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TRANSCRIPT:

DOUG: Your firm recently completed the Brand Expectations Index survey. Can you share one of the findings that was surprising to you?

TYLER: I certainly can. We started the Brand Expectation survey to get a pulse on the public’s attitudes towards corporate America in a time of increasing unrest. This was our second year of doing it. I think one of the things that was most surprising to us is how influential direct communications was for both the general public and knowledge workers in establishing trust. So, 81% of the general public and 84% of knowledge workers ranked direct communication from companies. And that could be podcasts, that could be long form articles, videos on technical and human-interest topics as one of the most trustworthy sources of information, second only to local news. And I know that’s something that that you are acutely aware of. I think along those lines in that same bucket. We also found that CEOs reputation and visibility was another key driver. About 67% of knowledge workers found that as being the biggest driver of trust.

DOUG: Yeah, it’s interesting you mentioned that. And I will skip out of order to some of the local news pieces. Since you brought it up from our own surveys. We found overwhelmingly it’s more trusted than social media by 85 to 15%, but it seems like what you’re coming up with is that the combination of both earned media and what organizations are putting them, putting out there themselves, are really the two best ways to be communicating with a multitude of different key publics.

TYLER: Exactly. I you know, when we always want to look at the data and then understand why. And one of the things that we keep circulating around is that the landscape has completely changed, right? There’s a lot of misinformation. There’s distrust of major media institutions. We’ve all seen the shrinking newsrooms. We had a layoff tracker with the media for a long time, and then we just had to put that away because it was exhausting. And there’s content saturation. And so, the content that’s coming directly from brands, directly from people at these companies is, aside from local news, is honestly one of the best ways to really establish that credible voice.

DOUG: That’s interesting. And one thing I do like pointing out, because there is some misinformation out there, not disinformation. It’s just sort of an assumption that people would make that news is being reduced, especially local, because of all the cutbacks while the cutbacks are happening. Spanish language broadcasts have actually doubled in the last ten years. English language broadcasts have increased 30 to 40%. So, what’s happening is there’s fewer staff available to fill a larger hole. And that’s really opened up a huge opportunity for PR people. I do want to turn to another topic that you covered in depth in the report, which is AI and different people’s feelings and maybe differences between the general public and knowledge workers about AI.

TYLER: AI is a huge topic for us. We have a pretty robust enterprise tech practice, but we’re also seeing AI. Weave through all of our work, whether it’s fintech, whether it’s life sciences and health, whether it’s climate tech. So, this was a big thing that we wanted to dig into. We studied this last year, and there are a couple of key takeaways with AI. So once growing up, I think there was a 9% increase in, um, trust in AI companies, in startups. And that’s really reflective of the increase awareness and adoption. I mean, my mother in law uses AI to write thank you notes, so it’s obviously I don’t think she was doing that last year.

DOUG: I was hoping mine would be a little more personal. But, you know, you take what you can get.

TYLER: I know exactly. You know, I think that that, you know, really looking at how companies can communicate in AI in a trustworthy way. That’s where I think a lot of the really interesting findings came. So, we have a couple of principles around AI communications that we found through our work, but that’s also supported by the data that really allows organizations to communicate AI in a way that still feels accessible.

DOUG: How do you go about doing that?

TYLER: Yeah, I can walk you through. So, the first one is humanize it. So, I at the core is a human story. It is not a technology story. So, telling stories about why people built the product and how it improves lives is one of the best ways to connect and honestly remove some of the fear. So, although their trust is increasing, there still is a lot of fear around what is this going to? How is this going to impact me? Developing authentic, trustworthy and accessible characters. So, trust is built through people. AI is still not removed that part, Right? So that means putting your CEO, putting your leadership at the heart of your communications. One of the things that came through quite clearly is although there is trust, there is a strong desire to understand the governance. So, making sure that you’re talking around how you are ensuring security, how you are making sure that ethical standards are being met. That should be woven all throughout. And then finally is talking naturally. Our industry loves a little bit of jargon. And when you get into deep tech, I mean, there’s so many acronyms, It’s completely overwhelming. So drop the jargon and talk like a human. So, we have found that that mix is where you can really take your communications and drive really meaningful trust.

DOUG: One of the things I found especially interesting is the area where you cover DEI and ESG, and obviously for people out there, they know those are under attack as brands forcibly by the current US government, but the results of your report for the general public feels a bit differently about them.

