“I trust what an employee says about a company more than what the brand says about itself.”
In practice, this is what one of the most relevant findings from Textual’s “Conversations That Build Reputation” survey, which we launched this year, reveals: 62% of Brazilians say that hearing directly from a company’s employees increases their trust in the brand. This figure is even higher than the use of celebrities as brand spokespeople, cited by 46% of respondents.
This finding helps illustrate a fundamental shift in internal communications — and in the way reputation is built today.
As employees have become creators and distributors of content about the brands they work for, reputation has become increasingly shaped by people’s real experiences.
Employees turn corporate narratives into tangible experiences. They are also the ones who experience the culture firsthand and turn business strategy into actual results.
For all these reasons, internal communications now plays a far more strategic role: creating genuine connections between people, culture, and business.
A mission that becomes even more challenging in a world where there is no longer such a thing as a captive audience — not even within an organization.
Amid the constant competition for attention, internal communications needs to connect, inspire, engage, and mobilize people, provide context, and strengthen their sense of belonging. All of this is essential to helping people understand where the company is headed — and why it matters. Bringing leaders and teams closer together. Mobilizing people around shared priorities. Turning strategy into something understandable and human has become a corporate priority.
To fulfill this role, we believe internal communications needs to operate according to what we call the “Three Is”: Intentionality, Integration, and Data Intelligence.
Intentionality means moving away from fragmented initiatives and communications driven solely by incoming demands — the daily stream of “urgent” announcements. Every message, campaign, or initiative needs to connect to a broader strategy, reinforce priority narratives, and contribute to concrete business objectives.
Integration starts with the understanding that internal communications does not operate in isolation. Culture, leadership, employer branding, and reputation need to work together, with each area connected to business objectives. This means breaking down silos, bringing people closer together, and making the most of each channel’s unique strengths to create a consistent experience that strengthens employees’ sense of pride and belonging.
Data Intelligence adds another essential layer to more effective communications: listening, analysis, and the ability to continuously adapt. Rather than simply measuring results at the end of each month, it means monitoring indicators on an ongoing basis to understand what is working and what needs to be recalibrated along the way.
Internal communications today, therefore, requires a combination of systemic thinking, narrative expertise, and channel management to turn strategy into tangible experiences — and those experiences into business results.
Carina Almeida, Managing Partner of Textual Comunicação
