Heidi Verplank

Authenticity, trust and transparency are key aspects of public relations efforts that truly engage publics with brands.

The 2023 word of the year according to Merriam-Webster is “authenticity.” This buzzword may have been trending in recent years, but it will always be a key aspect of good PR.

According to an article by Mary Lorenz published by Cision, consumers are increasingly requiring open and authentic messaging from organizations. Public relations strategies that are too perfect and too polished do not have the same effect as those who strategically use an established brand voice (Lorenz, 2023).

“Authentic storytelling goes beyond merely conveying information; it involves creating a narrative that speaks to the audience’s emotions, values, and aspirations,” writes Caiola in an article for PRSA Strategies & Tactics.

As Caiola highlights, authentic storytelling allows organizations to connect with publics in a meaningful and impactful way (Caiola, 2025). By providing audiences with information authentically, PR professionals can promote transparency and build trust amongst publics.

Transparency in Crisis Communication

Sometimes, organizations face public relations issues that are not their fault, but they must still approach their responses with honesty to avoid reputational damage.

For example, Disney approached the 2015 Measles outbreak with transparency by communicating with the California Department of Public Health. They effectively showed publics that although their organization was not responsible for the outbreak, they were willing to collaborate with health officials. The rise of anti-vaccination efforts was ultimately the root of the outbreak, so allowing experts to handle the issue allowed them to maintain honesty without liability (Aylesworth-Spink, 2016).

By being transparent and honest, Disney was able to protect their brand and come out of the crisis relatively unscathed.

Trust withIn The Airline Industry

The airline industry is a key market segment where trust, transparency and authenticity is required of companies.

United Airlines was forced to rebuild trust with consumers after forcibly removing a passenger from a flight to make room for crew members. Customers felt betrayed and unsafe, which forced the organization to reevaluate how they handle similar situations. Since their audience lost trust, it took time and policy changes to rebuild and stop negative perception (Flying the unfriendly skies).

RyanAir, on the other hand, used incivility and an abrasive brand voice to target consumers, which was shockingly effective for many years. However, the brand began taking it too far and had to implement reforms that were authentic to their identity, but showed consumers that they could trust RyanAir would still provide a certain level of service.

RyanAir has rebuilt trust with consumers through their image restoration program, which essentially ended some of the incivility associated with the brand (VanSlette & McClain, 2018). However, they still use comedy throughout their branding to show customers that they are the same authentic, unique company as before.

Both of these cases provide lessons for organizations who need to balance maintaining trust with consumers while being transparent and authentic to their brand.

Using an Authentic Voice

These values are not only shown throughout crisis communication, but also in public relations in general. In terms of politics, John Fetterman’s strategic social media campaigning won him a seat in the U.S. Senate due to his bold authenticity.

After having a stroke during the campaign, Fetterman continued to use his unique, authentic voice in a comedic and engaging way through social media trolling. However, when his opponent Mehmet Oz attempted to use Fetterman’s social media strategy, it completely failed. The style of campaigning was unconventional and only worked for Fetterman because it was true to himself and his Pennsylvania roots (VanSlette, 2023).

The Fetterman campaign is a great example of how creativity in public relations can be beneficial, but only if it makes sense for your client or organization and their audience. Ultimately, an unauthentic and inconsistent PR strategy can quickly do more harm than good.

Why does this matter?

Authenticity, transparency and trust seem simple, but are truly at the heart of effective public relations. These four case studies teach us that these values can make or break crisis communication, brand identity and PR campaigns.

By implementing and focusing on ways to build authenticity, transparency and trust, PR professionals can create lasting audience relationships for their clients and organizations, ensuring their reach and success.

Works Cited

Aylesworth-Spink, S. (2016). Protecting the herd: An analysis of public relations responses to the 2015 measles outbreak originating at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park. Case Studies in Strategic Communication, 5, article 10. Available online: http://cssc.uscannenberg.org/cases/v5/v5art10

Caiola, M. (2025, February). Authentic storytelling: The key to campaigns that connect and Inspire. PRSA Strategies & Tactics. https://www.prsa.org/article/authentic-storytelling-the-key-to-campaigns-that-connect-and-inspire

Flying the unfriendly skies. (n.d.). In Conflict management (pp. 175–189).

Lorenz, M. (2023, December 13). Beyond the word of the year: The enduring power of “authentic” in PR. Cision. https://www.cision.com/resources/articles/beyond-word-of-year-enduring-power-of-authentic-in-pr/

VanSlette, S. (2023). Trolling and sick burns: John Fetterman’s winning social media strategy against Mehmet Oz in the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate campaign. Case Studies in Strategic Communication Journal, 8, 1–15. ISSN 2167-1974.

VanSlette, S., & McClain, M. (2018). The case of Ryanair: Demonstrating the benefits and the limits of incivility. Case Studies in Strategic Communication, 7, 36-55. https://cssc-ojs- utexas.tdl.org/cssc/issue/view/7