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Article

Super Bowl LX: The Ultimate Pressure Test

October 29, 2025
By Steve Hickok and Rebecca Rausch

The Super Bowl has always been more than a game. It’s the most-watched cultural moment in America and one of the most valuable sponsorship platforms in the world. But heading into Super Bowl LX, the playbook for brands must adapt to today’s reality.

Case in point — the NFL’s selection of Bad Bunny for the halftime show has already sparked cultural and political debate and even led to an “alternative halftime” event to counter it. For the NFL, NBC and major advertisers, this creates a highly polarized, high-visibility environment where every decision and creative choice will be interpreted through a political lens.

This year’s game underscores what our teams across FleishmanHillard Sports and Crisis, Issues & Risk already know: Brand activations and storytelling live in a 360° risk environment — one where culture, politics, fandom and identity collide in real time.

Why This Matters and What it Means for Advertisers, Sponsors and Opportunistic Brands

For advertisers, sponsors and even those brands looking to jump into the Super Bowl conversation, this isn’t just about managing risk — it’s about navigating a cultural flashpoint skillfully, strategically and confidently.

That’s because Super Bowl LX is more than just a marketing showcase — it is a real-time reputational stress test for every brand involved. Audiences are more polarized than ever, athletes and artists are cultural flashpoints and sponsors and advertisers are under heavy scrutiny to demonstrate value to stakeholders, as every moment will be instantly amplified.

Anticipate, Adapt and Lead Under Pressure

For decades, FleishmanHillard has helped guide brands on the biggest stages – from the Olympic Games to FIFA World Cup and Super Bowl. We bring together event-tested expertise and relationships across sports sponsorship, issues navigation, and brand reputation to help clients anticipate risks, prepare for what’s ahead, and play to win.

Brands should consider the following elements from our ever-evolving Playbook as they work through their “Big Game” communications plans:

  • Always on situational awareness. Understand that the environment surrounding the game is more complex than ever — a fragmented, emotional and politicized audience where every move is scrutinized in real-time.
  • Act with clarity and purpose. Brands should be grounded in who they are and what they stand for. Decisions and scenario planning should be anchored in brand identity and long-term objectives — not reactions to political noise or short-term controversy. Purposeful action signals confidence and consistency, even in a polarized environment.
  • Pressure-test everything. Great creative ideas are only as strong as their ability to withstand the cultural moment. The best brands pressure-test their ideas before launch — understanding how different audiences might interpret tone, imagery or associations. Use research and audience intelligence tools, including Sage Synthetic Audiences, to preview how different segments — from fans to policymakers to Gen Z — might react. FleishmanHillard’s Risk Radar, a forward-looking telemetry system that helps organizations spot reputational issues before they break, can be used to evaluate risks tied to creative, activations, partnerships and messaging.
  • Plan for the “what ifs.” When the moment comes, speed matters — but so does discipline. The most effective brands build Super Bowl–specific playbooks that define who acts, who approves and how decisions are made when the pressure hits. From monitoring protocols to escalation matrices and stakeholder communications, these should be tested well before game day — not written during it. The FleishmanHillard Crisis Simulation Lab can be leveraged to rehearse these scenarios in a realistic, dynamic environment that mirrors real-world pressures — social chatter spiking, a sponsor calling or a halftime controversy trending. Practicing the response, not just writing it, helps teams move faster, stay aligned and communicate with confidence when a 15-second moment becomes a headline and days’ worth of conversation.

Super Bowl LX is the ultimate pressure test. The best brands won’t avoid risk; they’ll embrace it strategically, purposefully, and be prepared to win on the world’s biggest stage.

Steve Hickok is the Global Lead of FleishmanHillard’s Sports practice. He’s led award-winning and business building campaigns for more than 20 years surrounding the Super Bowl for brands including Visa, State Farm, Buffalo Wild Wings, Amazon, Little Caesars and Lindt.

Rebecca Rausch, FleishmanHillard’s Americas Crisis Lead, is a trusted expert in reputation management and crisis communications, advising sports organizations, leagues, athletes, and brands through high-stakes issues and reputational challenges. She’s led crisis and issues planning and management for global sporting events including the FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games, Super Bowl, major international tennis and golf tournaments and more.

Article

Elevating Cybersecurity Messaging After Black Hat 2025

August 27, 2025
By Miranda Sanders

Las Vegas was sweltering for Black Hat 2025, and so were the conversations on the show floor. AI led to much of the discussion as both a powerful tool for defense and a fresh attack vector. For example, there was news on major advances in cloud and endpoint security and rising concern among experts about rising supply chain and infrastructure-targeted threats.

