Opinion: Fixing Your Supply Chain Communications Gap in a Challenging Industry

Supply chain has become more complex and intertwined with business performance, competitive advantage, and brand perception. This puts industry communicators consistently in the spotlight and creates new challenges, especially as the dynamics of visibility, influence, and authority quickly evolve.

Brand-side supply chain organizations are tasked with building customer and investor confidence. Technology and service providers must differentiate in crowded markets while responding to fast-moving trends. Clear, concise, and consistent communication, supported by a well-defined strategy, is foundational to success.

Following are strategies to win:

Specialized Resources: Supply chain isn’t easy to understand or convey. Whether you’re a Fortune 25 brand or a provider startup, you need communicators experienced in supply chain who understand its jargon and nuances.

Core Narrative: This foundational document is hard work but will work hard for the brand. It’s your starting point for all external communications and internal communications as well for brand-side supply chain organizations that must consistently demonstrate value to the business.

Strategic News Generation: Remaining visible in this crowded industry is challenging. News generation is critical, and most companies have more worthy news than they think. Best practice is two news moments per month and major news every 8–10 weeks.

Thought Leadership: Study customer pain points, industry trends, and what your competitors are doing in this area. Strategize the white space and where your company and spokespeople are truly authoritative.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): The rules of communications and public relations (PR) have changed. Today’s audiences encounter brands through algorithmic feeds and AI-generated answers. PR now has to win in two places: human attention and machine interpretation. Communicators must optimize owned and earned media for easy AI parsing to ensure you show up well and accurately in AI search. Roughly 85% of AI answers are sourced from earned and owned media.

Relationships: Given its outsized role in GEO, earned media is more important than ever. Relationships with media, podcasters, speaking engagement and award opportunity gatekeepers, industry analysts, and other influencers must be carefully and actively cultivated.

The Role of Algorithms: Understanding this allows communicators to work with, rather than against, information algorithms. It enables you to tailor communications that better drive reach and engagement when desired, or to slow the spread of misinformation should it occur.

Communicating effectively in the supply chain industry requires domain expertise, influencer relationships, timely knowledge of competitors, changing trends and fast news cycles, and a voracious reading habit that allows you to stay in step with the new rules of visibility, influence, and authority.

The views and opinions expressed are those of Casy Jones, Managing Partner and Global Supply Chain Practice Lead at FINN Partners, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated organizations. Information is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice.