Marketing financial products used to be a story of optimism and opportunity. ‘Growth storytelling’ was the name of the game. Globalisation was in full swing, Larry Fink was pioneering a more wholesome view of fiduciary duty, ESG was the acronym of the decade and making the world a better place was a compliment to making it more opulent, not a trade-off.

Over the last year, that changed. Starting with tariffs and culminating with turmoil in the Middle East, growth storytelling has fallen apart – not because it no longer makes sense, but because fewer people feel the optimism it was built on.

It has been replaced by something altogether more pessimistic: risk navigation.

Human beings are so psychologically programmed to avoid risk that the pain of losing is felt roughly twice as intensely as the joy of winning.

Marketing to a sombre marketplace

As a theme, navigating risk is no less interesting than telling stories of growth, it’s just less fun. In fact, human beings are so psychologically programmed to avoid risk that the pain of losing is felt roughly twice as intensely as the joy of winning. Marketers have been leaning on FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt) tactics for generations for this very reason.

But when does risk marketing become opportunistic ambulance chasing, and when is it a reasonable response to long-term market conditions?

The answer lies in the seriousness with which we approach the challenges. Bad news demands deep deliberation and, latterly, big picture thinking. Marketers must engage with these themes because they shape corporate voices – and corporations largely define how the impacts of global events are felt. But for marketers to engage productively is more difficult.

Here are our three golden rules for storytelling in a heavy-hearted world:

• Move the conversation forward: A business expert’s viewpoint was interesting in a growth storytelling environment. Now, it has to make a material contribution to the challenge at hand.
  
• Provide robust, useful insight: Individual opinions are subjective, while credible research is objective. When the stakes are high, insights must be practical, objective and obviously valuable.
  
• Know where you do and don’t have the authority to speak: Ambulance chasing is to 2026 what greenwashing was to the past five years. Ideas are great, but the authority to voice them is mandatory.

If you want to discuss any of these themes or think creatively about how your own marketing needs to respond to the grave new world, please get in touch, we'd love to help.