But what stood out to us this year wasn’t just the tech. It was how the conversation around security itself is evolving, raising the bar for communicators everywhere.

The news isn’t gone. It’s just different.

If you felt this year’s coverage was somewhat muted, you’re not alone. Gone are the days when Black Hat was the moment, a guaranteed headline in every tier-one business publication. Instead, the coverage that mattered most came from a handful of reporters, probably with deep, longstanding relationships in the Cyber space. Those publications included The Verge, VentureBeat, Wired, ZDNet or Network World. These reporters already have a clear understanding of a brand’s enterprise security business strategy. They can dive deep to better understand the industry implications from product news, from Google’s move towards better supply chain security, to SentinelOne’s managed services expansion, Microsoft’s “Project Sentinel AI”, Cisco’s quantum-resilient encryption and more.

The threat intel has hit home.

Five years ago, a single research report could dominate the news cycle, with dozens of stories written by security media during Black Hat. Now it takes more. The bar is higher, and editors want hard evidence that connects to real-world risk.

Outlets like Reuters and Bloomberg focused on threats with tangible implications for infrastructure and public safety. For example, Reuters covered activity around APT41 and Iranian cyber espionage. At the same time, Politico discussed the news’ geopolitical implications and potential policy responses.

Bloomberg reported on credible threats to electrical grids and potential impacts on critical infrastructure. The common theme? If threat intelligence impacts – or has a real, credible threat to impact – people’s lives, then it’s worth covering.

Former NYT reporter Nicole Perlroth’s keynote put it bluntly: the human impact of cyber risk is no longer hypothetical. It is today’s reality, and it’s only going to get more devastating. For communicators, translating technical findings into stories about people and policy is now essential.

Reporters want to experience, not just observe.

Several reporters on site said that the things they enjoyed most this year were moments set up by brands where they could place themselves in the shoes of security professionals on the front line of today’s biggest threats – whether during panels, sessions or dedicated private events. Several tier-one media outlets attended a Cisco Talos tabletop exercise. In this hour-long immersive session, they played a Dungeons and Dragons-like game to understand how an incident may play out in real life.

As communicators, prioritizing these immersive opportunities can turn complex topics into compelling stories.

What does this mean for security communicators?

If Black Hat was any indication, media are looking for clear, authoritative voices who can cut through the technical noise and connect security stories to business, policy and human impact. Here’s how to best do that for the most relevant themes we saw come out of Black Hat this year:

  • AI Dominance: Position spokespeople to discuss both the promise and risks of AI in cybersecurity, using clear, non-technical language.
  • Supply Chain Risk: Share concrete examples or data on how your organization addresses third-party and supply chain vulnerabilities.
  • Quantum Security: Media are looking for thought leadership and educational content if your brand is working on quantum-resilient security solutions.
  • Cloud & Zero Trust: Highlight practical business benefits of zero trust and cloud-native security in your messaging.
  • Critical Infrastructure & IoT: Prepare proactive statements around your efforts to protect critical infrastructure and IoT.
  • Real-World Impact: Emphasize how your solutions or research address current, active threats with clear, actionable outcomes.
  • Geopolitical Context: Be ready with expert commentary connecting cybersecurity developments to broader policy and international issues.

The pace of change in security and security communications isn’t going to slow down. As the landscape evolves, so does our approach to telling the stories that matter.

Stay tuned for more insights into security communications from us in the coming months.

Article

Closing the Innovation Gap With FH Fusion, Our Data and AI-Powered Solutions Suite

July 14, 2025

Our new solutions suite designed by and for communications professionals builds on Omnicom’s agentic AI platform, Omni, by integrating institutional communications knowledge with advanced audience data and technology capabilities. FH Fusion gives every FleishmanHillard counselor and team the ability to create real-time, agentic AI solutions that deliver sharper insights, more precise activations and stronger business outcomes—no engineers required.

FleishmanHillard today launched FH Fusion, a first-of-its-kind communications solution suite that puts the full range of AI models, institutional knowledge and a proprietary data toolset directly into the hands of communications professionals. Unlike tech-first applications built by developers, FH Fusion was created by—and for—counselors, enabling them to design and deploy real-time solutions backed by Omnicom’s secure, scalable intelligence layer.

Already in use by more than 1,000 FleishmanHillard strategists, FH Fusion reduces ramp-up time, accelerates delivery and improves outcomes across crisis, stakeholder messaging, media intelligence and brand strategy.

