Narrative, Manipulation and Control: What Brands Can Learn from the Latest Geopolitical Reality Show

(You can read part 1 and part 2)

Narrative Psychology – Narcissists, Algorithms and Communities as Co-Creators of the Story

Introduction: When Narrative is No Longer a One-Way Street

In the world of corporate and political communication, the narrative is no longer solely controlled by those who create it. Every story, message, and crisis is reinterpreted, amplified, or distorted by algorithms, digital communities, and even the egos of their own originators.

In this third part, we explore how the psychology of high-profile leaders, the algorithmic logic of digital platforms, and the active role of online communities have turned narrative into a living entity. Today, brands, governments, and public figures no longer fully control their stories—they negotiate, co-create, or lose them.

How to Negotiate with a Narcissist (and Why This Matters for Brands)

The Humiliation Reflex

Politicians like Donald Trump or corporate figures such as Elon Musk do not merely represent their brands or movements—they merge with them. Every attack, criticism, or challenge is no longer seen as directed at the organisation but as a personal affront. This extreme emotional response, known as the humiliation reflex, turns every interaction into an ego-driven confrontation.

The Problem of Personalising Narrative

When a CEO, founder, or company president becomes the main channel of brand communication, corporate storytelling becomes entirely dependent on their emotional state. Narrative consistency disappears as responses become personal, impulsive, and reactionary.

This creates brands that are excessively reliant on the personality and popularity of their leaders. While this might work in the short term (Tesla is Musk, and Musk is Tesla), it becomes a significant risk when the leader’s personal reputation comes under fire.

Algorithmic Narratives: When Algorithms Decide What Story Your Brand Tells

The Algorithm as an Invisible Storyteller

Once a corporate or political message enters the digital ecosystem, it is no longer the brand that decides which parts of the story reach the audience. Instead, the algorithms of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn determine how content is fragmented, prioritised, and distributed, based on:

• Users’ previous behaviours.
• Initial engagement levels.
• Algorithmic relevance compared to other concurrent content.

In other words, the original message is just the starting point. What users actually see is a curated and optimised fragment of the story, shaped by algorithms to maximise engagement and retention.

Algorithmic Distortion

Algorithmic curation is far from neutral. The obsession with relevance and engagement means that algorithms prioritise polarising, emotional, and extreme content, while nuanced, complex messages are pushed aside. This phenomenon is well-documented in politics, but it is equally prevalent in corporate communications:

• Corporate apologies tend to be invisible.
• Rumours and conspiracy theories about brands gain more traction than official statements.
• Emotional responses from CEOs or spokespersons go viral faster than well-crafted corporate statements.

📌 A clear example: TikTok and the viralisation of minor brand reputation crises in the fashion and food industries, where a single critical consumer video can outperform an entire official communication strategy.

👉 Lesson for Brands

📌Tip: Companies will need to develop algorithmic content strategies, ensuring that messages are not only tailored to the platform, but optimized for its amplification and relevance mechanisms, maximizing visibility of key messages.

Predictive and Adaptive Narratives: When Users Rewrite the Story

Brands no longer compete solely with other products or companies. Instead, they compete with consumer expectations, emotions, and pre-existing perceptions. This reality has led many companies to experiment with:

• Dynamic storytelling, where content evolves based on user interactions.
• Narrative prediction, analysing digital behaviour patterns to anticipate which story each audience segment wants to receive.
• Personalised adaptation, adjusting tone, depth, or format to fit each user profile.

From Storytelling to Story Co-Creation

The Community Narrative

In the digital age, brands are no longer the sole owners of their story. Every consumer, employee, and content creator contributes fragments, reinterpretations, and expansions of that narrative. Brands that understand this have started to:

• Create co-creation spaces, where communities actively shape brand stories (e.g., Lego Ideas).
• Integrate user-generated content (UGC) as an official part of their storytelling.
• Listen and adapt messaging based on community interpretation.

📌 Example: Coca-Cola – Share a Coke
By personalising bottles with names, Coca-Cola transformed a simple product into a narrative tool for each individual consumer, who then completed the story by sharing it on social media.

Conclusion: Narrative is a Living Ecosystem

Corporate communication is no longer a series of isolated messages. It is now a living narrative ecosystem, where a brand’s story is shaped by:

• Its leaders and spokespersons.
• The algorithms that filter and prioritise its messages.
• The communities that reinterpret and amplify its story.

At Polaris, we help brands navigate this complexity, designing integrated communication strategies where the brand:

✅ Builds a solid, adaptable, and distributed narrative foundation.
✅ Trains its leaders to manage storytelling in hostile environments.
✅ Leverages algorithmic logic to amplify key messages.
✅ Invites its communities to become part of the story.

📩 If your brand wants to stop improvising and start writing its own script, let’s talk.