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Fire on the Hill recently unveiled our new research project – The Voice of the Chief Communications Officer – taking a closer look at the new and emerging pressures in-house comms professionals are under this year and next.
To support the release, we undertook panel discussions with experts from across the sector in both Paris and London. Here I would like to reflect on some of the takeaways from the latter event, looking at how insights from our speakers can help us respond to the challenges we face.
Emotional intelligence drives effective strategy
Our research, which draws on contributions from 200+ comms leaders in the UK and US, finds the influence of this group continues to grow. A third of the people we questioned said influence within their organisation had ‘increased significantly’ over the past 12 months, while 39% said it had ‘increased somewhat’.
This change is accompanied by increasing investment, with 80% of the survey expecting budgets to increase in 2026. In a complex political, economic and social environment, the insight of comms professionals is increasingly valued – and valuable.
As Daniel Batchelor, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Marketing & Communications at transformative travel technology provider Amadeus, explained to our London audience: “When you are living through times of disruption and uncertainty, people are more likely to buy good advice – and good communicators are increasingly taking an outside in approach.
“Historically, communicators have valued themselves by productivity. Everyone likes to be busy, rushing around with giant ‘to do’ lists. But, we get paid to think, where we can give good advice. We work to deliver good judgment, make good decisions and draw on strong emotional intelligence. These are the core skills that are universally trusted.”
He adds: “Once you display good judgment and build senior relationships, we, as comms leaders, can grow trust and become a confidant. Communications can become an input into business decisions, not just be an output.”
Our panel argued comms pros should work to become peers of other executive leaders, able to bring a distinct perspective to executive discussions and be prepared to be judged by the same standards. In this way, we can move the reputational needle of a business and safeguard trust.
Holly Donahue, who spent a decade as Director of Communications with The Economist and recently moved into a new role with the Institute for Law & AI (LawAI) concurred.
“The role of chief communications officer is certainly becoming more important, and this has been the case over the past few years, as the research finds. This is a trend, I think, which is only going to accelerate over time. At present, there is more disinformation, there is more misinformation, and communications people are going to become that much more important, more trusted. They will have to be in the boardroom,” she explained.
Guardians of trust
Our study, perhaps unsurprisingly, found Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a topic on many agendas this year. Indeed, many businesses are already deploying the technology, with 27% having fully integrated it into workflows, 28% undertaking pilots and 32% exploring use cases.
Front-of-mind for our panel was how high-quality journalism is now becoming an anchor for AI tools such as ChatGPT. As a trusted source of information, developed by humans, quality publications have the ability to correct imbalances, address biases and check for factual accuracy in text created by Generative AI.
Chris Talago, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications at Pure Data Centres Group, argued this placed comms leaders in a vital position: “Being a ‘guardian of truth and trust’ is a powerful position, one we need to protect jealously. The reason brands want to use earned media and other communications channels is because they are more trustworthy, so we need to guard them to protect that trust.”
Our study agreed. When asked if they were personally guardians of purpose and values, as well as having a responsibility for ensuring a business ‘lives up to its promise,’ some 96% of all those Fire on the Hill questioned ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ agreed.
A role for the human touch
Today, the audience in London heard, communications professionals offer attributes AI tools cannot.
Talago explained: “When it comes to AI, we must work to be a chef and not a cook. If you are cook, anyone can replicate your ingredients; the nuance, the influence, and the way in which you handle crises and exercise judgment. AI cannot exercise restraint, it does not know when to push and when to hold back.
“There are a range of challenges with AI which must be addressed, around security of information, breaking copyright and more. There is a responsibility on the part of an organisation to understand how to deploy AI and which tools to use.”
Moreover, Donahue argued, transparency will be a crucial aspect of how businesses use AI tools in the future: “Authenticity is just going to become more important in PR and communications. The more that we can say, in this application, in this situation or proposal, I used ChatGPT to help me, will be vital in building trust.”
Importance of authenticity in a crisis
Batchelor also pointed out how important authenticity is for communications professionals. He added: “Making sure you speak for yourself is vital; do we really believe what we are saying? Is our communication authentic in the sense that it reflects who we are and what the company wishes to do?
“This is crucial in crisis response. I would never outsource that to anybody, because I feel I am best positioned to understand what Amadeus is, how it speaks, how it thinks and how it feels. I think having that sense of the character of the organisation that you are in, and understanding that the tone of voice and the kind of words that you would use, is paramount.”
Talago added that work must also be done ahead of time, before a crisis arrived: “Building trust must be part of your ongoing campaign. So, pre-bunking, making sure you are preparing your audience with information about the types of misinformation and disinformation that they might be exposed to. We must create pools of trust. This can include you own media, the website for example, making sure your audience knows where to turn in a moment of crisis or misinformation to get the truth.
“In times of adversity, many businesses tend to look to communicators and to our DNA,” he added.
Plenty to digest from the event – and the research. Thanks to all our panellists, from both London and Paris, valuable insight in a changing world.