“FH Fusion closes the innovation gap—the distance between what communicators envision and what most tools actually enable,” said Ephraim Cohen, global head of data and digital. “It gives every strategist the power to turn expertise into action, combining insight, data and AI to build exactly the solution they need. We designed it so communicators can move at the speed of their ideas, with technology that’s trained to think the way they do about how people react, how issues evolve and how strategy needs to shift in real time.”


A Peek Inside: How FH Fusion Works

Today’s communicators don’t just need insights. They need infrastructure. FH Fusion leverages Omnicom’s industry-leading investments in AI and data to bring together four critical components – data, generative AI, knowledge bases and subject matter expertise in building custom agentic solutions for each client. FH Fusion combines:

  • 🔗 A full range of AI models and agentic AI technology – Omni’s AI layer enables users to create custom, multi-agent workflows from a full range of generative AI modes.
  • 📊 Industry leading data stack – The data layer of FH Fusion combines Omnicom’s collective data-driven intelligence across audience and commerce inputs from Omni and Flywheel, with corporate and consumer media, influencer, and other critical communications data from OPRG and FleishmanHillard.
  • 📚 FleishmanHillard’s institutional knowledge – FleishmanHillard’s considerable institutional knowledge and collection of proven, proprietary methodologies are being organized into a growing library of knowledge bases accessible to any agent.
  • 🧠 Subject matter experts trained in developing agentic AI solutions – Solutions are built not by engineers, but by FH counselors trained in creating AI agents, resulting in agentic solutions with communications expertise at the core.


A Smarter Model for the Future of Communications

FH Fusion is already being used by FleishmanHillard subject matter experts to build client solutions across three capability areas—each one modular, extensible and designed to integrate seamlessly with existing client workflows. The tools below are just a few of the expert-built components being combined to create end-to-end, outcome-driven solutions.

1. Predictive Audience Intelligence with Synthetic Audiences

Solutions include SAGE (Strategic Audience Generation Engine) that simulates how key stakeholder groups—from policymakers to employees—respond to messaging, content or positioning. Using AI-modeled virtual audiences built on deidentified and aggregated behavioral and attitudinal data, teams can test multiple approaches, identify what resonates and refine strategy before going live.

As AI becomes the new filter for information, SAGE helps communicators shape how messages are interpreted before they’re summarized, surfaced or amplified by algorithms. In a recent pilot, SAGE uncovered shifts around trust and transformation, informing a Fortune 100 client’s rollout across six markets.

2.  Storytelling and Strategic Alignment

Solutions include the Connectivity Diagnostic Agent that analyzes how a brand’s story aligns with shifting cultural, regulatory and reputational forces. Trained by messaging experts, it goes beyond keyword scans to reveal strategic misalignment—helping teams fine-tune positioning before small gaps become larger problems. The Communications Function Builder helps leaders optimize team structure and workflows using benchmarking and best practices—turning institutional knowledge into scalable systems.

3. Crisis Management and Corporate Communications

Solutions include Risk Radar that flags reputational, legal and operational vulnerabilities using AI trained by FleishmanHillard’s crisis experts. It filters out noise and false positives, helping teams identify and respond to meaningful risks early, serving as a calibrated early warning system built for decision-making rather than a cry-wolf dashboard.

These solutions build on FleishmanHillard’s long-standing commitment to democratizing access to data—now extended through new forms of intelligence, including curated knowledge bases (KBs), scenario-trained agents and secure, segmented workspaces that adapt to each client’s needs. FH Fusion is powered by a flexible intelligence layer that enables any employee to build multi-agent workflows tailored to real-world communications challenges, drawing from a full range of top-performing AI models. FH Fusion also taps into the depth of Omnicom’s data ecosystem, combining audience and cultural intelligence from Omni, commerce insights from Flywheel, and integrated streams of media, social, influence, and business signals—calibrated for strategic communications.

“Too many tools treat communications like an engineering problem. FH Fusion starts from a different premise: strategy is a human discipline,” said Cohen, who will host the FH Fusion Summit in September featuring live builds, cross-functional demos and client use cases. “We’ve spent years expanding data fluency across the agency—and now we’re applying that same model to AI. We’re training every FHer to be a builder, not just a user. Communications expertise alone isn’t enough anymore. What we need is that expertise plus deep data fluency—and the ability to train AI agents just like we train people. That’s the real shift with FH Fusion.”

Disclosure: This post was developed in collaboration with a custom agent trained for the communications industry—guided by FleishmanHillard counselors and built using Claude 3.5 Sonnet, one of seven major models FH Fusion can switch between on the fly. It drew from a curated knowledge base of communications research to focus on the capabilities clients care most about right now. Want to see what else it can do? Let’s talk.

