By: Carrie Healey

Carrie Healey runs strategic communications campaigns at Purple Strategies and previously led immigration and policy communications at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, following years of experience in Democratic politics.

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT

• Immigration is no longer just a policy issue — it’s a brand risk. With increased enforcement, polarized politics, and employee fear colliding on the retail floor, companies can’t afford to be silent.

• Employees are walking off the job. Customers are paying attention. And ICE is showing up with or without warning. If your organization isn’t prepared to communicate quickly, compassionately, and in compliance with the law, you’re already behind.

• Silence is not safety. Transparency is the strategy.

What We See

American businesses – especially retailers, who are on the front lines of this issue – are under more pressure than ever before. Despite many undocumented workers being ineligible for employment, a recent survey from Pew revealed that 90% of Americans acknowledge undocumented workers take jobs U.S. citizens often won’t. But according to a recent Purple Strategies survey of the informed public, 67% of Americans still believe retailers should only employ verified workers, and 58% believe companies are breaking the law when undocumented employees are integrated within their supply chain — even if they aren’t directly employed by the retailer.

Immigration is also one of the most polarizing issues in American politics — and for companies, it often feels like there’s no safe ground. Move too far left, and you risk being labeled as soft on crime. Move too far right, and you’re branded as heartless. The left demands compassion and care for immigrants; the right demands strict enforcement and removal. At first glance, there seems to be little reward for speaking up — but plenty of risk for stepping wrong.

The threat of ICE activity, even if rumored, can trigger real disruptions; retail employees fear ICE raids and reputational damage is amplified when ICE agents take action on business premises. In addition, there is an expectation that companies publicly explain their policies — 79% of informed Americans say it’s important for businesses to be transparent — and that the status quo isn’t sustainable. In this climate, staying quiet isn’t neutral, it’s a missed opportunity.

What It Means

American Companies need a new playbook. Immigration enforcement is accelerating, and reputational risks are spreading across entire supply chains. The tools businesses have relied on to stay compliant — like E-Verify — are outdated. A 2019 CATO report found that E-Verify failed to detect more than 5 in 6 undocumented workers, and they’ve mistakenly flagged nearly 750,000 legal ones.

The public expects both lawful action and human compassion — 48% of informed Americans say companies should commit to both. For businesses, that means affirming hiring compliance and showing support for foreign-born employees who may be targeted by enforcement or fear for their families. The right message does more than signal intent — it demonstrates how you’re actively following the law while also standing behind your people. That includes communicating your compliance policies clearly and consistently and offering reassurance to employees whose lives — or their loved ones’ — may be disrupted by immigration enforcement.

And it’s not just about your direct employees. The public and the press won’t stop to parse your vendor contracts or supply chain structure. If an undocumented subcontracted employee is arrested at a store or warehouse, the headline will name the brand, not the subcontractor.  That means companies must extend their communications expectations, compliance policies, and crisis planning across their entire contractor network. In this environment, who’s wearing your logo matters more than who’s on your payroll.

What To Do

1. Audit your supply chain: Start by understanding where your risk exists. Review your vendors’ hiring practices and assess where visibility or verification may be weak. The public won’t parse fine print.
2. Communicate like you care — because you do: Employees should hear from leaders directly. And 40% of the public want regular emails from senior leadership during periods of immigration uncertainty. Town halls, video messages, and internal FAQs can also go a long way to reduce fear.
3. Pair compassion with compliance: Use messages that affirm you follow the law and support your people. We follow the law and care about our workers is not contradictory—it’s a competitive advantage.
4. Build a rapid response team: Legal, communications, HR, and business leads should scenario-plan for enforcement actions or raids anywhere in your supply chain. Know who drafts the first statement, who fields media, who supports employees on the ground. Don’t scramble. Be ready.
5. Stay proactive, not reactive: Don’t wait for ICE or activists to force your hand. Have a policy statement ready and train managers on what to do during a raid. Brief your suppliers on these policies and procedures and share your commitments internally and externally before a crisis hits.

 

Reputation and responsibility go hand in hand. The public expects clarity, not perfection. They want to know that businesses are following the law, protecting their workers, and communicating honestly.

Businesses don’t need to take a side in the immigration debate. But they do need to speak up, act smart, and be ready. Because right now, doing nothing is the riskiest move of all.

Want to talk about how to build an immigration-ready communications plan? Let’s connect.

Nina DeLorenzo has led and built communications and corporate affairs organizations at global companies including AbbVie, Sanofi and Emergent. She has also served in the White House, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Senate and on political campaigns. What is her take on what it really means to be “campaign ready”? It’s not what most leaders think.

