INTRODUCTION

In 2022 we asked, is education the answer? What responsibility or opportunity does business have to educate society? It was a question we asked across seven different industry perspectives at our annual member discussion in September. This year, I wanted to explore the question further and curate the conversation through the lens of the communication industry; after all, without communication, surely there is no education. In partnership with communications agency MikeWorldWide and trade publication PRovoke Media, we hosted two private conversations in New York and London, exploring one question in two very different markets. What responsibility or opportunity does the comms industry have to educate society?

The conversations were designed to explore both how leaders and their businesses define education internally, and how that definition might impact society externally. How do leaders define their personal responsibility to the public? How do they walk the fine line of their fiscal responsibility – building awareness of a brand or a product – while reflecting the needs and wants of the society they serve?

In Manhattan, I was joined by Kelly Cassaro, Chief Learning Officer at Generation; Stasha Santifort, Managing Director of Global Purpose and Social Impact at Deloitte; Mishka Pitter-Armand, Chief Marketing Officer at Crisis Text Line;

Dan Wagner, Founder of Civis Analytics; Amanda Litman, Co-founder and Exec Director of Run for Something; Arun Sudhaman, Editor at PRovoke Media; Sally Susman, Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Pfizer; and Michael Kempner, Founder and CEO of integrated communications agency MikeWorldWide.

In London I was joined by Fiona Robinson, North and South Europe Purpose Lead at Deloitte; Grace MacDonald, Marketing Lead at Pinterest; James Scroggs, Chair of One Question; Joe Twyman, Founder of Deltapoll; Lizzy Knights-Ward, formerly Global Head of Social Content and Marketing at LinkedIn; Maja Pawinska Sims, Associate Editor at EMEA Provoke Media; Ndubuisi Uchea, CEO and Co-founder of Word on the Curb; Rebecca Lee, EMEA Communications Manager at Blackhawk Network; Gemma Young, Founder of Women in Tech Network; and UK Managing Director, of MikeWorldWide, Tom Buttle.

What follows is our report of both conversations discussing the single question, is education the answer? Whilst the conversations were very different, with individual and industry perspectives often at odds over who has the responsibility or the power to create genuine societal change, it was clear that irrespective of our individual challenges, the sheer weight of the question’s responsibility unites us all.

Sarah Parsonage One Question

Our two conversations remind us that brands are facing a wide range of critical reputational challenges; not simply ‘crisis communications’ incidents, but profound debates as to where they have a role to play in business and in society. In today’s multifaceted media landscape, we’re seeing ever more powerful social media platforms accelerate shifts in brand sentiment.

You can’t control everything that’s said about you, but you can help steer the direction of the commentary... if you’re participating in the debate.

For a lot of brands this continues to be dauntingunderstandably. Experience has told comms professionals to avoid rocking the boat or being too controversial. Now they’re having to navigate their business through issues that might have previously been reserved for a lively dinner with friends.

The spoiler here is that there is no right answer (although a framework to help guide your thinking will be released by OneQuestion and MikeWorldWide in the Spring). The first step is even being aware that the terrain has shifted. Because after all, we’re seeing apparently exponential growth in the relation between the perceived values of a brand, and the value people will invest in it. If you don’t make choices about how you position yourself in relation to issues, someone else will make the choice for you - and this can have serious commercial implications.

Comms professionals therefore need to consider a the shift in brand narratives - from a creative way of expressing your core value proposition to a representation of your place in the world. It means having meaningful commitments to issues that are invested in and communicated outside of just a global recognition day or in the aftermath of a public incident. It requires Boards and their comms teams to be proactive, not reactive, to issues and trends that touch not just their commercial operations, but also their customers and employees.

The brief is a complex one, but communications experts have a unique value to offer in helping brands make sense of their place in this new order.

Michael Kempner Founder and CEO MikeWorldWide