That’s why global brands need more than a playbook. They need local partners who understand the nuance behind how communities think, talk, and react, and who can translate global strategies into credible, contextually smart actions on the ground.

At IPREX, our partners across more than 100 cities share one goal: helping organizations respond to crises with clarity, cultural intelligence, and credibility. Here’s what our colleagues in Mexico City, Mumbai, and Minneapolis have learned from guiding clients through high-stakes moments around the world.

Mexico City: Understand the Landscape Before You Act

For leaders of multinational companies with a direct or indirect presence in regions such as Latin America, it is important to have access to local expert advice that informs them about the political, economic, and social frameworks of the country and community where they face a critical or potentially critical situation.

The world is heterogeneous, and what may work in one country or city in a developed market is not necessarily useful, effective, or feasible elsewhere.

For example, corruption is a persistent issue in Latin America. Most countries in this region rank in the lower half of Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, with the notable exceptions of Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica, which rank 13th, 32nd, and 42nd, respectively. For reference, Brazil and Mexico, the two largest economies in the region, rank 107th and 140th, respectively.

To avoid stepping on landmines, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the environment, it is critical to have a reliable communications and issues management partner with the necessary credentials to guide you through a crisis. Dextera Comunicación in Mexico City is an expert guide for companies seeking advice for communicating in the region.

Mumbai: Speed with Sensitivity — and the Power of Local Voices

In India’s complex and rapidly evolving media environment, two key lessons stand out when advising clients on crisis management. Bloomingdale PR in Mumbai is an expert partner to understand the nuances of communicating in India.

1. Speed with Sensitivity
   India’s 24/7 news cycle and hyperactive social media landscape demand rapid response that maintains cultural sensitivity. In a crisis, we advise clients to act within the first 2–3 hours with a holding statement, even if full facts aren’t available. This, however, must be backed by a deep understanding of regional sentiments, languages, and social dynamics. A tone-deaf or delayed response can escalate issues, especially in emotionally charged sectors like food, education, or healthcare.
2. Localize, Then Escalate.
   Many global brands underestimate the diversity within India. A one-size-fits-all national message rarely works. We recommend addressing crises first at the regional or city level, using local language media and influencers when relevant. This bottom-up approach helps contain narratives before they gain national traction and earn goodwill from local communities and journalists.
   
   In essence, effective crisis communication in India requires agility, emotional intelligence, and a decentralized approach — all while staying aligned with a brand’s global voice.

Minneapolis: Transparency and Trust Build the Long Game

In the United States, the biggest differentiator in crisis response is trust, not just speed. Public expectations for transparency are high, and any attempts to manage or minimize information often backfire in a digital environment where every stakeholder has a microphone.

At Tunheim in Minneapolis, we advise global clients to:

1. Acknowledge quickly and honestly. Silence creates space for speculation.
2. Stay aligned across borders. U.S. audiences watch how global leadership behaves; inconsistency between regions erodes credibility.
3. Think beyond today’s headlines. The best crisis communications plan isn’t just about surviving the week — it’s about rebuilding trust for the next quarter, the next year, and the next market.

The IPREX Advantage: Global Insight, Local Execution

Crises don’t respect borders. But effective crisis communication depends on understanding them — cultural, linguistic, political, and emotional.

That’s the value of IPREX: a trusted network of local experts who collaborate seamlessly across continents to help clients prepare, respond, and recover. Our collective experience proves that the most successful global brands act locally, listen carefully, and lead with integrity everywhere they operate.

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It’s no secret that the events of 2020 took an unprecedented toll on society; but for those in the public relations community, communications have never been more important.

Tunheim is a leading member of IPREX, the $420m network of independent communications firms with 1,100 professionals in 100 offices around the world.

IPREX recently released insights about the lessons of 2020 and implications for 2021 for the independent PR and marketing industry, based on inputs from its offices around the world. Despite – or maybe because of – its many challenges, 2020 heightened the need for communications services.

Given the disruption of the global market, the flexibility of the IPREX model is positioned well for what brands and organizations need, as opposed to highly centralized approaches to communications.

Taken from answers from 26 agency owners around the world, IPREX offers important insights on communicating in 2021.

