Why Humor Drives Brand Growth (And Most Get It Wrong)Share

Shopify published a 2026 guide on brand crisis management, outlining how companies can navigate public relations disasters. The guide addresses the reality that brands face unexpected crises regularly, from product failures to public scandals, and that how they respond often matters more than the crisis itself. The difference between survival and collapse frequently comes down to communication strategy.

Companies are increasingly deploying AI tools to help managers write performance reviews, identify behavioral patterns, and score employees. The technology promises more consistent, better-prepared feedback conversations. But the shift raises a sharp question: when an algorithm shapes what a manager says about your work, who actually owns that conversation? Employees and HR leaders are now grappling with where the machine ends and human accountability begins.

New research confirms what experienced crisis managers already know: in certain industries, a single quarter of poor reputation management wipes out the goodwill built over an entire year of doing things right. The industries most exposed include finance, healthcare, and consumer goods, where trust is the actual product. One bad stretch of silence, spin, or tone-deaf messaging can cost more than twelve months of careful, consistent communication.

The Workplace Leadership Institute recently published a five-step framework for building civility in office environments. Their core argument: respectful workplaces don't happen by accident. Leadership must drive them deliberately. The Institute delivered this guidance through its organizational development program, positioning civility not as a soft perk but as a structural responsibility that sits squarely on the shoulders of those at the top.

Corporate communications leaders are no longer just message managers. A growing trend across major industries shows these executives moving from tactical spokespeople into strategic decision-makers who sit at the leadership table and help set organizational direction. The title has changed less than the job description has. Communications chiefs are now expected to shape strategy, not just announce it.

At a live performance, comedian Warri Pikin found herself at the center of a viral moment after singer Timaya lifted a woman from the audience onto the stage. Warri Pikin later issued a public apology, clarifying that she had no prior knowledge Timaya would pull an audience member into the act, and that the woman had initially resisted. The apology came after the clip spread widely online and public reaction turned critical.

In Japan, a booming industry of professional "resignation agents" now allows workers to quit their jobs without ever speaking to their employer directly. One worker, featured on the website of Tokyo-based firm Leadbrain, hired an agency to handle his exit because he feared how his coworkers would judge him. These services charge a fee to handle all communication on the employee's behalf, effectively ghosting management so the worker never has to say a word.

Getting interrupted or ignored by senior executives is one of the most common and demoralizing experiences professionals face in meetings. It happens constantly across industries: someone speaks up, a more powerful person talks over them or dismisses the point entirely, and the moment collapses. Most people freeze, shrink, or simply move on. That pattern has real consequences for careers and for the quality of decisions being made in those rooms.