From “personality hire” to powerhouse: why women in SPAM are driving modern business

For years, businesses treated communications as the department that made things “look good”. Now, it is beginning to recognise that reputation, trust and cultural relevance are among the few competitive advantages technology cannot automate. In the Channel Islands, where business is built on relationships, reputation and community confidence, that shift feels especially important.

That is why one of the internet’s latest workplace acronyms is more revealing than it first appears: “SPAM” - Social, PR, Advertising and Marketing.

What started as a joke about where women often build careers has accidentally exposed a serious business truth. The skills long dismissed as “soft” are becoming some of the hardest to replace. AI can generate content, but it cannot reliably read a room, navigate a crisis, understand nuance or build trust. Those capabilities sit at the heart of modern brand growth.

The great revaluation of ‘soft’ skills

For decades, communications, marketing, and PR were often viewed as support functions, while businesses elevated technical expertise and operational efficiency. Today’s reality looks very different. Attention is fragmented. Trust is fragile. Culture moves faster than strategy decks. Consumers increasingly choose brands they relate to, not simply products they need.

In that environment, emotional intelligence, judgement, creativity and cultural awareness are no longer nice-to-haves. They are commercial advantages. The brands’ winning attention today are not necessarily the loudest; they are the most relevant.

That is the thinking behind The Orchard’s Culture Smart approach: understanding culture before trying to influence it. In a crowded, fast-moving world, brands need more than visibility. They need relevance. For Channel Islands businesses, that means understanding the nuances of island life, from close-knit communities and cross-island relationships to the local conversations that can shape trust quickly and visibly.

Why SPAM is serious business

The acronym may be playful. The work is not.

Social, PR, Advertising and Marketing collectively shape how organisations are perceived, believed and talked about. When a crisis hits, reputation becomes a business issue. When a brand wants growth, it needs more than reach; it needs connection. And when audiences stop believing corporate messages, communication becomes the bridge between organisations and the people they serve. In island markets, that bridge matters even more: audiences are not abstract segments, they are customers, colleagues, neighbours and communities who talk to each other.

These functions don't sit on the sidelines of growth. They drive it.

From cultural fluency to boardroom influence

At The Orchard, around 90% of our team is female. That is not simply a cultural talking point. It is a reflection of where deep expertise, audience understanding and creative judgement live.

Communications has long been powered by talented women, yet leadership across the wider industry has not always reflected that reality.

The Women in SPAM conversation matters because it challenges the assumption that these professions are somehow less strategic than traditional business functions. They are not. Our team of Story Makers helps brands across the Channel Islands and beyond understand the world around them, shape meaningful narratives, and build trust through culturally intelligent communications.

The people closest to audiences increasingly have the clearest view of what drives growth. That is not a cultural trend. It is a business strategy.

Put respect on the name

The internet gave us a joke. Business leaders should pay attention to the lesson behind it.

The disciplines once labelled “soft” are becoming some of the most commercially valuable in the organisation. Social. PR. Advertising. Marketing. Together, they shape reputation, influence behaviour and create relevance in a world where attention is increasingly difficult to earn.

At The Orchard, we believe culture is not a trend. It is the strategy. That belief is grounded in the markets we know best: the Channel Islands, where relevance is earned through trust, consistency and a genuine understanding of people and place.

And the teams built to understand people will not simply support growth in the years ahead. They will lead it.