November 6th | 6:00pm ET | Washington, D.C.

Communications leaders today are navigating what often feels like a state of “permacrisis”, with new challenges and disruptions arising daily regardless of the industry they’re working in.

From geopolitical uncertainty and shifting societal expectations to disruptive technologies and evolving workplace dynamics, comms leaders are increasingly at the forefront of navigating it all.

Hosted by Suzanne Bouhia, Executive Communications & Marketing Consultant and former CCO of Ernst & Young Americas and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at National Association of REALTORS, dinner conversation will address how communications leaders are leading through this environment; what challenges you’re facing, how you’re reframing priorities, and the ways you’re helping your organizations adapt.

Around this table, we’ll share not only the pressures but also the approaches that are working and leave with the reminder that while the complexity may be unrelenting, none of us are navigating it alone.

We welcome CCOs, VPs, and Directors of Communications to request an invitation to join this roundtable discussion.

Upon qualification, you will receive a follow up email from a member of our team confirming your participation.

November 18th | 8:00am CT | Austin, TX

How can PR teams prove their worth in today’s landscape?

Communicators are under increasing pressure to show how PR moves the needle for the business, not just brand visibility.

In this breakfast roundtable hosted by Rebecca Dersh, Senior Director of Communications at ChangeUp, participants will discuss:

• Moving beyond vanity metrics: What new frameworks are PR pros using to connect coverage to outcomes like customer acquisition, trust, and loyalty?
• Tying PR to the bottom line: How can PR prove its role in driving reputation equity, market share, or even sales?
• Crisis measurement: Beyond volume of mentions, how do you quantify effective crisis response and recovery?
• Boardroom language: What reporting tools, dashboards, or data storytelling methods resonate most with C-suites and boards?
• AI and analytics: Where can tech help us better analyze impact, and where do human insights still lead?

We welcome CCOs, VPs, and Directors of Communications to request an invitation to join this roundtable discussion.

Upon qualification, you will receive a follow up email from a member of our team confirming your participation.

December 11th | 8:00am ET | Boston

From shifting public expectations to external pressures that change overnight, communicators must be ready to protect their organization’s reputation with clarity and agility.

Join Guest Host Chris Ridley, VP of Communications and Media at Moderna, for a Powerful Conversations Breakfast Roundtable on managing communications in highly dynamic environments. Chris will share firsthand perspectives on engaging stakeholders effectively, building trust in the face of skepticism, and maintaining alignment during moments of controversy or crisis.

Held under the Chatham House Rule, this interactive group discussion will provide a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with peers on:

• Lessons learned from navigating complex and unpredictable environments
• The evolving role of communications in shaping organizational resilience
• Core principles of reputation management when facing external scrutiny
• Practical approaches to handling sensitive issues and engaging diverse stakeholders

We welcome CCOs, VPs, and Directors of Communications to request an invitation to join this roundtable discussion.

Upon qualification, you will receive a follow up email from a member of our team confirming your participation.

A company’s reputation is influenced by a diverse set of stakeholders, including employees, investors, customers, regulators, business partners, and policymakers. How does media coverage impact each of these groups? Join us for an exclusive 20-min webinar where we’ll unveil key findings from PublicRelay’s latest research on stakeholder sentiment.

Using data-driven insights from our Benchmark, we’ll explore:

• How different stakeholder groups perceive companies in the media and how their sentiment varies.
• Which stakeholders are most sensitive to media narratives and why their reactions are the most volatile.
• Why customers often remain undecided and what this means for corporate messaging.
• How sentiment shifts over time and what it reveals about reputation management strategies.

This report walkthrough will provide PR and communications leaders with actionable insights to navigate stakeholder sentiment effectively. Take this opportunity to sharpen your media strategy and better understand the audiences shaping your corporate reputation.

Host: Haley Wilson, Strategic Partnerships Lead at PublicRelay

Watch On-Demand Here

Watch On-Demand

This 25-minute webinar discussed the complex intersection of geopolitics and corporate reputation.

Using data-driven insights from PublicRelay’s benchmark, we explored when and how companies should engage in geopolitical discourse, balancing risk, reputation, and stakeholder expectations.

Watch on-demand to:

• Learn data-backed strategies for managing corporate reputation in a volatile geopolitical landscape.
• Hear insights on balancing stakeholder pressures while minimizing reputational risk.
• Gain a framework to assess whether your company should engage on a given issue.

Download the Supplemental Worksheet

What is Share of Voice?

