Our Founder and CEO, Ellen Gunning attended a webinar organised by a colleague Brett Bruen and his Global Situation Room last month. The webinar was around three issues – politics, technology and social issues – and the challenges they pose for corporate communications.
Here are some key takeaways:
- The current environment has created a minefield for corporates to navigate.
- The timeline for taking decisions is condensing by the hour.
- Concern about AI is prompting companies to disprove every piece of propaganda. In the current climate, denials just don’t work.
- Companies must be true to their core and align with their values, but backlash can be hard.
- Corporates need to define the exterior environment that they want to be pro-active in.
- You cannot extract political and social from your public identity.
- DEI is about creating positive cultures in companies.
- Businesses needed to re-frame the dialogue and support communities (but not necessarily through a DEI lens)
- Companies should work at a micro level on LGBTQ issues and focus on safety, mental health etc.
- 86% of corporates believe that their reputation risks will increase in the next quarter.
