What is corporate reputation in times of chaos? (Part 1)

24 March 2025 Reading Time: 5 minutes

by Natasha Plowman:

In times of disruption, transition and the shifting global, geo-political, social and planetary chaos we are in, the wider comms and PR industry seems to start navel gazing and hand wringing of what it all means for the profession. So here is my contribution of what it means for corporate reputation and business strategy. 

The crux of what we do is understanding who, how and why we influence and that will always be stuck in the quagmire of many competing issues, but also political posturing. Nothing changes there – so why do we think what we do needs to change now?

Maybe we need to take stock and get back to the fundamentals. To consider if you are reacting impulsively or letting fear hold you back? Is your influence visible, hidden, or non-existent? Do you know who you’re influencing and why? Is the concept of reputation an unreachable goal with no real impact on your business? What does corporate reputation mean to you? 

Reputation is what others say about you. Not what you say about yourself.

That is the fundamental lens that all we do must be seen through. To look at reputation from the perspective of the audiences that we want to influence – not what you want to say.

This also sounds a lot like stakeholder management – because it is. Risk and opportunity for your business resides in how you can influence the audiences that have a stake in your business.

• Your people that make your business – your employees
• Your partners – throughout the ecosystem of your supply chain to your route to market
• Your shareholders and investors
• Your customers, shoppers, consumers
• All the people in the communities you operate in
• Your collaborators
• Your regulators
• Who else? Not the media – they are a channel, not an audience (I will argue that point!)

These groups are a snapshot of your business and have one common denominator. They are made up of humans. Humans that can divide as much as bond us. Humans with different priorities and interests – not some data point on a spreadsheet.

Strategy informs…

I’m not saying these audiences are equal priorities all the time. They do need to be understood so you can make decisions on where they sit on the impact/ influence matrix that is the bedrock of reputation (aka stakeholder management).

Is the lens you view your stakeholders dirty or clean? How much is based on data, assumptions, opinions or vested interests? How often are these understandings updated, how are they sought? Where are they sought? How much of what you think about your stakeholders is done by surveys, desk research, conversations? Be honest.

Are you asking some of these questions to get under the skin of your audiences – even to paint a picture so the strategy you make is based on something more than assumptions:

* What do they care about?

* What’s their/the problem?

* What do you want to change or influence?

* How much do they know now, what do you want them to know?

* Where do they get information?

* Who will they listen to, who influences them?

Familiar questions, that I would stick my neck out and say we rarely take the time to find out or ask. We rely on anonymous, and often incomplete, data or surveys – which are important parts of the mix or insight we get – but should be just that, part of a mix of sources that take account of what is not said as much as what is. To track the human actions, decisions that make the audience a more rounded entity than a data point. 

Deciding actions

Strategy does not sit in a vacuum; it is the foundation for action. Actions that deliver an outcome for your audiences and your business. Too often we go into the trap of delivering tactics that are in service to your business alone – without the specific focus on what you want your audiences to know, think, feel or do. 

What needs to change or be different to have an impact on the issue or your business? 

Making decisions is the critical part of moving forward to action. What you will do, as much as what you won’t. What you won’t say, as much as what you will. Who you will influence, or not. Choices and decisions.

More questions can determine where specific audiences fit and help you prioritise their impact and influence. From here you will continue to paint an audience centric picture – the from/to:

* Will this help us attract different talent? Why and who are we looking to attract?

* Will our existing employees recognise what we are saying in the actions they see us doing – and therefore be more engaged and advocate for us

* Will these open new markets or customers?

* Will this open better supplier conversations?

* What are the interdependencies and connections? 

* Can we access different funding streams and capital support?

Risk and opportunity

Like love and hate, they are the same bedfellows. While indifference is the death knell of any change.

And change is the constant we are striving towards – but in what image and to what end? What we know is that there are few easy answers. So much is clouded in vested interests, bias and increasingly fear – the dirty lens.

It is these vested interests we need to be open about when considering what role communications plays in driving societal or business change. 

Whether we are representing a company, an issue, a social movement – we all come at the problem, the change with our own bias and vested interest – yet these terms are rarely called out for what they are. Nor are they acknowledged enough with the simple phrase – well, you would say that.

That is why reputation is about stakeholder understanding and management. It is breaking down the audiences with rigour and substance. It is not about the loudest voices, the words we see – but what is not said. It is looking around corners and with a human lens that doesn’t simply seek to make the human experience a data point – but the fully fledged complexity we are.

Four things to do now

1. Horizon scan – what is coming around corners – legislation, regulation, social change, climate change
2. Analyse the risks and the opportunities for your business AND your key audiences – view through the lens of an impact/influence matrix
   
3. Scenario plan based on what could be coming AND what you know – be realistic in your choices of scenarios based on business risk and opportunity
4. Be the person who asks the questions from different perspectives and your stakeholders

Get in touch if you need help with any of these. Sometimes you need an external lens to help see through the noise. 

In part 2 we will explore making decisions in more detail and how you can move from words to deeds. 

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Natasha Plowman is founder, senior consultant and strategic advisor with Spinning Red, which she founded in 2015. Spinning Red will help solve your business reputation (stakeholder) challenges through strategic consultancy, training or running workshops and who will tell you what you NEED to hear, not simply what you want to hear.

With extensive experience across communications, corporate and public affairs for some of the world’s biggest companies and sectors – she brings a unique perspective to solving complex business issues. Her career began in politics and NGOs, which cemented her campaigning and reputation focus to stakeholder engagement, management and leadership.

Written by: Editor