Don't hide corporate pivots
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Companies should resist the temptation to follow shifting political winds or quietly renege on previous public commitments when a social issue falls out of the zeitgeist, according to a new report from strategic communications consultancy FleishmanHillard.
- Consumers expect business leaders to communicate through change, even as a chaotic operating environment pressures companies to make high-stakes decisions more quickly.
Why it matters: Every company is juggling compounding pressure from political volatility, AI acceleration and media fragmentation. Clear comms allow companies to pivot and adapt without losing their credibility.
Zoom in: While 50% of engaged U.S. consumers said adapting quickly to change will be the top leadership capability over the next decade, nearly all (98%) surveyed engaged consumers globally said they notice conflicting or inconsistent messaging from corporate leadership.
- Roughly half (48%) of engaged consumers globally said inconsistent or conflicting messaging greatly decreases their confidence in the company.
- FleishmanHillard defines engaged consumers as those who had taken at least three distinct actions in the past year based on corporate reputation, like changing purchasing behavior or online advocacy.
What they're saying: "When change is constant, stakeholder support is built through how leaders explain decisions, align internally and show accountability in real time," said Michael Moroney, senior partner and managing director of corporate affairs for the Americas at FleishmanHillard.
- "The U.S. data shows that consumers are not rejecting change. They are rejecting whiplash, poorly explained pivots, inconsistent messages and gaps between what companies say and what they do," he said.
- The report noted these dynamics are "significantly more pronounced" in the U.S., and that American consumers are more likely than the global average to stop or reduce spending with companies they lose trust in.
The intrigue: U.S. executives and policy stakeholders are far more optimistic than consumers about major companies' ability to navigate disruption.
- 52% of executives are "very optimistic" that leaders of large companies will successfully address major challenges in the next decade, compared with just 11% of consumers.
- 34% of U.S. consumers ranked demonstrated ethical behavior as the factor that most strongly determines whether a company has "earned the right" to lead through change, followed by clear and consistent communication at 23%.
- 28% of U.S. executives rated clear and consistent communication as the top factor, followed by 17% who reported a compelling long-term vision as most important. Only 14% rated demonstrated ethical behavior as the strongest determining factor.
The fine print: The findings were based on a global online survey conducted between Dec. 15 and Jan. 4 of 4,000 engaged consumers and 1,550 business and political leaders across the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, U.K., France, Germany, Brussels, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa, China, Japan and South Korea.
- The U.S. findings draw on responses from 800 engaged consumers, 350 executives and 40 policy stakeholders.
The bottom line: If the baseline expectation is that companies can adjust to pressure on every front, the key differentiator is retaining support throughout that process.
