Reputation Leaders Ltd

18/08/2026

One of the compelling CEO stories to come out of our reputation work is Sonos’ CEO Tom Conrad. Quick disclosure: Sonos has been a client of ours.

Conrad took the wheel at a challenging time for Sonos, beset by the reputational fallout of a buggy app launch that left customers frustrated with the product and turning away from the brand. We worked with the amazing Sonos team through that tumultuous time as they repaired the app and repaired trust.

Listening is the key that unlocks the door to rebuilding trust.

Sonos listened. Through our research work with Sonos, they were able to better understand their customers, what they wanted, and what Sonos needed to prioritize to rebuild trust.

What Conrad did so well was engaging in frank conversation. In press interviews he addressed the mistakes, re-emphasized a return to quality, and moved on, laying out a vision for the future of the company.

If you’re looking to lead with listening, check out our CEO thought leadership offering here: https://buff.ly/zFHjugq

Building a thought leadership platform for your CEO? We can help. Our services transform your CEO vision from conjecture to a research-backed vision.

12/08/2026

Why do some data sets make national headlines while others are ignored? While brand recognition and media relationships often drive research coverage, another key factor is sample size.

To better understand how sample size impacts your thought leadership engagement, check out our latest guide: https://buff.ly/MiWsOvo

This article is for people who have asked: What sample size should I use for our research? What sample size should I use for our thought leadership? How do I get our research in the news? How do we create research that gets headlines? What is the best sample size to use for market research?

09/07/2026

Thought leadership doesn't have to be serious.
It can be toasty and gooey too.

We had a lot of fun working on the research behind Hershey's latest report which served as the basis of their Summer campaign.

Got a campaign your working on that requires research? We can help. Drop us a message and we can take it from there.


To read more: https://buff.ly/wzvPfgU

30/06/2026

CEO's strategic timeframe is compressing as CEOs switch from long-term considerations to fighting fires and dealing with a rapidly changing technological and geopolitical context.

https://buff.ly/oxlFn75

Written by David Evans, Media Analyst, Reputation Leaders The CEO conversation is changing. Understanding how is useful framing because the talking points of leadership serve as a microcosm of wider business developments, an insight into leadership thinking, and a bellwether of how leadership comms

24/06/2026

There's a missing element that's lagging AI-adoption...

Our research manager Kiia Lang reflects on her learnings from VivaTech and the oft overlooked areas that are holding organizations back from faster, more strategic AI-adoption.

Follow the link to read the article: https://buff.ly/lj3JXj7

03/06/2026

We’re in Forbes! We’re so excited to see our research for Hershey’s Heated Debate being shared more widely!

There are two types of s’more eaters… those that like it Toasty, and those that like it Gooey.

And the results are in! Through a survey of 5,000 US Adults aged 18-65, we found that 69% are Camp Toasty, and 29% are Camp Gooey, while 2% don’t want the marshmallow or don’t think it matters.

However, whichever camp you are, it has to be Hershey’s chocolate, with 95% of respondents saying that Hershey’s belongs in a classic s’more. This isn’t a small matter; Reputation Leaders’ research found that the US consumes more than an estimated 2.5 billion s’mores annually!

So which Camp are you?

Marshmallow Guide:
• Camp Gooey: I roast the marshmallow until it’s perfectly golden brown
• Camp Toasty: I enjoy my mallows burnt to a crisp

Read the full Forbes article here: https://buff.ly/NudllHP

Over 30 years after he introduced s'mores to Scott Smalls in 'The Sandlot,' actor Patrick Renna is sharing the magic of the classic campfire treat with his own son.

02/06/2026

You can’t replace the human element.
Earlier this year we released the Vantage Point, our annual report for comms professionals.

In the report we asked American workers about their internal comms preferences.

What we found was that while AI, automation, and tech solutions can deliver cost-savings, most American workers prefer a future where tech supports rather than replaces comms.

In short, you can’t beat face-to-face conversations.
In an era of information and digital overload, employees value the human element.
Middle and line managers aren’t just network nodes for information dissemination; they are critical employees that show us that communication is first a human process.

For many of us, the people we work with make a huge difference to our experience of work.

The friendships and camaraderie are the difference between showing up to work with a smile and taking a deep sigh before the team meeting.

Getting the human – tech balance right is tricky, but companies that find ways for AI/automation and human processes to compliment one another will be tomorrow’s winners.

Want to read more?
Download the full Vantage Point here: https://buff.ly/vDtuPB7

13/05/2026

Three ways the Nordics are navigating today’s complexity:

1. Investing in talent. Talent shortages have led many Nordic firms to prioritize flexible working to hold onto top talent.
2. Integrating AI. In Denmark in particular, active AI-integration is helping businesses with financial forecasting, scenario planning, and complex HR processes.
3. Prioritizing Cybersecurity. Cybersecurity was frequently identified as a top area of investment for the next 12 months. Increasing cybersecurity risks and vulnerability have moved cybersecurity from an operational consideration to an existential one.

All three come straight from the latest Azets Barometer. Many thanks to Azets for inviting us to collaborate on the research behind the report.

What is the Azets Barometer?

It’s a survey of 1,768 business leaders across 6 nations.
It asks leaders about how their business is performing, their hopes and fears for their business, and the strategic bets they are placing for the future.

Their response paints a clear picture of Nordic business resilience, steering a path through growing complexity in trade, rules and regulations.

To dive deeper into the data and discover how your business can more easily navigate uncertainty, check out the latest Azets Barometer: https://buff.ly/JSSjzSD

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

12/05/2026

Etymology-nerds, word-lovers this one’s for you.
Do you know the origins of "crisis"?

The word’s lineage hold a clue that can reframe how we navigate times of tumult.

Crisis is the latinized version of the Greek krisis literally "judgment, result of a trial, selection," from krinein "to separate, decide, judge".

It was used by Hippocrates and others in a medical sense to indicate the turning point in a disease.

A crisis, therefore, can be:

A turning point
or
A moment in which a critical decision must be made.

When we reframe our crises not as calamity but as moments for decision making, for pivoting, for course correction, we empower ourselves.

We empower ourselves by identifying with the captain and not the storm.

This isn’t just chaos.
It’s decision time.

06/05/2026

Why is engagement so low? You’ve put out a thought leadership piece you believe in but only achieve a handful of downloads.

It’s frustrating when you see the value in your thought leadership but it’s not resonating with others. A few common problems can cause thought leadership to fall short. Fixing them can be the difference between thought leadership that opens doors and thought leadership that collects dust.

Here’s our COO, Lyndon speaking at Quirks last month alongside Tom Rippenger sharing the first 3 out of 7 deadly sins of thought leadership.

Thou shall not…
1. Be boring. Thought leadership that plays it safe, is not leading, it’s following. More importantly it’s often forgettable.
2. Prioritize problems. Understanding the problem is critical but offering solutions and highlighting opportunities are also important.
3. Forget to get internal buy-in. We see better returns when thought leadership provides value across the organization and different teams want to use it.

David and Tom will be sharing the full 7 deadly sins of thought leadership and much more on May 21st at the Insights Association. For more details: https://northatlanticinsights.regfox.com/2026-north-atlantic-annual-conference-insights-in-motion-future-proofing-in-transformative-times