Straight To The Point 

• Today’s landscape doesn’t reward the slow, the passive, or those who operate with a comms-only mentality of yesteryear. In an age of weaponized misinformation and instant backlash, any company can become a political target.
• If your organization can’t move in unison quickly, pivot smartly and speak credibly under pressure, you’re not ready. And in this environment, not being ready is risky and expensive.
• Start treating your corporate affairs function like a campaign: comms and government relations in lockstep, built to engage, equipped to respond and ready to lead. Integration is crucial, and that also means with commercial and business leaders. Because when the heat is on, a well-designed PowerPoint deck about your top product won’t win you any battles.

What We See

Campaign readiness starts with an essential question: does your corporate affairs organization understand the company’s business strategy—and is it built to advance it? In too many companies, the answer is no.

Leaders often replicate generic organizational structures or apply templates that don’t reflect the business context. That’s a mistake. Comms and government relations teams that don’t work closely together and don’t understand the business will always be reactive. And in today’s environment, that’s not just a vulnerability—it’s a liability.

Being campaign ready isn’t about a binder full of crisis plans or a quarterly offsite. It’s about knowing where your business is going and what the external environment needs to look like in order for it to succeed. Campaign-ready means comms and GR shaping the environment to your advantage when you can, and forcefully countering obstacles when they arise. A campaign-ready corporate affairs organization can think, move and act like a campaign: ahead of the curve, aggressive when it needs to be, quiet when it’s strategic to be so, but always ready and aligned with your business.

The outside world moves fast. It doesn’t care how big your company is or how beloved your brand was yesterday. It has zero regard for your C-suite’s comfort zone. You need a campaign-ready organization to navigate it.

What It Means

Too many comms or corporate affairs leaders walk into roles thinking their job is to communicate business priorities or lobby in DC. That’s the bare minimum. Your real job? Help drive the business strategy by shaping the external environment to protect and promote it—and pivot on a dime when necessary.

At the same time, companies that thrive have leadership that treats corporate affairs like it’s as much part of the business as marketing or sales: essential to growth. The ones that flounder see comms as the team that writes the press releases and GR as the ones who lobby. And guess who gets clobbered when the external environment turns hostile?

The readiness checklist isn’t complicated—but it is critical. You need:

• People: They’re smart. They’re scrappy. They’re strategic. Not just “pencil-pushers”—people who can flex, adapt and act under pressure.
• Assets: You need a clear, resonant story. Along with a brand and assets that reflect it. Channels that reach the right audiences—fast. A PAC that’s not dormant. And data that tells you what’s working (and what’s not).
• Mindset: You should be the one looking around the next corner, unafraid to tell the CEO what’s there—even if it’s ugly. And you need to have a bias for action when things get messy because they will. Freezing in place—or hiding under the desk—is not an option.

What To Do About It

1. Take your seat at the table. If you’re not helping shape business decisions, you’re not campaign ready—you’re an afterthought. Understand the business. Embed your team with their teams. Use that knowledge to drive strategy instead of just communicating the latest business updates.
2. Insights are your foundation. Don’t build your strategy on instinct alone. Know how your company is perceived, internally and externally, where your story is strong and where it needs work. Understand where your competitors or those who might challenge you politically have an advantage. Have assets ready that reflect your brand and your business, and ensure you have the ability to generate insights quickly. Don’t be paranoid, but do be prepared.
3. Act with the speed of a campaign, not of a legal department. Companies get paralyzed by perfection—and lawyers. Campaigns know perfection means losing the news cycle. Speed matters. Develop solid relationships with your CEO, Chief Counsel and others who can affect the speed of your response. Because the ability to say something smart and fast can often beat saying the “perfect” thing too late.
4. Hire a team that’s ready to rumble. You will be challenged, whether it’s by activists, politicians, competitors or an angry ex-employee on social media (maybe all of them at once!). The question is: do you know how your organization will react? Will you respond with confidence—or will you scramble? Here’s where having a corporate affairs team that has comms and government relations under one roof, integrated with the business, with the right people and the right attitude—will make or break your response.

Campaigns don’t win based on who made the best Power Point. They win by taking action, being resilient and staying sharp. The same is true for organizations. If your corporate affairs function isn’t ready to move, adapt and lead—you’re not campaign ready.

Need help building a campaign-ready external affairs operation? Let’s talk.

Purple Strategies, a strategic advisory firm focused on reputation, issues and advocacy for many of the world’s most important companies and organizations, today announced the formation of its Advisory Board. This distinguished group of leaders brings meaningful experience across corporate strategy and operations, issues and risk, communications and marketing, government and policy, and law. With backgrounds spanning C-suites, boardrooms and campaign war rooms, these Board members bring powerful perspectives that have helped them lead through disruption and change.

The Advisory Board further deepens Purple’s trusted counsel at the highest levels of business, industry, and the debates of the day. These advisors give the firm an additional stream of insight, acumen and strategic connections to help clients seize advantage in a stakeholder landscape where influence is constantly shifting.

