BackI have always had an uncomfortable relationship with the truth. Being brought up in liberal London in the 1990s and raised by conservative Muslim parents from Pakistan led to an adolescence of lies.
Deceit was a daily occurrence and became as natural as breathing, as I tried to bridge the gap between a western culture at school and Pakistani culture at home. When I eventually left home for university, it was a huge relief – as lying is exhausting and corrosive to the soul.
Like many of my fellow PR practitioners, I stumbled across public relations and pursued a career in this dynamic profession.
When I started out in PR over a decade ago, I would work for clients by disseminating information without any real regard for the responsibilities that come with communication. As journalism declined, due to a loss of advertising revenues moving across to Big Tech’s pockets, I witnessed the shift of journalists moving into PR and bringing their journalist mindset.
Over the years, they taught me the importance of being a discerning gatekeeper, cultivating a healthy scepticism and ensuring communication was based on evidence and facts. As an innate people pleaser, it took a long time to develop confidence and refine the art of pushing back when I didn’t trust the authenticity of the information.
As gatekeepers to information, PRs have a critical role to play in society as we filter information for dissemination, whether for journalists, content, social media, or some other mode of communication. It is no longer journalists versus PRs, as PRs have rapidly risen to the realisation that authentic marketing and communications win in the purposeful age. Our industry bodies, CIPR and PRCA, now have mandatory ethics modules in practitioners’ CPD.
John O’Brien and my good friend David Gallagher, both of whom have been leading figures at Omnicom, recently released a book entitled Truth Be Told. It serves as a manifesto for the PR industry to take its rightful place in society to join the fight against misinformation and disinformation. The book ventures much further by driving real change in society by championing purpose at the heart of organisations and authenticity in communications.
The duo takes us on a journey from Milton Friedman’s shareholder capitalism to present-day stakeholder capitalism. Drivers such as social media democratising communication to all – as well as COVID – have led to a lack of tolerance from the public for “purpose washing” . Organisations now have to walk the talk with the increasingly savvy Millennials and Gen Zers, who have digital tool kits in their palms to verify virtue signalling claims and weaponise them against brands if they fall short.
The book advocates a business case for truth, as we live in an age of the ability of citizen journalists and employees to act as whistleblowers with unfettered access to billions of people through social media. The inside realities must align with the external stories otherwise you risk a credibility gap.
Stakeholders demand more than product or service effectiveness, they want companies to demonstrate their commitment to people and the planet as much as they pursue profit. The book helpfully untangles CSR from ESG and brings much-needed clarity to ostensibly interchangeable terminology and jargon.
One of my favourite quotes from the book was ‘All hat and no cattle’, levelled at pretend cowboys and ranchers in David’s native Texas.
Just like that, brands can now be cancelled, as markets are now conversations. Brands can be put on the Twitter naughty step in an instant and even the subsequent apology can strike the wrong tone.
The book outlines how companies often step up, whether pushed by scandal or pulled by opportunity. Obviously, the latter is the enlightened path that builds greater trust, although we all love a good redemption story.
Truth Be Told shares examples of brands who have got it right (Nike) and those who’ve faltered (Pepsi) in their quest to be relevant and purpose-led and it is a helpful analysis of the ingredients of success and failure. It offers a guide for brand custodians to analysing validation, relevance, tone, issues, opinion, boundaries and resonance, before embarking on purpose-led communications.
We live in interesting times, and the book seeks to help navigate through the present-day ‘VUCA’ era (Volatile, Uncertain, Chaotic, Ambiguous). With tech-enabled data analytics at our disposal – like Meltwater and Newswhip – we are in a more informed position to horizon scan for reputational vulnerabilities, but nothing safeguards a brand like the truth.
Truth Be Told is available to buy at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Truth-Told-Authentic-Communications-Purposeful/dp/1398600180
