In this episode of Communication Breakdown, Steve Dowling and Craig Carroll dig deep into the growing risk of narrative contradiction—when a company’s claims, perceptions, and reality stop aligning. Craig introduces the idea of “narrative governance” as the next frontier for communications leaders, urging companies to track and reconcile their messaging with the same rigor used in financial reporting. The discussion offers a practical, high-stakes guide for communicators navigating the blurred lines between framing and fraud in today’s environment of radical transparency.
Takeaways- Narrative contradictions are not lies—they're truths that no longer add up.
- Drift happens when messaging evolves; contradiction happens when that drift breaks coherence.
- Claims, perceptions, and reality must align—or trust begins to erode.
Topics Mentionednarrative contradiction, messaging alignment, narrative governance, stakeholder trust, disclosure risk, PR strategy, corporate reputation, internal vs. external messaging, complexity, drift vs. contradiction, ESG communication, SEC rule 10b-5, CSRD compliance, activist investors, leadership credibility, operational paralysis, contradiction registers
Companies MentionedCracker Barrel, Vale, PepsiCo
Episode Hashtags#Target #CrackerBarrel #Vale #PepsiCo #NarrativeGovernance #CorporateReputation #CrisisComms #DisclosureRisk #StakeholderTrust #ESGStrategy #LeadershipMessaging #CommunicationStrategy #ComplianceRisk #InternalComms #PublicRelations #ShawnPNeal #AdvoCast #OCRNetwork
CreditsProduced by
Shawn P Neal at
AdvoCast for the Observatory on Corporate Reputation.
Connect with us: podcast@ocrnetwork.com • LinkedIn: Observatory on Corporate Reputation