Share of Voice (SOV) measures how much attention your brand receives compared to your competitors across various platforms, including social media, traditional news outlets, and other media channels. It’s a metric that PR professionals and communicators often rely on to gauge brand visibility and assess how well they are performing in the marketplace. By counting your brand’s total mentions relative to your industry, you can see what percentage of the total mentions are about your company.

At face value, SOV is a straightforward concept. It provides a snapshot of your brand’s ability to capture public and media attention, making it a valuable starting point for understanding your market presence. Communicators value this because they can see a volume related metric on how they are doing versus competitors. However, relying solely on Share of Voice can be misleading, because at its core it is simply a counting exercise.

The Limits of Share of Voice

While SOV is a useful metric, treating it as a definitive measure of success is a common pitfall. Here are some key reasons why Share of Voice, may not tell the whole story:

1. Sentiment Matters: Imagine your brand commands 50% of the SOV pie. On the surface, this sounds like a win. But what if the majority of your mentions are negative? For example, if your brand is being criticized in news articles or on social media, having a high Share of Voice might highlight a reputational issue rather than a success story. Without analyzing the sentiment behind your media mentions, SOV becomes a blunt instrument, incapable of providing actionable insights.
2. Context is Critical: Not all media mentions are created equal. Coverage in a respected industry journal might carry more weight than a flood of social media chatter. SOV, in isolation, doesn’t account for the context or quality of these mentions.

Turning SOV into a Strategic Tool

To extract real value from Share of Voice metrics, it’s crucial to pair them with deeper analysis. Here are some best practices for using SOV effectively:

1. Prioritize Engagement Metrics: Evaluate how your mentions translate into engagement, such as social media interactions, website visits, or conversions. Pairing SOV with these metrics paints a more complete picture of your success.
2. Focus on Key Message and Reputational Driver SOV: Track whether your brand’s core messages are resonating in your coverage. Are your mentions aligned with the narratives you want to promote or the reputational categories that are most important to your brand? If not, a high SOV may indicate that your message or reputational impact is being lost or misconstrued.
3. Incorporate Sentiment Analysis: Measure the tone of your mentions to determine whether your Share of Voice skews positive, neutral, or negative. Sentiment analysis provides a richer understanding of how your brand is perceived and can help you address reputational challenges proactively.

Conclusion

Share of Voice is an important tool in the PR and communications arsenal, but using it simply as an article counting comparison to competitors doesn’t do anyone much good. Without deeper analysis of areas such as sentiment and context, SOV can lead you astray, masking underlying issues or providing an incomplete view of your brand’s market position. By combining SOV with more nuanced metrics and insights, communicators can turn a blunt instrument into a precision tool, driving meaningful outcomes for their brands.

Understanding Share of Voice’s limitations doesn’t diminish its value but underscores the importance of using it strategically. With the right approach, SOV becomes more than a number. It becomes a pathway to smarter, more impactful communications strategies.

Climate Commitment Reversals & Energy Reputation Management

It’s never been more challenging to navigate the reputational landscape of climate commitments. PR and communications leaders in the energy industry, in particular, are managing intense public and media scrutiny. Every decision about emissions targets or clean energy initiatives can have lasting implications in energy reputation management.

Recent analysis highlights the stark contrast in media sentiment between energy companies that double down on their climate promises and those that walk them back. The data reveals valuable lessons for managing reputational risks in such a high-stakes environment.

Media Fallout According to the Data

PublicRelay analyzed media coverage surrounding energy companies’ low-carbon initiatives, and the results were eye-opening:

• 78% negative media sentiment for companies that reversed their climate commitments.
• 24% positive media sentiment for companies launching new low-carbon initiatives, with only 7% negative coverage.

The disparity is clear: rolling back on climate commitments is a critical failure in energy reputation management. Companies that failed to deliver on their pledges faced significant backlash, especially on social media, where climate advocates and engaged communities amplified criticism.

In contrast, companies that took proactive steps (regardless of whether they had previous commitments) garnered more favorable media sentiment. Even when their clean energy initiatives were coupled with continued oil and gas investments, these companies benefitted from the perception that they were taking meaningful action.

The Risk of Overpromising

Backtracking on climate commitments may be worse than making no commitments at all.
Energy companies with bold climate goals but inconsistent follow-through became easy targets for criticism. The gap between promises and actions undermines trust and disrupts effective energy reputation management, leading to questions about a company’s reliability and sincerity.