“Purple is often the first call a leader makes when their organization is at a critical crossroads, and our Advisory Board is one more resource that strengthens our ability to meet the moment our clients are in — navigating pressure from every direction,” said Kristen Morgante, Managing Partner of Purple Strategies. “These leaders bring hard-earned judgment from decades in the rooms where pivotal decisions are made. Tapping into their wisdom and experience helps us sharpen our counsel and focus on building and protecting value for our clients. We’re honored to have them as part of our Purple team.”

Founding Advisory Board Members include:

• Machalagh Carr, founder of Quell Strategies and former Chief of Staff to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, combines decades of legislative and energy sector expertise with frontline experience steering disruptive-tech companies through fast-moving policy and reputation currents, helping organizations anticipate shifts and turn innovation-driven scrutiny into strategic advantage.

• Neil Golden, a seasoned marketing executive, currently serving as a board member for Panera Brands and as a senior lecturer at Northwestern’s Medill School. A former Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s USA, he brings deep consumer insight and firsthand experience demonstrating how integrated marketing, public affairs and government relations can drive growth. His track record guiding iconic brands through disruption adds practical depth to conversations around reputation, revenue and resilience.

• Nina DeLorenzo, corporate affairs advisor and former executive at Pfizer, Sanofi, AbbVie and more. She is known for reimagining corporate affairs functions that reflect how influence moves and shapes business outcomes to deliver results across healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and other regulated sectors. Prior to working in the private sector, she served in the administration of President George W. Bush in the White House and the U.S. Department of State, in the United States Senate, and on political campaigns.

• Jerry Krulewitch, former EVP and General Counsel of McDonald’s Corporation, has led global legal strategy and crisis response for one of the world’s largest brands. Prior to that, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois. He brings decades of insight on the connections between enterprise risk, governance and reputation.

• Donna Brazile, former Chair of the Democratic National Committee and of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute, is a veteran political strategist, author and nationally recognized commentator known for her work advancing bipartisan dialogue during the Clinton Administration and beyond. She brings decades of campaign, policy and public engagement experience alongside academic appointments at Georgetown, Howard and Harvard. She joined Purple in an earlier senior advisory role in 2022.

• David Bickerton, former senior advisor at BP and recent visiting fellow at the University of Oxford, has spent two decades steering global brands through the borderless currents of reputation, turning worldwide scrutiny into opportunity with integrated positioning, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement strategies across energy, financial services, food and beverage, automotive, and technology sectors. He joined Purple in an earlier senior advisory role in 2022.

Advisory Board members will provide strategic counsel to the firm on client challenges, contribute to thought leadership that advances our field and our thinking, and help push our offering and unlock new opportunities for Purple to add value for our clients.

Building out the Advisory Board is one part of a broader transformation underway at Purple — renewing how we lead, expanding how we think, and preparing clients for a world where influence is being reshaped in real time. To learn more about our approach at Purple – visit our collection of perspectives and insights.

By: Chris Durlak

Straight to the Point

• Trump 2.0 isn’t chaos anymore — it’s the new normal. The playbook has changed.
• Speed and precision beat size and consensus. Influence goes to those who act fast, speak directly, and build the right coalition — not the biggest one.
• You don’t need to wait, you need to plan. Start communicating, build your coalition, map your influence, reframe your ask, and stay visible. The chaos may be constant, but your action can be too.

What We See

The shock has worn off. The chaos hasn’t.

Six months into Trump’s second term, the drama has become the drumbeat. The early flurry of executive orders and bombastic soundbites has given way to something more difficult to manage: predictably unpredictable governance.

And yet… everyone’s asking the same thing: Can this pace really continue?

He’s gotten his “big, beautiful” bill through Congress. His on-again, off-again feud with Elon dominates headlines. His star still burns bright. But stars that burn hottest often collapse fastest — and with an election looming, gravity is already making an impact.

No one knows what the next disruption will be. But we know there will be one. That uncertainty — the “known unknowns” — isn’t a barrier. It’s a feature of today’s strategic environment. The best strategies build in that unpredictability and still move forward with clarity and intention.

What It Means

(1) Build New and Different Alliances

Coalitions still matter, but what matters more is how they’re built and deployed. Where traditional associations speak for entire industries, there are moments that call for a more focused front: a small group of aligned players — sometimes even across sectors — coming together quickly around one high-stakes issue. MAGA (and MAHA) aren’t monoliths — they’re coalitions of convenience, often filled with strange bedfellows. That’s a feature, not a bug. Think of your own coalition that way: built for purpose, not perfection. It’s the manageability and shared urgency that matter.

Speed isn’t a bonus. It’s the requirement.

In the Trump era, influence windows open and shut in hours. At Purple, we’ve developed and launched brand-new, multi-channel campaigns in just days — because that’s the tempo today’s environment demands.