TYLER: It does, certainly. It’s a tricky landscape right now. And I know every communicator is wondering how do we thread this needle? How do we maintain our values and how do we also protect our business from possible attacks? There were three things that we found pretty interesting. One is just words have power. And you and I have talked about this in the past. We intentionally did not use DEI and ESG. In our survey, we talked about the actions and the intentions behind some of the behavior and that from our experience, and also comparing that to a recent PEW study, which did use that language and found softening in employee sentiment around diversity and inclusion. You know, it’s something that we’re talking to. Clients continue the work, right, but maybe consider rebranding DEI to reflect its broader, inclusive mission. I think another thing that we found super interesting was to pick your battles. So, it was 65% of knowledge workers. And 50% of the general public support of some level of corporate activism. So, weighing if you should take an external position pretty carefully. And our guidance and the data supports. This is to prioritize that internal action and policies that reflect our core values. One of the other findings that was really quite surprising to us is there’s a pretty giant expectation gap. So, while 73% of the public supports inclusivity measures, only 49% believe that that work is actually happening. And so, we dug a little bit deeper to see what kind of work should companies focus on. And it’s pretty simple, incorporating diverse perspectives. The vast majority supports that type of work. Supporting improving diversity and pay equity. Getting more into that inclusion and fairness within a business. And then, um, getting on the ESG side is also supporting, uh, corporate sustainability initiatives that 77% of knowledge workers support that work. So, despite what we sometimes read in the headlines, that work is valued. It’s just language matters. Pick your battles and do the work that matters to your employees and your immediate community.

DOUG: One of the things to go back to something you said a little bit earlier is about the support for corporate activism. In this current environment, that means very different things. For some, activism means destroying, quote, wokeness. However, that’s being defined by certain groups. For others, it means fighting against those who are trying to limit diversity. So how do you thread the needle as a company when sure, the results can come in, but they mean so many different things to so many people in the audience?

TYLER: I mean, our guidance is to start with what’s authentic to your brand and considering all the stakeholders you have, what matters to them, right? You want to get your house in order. So, your primary audience should be internal communications to your employees so that they understand where you stand with your values, how you are supporting them. When you start thinking around, taking it externally, um, weighing the business implications, do we really need to hear a, you know, a political stance from the company that we buy beer from? I don’t know if that’s necessarily authentic, but thinking around all of those stakeholders, considering how is this going to land, how is this going to help or hurt my business? How is this going to help or hurt our employees, and using that as being a filter for those decisions?

DOUG: Yeah. And you’ve mentioned, you know, some of the sort of snapshot results of the Grand Expectations Index. Are you seeing changes? And if you could look in your crystal ball to when you do this again next year, what are some trends you’re seeing where things might be a bit different.

TYLER: I think that the largest changes that that we’re seeing, and we don’t work with a ton of direct consumer like CPG brands, right. Um, and or companies that are getting government funding. So that lens is obviously a little bit different, I think, for companies that, you know, are vulnerable with some of the policy changes and the administration stance. That’s a that’s a different balance for us. I think what we are seeing is just as we were saying, more consideration around language. So rather than having DEI plastered all over your initiatives that you’re really talking about, the values that you’re talking about inclusivity, you’re talking about increasing representation, all things that are good for the business. Um, so that’s the language that we’re seeing. We’re still seeing work being done, but I think it seems it’s a very clickable headline When you say that brands are pulling back on all their DEI initiatives, I think they’re maybe not speaking quite as publicly because that’s opening up. It actually ends up discrediting some of the initiatives. So they’re doing the work.They’re focusing especially on internal work. What matters to our brand, what matters to our employees, what matters to our team, what matters to our customers, but not taking these giant public stances around it?

DOUG: Yeah. And I think obviously that has an impact just when they’re right about it. I mean, whether or not I have standing to even have an opinion on this is a legitimate question, but I always thought it should be just rebranded as like Smart Workforce 2035. Who can disagree with that? And that’s really when it comes down to it. That’s what it’s all about. Any final thoughts you’d like to add to close this out?

TYLER: One of the things that that when we think about Mission North and, you know, the power of storytelling is how can we really effectively drive change through our work? But also, you know, how are we living and breathing this as well? We are guiding our clients around some of these pretty hairy topics. And um, I think for us it’s still maintaining we ultimately are public relations. There is the public component about it. So, we need representation to reflect the people that our clients are trying to activate. It’s just smart business. If you cannot share that perspective, it doesn’t make any sense to then be telling stories that are going to activate a diverse audience. And then how can we drive change in our industry? So you’ve worked in this industry for a pretty long time. It is woefully homogeneous, although it is dominated by women. Leadership is still I think it’s about 75% of leadership within agencies is dominated by men. So we’re doing our work well, which makes sense at Mission North. But also how can we drive meaningful change in the industry? And we launched Foster the Future, which is an initiative to provide scholarships and fellowships to the next generation of communicators to bring in that more inclusive representation so that we can be telling the stories forward. So we now have seven other agencies joining us, our fellows to starting this summer. We have hired and others have hired fellows through the program. So, it has been pretty extraordinary. And that’s the kind of work that’s meaningful, that’s authentic, that makes sense for the business that, um, you know, we are prioritizing and encouraging our clients to be thinking around those lenses.

DOUG: You know, Tyler, not only do you offer great insights, you’re really working to help make things better for all around you. So, thanks so much for participating in the show.

TYLER: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.