Communicator spotlight: Andy Pharoah of Mars Inc.

• "As a company, we have a set of shareholder objectives, and four of them are nontraditional shareholder objectives: external reputation, internal trust and two that relate to sustainability," Pharoah tells Axios.
• "There is a big job to do against each of those [objectives] from a communications standpoint. ... If you look at trust, a lot of communications can drive trust internally, and then when it comes to reputation externally, communications is critical to that."

Catch up quickly: Early in his career, Pharoah worked in British politics and for a trade association before joining Hill & Knowlton.

• He spent more than a decade at the agency, where he served as head of its corporate practice in EMEA. In 2008, he joined Wrigley — which was acquired by Mars later that year.
• He was promoted to lead corporate affairs and strategic initiatives for Mars globally in 2016.
• Pharoah reports to Mars CEO Poul Weihrauch and oversees the teams responsible for communications, public affairs, government relations, corporate brand and sustainability.

What he's saying: "This is a family business that was founded over 100 years ago, so we have a very long-term approach. We think in generations, not quarters," he says.

• "We're fortunate in a way [because] we don't have a stock price. I don't have to look at the stock throughout the day to see how we're performing. ... So I think the biggest thing at the moment is not overreacting to the news of the day."

Yes, but: One current political movement that Mars is paying attention to is the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) wave.

• Those in "the current U.S. administration have a particularly strong view on food dyes, and so we're [in] discussions with them," says Pharoah. "In fact, next year, we're launching a series under our main brands of products that will not have artificial dyes in them to give consumers choice. So, we look to constructively engage."
• "We are responding to consumer need, and, of course, doing stuff based on sound science. We don't ever want to give anyone any reason not to buy one of our products or use one of our services."

What's next: "One of the issues that we're focused on is, how do we deploy a message that is relevant and can cut through all the noise," as corporate affairs teams navigate polarization, the fragmented media landscape and individual information bubbles, Pharoah says.

• This applies to external and internal audiences, he adds. "We manufacture 94% of what we sell in the U.S., so we are a great local manufacturer, but we need to import cocoa. So, for example, we're having a discussion with the government about how we can support U.S. manufacturing without tariffs to bring in cocoa. So there's a government dialogue that's going on."

• "Then there's an associate dialogue that's going on. How do you ensure that all of your associates understand the strategy of their business unit and their role in the strategy? Because if people understand [that], then they can independently make better decisions about what they should do on a day-to-day basis."

Best advice: Ignore imposter syndrome. "You need to promote yourself in your head," he says.

• "I think, particularly in our profession, there are people who are desperately trying to prove that what we do is relevant. And I actually think nobody doubts that ... We should have the confidence of the CFO, because what we do is absolutely essential to businesses. And I think often, the thing that holds the profession back, is itself."

1 fun thing: Pharoah is a big fan of opera — he's the president of the Washington National Opera board of trustees — and supports the Crystal Palace Football Club.

More on Axios:

• Food companies make promises while MAHA looks for more