Brand leaders face a challenging year to avert crisis from the crosshairs of the culture wars. Sixty-five countries across the globe will hold elections to select their leaders at a time when geo-political interests, regional conflicts, and tribal behaviors stoke division. Advertising heavily influences public sentiment during election season. GroupM estimates U.S. political ad spend to reach $15.9 billion in 2024 — a 20% increase over 2020. Indeed, audiences are polarized. Analysis of Forrester’s Consumer Trust Imperative Survey, 2023 shows that US consumers hold opposing beliefs that companies should either stay out off or lead the change for culture war issues like abortion, LGBTIQ+ rights, immigration, and criminal justice reform.
No brand wants to face the reputational or financial setbacks that Anheuser Busch, Disney, FIFA or Target, have experienced as result of their PR crises. According to Forrester’s Q4 2023 B2C CMO Pulse Survey, political and geopolitical risks rank second as systematic risk factors influencing marketing plans, and/or budgets in 2024. Yet, for every brand embroiled in the culture war, there are examples of brands that escaped boycotts, like Eli Lilly’s stance on abortion, or Mastercard’s payments program for firearms. What accounts for the difference?
Navigate Polarization With Crisis/Reputation Management Services
PR agencies help shape consumer perception to steer brands around crisis. Given today’s heightened polarization, what role will PR agencies play in guiding corporate brands? We hypothesize three key elements that are fundamental to crisis and reputation services:
- Brand-consistent response. The DNA of a brand never changes. When brands take actions consistent with consumer’s brand imprint, that brand is less susceptible to backlash and crisis. Eli Lilly’s position on abortion law is more palatable given its heritage as a health and pharmaceutical company. In contrast, Bud Light has little claim to LGBTIQ+ rights.
- Nimble crisis approach. The pace of cultural change demands flexibility. Brands that embrace a flexible approach are better equipped to navigate controversy. Mastercard’s willingness to pause developing payment policies for gun retailers kept the brand out of full-blown backlash. While Target’s inaction concerning verbal attacks to store employees encouraged disenchanted consumers, further embroiling the brand in controversy.
- AI-powered audience and monitoring technology. Brands must understand the impact of PR backlash among their audiences. Today’s audience activation platforms and social media monitoring solutions enable brands to track signals of backlash, influential audiences and which channels influence audiences. FIFA’s greenwashing controversy over the 2022 carbon neutral World Cup could have been minimized by monitoring influencers and activist organizations, which became the source of false advertising complaints filed in five European nations.
CMOs, Corp Comms And PR Execs, What Do You Think?
My latest Forrester report will examine the role of PR agencies’ crisis and reputation management services in 2024. By conducting interviews and analyzing case studies with PR agency professionals, marketers, corporate communication professionals, and journalists, we will show how PR agencies help Marketing and Corporate Communication executives effectively manage their brand’s perception during turbulence and crisis. This will include the strategies, tactics, capabilities and technology employed by PR agencies to ensure brands maintain a positive reputation and mitigate potential risks.
We Want To Hear From You
We are seeking interviews ASAP. If you’re interested in participating and are: 1) an executive who has experience in providing reputation management services to brands; or 2) a marketing/corporate communication professional with experience hiring and managing PR agency resources, please reach out to Jay Pattisall, VP Principal Analyst at Forrester. Forrester treats research as confidential and fact-checks all research prior to publication. Participants will receive a courtesy copy of the report upon publication.
