Every year around this time, as the Oscar winners are announced and everyone suddenly becomes a film critic for 48 hours, I’m reminded of something we don’t talk about enough (or talk about all the time, depending on what your job is): campaigns.

Super Bowl week pulls everyone in. Even people who do not watch football tune in for the spectacle of sports, branding, and entertainment. You would expect the teams that make the Super Bowl to be the NFL’s strongest brands. Yet one team has not appeared in a Super Bowl in 29 years and still holds the league’s highest valuation: the Dallas Cowboys.

Figma’s 2025 IPO was one of the clearest demonstrations in recent memory of how to run smart, strategic communications while in the spotlight. The company had every reason to play it safe. Just two years earlier, its $20 billion acquisition by Adobe collapsed under heavy regulatory pressure, an outcome that could have cast a long shadow over its future. But instead of pulling back, Figma leaned into the moment. They used the IPO to reshape their image, proving they were not defined by a failed deal but by their own business momentum, vision, and resilience. With over 150 articles and 60+ tier 1 reporters covering it over 4 months, Figma’s comms strategy is definitely something to write home about (or at least a blog post).

Every PR expert, no matter their background or experience, knows the routine: you get a brief about a product launch, an executive hire, or a strategic funding round. You draft an engaging press release, go through rounds of editing, and finally have a version you’re happy with. You set up a newswire (another outdated PR premise worth challenging), and hit “send.” To everyone. At once. Then, you wait and hope for the best.