marketing-communications to help your business emerge from ... · • what can you and your...
TRANSCRIPT
Marketing-communications to help your business emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic sooner and stronger
Presentation to CGLCC membersApril 2019
Month-over-month GDP decline (Mar.)9%
Source: Canada.caDeaths
5.8M Income replacement aid claims
39%Business owners worried about perm. closures
Employees who expect their employers to make one or more changes to their operations in response to the virus
78% 79% 42%CDNs’ trust when government + business are seen working together as a team• Business alone: 3%• Gov’t alone: 22%
Agree that businesses have a responsibility to protect their employees + the broader community• Workplace
protections• Community spread
preventionSource: Edelman
Consumers who say how companies act during the COVID-19 crisis will impact purchasing decisions post-crisis
• 65% of respondents: “major” or “significant”
96%
Source: Qualtrics
Immediate• Review existing campaign(s) messaging, visuals for tone + content – Aligned to where your
clients are? Does the world need this right now?• What can you and your organization do to help? • Build community online – virtual gathering places, common goals + mission
91% 90% 58%Expect shift to products that help people meet challenges
Want offers of free/lower-price products to health, essential + affected workers
Will ignoring new products unless they can help with “my current challenges”
Source: Edelman
Short + medium term• 4P (product, placement, pricing, promotion) aligned?• Check in with audiences – learn + listen to what they’re feeling + needing (now and going
forward)• Organic opportunities: align to audiences’ experiences (ex: free activities to do in quarantine, )
Medium + long term• Back to basics – new normal?• Post pandemic realities may fundamentally change how people interact, campaigns need to
lead or at least keep pace• Keep track of people’s changing habits + adjust to post-shelter-in-place needs, expectations
89% 92%Want organizations to keep them informed about efforts to support + protect employees and customers
Want organizations to keep them informed about changes to how the brand is operating, how to access products + services
Source: Edelman
Immediate• Back to basics: mission, vision + values• Check your communications and issues management plans to ensure that your organization’s
fundamentals are reflected + that you are living your values, staying true to your mission + vision – internally and externally.
Short + medium term• Conduct a proper issues scan and develop plan(s) for all issues you can anticipate • Get ahead of investors, funders, clients, partners – they’re also making decisions at record
pace• Take proactive measures to address potential vulnerabilities/issues; prepare for recovery
Medium + long term• Review what’s working and what isn’t, what unanticipated questions need answering• As decisions for the future are made, how do they impact corporate strategy? What needs to
change in your messaging and ways of working as a result of these decisions?• Listen for the messages and watch for cues about how your reputation may be affected
longer term• Lean on communications experts for help
Your employees are your most important stakeholder group through this crisis
Executives can further long-term business prospects in three main ways: building trust, rallying people to purpose + identifying leaders at all levels
83%Expect that you express empathy and support for those most affected – show you care
Source: Edelman
Reality bites: some small businesses will only survive if they repurpose, retool + redeploy
Those that thrive will communicate purposely, mindfully – even as they make fundamentally important shifts in how or what they do
The stars will be the ones that succeed in each of these areas: marketing, corporate communications, employee + executive communications.
This is an opportunity to leave a lasting, positive brand impression on internal and external audiences alike. Proactive, empathetic communications will bolster a brand’s reputation in challenging times and allow your organization to emerge sooner + stronger than others.
We are all in this together. Entrepreneurs need to stick together.
• BUY LOCAL – gift cards, ordering in/take-out, etc.• Leave positive reviews on friends' business pages (Google My Business,
Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, etc.)• Work with and through Chambers of Commerce, BIAs + other groups of
influence• Access supports municipally, provincially, federally• Leverage relationships with suppliers, lenders + professional contacts
Credit: Annalise Iten via LinkedIn
