key pr professionals who influenced the industry overview
Deirdre Breakenridge is the CEO of Pure Performance Communications, a strategic communications, media and technology consulting firm in the New York metro area, and the author of six business books on public relations and social media. She wrote PR 2.0 in 2008, co-wrote Putting the Public Back in Public Relations with Brian Solis in 2009, and published Answers for Modern Communicators with Routledge in 2017.
This feature replaces EPR's earlier multi-person roundup of modern PR practitioners. Facts come from her publisher and speaker profiles, linked below. Last updated October 12, 2026.
Who is Deirdre Breakenridge?
Deirdre Breakenridge is a PR and marketing veteran who built her career on helping communicators use digital tools. Her Routledge author profile describes a 25-plus-year career in PR and marketing and lists work with organizations including Georgia Tech, JVC, Kraft, Nasdaq, the NBA and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
According to Wikipedia, she worked in public relations agencies before opening her own agency, Pure Performance Communications. An ExpertFile profile lists additional clients, including Empire Today, Hershey's and the World Bank, and says she served on the board of NJ/PRSA.
What books has Deirdre Breakenridge written?
Breakenridge has written six business books, and the earlier ones track how PR adapted to the web. The table lists the titles confirmed in her publisher and bookseller profiles.
Year
Book
What it covers
2001
Cyberbranding: Brand Building in the Digital Economy
How companies can market a brand online, per Wikipedia
2008
PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences
How PR teams use blogs, social networks, podcasts and online newsrooms to start two-way conversations, per the publisher description on Amazon
2009
Putting the Public Back in Public Relations (with Brian Solis)
How social media is reinventing PR, per its subtitle
2012
Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional
Practices for PR professionals working with social media, published by FT Press
2017
Answers for Modern Communicators
A guide to effective business communication, published by Routledge in October 2017
Her ExpertFile profile also lists The New PR Toolkit among her Financial Times Press titles, and an Amazon author page shows Answers for Ethical Marketers.
What is PR 2.0?
PR 2.0 is the idea that public relations moved from one-way broadcasting to two-way conversation once blogs, social networks and online media arrived. The book's publisher description says it shows PR professionals how to use blogs, social networking, online newswires, RSS and podcasts, and how to stop using tactics that had become counterproductive.
The term gave a generation of PR teams a vocabulary for the shift. Traackr named her the number one PR 2.0 influencer in 2011, per her ExpertFile profile, which also says TopRank listed her among 25 women who rock social media.
How does Deirdre Breakenridge teach and speak?
Breakenridge teaches and speaks internationally on PR, marketing, branding and social media. Her Routledge profile says she has taught online PR and social media courses for the UMass Amherst journalism department and Rutgers University's PR certificate course, and that she runs sites including PR Expanded and the Women Worldwide Show.
A 2011 interview on the Content Talks Business blog describes her use of books, a blog, video and #PRStudChat, a monthly Twitter chat that grew into a community of PR professionals, educators and students. That mix of formats is a model for how an expert builds a platform around a body of work.
Why does Deirdre Breakenridge matter to PR practitioners?
Breakenridge matters because she documented the move to digital PR while it was happening. Her books gave practitioners practical steps and a shared language at a point when many agencies were still treating social media as an add-on.
For readers building a career in the field, EPR's PR leaders directory and its profile of trade-press founder Paul Holmes give related context on who shaped the industry.
Deirdre Breakenridge is the CEO of Pure Performance Communications and the author of six business books on PR and social media, including PR 2.0 and Answers for Modern Communicators.
What is Deirdre Breakenridge best known for?
She is best known for PR 2.0, her 2008 book on how PR professionals can use blogs, social networks and other new media tools to hold two-way conversations with audiences.
What is Pure Performance Communications?
Pure Performance Communications is a strategic communications, media and technology consulting firm in the New York metro area. Breakenridge is its chief executive officer.
Has Deirdre Breakenridge taught PR?
Yes. Her Routledge profile says she taught online PR and social media courses for the UMass Amherst journalism department and Rutgers University's PR certificate course. Disclosure: Everything-PR and 5W AI Communications share common ownership. Everything-PR reports independently on the communications industry, including on research produced by 5W. Editorial decisions are made by Everything-PR's editorial team.
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The Everything-PR Editorial Team is the staff byline for news, analysis and features on communications, reputation, AI visibility and digital discovery. Everything-PR has published since 2009. AI tools assist with research and drafting, and every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication. Coverage follows the Editorial Policy, and substantive corrections are noted on the article under the Corrections Policy.
