College of American Pathologists Names New Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications and Marketing

NORTHFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Robert Johnson joined the College of American Pathologists (CAP) as senior vice president of Strategic Communications and Marketing. Johnson will oversee advocacy communications, media relations, customer communications, internal communications, marketing strategy and content creation along with publications.

Johnson is a proven communications innovator with 44 years of nonprofit, private, and government sector communications as well as broadcast journalism experience. He has successfully managed multi-level marketing and political campaigns, crisis media relations, digital strategies, messaging, and content development.

During the global pandemic, he launched Riester Influence, a public relations firm, helping public health organizations amplify their messages during one of the biggest health crises the world has ever faced.

Johnson is enthusiastic about bringing his expertise to pathology and laboratory medicine.

“There’s a lot of satisfaction in understanding what’s important to members and customers, and then using the skills of our communications and marketing teams to help them make people healthier,” said Johnson.

His marketing and journalism work has been recognized with numerous awards including Addys and Emmys for advertising and television news excellence. Likewise, his public relations campaigns have been honored with awards from the International Association of Business Communicators and the Public Relations Society of America. He also is the recipient of numerous journalism awards from the Associated Press.

Johnson looks forward to aligning communications and marketing to tell a unified story on behalf of CAP members and customers.

“I take a fresh view of how those functions can work together,” said Johnson. “Communicators are using marketing tools and vice versa. I believe in looking at it from the audience viewpoint and how it makes sense to them. If we can achieve that, they will engage more and be moved to do more.”

In partnership with CEO Michael Fraser, Johnson co-authored A Communications Playbook for Public Officials: How to Effectively Manage the Message, the Media, and Yourself. A graduate of Southern New Hampshire University, Johnson will continue to teach as an adjunct professor at the American University School of Communication in Washington and will be based in the CAP’s Washington, DC office.