How FUSION WORKS
Article

Go Positive with Images; Go Negative with Words 

April 24, 2025
By Caitlin Teahan and Ephraim Cohen

Museums often inspire through beauty and wonder. News media? Not so much. Why do we associate one with hope and the other with dread—even when we say we want more good news? The answer lies in how our brains respond to words versus images.

Understanding the emotional mechanics of language and visuals helps communicators craft messages that resonate. Words and images both shape perception, influence behavior and drive engagement. But when it comes to emotional impact, they trigger opposite effects.

Words: The Power of Negativity 

In written and spoken language, negative words carry disproportionate weight due to the negativity bias—a psychological tendency to pay greater attention to threats and adverse stimuli as an evolutionary survival mechanism. Think, for example, how one stinging criticism sticks with you far longer and more intensely than a dozen compliments do. It’s just human nature.

  • Negative News Headlines: Research from the University of Pennsylvania indicates that news articles with negative headlines generate 30% higher click-through rates than neutral or positive ones. Fear and urgency remain powerful motivators. 
  • Lasting Impact in Conversations: Critical remarks or alarming statements tend to linger longer in memory than positive discussions, often overshadowing constructive dialogue. 
  • Social Media Amplification: A 2021 study from NYU found that tweets with negative sentiments are 20% more likely to be shared, reinforcing the viral spread of outrage and conflict. 

Images: The Pull of Positivity 

Visual content, on the other hand, has a different impact. Whether paintings, photographs or digital images, positive visuals evoke instant emotional responses, often bypassing analytical thought and fostering a sense of optimism. 

  • Color and Expression: Bright colors, serene landscapes and smiling faces consistently generate feelings of joy and relaxation. A study in The Journal of Positive Psychology found that viewing uplifting artwork can increase happiness levels by 30%
  • Art as a Source of Hope: Historically, art has served as a medium for resilience and solace. From Renaissance paintings depicting harmony to contemporary visuals that counter societal anxieties, positive imagery offers a counterbalance to distressing narratives. 
  • Viral Visual Content: On platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, uplifting imagery—such as acts of kindness or vibrant nature scenes—is 40% more likely to be shared, demonstrating the innate appeal of positivity. 

Why the Difference? 

The fundamental disparity between our reactions to words and images stems from how our brains process them

  • Analytical vs. Emotional Processing: Words require cognitive effort to interpret, often triggering deeper emotional responses, particularly when negative. Images, however, activate the brain’s emotional centers instantly, fostering quicker, more positive engagement. 
  • Context vs. Universality: Word receptivity is driven by context, meaning their impact varies based on language and interpretation. Images, by contrast, are largely universal, making their positive effects more consistent across audiences. 
  • Speed of Processing: Research from MIT shows that the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. A powerful image can evoke emotion in milliseconds, while words take longer to register and influence perception. 

Implications for Media and Communication 

These insights present opportunities for content creators, marketers and journalists to balance emotional engagement with constructive messaging. Communicators must play to each medium’s strength:

  • In Journalism: Reporting will always involve critique—but pairing solution-based reporting with compelling visuals can temper doomscrolling with hope. Consider how photojournalism, infographics, and video clips can reframe stories through action, not just alarm.
  • In Brand Marketing: Language can create urgency, but visuals build trust. Strategic use of emotionally rich imagery (not just stock photos) can help brands feel more human, especially when the message is complex or controversial.
  • On Social Platforms: Leverage the algorithmic lift of visual content to reframe critical narratives. For instance, pair a provocative claim with an image that signals empathy or optimism to shift engagement from outrage to curiosity.
  • In Internal Comms & Leadership Visibility: Executives communicating change or challenges can soften negative language by accompanying it with clear, calming visual design—think tone-matching slide decks or video messages filmed in relaxed settings.

Conclusion 

The key takeaway? The medium shapes emotional impact as much as the message itself. 

Words and images wield distinct emotional power. While negative language commands attention and shapes discourse, positive imagery offers a pathway to optimism and connection. By recognizing these dynamics, communicators can design content that not only informs but also inspires, fostering a more conscious and balanced media landscape. 

(Disclosure: we wrote this article with the research and editing assistance of a custom GPT. The article is opinion only and we take responsibility for its content). 