(2) Reposition Issues Strategically

It’s tempting to make it all about Trump — but real leverage often lies just beneath him: in the Cabinet, in Congress, and in the local politics that still shape national decisions.

Yes, Trump is the headliner. But cabinet secretaries, congressional allies, MAGA media influencers, even key donors and district-level players all hold cards. The smart move is to play the entire board. “All politics is local” still works — especially when the populist outcry risks real economic pain back home.

This moment also demands reframing. Using the language of populism — or even MAGA itself — can flip the script. If you’re seen as standing in the way of Trump’s next “big win,” you’re dead. But if your ask can become that win? He’ll claim it and run with it.

Trump wants big, beautiful victories. He rarely sweats the fine print. That’s where your opportunity lives — in the details. If the fix you need feels like fuel for his momentum, it’s more likely to happen. Repositioning isn’t spin. It’s strategy.

(3) Manage the Volatility – Don’t Let It Manage You

The bad news? Trump jumps from issue to issue and then jumps back again. What’s hot today might vanish tomorrow, only to resurface with more heat the next week.

The good news? He’s spread thin. You’re not.

That’s your strategic edge. You don’t need to chase or fear his attention — you get to shape your issue every day, with focus and consistency. Volatility doesn’t mean passivity. It means showing up smarter, faster, and without pause.

Too often, volatility becomes the rationale for doing nothing. Don’t wait. Use the downtime. Own the narrative. Get out there. Companies and associations who stay in-market — even when the president isn’t focused on their issue — are the ones best positioned when the spotlight swings back.

For many, just “getting out there” feels risky. But smart action doesn’t always mean public confrontation. Segment-specific, MAGA-coalition-oriented research and targeted influence mapping are steps that feel actionable — and safer — while still building readiness and momentum.

What To Do About It

Here are five moves you can make right now:

1. Stop waiting for permission. Start communicating now.
Create the content you’ve been holding whether it’s an explainer post, op-ed, or short video — and publish it. Not next quarter. Not next news cycle.

2. Convene your coalition — but keep it small and strategic.
Identify 3–5 organizations (they don’t need to be in your sector) who share your position on a specific issue. Convene the group. Align on language, audience, and a shared action.

3. Create a power map of influence.
Build a list of the 10–15 individuals who truly shape your issue (it probably doesn’t start with Trump). Think: agency heads, committee staffers, regional press, key donors, think tank voices, and trusted influencers in the MAGA universe.

4. Rewrite your ask through the lens of a Trump win.
Look at your top policy priority and reframe it in one sentence — not as your fix, but as his victory.

5. Launch your always-on engine — even in the quiet weeks.
Set a rhythm: one piece of content per week, one stakeholder meeting per month, one piece of new creative per quarter. Get up and stay up.

At Purple Strategies, we’ve helped companies do all of this and win. From building cross-sector coalitions in days, to reframing issues, to running always-on campaigns that break through the chaos — we’ve been in the middle of it, and we know how to deliver results.

Reach out — and let’s get to work. Contact Us.

Straight to the Point

• Nearly 70% of the informed public sees America’s political climate as deeply dysfunctional — and worsening.
• Corporate leaders can’t afford to retreat; they must shape their identity in the public arena or risk being defined by others.
• The most trusted companies will be those that act like the best people: clear, principled, and morally aligned with the public they serve.

What We See

We are living through an era of political fragmentation which most Americans expect will get worse before it gets better. Recent research from Purple Strategies’ Omnibus survey of the informed American public reveals that nearly 70% describe the current political climate as “divided” or worse, with a full third calling it “extremely polarized and dysfunctional.” Alarmingly, only a quarter view the current government as stable, and even among Republican and Trump voters, barely a third agree.

Looking ahead, few expect conditions to improve during this administration. Only about a quarter believe the nation will become more unified in the next few years. Among those who already view the system as broken, 85% don’t expect real improvement until after the 2028 election. In fact, a significant bloc (30%) of Republicans believe things will never improve.

This deeply pessimistic outlook isn’t confined to a political party or demographic; it’s shared broadly across the American public. In such an environment, waiting for things to “calm down” is no longer a viable strategy for corporate leaders.

What It Means

Alex Castellanos, Purple Strategies Co-Founder and Chairman, sees this moment as more than a political transition — it’s a structural realignment of how influence works in America. As he puts it, “We’re going from a world where the elites in smoke-filled back rooms had all the power, to one where networked individuals can topple them from the outside.”

The implication for businesses is clear: the traditional playbook of lobbying in Washington, building quiet Beltway relationships, and staying out of the public fray is now dangerously outdated. “If you think you can sit this out, enjoy your few remaining moments of peace. If you don’t define yourself, others will do it for you.”

In a networked world, trust and identity are earned in the open. Companies are no longer judged as faceless institutions, but as people. Today, the public evaluates companies using the same criteria it uses to judge a neighbor or a friend: Are you trustworthy, do you share my values, and will you stand by me when things get tough?