Conversely, firms without ambitious commitments but actively investing in low-carbon projects avoided this backlash. Their measured approach—taking meaningful actions without overpromising—helped them stay under the radar of critics and maintain trust.
Key Implications for PR Leaders:

1. Consistency is Non-Negotiable: Reversing commitments erodes credibility.
2. Proactive Communication Matters: Highlight progress on sustainability initiatives, no matter how small, to build positive momentum.
3. Crisis Mitigation Requires Speed: Companies that quickly address climate-related criticisms can minimize reputational damage.

Learn how PublicRelay’s data-driven insights can help communicators in the energy sector in navigate these challenges and more. 

Navigating the shifting media landscape has become a critical skill for professionals in public relations and strategic communications. As the media world undergoes rapid changes, understanding and adapting to these dynamics is essential.

The media world is in flux. Traditional outlets, social platforms, and emerging formats are reshaping the communications field daily. For communicators, it’s not just a shift—it’s a seismic transformation. Yet these challenges present clear opportunities for those who can adapt. Let’s explore what we’ve heard from leading communicators about what’s happening and why it matters.

Traditional Media: Evolution, Not Extinction

Traditional media’s business model is under immense pressure. Trust in major outlets has waned, newsroom budgets have shrunk, and audiences have migrated to mobile-first and social platforms for news. There is no longer a Walter Cronkite-like, “single source of media”. “Media” is everywhere, which means organization reputation is everywhere.

Communicators are now approaching traditional media as one part of a broader strategy. By balancing relationships with reporters and editors alongside content crafted for digital and social channels, organizations can navigate this fragmented landscape with greater precision.

Think Smaller, Connect Bigger

As large national outlets feel increasingly out of reach or out of touch, the focus on local media has intensified. Community-focused stories resonate deeply, creating more meaningful engagement. Whether it’s hyper-local storytelling or partnerships with regional outlets, tapping into smaller markets can yield outsized reputational benefits.

Local audiences are also more engaged—they’re reading, sharing, and reacting. Organizations that invest in grassroots storytelling often see stronger community ties and enhanced reputations in critical regions.

Ground-Up Communications

Ground-up strategies play an essential role in navigating the shifting media landscape, especially when authenticity and trust are paramount. Building on the power of local connections, the shift away from purely top-down, national PR strategies is redefining how trust is cultivated. Today, success depends on developing relationships from the ground up. Local community engagement, grassroots storytelling, and on-the-ground teams are now central to rebuilding or enhancing support in key regions.

This shift isn’t just a tactical move; it’s strategic. In a polarized and fragmented media environment, audiences crave authenticity. Investments in local communications teams are paying dividends, both in trust and long-term support.

Adapt or Fade: The Fragmentation Dilemma

The increasingly fragmented media landscape requires laser-sharp focus. Messages must be tailored for each platform and each audience. It’s no longer sufficient to “go broad”; you need to go deep where it matters most.

Geo-targeted campaigns, local influencer partnerships, and platform-specific strategies have emerged as critical components of effective communications. The challenge for communicators is to prioritize—strategic adaptation, not one-size-fits-all approaches, will win the day.

Data-Driven Decisions

Data is the compass for navigating the shifting media landscape. It transforms complexity into clarity and guides effective decision-making.

While the fragmentation of media complicates communication efforts, data offers a clear way forward. Social media platforms provide communicators with an abundance of digestible metrics. Impressions, shares, and engagement rates offer a quick glimpse into performance. Yet, these metrics only tell part of the story.

Quantifying traditional media’s ROI often requires more nuanced tools to help communicators track impact across earned and owned channels, while also surfacing actionable insights that drive strategy forward.

Preparing for Media’s New World Order

Declining traditional business models and shifting consumption habits are opportunities to innovate. Diversifying your media mix, amplifying through emerging formats, and measuring everything are no longer optional. They’re mandatory.

The evolving media landscape is daunting, but it’s also rich with potential for those ready to embrace the changes. By prioritizing hyper-local storytelling, harnessing data, and adapting communication strategies to a fragmented audience, communicators can navigate this new era with agility, creativity, and a relentless focus on what’s measurable and meaningful.                

Contact us to learn more.

5 Ways to Maximize Your CEO’s Brand Impact

A CEO can influence how the media, stakeholders, and consumers perceive not only their leadership but also the brand they represent. However, recent trends show that while CEOs may be building strong personal brands, they aren’t always translating that success into a positive impact for their companies.

Understanding how to maximize your CEO’s brand impact is key to elevating both their personal standing and the reputation of the organization they lead. Let’s explore how communicators can help their CEO become an asset to their brand.

