CUSTOMERS ARE FED UP

The urgent reputation risk PR must face in 2026

In this first episode of 2026, we take a clear look at a growing issue shaping the year ahead for PR professionals: customer frustration has reached a breaking point, and new data from 2025 shows just how widespread the problem has become. Customers are dealing with broken processes, confusing systems, and automated tools that create more work instead of solving problems. Companies are trying to cover these issues with messaging, storytelling and AI, but the numbers show that approach is backfiring. People want ease and peace, and instead they’re getting noise, delays, and unnecessary friction.

We walk through the latest national research on customer frustration, including record levels of anger, wasted time, financial loss, and emotional strain. We also look at how customers are responding — from ghosting brands to walking away after one or two bad experiences. At the same time, many executives believe their customer experience is strong, creating a dangerous perception gap.

This episode lays out what PR pros need to understand as they guide their organizations through 2026. Join me as we break down the data, the trends, and the real reputational risks shaping the year ahead.

EPISODE STUDY SOURCES:

Forbes Technology Council (2024). Breaking the Cycle of “Doom Loops” in Automated Customer Service. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/09/23/human-centered-cx-breaking-the-cycle-of-doom-loops-in-automated-customer-service/

CSG International (2025). 2025 State of the Customer Experience Report. https://www.csgi.com/resources/2025-state-of-customer-experience/

National Customer Rage Survey (2025). CCMC & Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business. https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20251202dc36248/new-national-customer-rage-survey-reveals-civility-in-freefall-across-americas-marketplace

Emplifi (April 2025). The Social Pulse: State of Consumer‑Brand Engagement on Social Media in 2025. https://emplifi.io/press/emplifi-reveals-70-of-consumers-will-abandon-a-brand-after-just-two-negative-experiences/

PwC (2025). 2025 Customer Experience Survey: The Loyalty Illusion. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-transformation/library/2025-customer-experience-survey.html

BONUS RESOURCE:

If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource.

GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!

Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!

HOST BIO https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

Today we tackle my favorite part of the PR work -- measuring success while a campaign is still in motion.

In today’s show, we’ll talk about a framework to help you read the signals stakeholders give off in real time, and how those behaviors reveal whether your strategy is progressing or stalling.

You'll learn clear, actionable ways to measure momentum as it happens, so you can refine your approach and achieve stronger results. And here’s the proof: campaigns that consistently apply this framework outperform those campaigns that fail to use it.

Too often, evaluation happens only at the end of a campaign, when the chance to adjust has already passed. Don't be those guys!

You’ll want to share this with your team, your division leaders and use it as a basis for strategy development and management in the future.

BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource.

GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!

Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!

HOST BIO https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

It’s Time to Reframe PR — Go Beyond the Messenger Role

If you’re a PR professional tired of being seen as just the company’s messenger service or the cleanup crew after a crisis, this episode is for you.

PR pros in numbers are crying out to be rightly recognized as strategic-management professionals — yet too often, we’re left out of the early conversations where our knowledge, experience and insights can make the biggest difference.

In this episode, we dive into a pivotal true story and share five crucial strategies from the PR Pro’s Reframe Playbook to change the conversation about what you do.

These are real, applicable approaches you can use in your job every day to transform the way your organization views and leverages you, your team and your public-relations expertise.

Listen today -- and start changing the conversation about what PR truly brings to the table.

BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource.

GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!

Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!

HOST BIO https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E