketing communications firm, we often go into rural and Black and brown communities in North Carolina as a trusted resource for information. We understand the importance of being a trusted source, especially in communities that may have been underserved in the past. We go where our audience is and show up in their spaces, making our role in marketing and communications even more vital.

The amount of money being invested in social media, digital advertising, and marketing is staggering, and it speaks volumes about where organizations place their values. It’s important to follow the money and understand where resources are being spent. That’s where public relations, marketing, and communications come into play. We help organizations communicate their products, services, and research in a way that resonates with their target audience. Whether we need to condense complex information into bite-sized pieces or identify the right market for a product or service, our role is critical in ensuring that organizations continue to thrive.

My two cents

As a marketing communications professional, I believe that understanding the “why” is crucial in both personal and organizational communication. Knowing your own purpose and reason for what you do is essential in effectively communicating that to others, as well as understanding the “why” of the organizations you work with. In today’s saturated market, it is not enough to focus on the “how” and the “what”, but rather, the “why” is what connects people and creates meaningful relationships that lead to loyalty. Therefore, my two cents of advice would be to always start with understanding your own “why” before trying to communicate it to others, and to place a greater emphasis on communicating the “why” in marketing and communication efforts.