Communicator Spotlight: Amy Call Well, EY's global chief communications officer
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Amy Call Well oversees all communications, marketing and branding for one of the largest accounting and consulting firms in the world, EY.
Why it matters: The firm is going through a transformation, with Janet Truncale becoming global chair and CEO last year and having recently launched a major update to "modernize and refresh" the EY brand, Well told Axios.
What she's saying: The brand effort is "part of a bigger thought process that we're going through within the comms team," Well said.
- "The big trends we're looking to solve are: What are your audience expectations? How do you stay in touch with how the audience sees you? And how do you have consistency?"
How she got here: Before joining EY, where she's been for more than 16 years, Well held communication roles in the U.S. Senate and White House Office of Management and Budget.
- "I started out doing public affairs for the firm, and then at some point, I took on partnerships, including World Economic Forum and Milken, and executive positioning," she said. "Eventually, I took on all of external comms. I did an eight-year stint as chief of staff to two different CEOs before taking on the CCO role."
- The chief of staff role allowed her to better "understand the different demands that are on the business" and "the stakeholders that the CEO has to deal with."
How it's structured: Well reports to Truncale and oversees a global team of 600 across EY's business units.
Trend spot: Navigating the changing media landscape.
- "I feel like we're in this really interesting moment," she says. " ... It used to be that if the leader says something, everybody listens. And now there's much more peer-to-peer or external influences that people are listening to. And so how do you really make sure that you're going direct to your audiences, and you're also personalizing it for the audience?"
Who she's watching: Well follows B2B companies, EY competitors and those navigating crises. When it comes to specific professional communicators, she's watching Microsoft CCO Frank Shaw.
Best advice came from a former EY CEO: Find the signal from the noise.
- "That's what I think communicators need to do at this moment, is really look at like, how do you get that signal out within all the noise that is happening and get people to pay attention to the points that you need to need them to understand."
