Data Can Bolster Your Communications for Brand Credibility and Business Operations

Ivy Cohen , Chief Executive Forum , Research & Data Intelligence , April 20, 2026

The C-suite is barraged every  day with unimaginable  quantities of data. Information pours in  from customer transactions,  internet searches, and  employee satisfaction surveys to original company research,  market analyses, and industry reports. Some executives try to leverage data to strengthen credibility, build relationships, and  demonstrate leadership. 

Yet there continues to be a significant gap in trust. While most executives (90% in the 2024  PwC Trust Survey ) believe their companies were highly trusted, only 30% of customers felt that way. That gap persists even in the eyes of  employees, with 86% of executives thinking their workers have high trust in their own company, while only 67% actually do.

Nonetheless, data can play an essential role in driving positive brand engagement and recognition. To accomplish  this, you should focus on achieving two key goals:

• Ensure the data you plan to use is relevant to your audience and supports your claims
• Bring together data and narrative to powerfully deliver communications that resonate and create an emotional connection

Use Data to Make Your Communications Memorable and Meaningful 

Effective leaders use data to build connections with audiences and establish  credibility in the marketplace. This applies to investor calls, vendor meetings, industry speaking engagements, or customer sales calls, as well as announcements for the news media.

Your mission is to craft a narrative with proof points to help your audience believe. Compare the following:

“Logistics Firm Partners with Leading Retailer X to Boost Growth”

versus

“Logistics Firm Announces Partnership with Retailer X, Expecting to Speed Shipments by 20% and Increase Regional Deliveries by 300,000 Units Annually”

Without data to support your claim, you have at best a bland generalization and little better than noise. The second statement providesdirectional information, defining “growth” and making the information memorable.

Each email, meeting presentation, speech, and press release should tell a story that informs and may include a call to action. Make it memorable by incorporating one or two of the most compelling data points, and  generate interest and transactions by creating a  personal, emotional connection.

For example, Spotify’s Wrapped campaign packages listener data as personalized, eye-catching playlists; 10.5 million users actively shared their Wrapped results in 2024, driving over 400 million TikTok views in a three-day period. The company’s use of data generated user enthusiasm and was presented as sharable. A good example, Spotify’s personalized data  communications with members  includes  Your Top Songs & Playlist : a ranked list of the top 5 songs, highlighted in a personalized playlist of the top 100, Total Listening Minutes : a summary of the total time spent listening to music, podcasts, and audiobooks, and  Top Artists & Genres : a showcase of the top 5 artists and genres that defined the user’s year.

In its Plant a Tree initiative, Levi Strauss  showed that its initial campaign promise — “One new member = one tree planted” — translated into a real impact, with over 30,000 trees going into the ground during the first year of the program, capturing nearly 1,000 tons of CO2. The call to action for environmentally conscious consumers was a simple one: Sign up for the company’s Red Tab membership program and download the app to keep the momentum going.

Data and AI company Databricks follows its own advice by combining narrative, visualization, and information to package case studies that stir the emotions as well as the wallets of its impressive B2B roster. Whether with a statistic of decreasing mishandled bags by more than 40% (for Virgin Australia) or protecting more than 180 million customers from harm (for AT&T), Databricks shows that the company’s success lies not just in harnessing data but also in creating stories that the average consumer can understand and appreciate.

Let the Data Speak Honestly 

At times, a company or its leaders may make statements or claims that are no longer relevant or mischaracterize a current situation. As the data gurgles up from your teams and across departments, don’t be tempted to force the findings to make claims that aren’t supported. Be brave, take the lead, and determine what the data is really saying. You can seek out data that proves your point, or pivot to rethink what you want to do and say to reflect the most recent reality.

Your stakeholders — employees,  customers, investors and the news media — will expect you to communicate authentically and accurately. Earn their trust with your approach, and they will respect your data during the best of times, in uncertain times, and when events turn around in the future.

Leaders communicate an incredible number of times each day — through email and text, in person and by virtual meetings, at conferences and through other vehicles. Each interaction is an opportunity to bolster your company’s reputation, as well as convey your personal brand.

You can inform your audiences,  manage expectations, inspire support, and drive actions.  It’s up to you to chart how you will communicate with data-driven insights. It’s important to look beyond your personal ability  to know your audiences. Find out what your internal and external experts consider the needs, desires and pain points of each audience. Then, communicate with data that will capture their interests when you are able to support your claims. It is also important to pay attention to how your organization designs data  collection and try to anticipate approaches and inquiries that capture the true mood and expectations of each audience.

Be prepared to let the data take you to where it’s going. You are likely to have a profound impact and deepen your connections with your  customers, your teams, and all of your stakeholders.

Ivy Cohen is the President and CEO of Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications . She has held leadership roles in the corporate world, as an entrepreneur, as CEO of a major national non-profit, and as a public policy advocate in our nation’s capital. She has helped organizations and their leaders build their reputations with compelling narratives. She is known for a professional style that engages, inspires, and guides leaders to deliver high-impact results.

An accomplished executive, small business owner, and results-oriented community leader, she has been leading her eponymously named boutique corporate communications agency, crafting big ideas and delivering outsized results for her clients. She is known for providing expert strategy and programs in thought leadership, public education, issues management, and content creation for large and growing companies. Ivy holds a BA from University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Georgetown University. 

Ivy Cohen is an Executive Council member at the CEOWORLD Magazine . You can follow her on LinkedIn .

Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications (ICCC) delivers big-agency results for brand building, public relations and strategic communications, with the high-touch service only a boutique can provide. 

To find out how ICCC can help you and your company build your reputation contact  ivy@ivycohen.com , 

call 212-399-0026 or visit www.ivycohen.com .   

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