We're three months into the new tariff regime and I've never seen so many brands say so little while clearly panicking so much. The 25% tariffs on imports from multiple countries have created genuine operational chaos for consumer brands, and the communication around it has been, to put it charitably, a mess.
Let me describe what I'm seeing. Category one: brands raising prices and saying nothing, hoping nobody notices. Category two: brands raising prices and blaming "market conditions" in language so vague it could mean anything from tariffs to Mercury being in retrograde. Category three: brands publicly blaming the tariffs, which immediately polarizes their customer base. Category four: brands eating the cost and slowly dying inside.
Category one: brands raising prices and saying nothing, hoping nobody notices.
None of these are good strategies. But they're all understandable reactions when you're caught between economic reality and a political minefield. So what's the right move?
The answer, boringly, is the same answer it always is: know your customer well enough to know what they actually want from you in this moment.
If your customer base skews politically toward supporting the tariffs, your communication should acknowledge the trade-offs honestly: "These tariffs are designed to bring manufacturing home. That means higher costs today for a different economy tomorrow. Here's how we're managing the transition." That's not spin. That's meeting your customer where they are.
If your customer base skews the other way, you have permission to be more direct about the impact, while still avoiding the kind of partisan language that turns a business update into a political statement.
And if your customer base is genuinely mixed? Then your communication should be ruthlessly factual and emotionally neutral. "Due to changes in import costs, we're adjusting pricing on X products by Y percent starting Z date. Here's what we're doing to minimize the impact." No editorializing. No euphemisms. Just clarity.
The brands getting hammered right now are the ones trying to hide the ball. Consumers aren't stupid. They read the news. They know tariffs are hitting. When you pretend your 20% price increase is about "premiumization" or "enhanced quality," you're not fooling anyone. You're just adding insult to inflation.
Respect your customer's intelligence. Communicate with clarity. Let them make their own political judgments. That's not cowardice. That's the hardest kind of bravery in brand communication: trusting your audience.