PRNEWS and partner Yonder recently gathered a panel of senior communicators for a webinar: “Communicating About COVID-19 — Navigating a New and Uncertain Crisis.” You can hear a free replay of that session here: https://bit.ly/3bMGuAs
During the session, the 1,500 attendees generated more questions than we could handle during the 90-minute session. To tackle the submitted questions left unanswered, we assembled a virtual roundtable of PR practitioners to answer some of those questions.
The panelists included Adam Snyder, founder, ALS Impact, a strategic communications consulting firm, Deb Hileman, CEO, Institute for Crisis Management, LT Taylor, communications director at Burrow, the online furniture brand, and Raminta Lilaite and Kristina Skindelyte, founders, Blue Oceans PR, a firm in Lithuania. Their edited responses are below.
PRNEWS: How would you make the case to the C-suite about the importance of having communicators in the room when decisions about coronavirus strategies are made?
CEO, Institute for Crisis Management
Deb Hileman: My advice would be blunt: get your communications leaders in the room now, if they are not already there. If you don’t have senior communicators on staff, engage with outside PR/crisis communications counsel to provide solid advice and support. As we’ve seen through countless communications missteps going viral, carefully crafted messages are more important than ever.
Adam Snyder: Good leaders know they can’t do everything and instead surround themselves with
ALS Impact
people who can. Communications professionals, by our very nature, are in the business of perception and reputation. CEOs should consult their comms lead on everything that will be known externally…Spar over ideas to present an image of stability, consider stakeholder relationships and the community, and work together so any external communication is created in a genuine, honest way.
PRNEWS: In this environment, how often should communicators be pushing out information? We want to be informative but not overwhelming.
Raminta Lilaite: Are you able to offer a useful innovation? Can you solve a problem? Offer advice and expertise? Is your message able to inspire? Before issuing communications, consider if your main message answers these questions.
Snyder: That’s right. Be very selective and don’t overdo it. Focus on the essentials and leave anything extra off to the side.
PRNEWS: How do we ensure our messages do not come off insensitive when our clients still have to advertise during this time?
Kristina Skindelyte: Create a communications strategy that balances empathetic messages with business as usual messages.
Emphasize values. You don’t want to be seen as a company that is preoccupied with its profitability. Be perceived as an organization seeking to help others in need, supporting the community and striving to provide products and services to those who need them.
Snyder: Be mindful, but don’t try to capitalize on the crisis…A large company shouldn’t make a big donation [merely to] boast about it…Give back and be humble. The news of what you’ve done will come out, so lean into being part of the solution.
LT Taylor: Iterate on each message. For instance, say you decide to proceed with a long-planned product launch. Make sure to give your audience the context and be sensitive about the positioning.
For example, “We know things are weird, but this is something we’ve been working on for a while. We’re proud of it and want to continue celebrating the small wins.” This approach has three components: it shows you’re not insensitive and have been keeping an eye on the news cycle, it adopts best-in-class examples from other brands and shows you’re thinking about how to authentically communicate with your customers.
PRNEWS: What are some keys for an effective media relations strategy during this crisis?
Snyder: Be as transparent as possible. Don’t pretend it’s business as usual. Pitch stories that inform your customers how the virus will, or may, impact them and what steps you’re taking to ensure the continuation of your business.
Don’t try to be an authority on coronavirus, unless you are one. I’ve received detailed updates about health-related virus issues from so many companies that have no business telling me anything about health….there are world-class health organizations to do that, such as WHO and CDC.
Taylor: Tread lightly and reset your goals and expectations since so many outlets and reporters have shifted their priorities. It’s still important, maybe more so, to understand why you’re telling a story…and who might be interested in it. As always, spend time reading each content creator’s previous articles, see what they’re sharing on Twitter, and approach each pitch with empathy. If you’re not getting results, respect that your pitch may not be a good fit right now.
Hileman: In the midst of the overwhelming amount of difficult news coverage about the virus, some reporters are seeking pitches about feel-good stories that can uplift audiences. The caveat is that many of them will want virus-related, feel-good material. Stories about actions your organization is taking to help customers, employees or the community will add to its goodwill bank of trust and reputation.
Lilaite: Context is important. A product launch might not be a good pitch for most content creators now. On the other hand, if your product or service makes sense in this atmosphere, pitch the launch. An example is Quibi, which provides content that people can access on their phone during this moment when audiences are homebound.
PRNEWS: What advice do you have for communicating with remote employees to keep them engaged and energized?
Snyder: Again, transparency is key. Create a feeling of we’re all in this together…Your business strategy should be about survival. Find a way to enlist employees in the cause, and regularly report back to them about how the business is doing. Call out employees who have gone above and beyond. Last, working remotely doesn’t mean teams are separated. Find ways to regularly connect face-to-face over video conferencing apps for everything from meetings to happy hours.
Taylor: Over-communicating is key, especially as things have become increasingly serious and stressful. Make a point to start each call with lighthearted small talk. Encourage managers to ask team members how they’e doing during one-on-one meetings. Friends, family members and industry folks are experiencing the pandemic in different ways. You’ll find that having those human conversations helps.
Skindelyte: Start the morning with a daily review of goals.…Communicate current challenges, and share good news. It’s very important to keep staff up to date. This will help reduce anxiety and provide stability.
When is Business as Usual?
PRNEWS: How and when do you start to begin publishing business-as-usual messages?
Snyder: On day one. How your employees work and how your customers interact with you may have changed, [but] what you offer, the trust you’ve built, the work you do and what your customers get, should not.
Hileman: It is important to be thinking about business as usual communications now, but do so in a framework of the new normal. Timing for ramping up communications will vary depending on geography, but strategic discussions should explore what the future may look like.
Plan Now
PRNEWS: How should we develop communications plans for the rest of Q1 and plan for Q2?
Snyder: Be very flexible in everything you do. And plan in 2-week increments. We don’t know how long the self-isolation and social distancing will last, what the economic impact is or how many jobs will be lost. If a company is signing a big partnership, it should be focused on making an impact during the current new normal.
Lilaite: Q2 may call for post-crisis communications. Plan now for alternative scenarios.
PRNEWS: When should planning start for the post-crisis environment?
Snyder: Every company should have a crisis- and disaster-recovery plan in place. Once there is some inkling of an upswing it’s time to dust off the recovery plan. Make it relevant for today and begin to slowly get back to normal…create content that shows and celebrates teams are back at work. Do the same around serving customers, working with vendors and performing community outreach events.
Skindelyte: The new frontier in the post-crisis period will likely see rapid digitalization of services and new trust models in society and business…planning for this should start as soon as possible. Planning for various scenarios is key. Adaptability is also very important.
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