A State of Constant Crisis
Five months into the greatest public health, economic, and social upheaval in almost 100 years, and with an election on the horizon, most communications professionals have settled into a state of constant crisis.
2020 has flipped the script for communications, but connecting with and informing core constituencies — consumers and employees — remains top of mind, and has never been more important. Efficient and effective consumer and employee comms is guided by three essential pillars that have weathered the test of time and continue to make for credible businesses and communicators:
1) Purpose
In a recent Harris Poll, half (50%) of Gen Z said their opinion of a company is influenced by how the company behaves in society, second only to the quality of products and services (61%).
From racial justice to climate change, the range of issues that consumers care about is vast, and the demand for companies to engage on these issues is higher than ever. But, like with everything else, the pandemic has also reshuffled the deck — consumers are increasingly prioritizing close-to-some issues (e.g. personal health, small businesses, jobs, hunger, poverty) over broader issues like climate change and immigration. It’s not that they don’t care about the others, but rather new issues have come to the fore and are becoming part of broader conversations.
This leaves open a huge opportunity (and mandate) for brands to “own” one of the many important causes as part of its broader mission. Especially for brands that don’t inherently have a philanthropic mission (i.e. a pharma company creating life saving drugs or a grocery store feeding people), broadening the aperture and driving towards a broader goal both raises the stakes and allows both consumers and employees to believe they are part of something bigger than themselves.
“I think that transformation is key to how we see companies evolving in the way they view issues, the way that they tackle them, and the way they approach CSR. It’s not just about employees volunteering; it’s about looking at society, looking at what we produce, and seeing how we can make a change to improve the lives of everyone” — Heather Foster, Lyft
A consistent and relevant purpose is a valuable tool for a communicator to leverage, grounding corporate communications in a shared mission that goes beyond their balance sheet, and providing an entry point into broader cultural conversations that are timely and relevant for consumers and employees alike.
2 ) Authenticity
In the peak of “authenticity” based marketing, we may have lost the thread on what it actually means, and why we do it. At it’s best, authenticity should walk hand in hand with purpose and provide an entrypoint for consumers and employees to become part of the brand, giving brands a personality and a point of view for consumers to attach to. We heard our guests on Back to the Future with the Stagwell Group mention it again and again across industries and geographies — people want the brands they use to have a point of view, and brands need to deliver in order to hold market share and stay relevant.
Equally as important in comms and PR, authenticity means that brands speak honestly and without any false certainty or promise. Over the last five months, authenticity in communications has meant walking back statements, changing plans, and apologizing — a humility not often seen from brands. As Marcela Salazar from SKDK said, it’s meant “that we’re doing a lot more listening to people, voters and consumers, and learning, and there’s more humility.”
An extension of Salazar’s thought might be that there’s more empathy as well. In listening to consumers and employees, brands can better understand what people are feeling and what they really need. Ranjana Choudhry, VP of Advertising and Social Media at Wakefern Foods, walked us through how Wakefern put empathy into action on the July 16 episode of Back to the Future. When grocery shopping became steeped in anxieties and associated with “essential”, “panic”, and “shortages”, they shifted their communications to focus on the joys of food, family time, building connections, and nourishing oneself. In acknowledging and opening up this conversation, Wakefern grounded itself in a shared reality and built trust. As the economy is turned on its end, consumer and employee trust is an appreciating currency for brands and one they’ll be cashing in for months to come.
“We created an emotional bond beyond a rational price equation by being more genuine, more human, and more action oriented” — Ranjana
Choudhry, Wakefern Food Corp.
3 ) Resilience
There’s no playbook for the world we’re experiencing right now, but resilience is the single most important asset in predicting an organization’s ability to handle the unexpected. Firmly rooted in both purpose and authenticity, resilience — the will and ability to recover when things go awry — is essential. And while it certainly depends on long-term preparedness efforts (e.g. investment in IT, debt structures, resource flexibility), resilience is just as much a soft skill that organizations and individuals alike can learn and nurture.
It is the privilege of communicators to be the teachers and cheerleaders for resilience. Simply knowing that there’s a plan goes a long way in restoring faith in a company’s approach to the pandemic. As Salazar said, “empathy should come with an action plan.” It’s also important to remind stakeholders that it will end. We don’t know when or how, but history teaches that we will come out the other side, and that businesses and employers will be an essential partner in that process. In the meantime, creating a communications strategy that shares in the experience and amplifies the resilience of individuals as well as the company builds confidence over time.
“You have to listen to people and be empathetic. [Brands] are just trying to get along like everybody else is- the more that teams and employees can feel supported but also in the shared experience together, the better off everyone will be.” — Andrew Strickman, realtor.com
Effective communications remind stakeholders of each of how an organization lives out each of these pillars daily, and reflects those values in the communication itself. It is an opportunity to teach, connect, and change the narrative, even if that narrative changes on a daily basis.
The Stagwell Group is a digital-first marketing company serving clients with simplicity and speed at scale. To learn more, head to www.stagwellgroup.com, or visit us on LinkedIn, Twitter, or YouTube.
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