The trust factor: how comms execs are taking charge

Increasingly, messaging beats metrics

Recently my Uncle Mitchell shared a blurb from a Wall Street Journal article that really got me thinking about the focus of job titles and the responsibilities that come with them.

This is what Katie Deighton wrote in the June 8, 2026, article "The Revenge of the Publicists: How Comms Execs Stormed the C-Suite":

"When Tamika Young was promoted to the top marketing gig at dating app Hinge last December, she stipulated that she wanted to change the job title. Young wouldn’t just become the CMO—she would become the chief marketing and communications officer. 'It was incredibly important to me to make sure that communication sat as a part of that role,' said Young, who started her career as an MTV publicist and joined Hinge in 2023 as vice president of global communications. It's not just about engagement metrics or advertising campaigns anymore,' she said. 'You're looking to build trust with these audiences, and a lot of that really stems from the messaging.'"

This is where the focus put on display by Young and others really hits:

"Communications professionals, previously relegated to the periphery, are now front and center in the C-suite, partly emboldened by CEOs’ fears that even the smallest misstep can swiftly balloon into a corporate disaster,” Deighton wrote. “The bleeding together of investor memos, advertising copy, press releases, company social-media accounts and most recently large language model results has sent business leaders scrambling to better control the corporate narrative at the very top."

Professionals like Young get that the idea of communications in a world of AI integration and distractions is critical to keep a business focused. Young focuses on terms like "trust" and "messaging," not just data garnered from endless services geared toward real-time and recent trends. The data isn’t enough. Being able to communicate what it means to actual people is what matters most.

Now, how can we all take this advice to heart in whatever leadership roles we may have or want to have? Imagine the focus of that.