Uneven Disruption and Uneven Recovery

Firms with deep experience supporting hospitality, tourism, and travel suffered alongside their clients, as the impacts of the pandemic brought much of that sector to an abrupt halt.

While these firms continue to recover, many IPREX firms also expect to be impacted by the emergence of new or changed trade dynamics, from the aftermath of Brexit for the E.U. and the U.K., to the next generation of China-U.S. relations under a Biden administration, among a myriad of others.

Global Scale Challenge Reinforces Global Scale Solutions

While each country, region and metropolitan area around the world shaped its response to the challenges of COVID-19 based on local realities, the capacity to share experiences, stories and data created a strong awareness of the value of global connections.

Alliance efforts in the future won’t be a return to past practices or models, but new forms of global cooperation, collaboration and partnership with independent firms on-the-ground in key markets operating with the benefits of shared talent, technology and best practices.

The Complicated Future of Facts Means More Communications Needs

Both the pandemic and the accelerating polarization of societies around the world have contributed to the fracturing of traditional sources of public information, undermining citizens’ confidence in official messaging from government and private brands.

IPREX firms have seen an increased demand related to developing strategies to reinforce the credibility of those institutional players. This need isn’t likely to abate anytime soon.

Specifically, IPREX firms report a rise in the increasing sophistication required in using digital and social media tools for the delivery of effective messaging.

Purpose-Driven Work on the Rise

Many corporations supported by IPREX firms are engaging in unprecedented efforts to ensure they are meeting their obligations to all their stakeholders: customers, employees, communities and investors.

Corporate social responsibility efforts are moving into new levels of investment and sophistication.  IPREX firms report clients are increasingly coming to their agencies for environmental, social and governance (ESG), sustainability and purpose-driven work.

Equity and Systemic Racism Demand Thoughtful Navigation

Set off by events in the U.S. (in particular, the death of George Floyd), but reverberating around the globe, issues of racial and ethnic equity have now been raised to a level of awareness such that brands and organizations cannot sit on the sidelines.

Authentic and inclusive voices, as well as clear intentionality, are now reputational commitments being made by IPREX itself, as well as by the clients IPREX agencies serve through their public relations and strategic communications services.

Is your organization thinking through complex stakeholder communications? Let Tunheim help you think it through. Contact us to get started.

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And yet I find myself pausing to reflect on all that progress has wrought. The convergence of access to instant connectivity, protectionism and discomfort discussing different viewpoints, and the barrage of content aimed at us by marketers is resulting in disturbingly uncivil discourse. We live in an online echo chamber.

Our current reality is that it is easier to be against something than it is to be for something. Every day on social media brings forth a new victim for outrage. People don’t trust institutions, mass media, and based on the last Pew poll of Americans’ trust in neighbors, which is a year old, I will make the leap that people’s trust in each other is low.

We have had so much extraordinary innovation and creativity that is leading to these unintended consequences for our society. These consequences have led to rethinking my own reliance on social media, as well as my professional counsel on its usage.

How do we repair these divides and build a new norm given all the change happening around us?  

A path to offline conversations 

I’ll tell you what I am doing.

I am taking a step back to try to exit the echo chamber. I’m spending far less time on social media. I’m seeking information from those who think like me and those who help me understand different viewpoints. I am aiming to shut down the social banter, listen to others and seek what we have in common.

Sally Kohn spoke at a conference I just attended where she shared pertinent advice on this topic. Of her time being a Liberal pundit at Fox News, she said that what you don’t see after the cameras stop rolling is most illustrative for where we as a civil society go from here. Even where they disagreed, she said, “When you know the people, it’s easier to respect each other’s opinions and differences.”

Kohn went on to speak of something I have been saying often of late — underneath all our opinions and beliefs, we’re humans with feelings. Instead of starting by shutting others down, if we start by listening and acknowledging how they feel (which doesn’t mean agreeing with how they feel, it’s saying “I understand you feel this way”), we may be able to have a more thoughtful discussion and find more about what we have in common than not.

Call to action: Get out there

The time is now. Talk to people you know, but disagree with. Inform yourself about people who are different than you. Lean in to see outside your worldview.  