It’s not about corporations stepping in to govern. It’s about acting like the kind of company people would welcome into their lives. As Alex puts it: “Do I understand your motives? Are they aligned with mine? Are you the kind of company I’d have a beer with, or trust to make hard decisions when I’m not in the room?”

In a time of instability, a company’s clarity of purpose becomes its strongest asset. If you don’t communicate who you are, why your business exists, why you matter, and what lines you won’t cross, you’ll be perceived as a blank slate, or worse, as a target.

What To Do About It

Today, the certainty of your brand is more important than ever. That’s not just a strategic insight; it’s imperative for survival. As political instability deepens and the public’s trust in institutions frays, corporate leaders have a clear choice: define their enterprises with confidence or risk letting others do it for them. The good news? Companies that act intentionally — who know how they’re perceived, articulate their purpose, and work to build trust — can thrive in this moment. Here’s where to start:

1. Understand how you’re perceived — not just what you say
Before broadcasting your story, you need to understand how your stakeholders perceive you. Conduct research that reaches beyond the Beltway and traditional customer metrics. What values do people associate with you? Where are the gaps between how you want to be seen and how you actually are?

2. Define and defend your corporate identity
Develop a values-based narrative that reflects not only your financial mission but also your moral stance. This means articulating what you believe in ways that are human, relatable, and morally authentic. The public trusts companies the same way it trusts people — not because they’re perfect, but because they face the same moral choices we do and try to do what’s right.

3. Show up — before a crisis forces you to
Whether it’s a viral misinformation attack, a political flashpoint, or a regulatory ambush, you will be defined by how well you’ve prepared your audiences to understand who you are. If you’ve already built trust and clarity, you’ll have allies ready to support you. If not, you’ll be another piece of kindling in someone else’s fire.

4. Act with moral clarity, not political calculation
Resist the urge to go silent or speak in platitudes. Instead, speak plainly and show that your company is rooted in its purpose. The most effective companies demonstrate that they are good corporate human beings — trustworthy, dependable, and principled.

Purple Strategies helps some of the world’s leading companies navigate uncertainty and build lasting trust. If you’re rethinking how to lead in this polarized era, we’re here to help. Let’s talk.

By: Chris Durlak

Straight to the Point

1. A company’s success can put a target on its back — the smart ones show up in D.C. and engage with policymakers and regulators before they’re in the crosshairs.
2. Waiting until you’re under fire to engage can be a costly mistake that could mean the narrative’s already written, and it wasn’t written by you.
3. Corporate leaders should look to engage early, pick their battles, and make sure Washington hears their story before someone else tells it.

What We See

Success can make you a target. In those golden years of rapid growth — when the headlines are glowing, and the public loves your product — it’s easy to believe your company is untouchable. But that’s exactly when policymakers and regulators in Washington start watching.

This year, Microsoft, one of the world’s most valuable and recognized brands, is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of its founding. Bill Gates recently reflected on the company’s early days and discussed one of his biggest regrets: “I was pretty naive about not engaging in Washington, D.C. as soon as I should have.”

After a high-profile antitrust battle, Microsoft shifted course — dramatically. They invested early in rebuilding trust, embraced smart regulation, and worked to become known as the “reasonable” tech company in Washington, compared to industry competitors. That early engagement later paid off in goodwill, credibility, and better policy outcomes, even as their peers faced headwinds.

They’re not alone. Other high-profile examples include:

• Google, watching what happened to Microsoft, wasted no time embedding itself in Washington. It opened a D.C. office early, built relationships on both sides of the aisle, and funded think tanks and research to help shape policy debates on issues impacting the company. For over a decade, that early investment bought Google time, influence, and insulation from major U.S. regulatory action.
• T-Mobile, facing tough antitrust odds on its merger with Sprint, launched an early charm offensive in Washington — defining the narrative and shaping the terms of approval before critics could effectively mobilize.
• The auto industry, staring down climate policy and emissions mandates, chose to collaborate with regulators instead of fighting them — leading to one national standard that gave them regulatory certainty and reputational credit.

These companies understood that Washington isn’t just where problems are solved, it’s where narratives are written. And by showing up early, they were able to help write their own story.

What it Means

Late engagement in Washington is like trying to make friends in the middle of a fight. By the time scrutiny hits, alliances have formed, public opinion has hardened, and narratives are being written without you. Rebuilding trust at that point becomes harder, slower, and far more expensive.

Early engagement is not about self-congratulation or operating in crisis mode prematurely — it’s about risk management, influence building, and long-term resilience. It means shaping the conversation before your company’s name ever comes up.

Early engagement also doesn’t just mean hiring a lobbyist or opening a D.C. office. That’s table stakes, and it’s been that way since the ’80s. Today, real engagement means understanding the political landscape, defining a clear policy agenda, and aligning your company’s voice, values, platform, and reputation to support it.

