Introducing the CORE Method™

A new planning process that makes communications more valuable to the business

If you work in marketing or communications and spend any time on LinkedIn, you start to notice something: Nobody seems sure about what they’re doing. We know this because the experts keep telling us. Their advice comes in waves.

One day it’s about whether branding has replaced marketing. The next it’s about funnels, positioning, content, or tone of voice. There are best practices for everything and critiques for every best practice. Everyone is thinking out loud.

It would be easy to dismiss this as noise, but that’s not quite fair. Most of it comes from people trying to understand workloads that keep shifting under their feet. Our field changes quickly, and the tools and habits behind the work often struggle to keep up.

I’m not here to add to the debate. I’m here to help you move beyond it.

The discussions that fill our feeds tend to stay at the tactical level, which limits their usefulness from the start. They miss the larger questions that shape real planning:

• How should we organize the work?

• How do we decide what deserves attention?

• How should we allocate resources?

• How does it all fit together?

• What does overall success look like, beyond a handful of KPIs?

Answer those, and the tactical choices become clearer. This is why planning matters. It’s upstream guidance for a downstream world. 

That’s why I built the CORE Method—a planning system that connects communications to the four drivers of business performance:

• Company – who you are

• Operations – how you run

• Revenue – how you grow

• Employees – who makes it happen

The CORE structure helps comms teams and specialists understand how each area relates to the others so that communications supports the business as a whole, instead of circling various parts of it. Projects can maintain their independence in execution, but planning is no longer siloed. It becomes an efficient, repeatable system that leaders can understand and trust, and it places the work in a context they already recognize.

The CORE Method combines human expertise with the speed and reach of AI, allowing comprehensive communications plans to be built in days instead of weeks. Early results have surpassed expectations.

For example, when a U.S. food company faced retaliatory Canadian tariffs earlier this year, the CORE Method produced a clear and coordinated plan. It showed how to protect brand trust in Canada, optimize cross-border operations and inventory, support sales partners, and keep employees informed during a politically charged moment.

To help teams experience this approach firsthand, I am currently running The CORE Method Planning Pilot—a guided engagement that reveals new opportunities for alignment and impact.

In 3 days, you will receive:

The Plan

• A full CORE-structured communications plan aligned to Company, Operations, Revenue, and Employees

The Diagnostic

• A detailed assessment of gaps, pressures, and opportunities across the business

The Strategy & Roadmap

• A prioritized set of recommended workstreams with rationales for each CORE category

• A planning roadmap that clarifies sequencing, timing, resource needs, and dependencies

The Tools & Support

• A leadership-ready summary written in plain language

• A project tracker

• A running list of questions and considerations to guide future planning cycles

• Up to 8 hours of advisory support over 90 days for plan-related guidance

These deliverables give teams clarity they can act on immediately, and a system they can use long after the pilot ends.

The CORE Method Planning Pilot is a structured, fixed-cost engagement. It’s fast, practical, and built for teams that want to expand the ways that communications adds value across their organization.

Type “CORE Method” in the comments and I’ll send you the full details. And if you prefer a conversation, please schedule a call and I’ll walk you through the process, answer questions, and help you see whether the pilot is the right fit for your team: https://calendly.com/mikedurand/meet-with-mike 

Here’s why I’m confident I can help. I’ve led in-house communications teams across the technology, finance, and consumer goods industries (Microsoft, Charles Schwab, Levi Strauss & Co., T-Mobile). I’ve also led agency teams (Fleishman-Hillard, Publicis) and supported philanthropies and nonprofits (Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity), along with several startups and early-stage companies.

The CORE Method grew out of that professional cross-training. _________________________________________________________________________ The CORE Method™ name and process, and their variants, are trademarks of Duet Story & Design LLC.