At the 2026 Meltwater Summit, Alexandra Bjertnæs, Chief Strategy Officer at Meltwater, sat down with PRNEWS to reflect on the summit's marquee moment—an on-stage conversation with Founder and CEO of Goop and actress Gwyneth Paltrow—and what it revealed about brand building, integrity and the future of PR.
Bjertnæs shared that Paltrow's key message resonated well beyond celebrity: all PR is good PR, as long as integrity leads the way. From building Goop into a lasting brand to navigating public scrutiny, Paltrow's insights on authenticity and long-term thinking struck a chord with marketers and comms professionals alike.
Watch the full interview to hear why Bjertnæs believes the best takeaways are the ones you can act on tomorrow.
Nicole Schuman is Managing Editor at PRNEWS.
Transcript:
Nicole Schuman: We're here with Alexandra Bjertnæs, Chief Strategy Officer at Meltwater. Thank you for joining us.
Alexandra Bjertnæs: Thank you for having me.
Nicole Schuman: You had a big job yesterday. You interviewed Gwyneth Paltrow. How was that?
Alexandra Bjertnæs: It was fantastic. I really enjoyed every minute of it.
Nicole Schuman: She talked a lot about Goop and her leadership role there, and actually a lot about marketing and comms, which I thought was really cool. What was it like working with her?
Alexandra Bjertnæs: She's great to work with. She's authentic, genuine, grounded, down to earth—an easy person to talk to. I was a bit surprised; I wasn't quite sure what she was going to be like. I watch her podcast, but I really enjoyed the time with her before and after the interview. She's a very knowledgeable, wise person with a lot of experience. One of the reasons we wanted to have her here was her many pivots in life, the many roles she's played, and her desire to share that wisdom—to help women, but also to set the tone when it comes to following your vision, being a genuine person, listening to your gut and your intuition and generally wanting to help the people around you.
Nicole Schuman: She was very open about her experiences, and I think the audience really appreciated that. What were some of the key takeaways from the session?
Alexandra Bjertnæs: There were a bunch of great takeaways. I was watching the reaction on LinkedIn and talking to customers here. First of all, what she said was very relevant for the audience. She gave a lot of insights into how to handle communications, what it's like to build a brand and how to do things over time that actually pay off. She used terms like ROI, TAM and attribution.
But to answer your question specifically around PR—my takeaway was that all PR is good PR, as long as you have integrity along the way. She said to just be yourself, and to have that integrity no matter what. If people come after you or have different views on what you're doing, listen, acknowledge and understand it, drill down to the data, figure out where it's coming from and then decide whether you want to respond or double down—as long as your integrity stays with you throughout.
The other big theme for me was building a brand over time—for both the marketers and PR people in the room. Being authentic, following your vision, experimenting, trying, learning but always staying true to what you're building. That brand equity will pay off.
Nicole Schuman: She was very candid about company values and mission and really emphasized listening to your audience and going from there. She talked a lot about brand leadership at Goop. Is there any difference in how she promotes a business given that she's a celebrity? Does she strategize differently because of that?
Alexandra Bjertnæs: It's a great question. I asked her how she separates her own brand from the Goop brand and when she keeps them together. It seems like they're quite intertwined. She does have her own identity and tries to keep her personal life private, but she is very much invested in the Goop brand. She's an advocate and very active in the business. She leads with the vision and the direction. So for her, the two are very intertwined, and there's a lot of brand capital there. That said, she did mention that at some point she'd like to step back from the brand and let it drive its own course, and she feels the time is approaching to do that.
Nicole Schuman: Last question—what other PR and marketing topics have you seen trending at the summit?
Alexandra Bjertnæs: So many. I love this summit—people are engaged and curious, which is another quality I loved about Gwyneth as well. That curiosity and desire to learn and share. I'm seeing so many people getting to know each other and building networks here.
One of the biggest trending topics is AI—more specifically GEO and AEO. Where is it going? How do I use it? How do I get the visibility I want, and how do I engage with LLMs and the channels feeding them? Our LinkedIn report that just published is really interesting in terms of how it resonates with different LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity and how people can build strategies to take the position they want in the market.
There are a lot of strategy conversations and a lot of focus on putting things into action. Our new focus as a business is actionable insights—insights you can actually act on—and making sure all the takeaways here are things people can apply now, tomorrow, the day after...to build on their businesses and deliver on their KPIs.
Nicole Schuman: The sessions have been great. I went to one on influencers with Lonely Planet and it really gave a step-by-step guide to building out a creator program, which I thought was really useful. The takeaways have been awesome —good work with that.
Alexandra Bjertnæs: Thank you so much. It's all about showing, not just telling—you want to be able to do it yourself, and that's what we're here to help make happen.
Nicole Schuman: Great. Thank you so much for your time.
Alexandra Bjertnæs: Likewise. It was wonderful—thank you so much for having me.