If you need some inspiration, here are some projects to help you get started:

• Read this story about NPR bringing a Trump voter and her Facebook insulter together
• Watch Bring it to the Table, a film project exploring views from across the country to hear from people who think like you, and others who don’t.
• Read this piece about depolarization to help you navigate difficult discussions: “The Seven Habits of Highly Depolarizing People” by David Blankenhorn.

Communications professionals know that people are persuaded by people, so I’m committed to connecting with people who are willing to engage in two-way communication.

Are you exploring this, too? I’d love to connect and discuss these important issues we’re facing today. If possible, let’s try to meet in the real world.

Find me on Twitter.

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Marketing and communications inside large organizations have traditionally been organized by individual channels, but customers don’t differentiate messaging like companies do. Customers expect the information they are seeking on the channel of their choice, when they are seeking it.

This is especially true in digital — digital can no longer be treated as separate channels, but must be integrated with the rest of your marketing and communications initiatives. With that in mind, we’ve compiled 5 digital strategy mistakes we still see large companies make that are caused by internal silos.

1. Companies ignore social media and only focus on owned digital channels

This primarily pertains to business-to-business companies, especially those in healthcare, manufacturing and companies that rely solely on a traditional sales funnel.

We hear often that either companies don’t think their customers use social or they don’t want to know what is being said because then they will have to deal with it (or as is common in regulated industries like healthcare, they may have to disclose it).

This is a dangerous strategy regardless of your business for a couple reasons:

• If customers are talking about you, you are letting the conversation happen without your knowledge; in some cases this can quickly escalate into a crisis.

• Your company may be missing a large sales opportunity by not taking advantage of the relationship-driven nature of social media. Social media can help at all levels of the marketing funnel.

2. Companies rely too heavily on one or two social channels

Depending on where digital sits within your company, there may be an individual, a small team or perhaps multiple teams engaging on social media on behalf of the company.

Before a company has a mature digital strategy, often the channels represented rely on the interests or knowledge of those managing the social media channels.

But if your company is spending all of its time on one channel, there may be missed opportunities elsewhere.

This may also leave you scrambling when the platform makes changes that will adversely affect your hard work.

Think your company doesn’t have anything to share on Instagram, Vine or Pinterest? General Electric has found unique ways to use Instagram, Vine and Pinterest and have amassed a large following on each channel.

3. Companies create content ad hoc rather than planning ahead and aligning with key messages

Without a strategy and road map to guide, your digital communications will be ad hoc. While this can work for awhile, it won’t allow your digital communications to impact your business.

All your digital and social channels should share a calendar with your marketing and communications calendar with a major emphasis on how you can engage your customers.

A secondary issue we see often is that measurement is looked at based on these ad hoc messages rather than overall impact.  But looking at analytics in a silo will only ever tell you part of the story.

4. Companies don’t develop a cross-functional team of stakeholders

Digital initiatives cannot remain siloed. But too often, they remain in the control of one group based on budget or perceived scope.

But social media rarely only touches one area of your business and you may need a cross-functional team to be able to respond to certain posts from your customers.

The stakeholders necessary are different for every business, but likely include brand marketing, public relations, internal communications, customer relations, community relations, government relations, legal, risk management, product/service representatives, and likely other groups from within communications and marketing.

By bringing together a team to solve customer problems and align initiatives rather than protect turf, the silos will have to come down. Have the group get together and talk through the best and worst case scenarios — as with any crisis planning, by talking through these things in planning, it helps ease the fear of the risk and get the team to focus on positive outcomes.

There does need to be a lead, so if digital is currently living in one of these groups, aim to support that existing team. If it will be new, public relations or marketing communications is a smart place to start — look to the storytellers in your business who also have a close connection to your executive team to lead the way as executive support will come in handy to help knock down any barriers you face.

5. Companies don’t align digital strategy with business goals

Digital and social media should support your business goals, as well as your marketing and communications strategies. They should not be operating on their own with little thought to how they support those important business touch points. The channels you use should align with who you are trying to reach (your audiences).

By focusing on what you are trying to solve rather than budgets or ownership, your messaging will have greater impact.

Main takeaway: Use digital communications to reach customers and solve their problems first.

Interested in more information or wondering where to start? Let us audit your digital channels or run a sample social listening report to see what opportunities exist for your business.

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