The CEO Brand Gap: Perception vs. Impact

PublicRelay tracks CEO performance through our CEO Index, which rates CEOs from -10 to +10 on two essential factors:

1. Perception: How well the CEO is perceived by the media. This includes the sentiment, reach, and sharing of their personal media mentions.
2. Impact: How the CEO’s presence influences their company’s media reputation. This measures the sentiment, reach, and sharing of mentions where both the CEO and company are featured.

What we’ve noticed over the past two years is an interesting trend: while Perception Scores have generally increased, Impact Scores have stagnated. This means that while CEOs may be perceived more positively as individuals, they are becoming less effective at enhancing their company’s reputation.

For communications professionals, this gap is an opportunity to recalibrate. If your CEO’s personal brand is thriving, but your company isn’t seeing a parallel boost in reputation, it’s time to rethink your communication strategy.

Best Practices to Boost Brand Impact

Here are several actionable strategies to align your CEO’s personal perception with their company’s reputation, ensuring their brand impact is as strong as it should be:

1. Prioritize Company Over Self-Promotion

While building a CEO’s personal brand is important, it should never overshadow the company’s goals. Self-Promoter CEOs, those who focus too heavily on their own narratives, risk becoming disconnected from their organization. Instead, CEOs should weave company successes, values, and innovations into their personal communications. Whether it’s through interviews, social media posts, or speaking engagements, their personal brand should amplify the company’s brand story.

For example, CEOs who leverage media opportunities to highlight company initiatives and industry leadership—not just personal milestones—tend to have higher Impact Scores.

2. Align Thought Leadership with Brand Strategy

A CEO’s thought leadership can be a powerful tool to enhance the company’s reputation. However, it must be strategic. CEOs who speak on broader industry trends, corporate responsibility, or emerging technologies often boost both their Perception and Impact Scores. This is because they position themselves as experts not just on their own company but on the wider business landscape.

Encourage your CEO to engage in thought leadership that aligns with your company’s mission and values. Thoughtful commentary on relevant industry issues can help solidify both their authority and the company’s reputation, driving positive media coverage.

3. Stay Clear of Controversial Coverage

Negative media coverage can be difficult to avoid, but strategic communications can help shield your CEO from scandals that can harm both their personal and company brand. One way to manage this is by doing your best to ensure your CEO doesn’t become a scapegoat. Distance them from high-risk issues and focus on positive storytelling.

Incorporating crisis communication strategies into your CEO’s media interactions can protect their Perception while mitigating damage to your company’s Impact. For example, if a major controversy arises, quick, transparent communication that addresses the issue and highlights the company’s corrective measures can help salvage brand reputation.

4. Leverage Key Media Opportunities

Earnings calls, industry conferences, and interviews are prime opportunities for CEOs to bolster their brand impact. By participating in these high-visibility moments, CEOs can directly influence how their company is perceived. In fact, CEOs who personally engage in earnings discussions often drive positive media sentiment for their companies, as it shows hands-on leadership and transparency. See Google’s Sundar Pichai, for example, who drove positive coverage on the company’s growth after their earnings call in July.

Maximizing media moments means ensuring your CEO’s presence in coverage is both visible and favorable. Position your CEO in the right narratives—those that focus on growth, innovation, and strategic vision.

5. Be Mindful of Social Media Perception

Social media can be a double-edged sword for CEOs. While it offers a direct line to the public, it also opens the door to immediate scrutiny. CEOs with large social media followings may generate significant positive engagement, but they are equally vulnerable to backlash, especially if their posts are seen as self-serving or out of touch with current events. A quick look at Elon Musk can give a deep understanding of how that can go.

Communicators should do what they can to help their CEO craft a social media presence that reinforces the brand’s values. Their messaging should resonate with your company’s mission and connect with stakeholders in meaningful ways, avoiding the pitfalls of excessive self-promotion.

Maximizing Your CEO’s Brand Impact

Ultimately, the most successful CEOs are those who understand that their brand is an extension of their company’s identity. By balancing personal perception with corporate impact, they can drive meaningful change for their organization, not just for themselves.

For PR and Communications executives, the challenge is to guide your CEO’s messaging and media presence in a way that reflects positively on both their leadership and the business.

To effectively do so, you need comprehensive insights into how both the CEO and the company are perceived in the media. PublicRelay offers precise, human-verified insights into sentiment, reach, and sharing, ensuring you have a clear picture of how your CEO’s media presence is influencing your company’s reputation. We also track and measure the impact of your CEO’s mentions, allowing you to tailor communication strategies that elevate both personal and corporate brands.                  

Contact us to learn more about how PublicRelay can help you maximize your CEO’s brand impact and strengthen your company’s reputation.