Why experience matters in cybersecurity PR
I was chatting with one of my colleagues earlier about something that had happened that morning. She’d casually referred to ‘Chicken Licken’, only to be met with blank faces. Thinking she simply hadn’t given enough context, she’d followed it up with a reference to Ladybird books. That didn’t help either.
It was one of those moments when you realise just how wide the generational divide has become. Two cultural references that seemed universal in the UK when we were growing up had become complete mysteries to people only a couple of decades younger.
It made me laugh because I have these moments all the time.
When I’m talking about reputation and trust, I often find myself saying, “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” If someone mentions milk, there’s every chance I’ll respond, in what is a surprisingly convincing Liverpudlian accent (for those who don’t know I was born in Merseyside), “Accrington Stanley? Who are they?” It’s almost involuntary.
More often than not, I get puzzled expressions and asked what on earth I’m talking about. It’s a reminder that I’m firmly earlyish Gen X.
I could choose to see that as a disadvantage. After all, cybersecurity is one of the fastest-moving industries in the world. AI seems to reinvent itself every week, new attack techniques emerge all the time and there is a constant stream of new technologies, products and acronyms. Surely someone of my vintage risks sounding a little… dated?
I don’t think so. In fact, I think there is a huge difference between being old-fashioned and being experienced.
I spend every day immersed in cybersecurity. I follow the latest developments in AI, I understand emerging technologies and I’m fascinated by how the industry is evolving. Keeping up isn’t optional when your job is helping cybersecurity companies communicate their value to the market.
But alongside that comes perspective and that’s something that can’t be learned overnight. I’ve watched the industry reinvent itself multiple times. I’ve seen technologies arrive with enormous fanfare before quietly disappearing, while others that initially seemed unremarkable have changed the way we work. I’ve seen language evolve, threats evolve and vendors evolve. Yet despite all that change, many of the fundamental business challenges remain exactly the same.
That’s something I think cybersecurity companies sometimes forget when they communicate.
Every year seems to bring another collection of acronyms. Each represents genuine innovation and each has its place. But outside the cybersecurity bubble, very few people wake up hoping to discover yet another acronym.
Business leaders want confidence that the organisation is resilient. They want to understand where their biggest risks lie and they want to know they’re investing in the right capabilities. IT teams want solutions that genuinely make their lives easier.
So, although the technology is more sophisticated, the questions organisations are trying to answer haven’t really changed all that much in 20 years. That’s why the best cybersecurity communications don’t start with the technology; they start with the business problem.
Too often vendor lead with product architecture, feature lists or terminology that only specialists understand. The technology may well be brilliant but if people can’t quickly understand why it matters to them, the message is lost.
Good public relations is about helping buyers, journalists, analysts and investors understand what a technology does and, crucially, why anyone should care. It means connecting the latest innovation with problems that businesses have been trying to solve for decades.
Perhaps that’s why, after more than 30 years working in cybersecurity and technology PR, I still believe experience has real value. The technology evolves but the challenge of earning trust, building credibility and explaining complex ideas in ways that resonate with people is pretty consistent.
So, I’ll probably continue dropping references that nobody under forty who never had to rewind a video cassette they rented from Blockbuster understands. And I’ll continue believing that experience doesn’t make you less relevant in cybersecurity. It helps you to have the perspective to explain innovation in a way that people understand.
Although, if I’m completely honest, I did have to ring my colleague while writing this because I couldn’t remember exactly what we’d been talking about this morning.
But then, I’m also menopausal.
And that’s a whole other blog.
-Allie Andrews
