Matt Groch

SVP & Senior Partner, TRUE Global Intelligence
FleishmanHillard

Chicago, IL

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“Ideas and concepts are great but won’t typically have any impact on organisations unless there’s a concerted effort to bring a vision to life in practical terms."

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Groundbreaking work is hard work, but by all accounts, Matt Groch makes it possible. Described as a natural-born innovator and a relentless visionary and creator, he leads FleishmanHillard’s global analytics and research practice TRUE Global Intelligence. This overhauled data and analytics tool stack was rolled out by Omnicom and with Groch at the helm, FleishmanHillard decided to go beyond face value and find ways to maximise the stack's potential. Essentially Groch focuses on innovating within innovations, whilst putting data at the centre of the client experience value proposition. Today, tool stack utilisation across the agency’s global network is 2.6 times what it was before Groch and his team got to work. 

He describes one of his most innovative moments coming when he had an opportunity to collaborate with some of FleishmanHillard’s SMEs on a framework to help companies and brands navigate the volatile landscape of societal issues. By applying methods picked up during a brief stint working in finance, to the ebbs and flows of storylines, the resulting capability provided a means for communicators to evaluate how immediate a given issue was, to help them prioritise their limited time and resources. 

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How do you define innovation?
I like the aphorism of 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Ideas and concepts are great but won't typically have any impact on organizations unless there's a concerted effort to bring a vision to life in practical terms.

What is the most innovative PR or marketing initiative you've seen over the past 12 months?
It's still early days but efforts to leverage the AdTech ecosystem for high-precision insight into the specific earned content/messaging that audiences are actually consuming and how that content/messaging is influencing opinions is the cutting edge. One day, this capability will mature to the point where brands will be able to conduct AI-moderated experiments that optimize content-channel strategies in real-time for maximum impact.

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider to be innovative.
Shortly after joining FleishmanHillard, I had an opportunity to collaborate with some of the firm's corporate reputation SMEs on a framework to help companies and brands navigate the volatile landscape of societal issues. This collaboration allowed me to apply methods picked up during my brief stint in finance to the ebbs and flows of storylines. The resulting capability provided a means for communicators to evaluate the relative immediacy of a given issue to help them prioritize limited time and resources accordingly.

Who do you admire for his/her approach to innovation?
I've been a long-time fan of the design consultancy, IDEO, and their ethnographic approach to insights.

How do you get out of a creativity rut?
I'll try to disconnect from what I'm struggling with and find a great sci fi or fantasy story to get lost in. Anything by Frank Herbert or Neil Gaiman typically does the trick.

What advice would you give to the PR industry around embracing innovation?
The future is about data-driven, higher precision communications counsel. Benchmark everything you can against a universal set of KPIs that align to a classic marketing funnel. Segment and analyze your benchmarks to leapfrog from predictive analytics to prescriptive communications consulting.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your current job?
I would be launching another startup.

Which book/movie/TV show/podcast/playlist/other cultural source has provided inspiration over the past year?
Malcolm Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers"

How would you like to see work culture, and the role of the office, evolve?
Personally, I've hated this fad of the open floor plan; the research is in and there've been little-to-no benefits to the employee experience. I miss honest-to-goodness old-school offices where you could hang personal effects on walls and close the door when you needed privacy. I miss the idea of the lunch hour when people used to get together and share a meal and bond. Dare I say, I even liked getting dressed up for work back in the day. Maybe I'm promoting a devolution of the role of the office to the way it used to be back in the 90's and early 2000's...