In today’s Marketing Pulse, gain insight into how:

• Marketers can fix internal brand messaging breakdowns through consistent reinforcement and internal education.

• Marcom teams become invaluable as digital first responders, swiftly managing crises through transparency, preparedness, and agility.

• Communicators can drive behavior change effectively by promoting choices and transparency, rather than prohibition and fear-based messaging.

These articles are penned by members of Forbes Communications Council, key marketing and communications leaders shaping the future of these fields.

Let’s dive in!

Why Your Brand Messaging Is Breaking Down & How To Fix It

Brand consistency starts strong but often crumbles once the company's walls are breached.

Teams drift, narratives diverge, and inconsistent storytelling confuses customers and analysts alike. To drive credibility and clarity, marketers must become persistent evangelists for cohesive messaging.

Here's how to reinforce your company's narrative:

🧐 Diagnose the Drift: Check for slide variations, confused teams, inconsistent analyst briefings, social media misalignment, and “rogue storytelling.” Use the “hallway test” by asking random employees to define your value proposition and see if they align.

💸 Quantify the Damage: Collaborate with leadership to measure the real cost: lost credibility, lowered analyst trust, confused prospects, and slower GTM strategies.

📣 Champion Consistency Internally: Clarify the “why” behind your message through internal blogs, newsletters, meetings, and sales enablement programs. Leverage leadership forums to reinforce unified messaging.

🔄 Keep It Alive: Messaging should evolve based on feedback from sales, customers, and analysts. Welcome input and refine your narrative to stay precise and relevant.

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How Marcom Teams Can Master Crisis Management

In an era where a tweet can shake markets and a press release can shift public sentiment, marketing and communications (marcom) teams have emerged as digital first responders.

Here's how effective marcom teams stay ahead of crises:

⏳ Be Proactive, Not Reactive: Create detailed crisis management plans. Conduct regular drills and scenario planning—from cyberattacks to PR fiascos—and always keep your plans updated and accessible.

⚡ Respond Swiftly: The first 24 hours are crucial. Rapid, accurate communication through timely media briefings helps control narratives and reduces misinformation.

📖 Transparency: Consistent, honest communication is critical; it builds credibility even during crises. Transparency protects client trust and mitigates speculative damage.

🏢 Leverage In-House Strengths: Marcom teams are the essential bridge between clients and the public, acting as advisors who understand nuanced messaging needs.

🤝 Navigate Sensitive Terrain, Gracefully: Ensure your communications reflect core values and build consensus, especially when handling politically or socially charged issues.

✍️ Craft Messages Carefully: Communicate clearly, aligning with your brand's voice. Reaffirm your organization's core values consistently during times of crisis.

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Why Communicators Should Emphasize Choice, Not Prohibition

Public health communications often lean toward rigid prohibition and fear-based narratives, but this approach rarely inspires lasting behavior change.

Drawing key lessons from tobacco and nicotine advocacy, communicators across industries can craft effective messaging by prioritizing informed choices and transparency.

How marcomm leaders can drive better conversations:

🚩 Challenge False Narratives: Don't shy away from calling out misleading claims from content creators and watchdog groups. Correct misinformation actively, anchoring your messages to facts and transparency.

⚖️ Highlight Double Standards: Scrutinize and spotlight areas of inconsistency in public messaging, such as flavor criticisms in the tobacco versus alcohol industries. Questioning contradictions creates informed dialogue and builds trust.

🌎 Focus on Choice Over Control: Fear-based messaging and heavy-handed regulation tend to backfire. Follow Sweden's pragmatic approach—educate your audience and promote feasible choices rather than strict prohibitions, leading to genuine behavioral change.

🎯 Position Alternatives as Responsible Adult Options: Communicate scientific evidence behind lower-risk alternatives, translating complex information into accessible language to help consumers make smarter decisions.

📚 Advocate for Education, Not Elimination: Rather than eliminating choices, leverage honest, practical education to empower people. Assume trust in your audience to make informed, better decisions when given transparent options.

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Wrapping Up

If these articles sparked your interest, we have a network that you will absolutely love: Forbes Communications Council.

This exclusive, vetted community brings together the brightest minds in marketing and communications — founders, CEOs, CCOs, CMOs, and other senior leaders of marketing and communications teams.

Put yourself at the forefront of innovation with access to publishing opportunities on Forbes.com, a personalized, SEO-friendly Executive Profile, and the chance to network with other respected leaders in the field.

Join Forbes Communications Council today, and become part of a group driving transformation in marketing.