Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard)

In this episode of Lenny's podcast, Lenny interviews Lulu Mazervi, the EVP of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer at Activision Blizzard. They dive deep into how to effectively spread ideas and engage audiences through strategic communication in a competitive landscape. Lulu emphasizes the importance of understanding your audience's cultural erogenous zones—what they care about—and aligning your messaging with their passions to make ideas memorable and shareable.

Lulu provides practical strategies for crafting compelling stories and messages that resonate, using analogies and anecdotes to ensure clarity and memorability. They discuss real-world examples like 'binders of women' from political discourse and how phrases like 'move fast and break things' can become impactful rallying cries if phrased memorably.

The conversation transitions to the necessity of taking risks in communications, especially for startups that challenge the status quo, encouraging leaders to make mistakes of commission rather than omission. Lulu explains how undifferentiated and faceless corporate messaging fails to resonate and advocates for creating personal channels that authentically engage audiences. This discussion leads to the idea of building a direct line of communication—whether that’s through social media or other forms—culminating in a framework for founders to follow as they grow their businesses.

Through various frameworks and examples, they explore how to efficiently build an audience and craft messages that will not only spread but also fundamentally connect with those that matter most. The episode wraps up with practical steps for founders to build their brands and share valuable lessons on effective communication in the digital age.