Hearts & Minds

In a crisis, don’t deny the facts, don’t say “no comment,” and don’t drown the issue in excuses or distractions. Instead, keep your message short, sincere, and focused: acknowledge the disappointment and commit to improvement—anything more just dilutes your credibility.

This week’s news that OpenAI ‘is building a social network’ will no doubt excite many. But brands and businesses should tread carefully - consumers are wary of AI and take a negative stance when they spot it. 

As UK consumers lean towards buying British due to tariff concerns, companies face a choice to either embrace local pride or risk international trade? Will brands fly the flag to capitalize on the patriotic mood, or fly under the radar to maintain their global presence amidst rising protectionism?

Britain tries to tread carefully on China, but mixed messages prevail

“Too early to say” is all one can say amid tariff turbulence

Committed to inclusivity… excluding the US

Golf and the Godfather – how trump is framing the latest tariff twist

The shareholder letters that are a message to the world

How to deal with Trump, courtesy of AI and the man himself

Labour’s Reddit debut shows how much institutional comms landscape is shifting

The problem with being polite

Will journalism ever profit from impartiality again?

Adolescence: the cultural phenomenon that's an object lesson in storytelling 

How not to fill the void in Trump’s tariff guessing game 

The tolerance paradox: a comms conundrum

Gone but not forgotten. Heathrow closure has disappeared from the headlines, but reputational risks remain

Why CEOs should resist the return of macho leadership language

Heathrow: a terribly British dispute in a world of fire and fury

Does snow White’s success  illustrate a growing cultural disconnect between mainstream media and society?

Will sideswipe at New York revive listless London’s fortunes?

Retire The Apprentice? Slay the Dragon? The time may have come

Benefits of the doubt: how PM is navigating a course through welfare reform

Keeping it in the family? Here's the comms playbook. 

At $35 billion, marketeers and investors are falling under the spell of influencers

How to handle product recalls

Don’t let your guard down in conference season

If you’re cop-ping some flak, explain yourself

Dear Sir… the power of the letters page

How did a bakery chain become so divisive?

Business sense of climate action should be at the heart of sustainability narrative

How Zelensky found the right words, in the end

Easy to criticise, but Aberdeen deserves credit for brand U-turn

Defense industry narrative shifts on its Axis 

Coalition of the willing is a comms coup for Starmer

The careful calibration of comms in the lead up to international Women’s Day

Guest editing: connecting leaders with readers

DEI. Now for the backlash against the backlash

Lessons from the Vatican on handling the most sensitive topic of all

How to handle the customer complaint that reacges the CEO’s inbox

Leaving Lousville for Texas a tough sell for KFC

A little light cv embellishment? Don’t go there

Use comms nous to avoid ad missteps

Hard lessons from Paris's AI Anticlimax

How to speak to audiences at once

Through the looking glass. The optics of Musk & Son in the Oval Office

Dealing with a bite from Adland’s watchdog

AI’s fallability is a concern but won’t slow its march

Britain’s branding problem. How to start fixing it

The lessons from traditional media’s gen Z push

Standing by your values in business

How to reach gen Z

Stop branding UK tech as Palo Alto’s little cousin

To weigh in on tariffs or to stay silent?

How media is using ai to open a new window on its content

The sense of an ending. How to communicate through a closure

Reeves 2.0 – the new vocabulary of growth

Five stages of Grief Silicon Valley style: the DeepSeek response

Attention first, substance later. The new communications creed

Disregard. Decline. Deny. The lifecycle of a fabricated story 

Merger mania needs careful comms

 How not to apologise

Change needs deeds, as well as words 

Davos can be divisive – handle with care

Cashing in on a rival’s woes – the do’s and don’ts

Gesture politics. Deconstructing musk’s salute

Trump wins the war of the peacemakers as Gaza Truce nears

Why ESG is here to stay

Subdued and grandiose – Trump srides again

Winning with the media at Christmas

Winning investors is the key to pay comms

It’s time to double down on the truth

Beware he headlong rush into ai slop

Work life balance versus work life integration

How much longer will traditional media dominate serious discussion?

How to reverse out of a popular customer offer.

How to handle the delicate topic of the CEO’s health

How comms can navigate the Christmas party season

Managing reputation when the CEO turns political powerbroker

Corporate psychopathy - how not to fall under its spell 

Is 2025 the year that comms fully embraces AI?

Staying the course on sustainability in a new political era

Public pessimism, the gift that keeps on giving for editors and comms

A masterclass in bad crisis management

Cracking the code of cyber security comms

Even the world’s richest man and one of its most famous, cannot sway a court. Elon Musk is finding it extremely difficult to win his legal case for a record $56bn pay award. A Delaware judge has shot him down again, saying Tesla shareholders’ overwhelming approval for the deal did not override her previous rejection of the package.