What to Do About It

To avoid playing defense later, companies need to make intentional, early decisions now that shape how they’re seen and heard in Washington.

Start Before the Storm: Invest in engagement when the sky is clear, not when the storm hits. That means building your D.C. profile and your reputation in parallel with your business success. When companies wait until they’re under fire, they’re usually left playing defense.

Define Your Platform: Are you just another name on an industry association list, or are you known in D.C. for something specific — something that aligns with the politics of the moment? Many companies rely too heavily on outside voices. While a necessary lever in Washington, these associations support the interests of the collective, not the company. Sometimes you need your own voice.

Define Your Policy Agenda: What do you stand for in Washington? What do you quietly hope never happens? Being clear on both gives you the strategic edge to act early, not react late.

Reputation is the First Tool: Reputation is more than visibility — it’s the foundation of trust and the license to lead. In Washington, if you’re not known for something meaningful, you’re just noise — or worse, a blank slate others are eager to fill.

Match the Moment: Today’s policymaking is driven by populist pressures, regulatory activism, and rising demands for companies to take a stand on societal issues. This isn’t your daddy’s Oldsmobile: the old alliances are gone, and Republicans aren’t reflexively pro-business anymore. They rose to power on a populist wave — and they’re more focused on punishing elites than protecting them. Your policy approach needs to meet these new realities and adapt to an ever-changing political environment.

Engaging effectively in D.C. is not about checking every box — it’s about making deliberate moves that reflect where your business is going and what’s coming next. Get those moves right, and Washington becomes a partner, not a problem.

The Purple team has helped some of the world’s most well-known organizations navigate critical business challenges and engage in Washington. If you need support, contact us — we are here to help.

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The expansion of executive power has unleashed an era of high-stakes uncertainty. Businesses should plan accordingly. 

By: Josh Weisz

Straight to the Point

What We See: The escalating expansion of executive powers of the modern presidency is creating unprecedented uncertainty for every industry in every corner of the world. Less than three months into the new administration, law firms, institutions of higher education, media companies, and other organizations — large and small — have experienced sudden and, at times, existential challenges stemming from executive actions.

What It Means: Businesses should be thinking less about if they will cross paths with the administration, and more about when and how. The old playbook — wait, lobby quietly, count on predictability — doesn’t cut it anymore. The rules have changed. Fast.

What to Do About It: While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to navigate today’s political climate and business challenges, every organization should be taking action to mitigate risk and protect their license to operate.

What We See

By: David Bickerton

Straight to the Point

What We See: The challenges of today’s world—where both information and misinformation are widespread—are having a profound impact on businesses and their marketing efforts. To better understand the changing dynamics, Purple conducted a series of in-depth interviews with 15 Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) from leading Asset Management companies, revealing key themes and challenges that should set the agenda for Marketing teams in 2025 and beyond.

What It Means: Marketing in the Asset Management sector has historically added value by building trusted relationships and integrating activity across the enterprise. Increased external scrutiny and the rise of AI are impacting how trust is built and maintained. In today’s information-rich ecosystem, greater transparency is a given. Truth is no longer certain. Trust only comes with verification.

What to Do About It: The role of Marketing needs to evolve. The guardians of the white space of brand distinction must be equally adept at spotting and addressing the gray space of dissonance between words and actions across the organization. New processes must be defined, and new partnerships must be formed to respond to reputational risks. The mindset of the Marketing function must evolve with the CMO thinking and acting as the “Chief Trust Officer”—looking for new ways to build and nurture trust with clients and other influencers.

What We See

Today, we live and work in an increasingly complex, information-rich and attention-poor world—one where both information and misinformation are widespread. This means that, in matters of brand and reputation, we can no longer rely on the fact that all decisions are made based solely on trusted information sources—as there is evidence to suggest that perceptions now outweigh facts in some circumstances.

To better understand how these changing dynamics impact foundational aspects of business, Purple Strategies and Caffeine Partners conducted a series of in-depth interviews with 15 Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) from leading Asset Management companies across the United States, UK, and EU. These interviews revealed six key themes:

1. The changing role of Marketing: As the Asset Management sector faces a race for relevance, the relationship between Sales and Marketing has evolved. Marketing has become more specialized—with particular focus on digital touchpoints—and plays a bigger role in the client experience than ever before, with promotional activity being prioritized over product knowledge.

2. Marketing continues to move from art to science: Given Marketing’s enduring role in creating relationships of value, the use of business intelligence has become increasingly important. Shifts in media consumption have made content creation (format, creative, branding) as much science (user data, audience profiling, content habits) as it is art. As a result, the traditional four pillars of brand building—brand identity, image, culture and personality—have been replaced by a new set: platforms, personalization, prompts, and purpose. These shifts are fundamentally impacting the way organizations coordinate their paid, owned, and earned media efforts and how they engage throughout their marketing funnels.