Article

Tariffs: No Pause for the Weary but Potential for the Wise

April 16, 2025
By Donna Fontana and Tim Streeb

Last week’s news of the 90-day pause on many of President Trump’s tariffs should not be interpreted as a chance for U.S. corporate leaders to rest, whether you are one of the many who have been riding the tariff roller coaster since Inauguration Day, or part of a cohort who was caught off guard by the breadth and depth of the policies announced on April 2. 

We are now in a phase where both risk and opportunity must be tracked and evaluated with extra vigilance. The escalation of penalties imposed by the Trump administration on China, and the retaliation from Beijing on US imports, will affect companies and critical supply chain materials and have a major impact on nearly every segment of our economy. As of April 15, Industry-specific Section 232 tariffs persist on steel and aluminum and automobiles, investigations have been announced on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals and a sectoral threat continues against lumber. And more sectors and companies will be lifted or rattled by the regular information coming out about the state of tariff negotiations with critical trading partners.

“Liberation day” and the following news and market activity provided every industry with a window into the potential business, media and reputation impact of tariff policies and the economic reaction. It’s increasingly clear that tariffs are not the end of this story, and whether the impact of tariffs is seen as a worthwhile disruption or a threat to economic stability, all companies will need to address the likely impact on supply chain cost increases, pricing increases, changes and decline in consumer demand and other impacts. From a communications perspective, these 90 days are not a pause but rather a prompt to prepare for ongoing tariff news cycles that will need deeper and different strategic approaches.

What are three things all companies should do?

  • Partner with policy, investor relations, supply chain and marketing teams to frame your exposure and the fundamentals to manage it. Consider not just what works right now, but what may be needed in the context of concurrent economic contraction. To instill investor confidence, what must be clear is your company’s unique ability to manage volatility and long-term uncertainty. A key outcome is a succinct point of view that differentiates you from competitors, allowing you to frame future conversations around your strengths versus reacting to the media spin cycle of new developments and analysis
  • Align on the executive team’s risk tolerance. Knowing where key lines are will enable quick decision making and clear communications of those decisions.
  • Remember that perception is fact. The cadence, tone of voice and channel of any proactive communication—or lack thereof—is what stakeholders will remember than any one fact or metric. And perception of who is best prepared can change in an instant—so be vigilant about tracking not just tariffs, but your competitive set’s response and positioning.

What mistakes could be made by companies?

  • Misinterpreting silence from supply chain partners as preparedness. Value chain partners are also reacting to real-time changes and may lack the clarity needed to make significant go-forward decisions. Every organization needs to scenario plan around what may happen to their partners up and down their value chain and be prepared for how partners’ actions may impact your business.
  • Ignoring key stakeholder groups. While shareholders, suppliers and customers are top of mind, employees are experiencing this pause as part of the company and as consumers and need to hear from the organization. Don’t neglect internal communications over the next 90 days but remember that anything shared with employees is likely to leak, so keep your messaging transparent, yet tight.
  • Rely solely on an outside organization. Trade organizations galvanize industries in turbulent situations, but to leverage their influence, your company first needs to determine and then communicate the specific positions that are best for you.
  • Viewing communications through a US or market-specific lens: Remember that anything communicated in U.S. media will quickly reach your international markets and employees – and vice versa. Any messages about potential onshoring or other supply chain changes will be received differently overseas and must be approached with sensitivity to local stakeholder concerns. Similarly, any comments made by international leadership will be cited by domestic outlets, dictating the need for careful coordination and tight spokesperson control.

What else should we be watching for?

  • Retaliatory actions from trade partners. The landscape of both tariff and non-tariff retaliatory action continues to evolve with every new U.S. action. In the shortest term, staying apprised of developments from China matters for nearly every company and sector.
  • Supply Chain Shocks. From potentially empty shelves to financially challenged suppliers, media will be eager to highlight signals of greater impact.
  • Earnings reports—both in and outside your sector. The expectation is these now increasingly closely watched presentations will not share nitty gritty details—leading global companies have already noted it is not possible to share full details of go-forward plans and many have pulled guidance. But questions from your suppliers and customers about the projected strength of their business will be key to framing your company’s report.
  • Broader Administration actions. With the Trump Cabinet fully in place, broader policy agendas will be taking shape during this window and could culminate in a period of even greater change and communications challenges.
  • Pro- and Anti-American sentiments. Brands and businesses have the potential to be pulled into conversations, “Buy American” promotions and/or boycotts.

Your company’s best response sits at the intersection of your operational insulation, current public profile and the tariff world order at that exact moment. Internal—but also external—decisions will impact your organization far beyond 2025.

Using these 90 days for readiness instead of rest will prepare you for these next three months and beyond.