Communication Breakdown6 Nov 2025

PR in the Age of Rage

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll unpack the major themes from the 2025 PRovoke Global Summit in Chicago — from the rise of the “Richilante” to the paradoxes shaping corporate reputation today. Craig recaps the week’s standout panels, exploring how PR leaders are navigating cynicism, privilege, and fairness in what was called “the age of rage.” Together, the hosts examine why communicators must balance speed with restraint, clarity with coherence, and outrage with empathy — and why the future of reputation management might sound more like conducting than controlling.

Takeaways

The newly coined “Richilante” reflects a growing class of privileged consumers who wield outrage to influence social and corporate agendas.
Fairness — not just price or policy — is at the heart of today’s consumer reactions
The K-shaped economy mirrors a communications divide: both wealthy and struggling consumers feel disenfranchised but express it differently.
Communicators must reconcile contradictions — between purpose and cultural relevance, speed and reflection, clarity and coherence.

Topics Mentioned
Corporate reputation, PRovoke Global Summit, privilege and outrage, fairness, K-shaped economy, consumer cynicism, AI in communication, misinformation, integrity, coherence, purpose vs. cultural relevance, crisis communication, ethics in PR, outrage culture, media trust, corporate values

Companies Mentioned
Maslansky & Partners, UnitedHealth, McDonald’s, Deloitte, American Eagle, Cracker Barrel

Episode Hashtags
#MaslanskyAndPartners #UnitedHealth #McDonalds #Deloitte #AmericanEagle #CrackerBarrel #ProvokeGlobal #CorporateCommunications #PublicRelations #CrisisCommunication #ConsumerTrust #AIinPR #EthicalLeadership #BrandReputation #Fairness #Cynicism #Integrity #ReputationManagement #ShawnPNeal #AdvoCast #OCRNetwork

Communication Breakdown is a production of the Observatory on Corporate Reputation.
Hosted by Craig Carroll and Steve Dowling.
Produced in partnership with Advocast and Shawn P Neal.

For questions, feedback, or episode suggestions, reach out at podcasts@ocrnetwork.com

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(89)

Comms on Three Continents

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll move across three communication flashpoints on three continents: the evolving influence economy at Cannes Lions, Lulul...

25 Jun 28min

Beast Mode

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine MrBeast’s 500 million YouTube subscriber milestone and the reputation challenges that come with creator scale. They ...

18 Jun 30min

Missives You Might’ve Missed

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll revisit recent essays from Craig and Steve on corporate communications, media scrutiny, and the strategic role of the ...

11 Jun 34min

bp’s Big Problem

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, hosts Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll return to BP’s boardroom battle with former chairman Albert Manifold. After being dismissed over governance, oversight...

4 Jun 22min

“Lower-Value Human Capital”

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll unpack two corporate reputation problems where leadership, governance, and messaging collided under pressure. First, they ex...

28 Mai 30min

The AI Commencement

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine a string of AI-related commencement speech misfires and what they reveal about executive communication, audience awa...

21 Mai 29min

Of Maersk and Men

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine two high-stakes corporate communication moments with direct lessons for CEOs, communications executives, public affa...

14 Mai 30min

GameStop’s faceplant, Wells Fargo’s comeback

In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll examine two very different corporate reputation moments: GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen’s awkward CNBC interview after announcing a...

7 Mai 30min