It was a firm knockback for Musk, the Tesla car creator and chief executive and newly anointed Washington heavyweight, having donated $100m to the Trump campaign and been appointed co-head of an advisory board set up to excess US government spending. Musk may have all that might and brilliance - famously he showed he could dock one of his returning space rockets in spectacular fashion, but the legal system remains obdurate.

Might his own personal style of comms, have something to do with it? Judges like to be seen to be independent – telling them how to behave risks backfiring. They’re also keen to display they’re there for everyone, regardless of their position. However grand someone is, however much they threaten and promise to call on political connections, does not matter.

Musk’s approach is highly public and highly confrontational. Since losing the first round he has complained loudly about the Delaware court and has moved all his company incorporations to Nevada or Texas. Last month, Musk posted on X, which he owns: “When there are egregiously wrong legal judgments in a single state that substantially harm American citizens in all other 49 states, the Federal government should take immediate corrective action.”

A PR advisor, let alone a lawyer, might suggest he did not say that. But then Musk eschews advice. His view of comms is well-known. At Tesla, he pared down the comms team, saying: “Other companies spend money on advertising and manipulating public opinion, Tesla focuses on the product.” He did the same at X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after buying the social network. 

After this latest decision, Musk went on the attack again. “Absolute corruption”, he wrote on X.

Tesla is appealing to the Delaware Supreme Court. Ann Lipton, a law professor at Tulane University, summed up what might occur: “The difficulty for that court is [that] Musk’s unsubtle threat to use his new political power to retaliate against Delaware makes it very difficult for that court to rule in his favour without looking like it was cowed.”

Elon, you won’t listen. Perhaps sometimes, you should.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard. 

Time to take the bitcoin between the teeth?

How to keep signing when you’re not winning

When you’re in a hole, don’t dig

Band Aid struggles to patch up old wounds

Pain for gain: the oldest conundrum in comms

The power of a non-financial theme when presenting results

When journalists strike, the bosses face a philosophical as well as operational headache

Jaguar’s rebrand has the media on the prowl

Global big tech is now so large and powerful that countries like Britain, as opposed to the US and China, must treat them in the same way they would a nation state. Governments must work with, not against them if they wish to have any say in how AI for instance plays out in future. This has implications for CEOs and comms, seeing both sides coming together rather than remaining apart.

The lesson from the US election. Never mind the politics, just look at the numbers.

Rise of Bluesky adds another layer of complications for comms

Why Netflix’s Tyson v Paul bout is an old media trick writ large

Why adding your name to an open letter is not to be taken lightly

Will politics be the final frontier for Musk?

Trump victory triggers giant game of diplomatic dodgeball

In a world where we live in fear of being cancelled, communication is so often left bland in a desperate bid to stay woke. Adopting a position of being cautiously unafraid should provide a balance and the ultimate prize, authenticity.

Soundbites from Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II are currently echoing around the airwaves. They remind us of the power of a great line and how crafting them is an art worth persevering with. They are tangible and therefore persuasive.

It is a measure of whether a CEO should resign that when they do, there is no surprise. So, it was yesterday with Justin Welby. Some CEOs quit even though they have no personal connection with what occurred but it took place on their watch, the corporation’s reputation is suffering, a change is required. In this instance it was both reputational damage to himself and the brand. Leaving no question.

Navigating the perils of potentially toxic sponsorships

Will SNL skit turn off the voters Harris needs to win over?

The classic PR idea that keeps on giving

Triumph of the block capital communicator

With the recent experience from Sonos showing the AI customer service solutions can work extremely well, corporate communicators need to start thinking about the impact it will have on their company’s call centre operations.

Our friend Will Lewis is at the heart of an American news storm. What might he have done differently?

How feared activist deployed news comms weapons in activist fight

Before you opine on budget, think: what’s in it for me?

How UK Chancellor’s tricks worked a treat.

How to avoid making promises you know you can’t keep

To go or not to go?  Attending COP was always an easy decision to make – but this year’s event in Baku presents communication challenges if you choose to stay at home.

With 100 leading female footballers signing an open letter to Fifa asking it to end a sponsorship deal – the spotlight on who corporate’s sponsor and why is raising difficult communication challenges

The sudden death of Liam Payne was a shock.  And while we probably don’t want to think about it happening closer to home – the death of a high-profile individual needs us communicators to be at our most human.

With the Financial Conduct Authority cracking down on the use of influencers – the role of endorsement is back in the spotlight

In complex organisations, meticulous planning is required to avoid spectacular own goals, such as the one that has just befallen the UK government.

The astonishing film of Space X’s rocket booster returning to Earth demonstrates the power of cinematic storytelling

What do you do if your business suddenly joins the zeitgeist?

How do you manage the comms around the discontinuation or disposal of a much-loved asset whose fame and regard no longer translate into commercial value or strategic fit?