For decades, \"communication\" was largely a one-way flow, with stakeholders on the receiving end. Whether via a press release, internal comms or investor relations - organisations could essentially set a narrative and expect it to land. The model worked.
But that world of controlled, one-way communications has been steadily reshaped, first by rolling news, then social, now AI. There's a new world - and a new way - shaping reputation today. And you can't go alone.
Laurence Stellings leads RepTrak's Advisory practice across EMEA and APAC, and with the firm's recent Global RepTrak 100 study, he has observed a major shift: reputation is now a multiplayer game - shaped less by the polished messages you control, and more by what your stakeholders say in the wild.
In conversation with host Roger Christie on this episode of the Your Digital Reputation podcast, Laurence and Roger explore what this means, and how \"multiplayer\" runs in two directions at once: externally, as customers, regulators and the public shape your story, and internally, as every employee, top to bottom, brings it to life.
With the key learning being not to control what words go out, but to control how clearly you communicate your mission. Get that right, and you can trust stakeholders to carry your ideas in their own language, to their own networks.
Laurence shares plenty of great examples to bring this to life: a Finnair cabin crew member who outsold every glossy advert in a two-minute chat; Adidas turning a sub-two-hour marathon into a cultural moment; Barilla pairing pasta with Formula One and al dente Spotify playlists.
As AI floods our feeds with sameness, the leaders who earn trust will be the ones who say less, say it consistently, and let real people carry it further than any channel could. Tune in to hear some great ideas and examples that remind us all - the risk of not being believed is far greater than the risk of not being seen today.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:03:11 - From one-way broadcast to genuine conversation: 30 years of change
00:05:00 - What the Global RepTrak 100 reveals this year
00:07:56 - Adidas, and why a story has to be worth sharing
00:14:30 - Your most trusted voice is on the frontline (the Finnair story)
00:21:25 - Barilla: Formula One, heritage and al dente playlists
00:27:38 - Reputation \"in the wild\" - where belief beats polish
00:35:00 - Best practice: say less, say it more often
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