Leadership Means Owning the Conversation: A Sun-Brite Case Study
In any industry, leadership isn't just about offering the best product or service—it’s about shaping the dialogue around the key issues that affect your clients, your peers, key stakeholders, and the future of the business itself. If you’re not actively part of the conversation, you’re missing the opportunity to lead, to influence change, and ultimately, to own the narrative.
Here are a few reasons why you should always want to own the conversation:
Silence Creates a Vacuum—And Someone Else Will Fill It: When you're not speaking up, others are. Competitors, critics, or even well-meaning outsiders may set the tone for the conversation around your industry’s challenges. If you don’t contribute your insights, experiences, and solutions, you're allowing someone else to define the problems—and more importantly, the solutions—on your behalf.
Being Visible Builds Trust and Credibility: Clients and peers look to voices they recognize and trust. When you regularly weigh in on industry issues you show that you understand the landscape and are engaged in meaningful progress. That credibility translates into influence, and influence opens doors.
You Stay Ahead by Staying Engaged: The conversations happening today shape the standards, regulations, and expectations of tomorrow. Being part of that dialogue means you're not only informed but also helping to drive change rather than react to it. It’s a strategic edge.
You Become a Resource—Not Just a Service Provider: When you speak on the issues that matter most to your industry, you position yourself as a go-to expert. Clients want to work with companies who understand the deeper currents that affect their business or their lives. Owning the issues shows that you think big, care deeply, and can offer real perspective.
Conversation Creates Community: At its core, engaging in the industry dialogue isn't just about visibility—it’s about connection. It’s about aligning with others who are passionate, informed, and ready to solve problems. When you’re part of the conversation, you’re part of the solution. You help foster trust, collaboration, and forward momentum that benefit everyone.
At Bubblegum, we understand that industry issues can be frustrating when it feels like no one is listening.
Here’s how we helped Canadian food processor Sun-Brite Foods – one of Canada’s largest tomato canners and owner of popular brands like Unico and Primo – not just bite into a part of the media conversation around a major issue affecting their industry, but own it entirely.
As a result of both US-led and Canada’s reciprocal tariffs, food processors were facing a significant increase in the cost of aluminum and steel products – i.e. cans – resulting in additional fees of up to US$15 million.
If passed on to consumers, the average price of a canned food item could have increased by anywhere between 25 cents to 40 cents per can.
In an effort to raise awareness for both public and political audiences, we were brought in to help spread the word. Drafting a statement and leveraging strategic media relations channels, we were able to:
Secure 170+ media stories about the issue
Generate over 43.3 million potential media impressions
Confirm several broadcast, print and online interviews for media to learn more
Stories were published in both general consumer/news and trade outlets, including: CP24, CTV News Toronto, Newstalk 1010, 580 Newstalk Ottawa, Toronto Sun, Today’s Farmer, CBC News Windsor, Windsor Star, BNN Bloomberg, The Grower, Ontario Farmer, Food in Canada and several others.
Ready to own the issues in your industry’s bubble? Get in touch HERE.