3. Asset management brands have become more multi-dimensional: Investors are increasingly looking beyond products and asking for help in solving their challenges. Thought leadership has become an essential part of building brand distinction and if a relevant news story makes the front page, clients are expecting you to share a point of view with them.

4. The next technology frontier will be more challenging for marketing: AI is expected to have profound impacts on investment-centric and sales-centric organizations. Generative AI is a disruptive technology, and its potential to collapse the marketing funnel is a game-changer that requires a different mindset. Capability building for these advancements needs to be different, and CMOs need to have a seat at the table in assessing their impacts on the business.

5. Misinformation risks are recognized but not yet addressed: In an era where deep fakes and fake news are emerging issues that can move markets, truth is fundamental to building trust. The new playbook to address misinformation is being created on the fly, and companies need robust processes in place to ringfence the truth and create sources of fact rather than opinion.

6. New demands of the CMO: Demands on CMOs are increasing—as they need to be customer champions, capability builders, growth drivers, storytellers, and innovation catalysts. The scope of Marketing teams often transcends the organization, so CMOs are uniquely positioned to “join the dots” internally regarding reputation risk and opportunity.

What It Means

In today’s hyper-connected world, Marketing teams must support the delivery of business outcomes through their engagement with key audiences. Simultaneously, organizations face competing pressures from policy, financial, and societal audiences. These expectations have resulted in three unique challenges for CMOs today:

1. It’s about the gray space and the white space: Historically, CMOs have been tasked with building trust by seeking out the white space of distinction. Today, due to the interconnected nature of their roles, CMOs are increasingly asked to look beyond the white space and find areas of disconnect across their organizations. This requires active engagement, robust internal partnerships, and an integrated mindset towards identifying reputational risks.

2. Preparing for the misinformation monster: Traditionally, CMOs and corporate leaders have prepared to tackle reputational crises—caused by operational challenges and external events—and cyber threats. However, with advancements in technology and changes in the way people consume information, the risk of an informational crisis The in-depth interviews uncovered a lack of preparedness to handle informational crises—stolen truths, not just stolen data. When such issues arise, CMOs will need to work to safeguard sources of truth and activate advocacy support.

3. The CMO as a Chief Trust Officer: In addition to marketing their products, companies are building trust in a new paradigm—and this landscape is one that CMOs and Marketing departments need to navigate. Rapidly changing political and social dynamics are exerting pressure on organizations—and in some cases, they have a direct impact on a business’ bottom line. In this unpredictable environment, being “campaign ready” has a different meaning, and requires different capabilities and a new leadership mindset to build trust with the audiences that matter. For CMOs today, establishing trust in a product and brand is becoming as important as the performance of the product they are marketing.

What to Do About It

In this increasingly complex landscape, what steps can CMOs and corporate Marketing departments take to navigate these challenges? Here are a few places they can start:

• Expanding priorities: Marketing should actively expand its remit by leveraging its cross-company integration role to continually monitor for brand/reputation dissonance and look for ways to correct areas of concern—be it actual or potential future issues.
• Strengthening internal partnerships: CMOs today must proactively strengthen their partnerships with other internal teams across their organizations. An example would be partnering with HR/People teams to engage with Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to test and understand attitudes on emerging socio-political issues, and—if the situation warrants it—consider mobilizing employees to proactively advocate for the company.
• Developing critical processes: Preparation is critical. Marketing teams should look to implement new early warning processes to test and respond to misinformation incidents. Much like how a company would develop plans to address a “stolen data” (cyber) event, Marketing should consider how best to develop a new crisis playbook for a “stolen truth” event.
• Building new capabilities: Marketing teams should actively seek skills to understand the full breadth of new technologies. Building strong capabilities in large language models, to stay in step with AI developments and gain insights into potential uses for research and publishing, can merit the CMO a seat at the table to discuss AI strategy for the company.

Discover More:

For a deeper dive into Purple’s insights from this research, download the full report below.

[Click here to download the report]

The Purple team has helped some of the world’s most well-known companies manage their brand and reputations and navigate critical business challenges. If you need support, feel free to contact us — we are here to help.

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By: Denise Brien

New research from Purple Strategies and POLITICO’s Insiders Survey provides guidance for corporate leaders looking to anticipate policy opportunities and vulnerabilities, better engage key stakeholders, and manage reputation equity in the months ahead.

Straight to the Point:

What We See: Insiders expect the new administration to prioritize immigration and border security, while key business concerns like healthcare access and workforce modernization will be sidelined.

What It Means: As federal policy remains unpredictable, businesses face growing pressure to fill the gaps—both in shaping regulations and meeting public expectations.

What to Do About It: Companies must navigate shifting regulations while demonstrating leadership on economic and workforce issues to safeguard their license to operate and build trust with all stakeholders.

