Kristin McHugh on newsroom dreams and brand leadership at PwC

PwC’s chief marketing and communications officer shares how she keeps creativity alive when balancing both brand storytelling and business results.

Kristin McHugh originally set out to be a journalist, but a college professor introduced her to the world of communications—and she never looked back. Now at PwC as the chief marketing and communications officer, McHugh recently led the firm’s first brand refresh in 14 years, blending its heritage with a bold, modern identity. The global update included a refreshed logo, a standout orange palette, and a new campaign centered on helping clients move forward. It’s all about showcasing how PwC empowers its clients through innovation, tech, and strategic momentum, the comms pro said.

When she isn’t working, you can find McHugh at the beach with her family at the Jersey Shore or getting inspired by a good book.

You stepped into this role just seven months ago — what’s one unexpected thing you’ve learned about PwC since joining? 

 What I’m so excited about is the people. When I think about the team, the talent within the communications team, within the marketing team, the focus, the agility, the ability to learn and to continue to grow matches what’s happening within PwC as the brand. And it’s been extraordinary to see the capabilities of the team. It’s been exciting to think about the trajectory of the team and where we can go together. And that has been really rewarding and exciting and certainly culminating in the brand refresh that we launched recently. So that has been a focus of the team and really a way that the team has come together across marketing comms and CX to deliver an incredible new brand refresh for PwC.

Coming from Verizon, a very consumer-facing brand, what shifts, if any, did you have to make in your approach now that you’re in this realm?

There’s a lot that’s different. There is a lot that stays the same. When we think about the focus of communications and marketing, the process we go through and how we focus on the customer, those remain the same. Focused on insights, focused on delivering outcomes that drive the business and build the brand, that remains consistent. And that is what I have built throughout my career, from when I worked on the agency side on behalf of clients, then at Verizon and certainly now at PwC. Taking all that, I’ve learned to bring that to this role that connects communications and marketing to deliver on behalf of the PwC brand and to drive the business forward.

You’re overseeing everything from brand to sales — what part of the marketing-comms toolkit are you having the most fun sharpening right now?

 It is all really fun and it’s incredible. My favorite thing as we think about marketing and comms is when the team comes together. So the integration between marketing and comms to understand the insights that our customers need and where we can deliver and how we can use the tools within our toolbox to deliver the most effective marketing and the most effective, both internal and external communications to drive our business goals, to drive our brand goals. And what has been really exciting and rewarding is that integration and having the team come together on behalf of the business and certainly on behalf of the brand, as evidenced with the brand refresh two weeks ago and which continues in market today.

Your path has taken you through some big brands—how did each stop along the way shape the kind of leader you are now?

 When I started in undergrad and went to Villanova University as a communications major, I wanted to become a journalist and my junior year took a public relations and communications course and I was hooked from I did an internship in Philadelphia for the Brownstein Group and focused on PR and communications. And when I had any spare time, I would go downstairs and work with the advertising team. And then the internship expanded to both PR and advertising and it was such a great, informative time. And from there went on to work at agencies and Verizon. But that intersection of PR, communications and marketing has been the sweet spot of my career ever since. So really from the time of my internship to where I sit today, each step of the road has really been building on those skills. Whether it’s going deep in a certain subject or broad, it’s always been about delivering for our clients. It’s about bringing the right communication, whether that’s internal or external, bringing the right marketing to deliver on the business goal or the brand need. And really, the intersection of business and brand has been a focus of my career throughout, whether that was at Verizon or here at PwC.

How do you keep creativity alive when you’re balancing both brand storytelling and business results?

 I love working in a creative field and I get inspired every day. I am an avid reader. I always want to make sure that I’m looking at what’s happening both in culture and keeping up on trends. And certainly an avid reader of the news. And as I think about creativity, it’s working with the team. I get so inspired by the ideas from our team every day and the creativity that comes out of them daily. New ideas, fresh ideas, different ways of thinking about new challenges, but also new Ways to solve old challenges and also our agency partners. Before going to Verizon and PwC, I spent 14 years on the agency side. Our agency partners bring such fresh perspective and different ideas and give us a nice outside-in view that is valuable to me and they continue to be incredible partners to me as we think about how to think about problems differently and how to get an outside perspective.

Is there one buzzword that you secretly love and one that you’re ready to retire?

It’s not a buzzword, but I do always want the team to be focused on the customer and customer centricity and we have to keep the customer in the room. They have to have a seat at the table as we think about everything that we do. Maybe it’s not a buzzword, but one that I hold near and dear and want to make sure that we’re focused on as we build any strategy, as we build any brand work or communications plan, ensuring that we’re focused on the customer is important. The one that I’d like to retire is optionality. I hear a lot of optionality, and I do think it’s important to have options, but I do want to make sure that we can get clear on those and then have a path forward. We spend a lot of time thinking about options in our world. 

Isis Simpson-Mersha is a conference producer/ reporter for Ragan. Follow her on LinkedIn.

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