We’ve been saying it for years now, comms never stands still. But lately, it’s felt less like steady evolution and more like everything shifting at once, in slightly different directions.
Most of the organisations we work with aren’t operating in “business as usual” mode. They’re transforming, restructuring, responding, recalibrating, sometimes all at once. Which means comms can’t just reflect what’s happening, it has to anticipate it, shape it, and occasionally steady it.
So this is our attempt to capture some of that thinking as it happens. Not polished thought-leadership pieces, but more like a running commentary, things we’re noticing, questioning, and supporting with, in real time.
Here’s what’s been on our radar lately:
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AI is changing what “good” looks like
Every second post on LinkedIn might be about AI (and yes, we’re as bored as everyone else of the “did you use AI?” commentary), but underneath that noise there’s something genuinely important happening.
The way content gets found, surfaced and trusted is shifting.
This post from strategic comms expert Sarah Evans highlights some key insights on why traditional ideas of “reach” don’t carry the same weight when AI systems are answering questions about your brand.
Key takeaway: Content updated within 30 days gets 3.2x more AI citations than older content (Cross-platform LLM analysis, Q1 2026).
Which reinforces something we’ve long believed: B2B comms isn’t about volume, it’s about usefulness and credibility.
In 2026, that means regularly publishing original, expert, high-quality content across platforms like LinkedIn, Substack, your own website and targeted newsletters. Not because it fills a content calendar, but because it builds a body of work that machines (and people) trust.
As the original post puts it: “The podcast with ‘only’ 2,000 listeners? Transcript indexed. Spoken expertise. Original audio. AI loves it.”
This isn’t a “nice to have” anymore. It’s a shift in how authority is built and recognised.
We’ve been saying for 15 years, measure quality outcomes, not quantity outputs!
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The pressure to keep moving (even when teams aren’t in place yet)
Alongside that shift, we’ve all clocked just how many comms roles are being advertised right now, influencing officers, external affairs, campaigns, engagement leads, you name it.
It’s a clear signal: organisations know they need to step up their comms capability to keep pace with change. But there is a tension here. Hiring takes time. Change doesn’t.
And what we’re seeing (and sometimes being pulled into) is that gap, where the need for comms is immediate, but the permanent team structure isn’t quite there yet.
That’s where fractional support is starting to make more sense. Bringing in experienced teams who can hit the ground running, keep things moving and add some strategic grip from day one. Not as a replacement for long-term roles, but as a way of protecting momentum while everything else catches up.
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Knowing your audience isn’t optional, it’s everything
The amount of commentary on LinkedIn recently about the decline of once-loved high street names like Claire’s has been hard to miss. For many, it’s wrapped up in nostalgia, but underneath that, there’s a more important point about how quickly audiences move on, and how brutally expectations can shift.
Teenagers today aren’t the same audience they were even five years ago. Their reference points, attention spans, platforms and expectations are being shaped in real time and mostly on TikTok.
Which is why this really landed for us when we were recently asked to develop a multimedia pitch deck for a brand targeting that exact audience. Our client already knew their offer inside out. What they needed wasn’t more detail on what they do, it was a clearer, sharper articulation of who they were talking to and why it mattered to them.
Because winning pitches (and, let’s be honest, most comms) is not just about what you sell, it’s about who you’re selling to.
That meant digging into the brand, the brief, and the behaviours of their audience, then shaping a story that demonstrated genuine alignment. Not a list of products or generic claims, but a compelling case for why this, why now, and why them.
Whether it’s a pitch, a campaign or a change programme, the organisations getting it right are the ones putting real effort into understanding their audience, and then building comms that actually speak their language.
So whether it’s AI reshaping content, teams scaling up, or keeping pace with changing audiences, the bar for effective comms isn’t just higher, it’s sharper. It’s not about doing more, it’s about getting it right and keeping it moving.
