Casacom is on a mission to make public relations an essential part of business with the launch of Casacademy, a professional development centre for c-suite executives, communications managers and company spokespeople.
“[Casacademy] will become the foundation of Casacom because it elevates our employees who become trainers in a more structured way and it elevates our clients,” said Marie-Josée Gagnon, CEO and founder of Casacom, which has offices in Toronto and Montreal.
The training sessions will use Casacom’s new trademarked Structural PR system, a set of methodologies and tools designed to integrate public relations firmly within business objectives and metrics. The system puts a company’s vision at the fore with its brand and relationships with target audiences. “We believe that vision, brand and relationships go hand in hand and forms the foundation of the structure of an organization,” said Gagnon.
Casacom also launched a manifesto that elevates the value of PR as an essential component of business. The overall goal of these three new initiatives is to help organizations and leaders adapt to change and transformation, according to the agency.
“We feel that in this world where everything is going fast and change is permanent, executive leaders are a little bit lost,” said Gagnon. “Sometimes they’re exhausted by the speed of information and the speed of change in communications… We’re saying to the CEO ‘Look how public relations—when it’s seen as all-encompassing—can help your business and sustain it.’”
Casacademy offers two- and three-day sessions with CEOs, who develop new or updated corporate visions. Sessions for communications managers include content development, digital communications, internal communications and public affairs. Casacademy also has sessions on public speaking and media relations.