Corey duBrowa

VP Global Communications and Public Affairs
Google
US

 

After a brief detour to Salesforce, Corey DuBrowa took on Google’s top communications role in early 2018, reporting directly to CEO Sundar Pichai and overseeing a team of more than 200 people worldwide. It is, perhaps, a fitting job description for an executive who has long been considered one of the top corporate communicators in the US, following a seven-year stint at Starbucks that saw him work closely with Howard Schultz to develop a uniquely progressive brand reputation. 

DuBrowa has earned multiple industry awards over the past 20 years, including four SABRE Awards, two PR Week Global awards, three PRSA Silver Anvils, and the University of Oregon Alumni Association’s Jeanne Johnson Service Award (he served as President of the Alumni Association for two years and on the board for nearly ten). He is currently on the Arthur W. Page Society's Board of Trustees, and serves on the USC Annenberg School's Board of Advisors. And, lest we forget, he was also a music journalist for two decades, with more than a thousand bylines in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to No Depression to GQ.

Can you share a moment in your career when you saw PR's direct impact on business performance
Where I actually had data to prove it out? Starbucks, right around the time of the "Create Jobs for USA" / Indivisible wristband (and corresponding comp results in stores).

What do you love about this industry?
1) Storytelling 2) Storytelling 3) Storytelling

What are the communications industry's biggest challenges and opportunities?
Challenges: hangover perceptions as "spinmeisters" and publicists. Opportunities: to add strategic value (and measurement/math is really helping to deliver on this promise).

How do you relax or change pace when you're not at work?
I'm a runner. And a (failed/frustrated) musician. These passions plus family and travel give me all the balance I need outside of work.

Can you share a book/movie/TV show/podcast that teaches a valuable lesson about PR?
"Thank You For Smoking.” A classic.

If I wasn't working in marketing/communications, I would be...
Teaching. I still might.