What We See:

The Purple Strategies and POLITICO Survey findings indicate that Insiders overwhelmingly identified immigration reform and border security as the most important and most likely priorities for the new administration. However, other critical business concerns—healthcare access and affordability, higher education affordability, and workforce modernization—are seen as important but unlikely to get attention in the first year.

The survey suggests several additional areas where business interests and government priorities may diverge:

• Trade & Tariffs: Nearly all insiders (85%) agree tariffs would harm the U.S. economy, yet protectionist policies remain a political wildcard.
• Energy Policy: 75% of insiders favor a balanced oil and gas approach rather than maximizing production—potentially clashing with energy sector strategies.
• AI & Tech Regulation: 70% of insiders support stricter AI regulation, even at the expense of U.S. tech companies’ global growth.

What It Means:

The current environment presents both challenges and opportunities for businesses navigating policy shifts, stakeholder expectations, and reputational risks. With federal action uncertain and public scrutiny on the rise, corporate leaders must proactively shape their engagement strategies, balance business needs with regulatory realities, and establish their role as trusted problem-solvers. Here’s what this evolving landscape means for companies:

• People Expect More from Companies: The shifting policy landscape doesn’t just have the potential to create gaps in governance—it is also likely to drive (or renew) expectations around how businesses engage with society. When federal action on key issues is unlikely, the public often looks to companies to help shape solutions—not necessarily by taking stances on divisive political issues, but by clearly communicating their values and demonstrating their contributions in ways that align with stakeholder priorities. The survey highlights areas—for example, workforce modernization, access to affordable education and healthcare, and environmental and social issues—where companies may need to step up their own initiatives and reframe their messaging and engagement strategies to maintain trust and credibility.
• Policy Misalignment Poses Business Risks: The administration’s policy direction—whether on tariffs and trade, energy policy, tech regulation, or DEI—won’t always align with business needs, creating challenges for corporate leaders who must maintain strong relationships with policymakers and regulators while also protecting their firm’s reputation with all stakeholders. This may also mean looking for ways to offer the Trump administration a visible success in one of his priority areas in order to advance your businesses’ broader policy goals.
• Messaging for a Divided Political Climate: In today’s polarized environment, how companies communicate can be just as important as what they communicate. Businesses should ensure their messaging resonates across ideological divides, particularly with MAGA audiences, who may view traditional corporate language as coded for progressive priorities. This doesn’t require changing policy positions but rather framing priorities—like economic growth, innovation, and national competitiveness—in ways that align with values such as patriotism, job creation, and American strength. Additionally, organizations should assess whether certain terms or phrases that previously appealed to left-leaning audiences might now trigger backlash, ensuring that language choices don’t inadvertently alienate key stakeholders or put a target on the company’s reputation.

What To Do About It:

Public Affairs leaders must navigate the tension between policy expectations and business realities. This requires proactive engagement, messaging alignment, and risk mitigation strategies tailored to policymakers, investors, and the public.

• Turn Uncertainty into Competitive Advantage. The current level of political uncertainty naturally breeds hesitation, companies must avoid being paralyzed or focusing solely on risk mitigation. Those that can anticipate change and adapt quickly are best poised to turn disruption into opportunity.
• Navigate Political and Regulatory Tensions. Businesses must manage relationships with policymakers while shaping regulations that balance economic growth with public trust. Advancing their own policy agenda may require aligning with some administration priorities and facilitating transactional wins in key areas of interest. Securing progress on business priorities often depends on ensuring the administration achieves some of its own objectives as well.
• Own the Narrative. Companies that proactively shape conversations, rather than simply reacting to shifting expectations, will build trust with policymakers, investors, and the public. While it is important for businesses to avoid becoming entangled in partisan debates that could alienate stakeholders, they should also recognize that language matters. This requires not just refining messaging but also strategically positioning corporate priorities in ways that resonate across the political spectrum.
• Prepare for Corporate Activism Pressures. Employees, investors, and customers will push companies to fill leadership voids, particularly in areas like workforce training, healthcare benefits, and sustainability.

The companies that lead—by engaging stakeholders, shaping the conversation, and demonstrating impact—will be best positioned to thrive in this evolving environment.

Purple Strategies helps businesses strategically manage corporate reputation, engage stakeholders, and navigate complex policy landscapes. Want to discuss how we can support your team? Let’s connect.

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About POLITICO INSIDERS:

The POLITICO Insiders Panel is an invite-only research community that brings together influential decision-makers at the intersection of government, industry, and policy. This panel includes senior leaders from Fortune 100 companies, nonprofits, trade associations, federal agencies, and Congress, providing unique insights into how policymakers and key stakeholders view the evolving political and business landscape. This survey fielded to N=460 people in December 2024 through January 2025.

Research Overview