Episodes

Mary Cirincione: If They Don't Comprehend

Mary Cirincione, Managing Director US at Propeller Group, on why B2B marketing that fails the comprehension test produces zero commercial value regardless of how polished it looks, how to build genuinely earned media coverage that moves buyers, and why specialist B2B PR is a fundamentally different discipline from consumer communications. Recorded as VP at Propeller Group.

Apple Podcasts Spotify
 ·  The Business of Marketing  · S1 E5  · 26 min
Read the interview

"Earned media that is earned for the wrong reasons is just vanity coverage."

The Conversation with Justin Cooke

Why comprehension is the only metric that matters and why earned media must be genuinely earned

Mary Cirincione is Managing Director, US at Propeller Group, the specialist B2B PR, content, and growth marketing agency for the media, marketing, and technology sectors. She founded Propeller's US presence and has built it into a full-service operation for brands in the adtech, martech, and B2B media spaces. Her philosophy centres on a single test: does the audience comprehend what the brand is saying?

In this conversation Cirincione argues that the vast majority of B2B marketing and PR fails not because it is poorly executed but because it fails the comprehension test. A beautifully produced piece of content that leaves the reader unclear about what the company does or why it matters has produced zero commercial value, regardless of its production values. The same principle applies to earned media: coverage that appears because a journalist was flattered or a relationship was leveraged is not the same as coverage that appears because a brand has a genuinely interesting story.

Key Takeaways

  • If they do not comprehend, you have done a lot of nothing. Comprehension is the only metric that ultimately matters in B2B marketing.
  • Earned media must be genuinely earned. Coverage that appears because a relationship was leveraged rather than because a story is genuinely interesting is vanity coverage and does not move buyers.
  • B2B PR in specialist sectors requires deep sector knowledge. Generic storytelling is immediately visible to informed audiences and specialists will not cover it.
  • Write from the outside in, not the inside out. Your audience's vocabulary, not your product team's vocabulary, is the starting point for everything.
  • The question is not did they see it. The question is did they understand it and did it change something.

Topics Covered

  1. 01 Why comprehension is the only marketing metric that ultimately matters
  2. 02 Earned media that is genuinely earned versus vanity coverage built on relationships
  3. 03 Why B2B PR in adtech and martech requires deep specialist knowledge
  4. 04 How to build a B2B communications strategy that moves buyers not just journalists
  5. 05 The relationship between content quality, earned media, and commercial outcomes

Key Exchanges

05
01 What is the comprehension test and why does it matter?

If they do not comprehend, you have done a lot of nothing. A beautifully produced piece of content that leaves the reader unclear about what the company does or why it matters has produced zero commercial value, regardless of its production values.

Cirincione applies the comprehension test to everything: press releases, thought leadership, social posts, website copy, pitch decks. The test is simple: can a member of your target audience, without any prior knowledge of your company, read this and come away with a clear understanding of what you do, why you are different, and why they should care? Most B2B marketing fails this test because it is written by people who are too close to the product to remember what it is like not to understand it.

02 What is the difference between genuinely earned media and vanity coverage?

Earned media that is earned for the wrong reasons is just vanity coverage. If a journalist covered you because you bought them lunch or distributed a press release well, that is not earned. If they covered you because your story was genuinely interesting to their readers, that is earned.

The distinction matters commercially. B2B buyers in specialist sectors are sophisticated readers who can tell the difference between coverage that was placed and coverage that was genuinely awarded on editorial merit. The former creates some awareness. The latter creates credibility and trust. For brands in technically complex sectors where purchase decisions are high-stakes, credibility is the asset that actually moves buyers through the funnel.

03 Why does B2B PR require genuine sector expertise?

The publications and journalists that matter in adtech and martech are highly specialist. They will not cover companies whose representatives cannot speak to the technical nuances of the industry. You cannot fake your way through a briefing with a knowledgeable trade journalist.

Propeller's specialisation in media, marketing, and technology sectors is a direct response to this reality. Cirincione argues that the value of a PR agency is not its media relationships in the abstract but its ability to help clients develop stories that are genuinely interesting to the specialist audiences they need to reach. That requires understanding the sector deeply enough to know what is already being covered, what the open debates are, and where a client has a genuinely distinctive point of view.

04 How do you build B2B communications that move buyers rather than just journalists?

The question is not did they see it. The question is did they understand it and did it change something. Coverage that moves buyers connects a genuine business problem to a specific outcome. It gives the reader something actionable, not just something impressive.

Cirincione argues that the gap between communications that generate coverage and communications that move buyers is large and often underestimated. Coverage is necessary but not sufficient. The communications that actually influence purchase decisions give buyers something they can use: a framework for thinking about a problem, evidence that a solution works, or a clear articulation of what makes one approach better than another.

05 How should brands think about content quality in relation to commercial outcomes?

There is a direct line between content quality and comprehension, and a direct line between comprehension and commercial outcomes. The brands that invest in genuinely high-quality communications get better coverage, more trust, and more pipeline. The brands that treat content as a volume game get noise.

Cirincione is making an economic argument as much as a quality argument. Content that achieves comprehension is more efficient at every stage of the commercial funnel than content that is merely well-produced. It is not just about what gets covered. It is about what gets remembered, shared, and acted on by the buyers who matter.

S1 E5Season & Episode
26 minDuration
0 Commercial value of beautifully produced content nobody understands
1 Test that all B2B marketing must pass: the comprehension test

"The question is not did they see it. The question is did they understand it and did it change something."

Hear Mary on
The Business of Marketing
Season 1 Episode 5 26 min
Apple Podcasts→ Spotify→ Mary's full profile→ Mary on LinkedIn→
Read the full transcript
Lightly edited for readability.

Justin Cooke Tell us about Propeller Group and your role.

Mary Cirincione Propeller Group is a specialist B2B PR, content, and growth marketing agency for the media, marketing, and technology sectors. I founded the US presence and now serve as Managing Director, US. Our specialisation means we go deep on the sectors we work in. You cannot fake expertise with specialist journalists and specialist audiences.

Justin Cooke What is the comprehension test?

Mary Cirincione If they do not comprehend, you have done a lot of nothing. A beautifully produced piece of content that leaves the reader unclear about what the company does has produced zero commercial value, regardless of production values. Most B2B marketing fails this test because it is written by people too close to the product to remember what it is like not to understand it.

Justin Cooke What is the difference between genuinely earned media and vanity coverage?

Mary Cirincione Earned media that is earned for the wrong reasons is just vanity coverage. If a journalist covered you because you distributed a press release well rather than because your story was genuinely interesting to their readers, that is not earned. B2B buyers in specialist sectors are sophisticated readers. They can tell the difference immediately.

Justin Cooke Why does specialist sector knowledge matter so much in B2B PR?

Mary Cirincione The publications and journalists that matter in adtech and martech are highly specialist. They will not cover companies whose representatives cannot speak to the technical nuances of the industry. You cannot fake your way through a briefing with a knowledgeable trade journalist. Sector expertise is not optional. It is the entry requirement.

Justin Cooke What does good B2B communications look like?

Mary Cirincione The question is not did they see it. The question is did they understand it and did it change something. Communications that move buyers connect a genuine business problem to a specific outcome. They give the reader something actionable, not just something impressive. There is a direct line from content quality to comprehension to commercial outcomes.

Keep Reading