John Berard

About John Berard

Credible Context is a communications consultancy based on the insight that effective marketing - of products, services, a company, even an idea - requires more than commitment to authenticity and transparency. Advocacy and its intent, persuasion, must be contextually credible.Consumers and business customers want to rely on those they can trust and trust is linked to consistent, beneficial performance.Focusing on privacy, security and the Internet as a business platform, Credible Context seeks to help companies reveal their context and create market-making messaging. The result is the ability to identify, align, arm and activate supporters. Trust built on a strong foundation - a credible context - is increasingly important as more and more businesses are built on data.My career has been forged in three \"company towns,\" each the center of its own universe. I began in the financial and corporate communications landscape of New York City, moved first to the legislation and issues-driven corridors of Washington, D.C. and then to San Francisco, supporting the marketing, primarily, of technology companies.Credible Context\'s goal is to reveal companies that break new ground in the context of real value. The result is helping clients win, keep and expand market share built on a mix of positioning, messaging, personality management, influencer endorsement, strategic media attention and customer success.in general, my methodology is to help companies tap into the market power of who they are by creating communications in context.In particular, my skill set includes advertising and public relations, corporate and marketing communications for technology, health care, financial services, consumer and consumer electronics companies.

Experience

1. Founder

   Credible Context

   Mar 2009 — Present · Aurora, OR, US

   The intense interest in the 2008 presidential election accelerated a key change in the way candidates - and companies - need to communicate.Beyond the 24-hour news cycle, the ability for individuals to be heard on the Internet and the blurred line between information and entertainment, what is said is now judged without mercy against the context of what has been said and done. More than frequency, authenticity and empathy, effective communications must be built on credible context.This new era requires a new approach. Messaging needs to be more consistent; it is better to run counter to the current news agenda than to change too often to meet it. Story lines can\'t be drawn from thin, raw material. Missteps cannot be seen as matters of policy, but as personal failings.Even though credible context cannot be established retroactively, it can be uncovered. Acknowledging and moving to meet the changed communications environment will help companies avoid being undone by history.

Education

• Cranford Senior High School

  HS

  1968 — 1970

• Rutgers University

  BA, Human Communication

  1970 — 1974