By Andy Douse, Head of Communications at Wrapped Agency
The case for treating communications as a business function
Every organisation has a reputation.
The question is how much influence you’re having over yours.
Your reputation is being shaped every day by what customers experience, what employees say, what leaders communicate, what appears online and how your organisation responds when something goes wrong.
Some of that you can control.
Some of it you can’t.
But choosing not to actively manage your reputation doesn’t stop it being formed.
It simply means other people have a greater role in shaping it.
Who’s building your reputation?
It’s tempting to think of reputation as something created through marketing and PR.
In reality, it’s much broader.
- A potential customer might encounter your organisation through a recommendation.
- A prospective employee might read reviews before applying for a job.
- A buyer might research your leadership team on LinkedIn.
- A journalist might look at what you’ve previously said about an issue.
- An existing customer might judge you by how you respond when something goes wrong.
- And employees talk about the organisations they work for.
Your reputation is the accumulation of all these experiences, conversations and signals.
That’s why communications should extend beyond deciding what appears on your website or social channels.
It should help an organisation think about what it says, when it says it, who needs to hear it and whether the experience matches the message.
Deliberate communication vs reactive communication
There are broadly two ways organisations approach communication.
Some communicate deliberately.
They consistently explain what they stand for, demonstrate their expertise, share useful information, give their people a voice and build relationships with the audiences that matter to them.
Others communicate reactively.
They communicate when they have something to sell.
When they’re recruiting.
When a new product launches.
When there’s a problem.
Or when somebody suddenly decides: “We need some PR.”
Both organisations are communicating.
But only one is intentionally building its reputation over time.
The commercial value of reputation
Reputation can sometimes feel intangible.
Its commercial consequences aren’t.
PwC’s 2024 Trust Survey found that 93% of business executives agreed that building and maintaining trust improves the bottom line. The same research found that 46% of consumers purchased more from companies they trusted, while four in 10 no longer purchased from a company due to a lack of trust.¹
More recent research reinforces how important that trust remains. Edelman’s 2026 Trust Barometer Special Report found that 88% of respondents considered trusting a brand an important or critical factor when making a purchase – almost identical to quality at 89% and value at 88%.²
Trust isn’t separate from commercial performance.
It can influence whether people buy from you, work for you, recommend you or believe what you say.
The stakes are particularly high in sectors where trust influences important decisions. In healthcare marketing, reputation can affect how patients, professionals and partners perceive an organisation’s credibility. For financial services and fintech brands, clear, consistent communications help customers understand products and make informed decisions. Charities rely on public confidence to attract supporters and maintain relationships with donors, while property businesses need to build trust with buyers, investors and local communities. In each case, reputation depends on more than what an organisation says. It depends on whether its actions consistently support those messages.
Communications starts before you publish
This is where organisations can get reputation management wrong.
Communications isn’t simply the content an organisation puts into the world.
It’s also about helping the organisation understand how its actions may be interpreted.
That might mean asking:
- How will customers respond to this change?
- What do employees need to understand before we announce it?
- What questions are people likely to ask?
- Are our leaders equipped to explain the decision?
- Does what we’re saying match what people will actually experience?
That gives communications a role before a decision reaches the outside world.
Audience research, stakeholder interviews and social listening can help organisations understand the gap between the reputation they want to build and how they’re actually perceived. That evidence gives communications teams a stronger foundation for deciding what to say, what needs to change and where trust needs to be rebuilt.
The University of Southern California’s 2026 Global Communication Report describes communicators as playing an important role in providing context, managing reputational risk and helping leaders decide when to speak – and when to remain silent.³
That’s a very different role from being handed a finished decision and asked to “write something about it”.
Build trust before you need it
One of the biggest advantages of deliberate communication is that you’re building familiarity and credibility over time.
You’re demonstrating expertise before someone is looking for a supplier.
You’re communicating your values before someone is considering working for you.
You’re building relationships before you need support.
And you’re establishing credibility before something difficult happens.
The worst time to start building trust is when you suddenly need it.
If an organisation only communicates when there’s something to announce, promote or defend, every communication has to work harder.
Consistency gives people something to judge you on.
It helps them understand who you are before you’re asking them to make a decision about you.
Five questions to ask about your reputation
You can’t control everything people think or say about your organisation.
But you can be more deliberate about the signals you’re sending.
Start with five questions:
- What do we want to be known for?
- Would our customers and employees describe us that way?
- Are our leaders and experts visible enough?
- Do our actions and customer experience support what our marketing says?
- Are we communicating consistently, or mainly when we need something?
The answers can reveal where reputation is being actively built, and where you’re leaving it to chance.
What this means for your business
Reputation isn’t created by one campaign, press release or LinkedIn post.
It’s built gradually through what an organisation does, says and demonstrates.
That gives communications a broader role than promoting the business.
It can help leadership understand audiences, anticipate reactions, communicate decisions, demonstrate expertise and build trust consistently.
You can’t completely control your reputation.
But you can decide whether you’re actively contributing to it.
If your communications are mainly focused on what to publish next, it may be worth looking at the bigger picture.
At Wrapped Agency, we help organisations build clear, consistent communication strategies that strengthen reputation, demonstrate expertise and build trust with the audiences that matter.
References
1. PwC, 2024 Trust Survey: 8 key findings. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/trust-in-business-survey.html
2. Edelman, 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Growth in an Insular World. https://www.edelman.com/trust/2026/trust-barometer/special-report-brands
3. USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations, 2026 Global Communication Report. https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations/global-communication-report
