Page 35 - PR Communication Age January-June2020

worthy and empathetic voice. A great example of leader- operations, and use mediums of communications that you
ship and right initiatives is Anand Mahindra of the Mahindra have with established customers, like emails and apps to
Group. This digital savvy Chairman and other leaders from do the same. With almost the entire workforce now oper-
within the Group are using social media as well as tradi- ating remotely, help your service team adjust to now deal-
tional PR to highlight the various initiatives, internal & ex- ing with clients and customers online, and help your cus-
ternal, being taken during this crisis. tomers have a good experience dealing with your brand.

This assures their stakeholders that the organization is not 3. Take a pause from business-as-usual marketing-
blind to the crisis and is taking concrete, strategic steps.
Against this frenzied backdrop, it would be easy for leaders If you have a product that could sell a lot during this time
period, reassess the communication as the message could
to reflexively plunge into the maelstrom of social-media
misinformation, copy what others are doing, or seek big, come off as insensitive and over-opportunistic. With people
one-off, bold gestures. It is also true that crises can pro- already under a lot of stress due to COVID-19, some mes-
duce great leaders and communicators, those whose words sages could come off as a tactic to increase sales, if not
and actions comfort in the present, restore faith in the long executed in a tasteful manner.
term, and are remembered long after the crisis has been
quelled. 4. Educate your audience -
Instead, use these times to create awareness about pre-
With most activities shut down and people now practicing ventive measures. By educating the public, you will build
social distancing in order to prevent the spread of corona and retain trust with your audience, which should be your
virus (COVID-19), this is probably the most testing time for goal. While most brands may not have huge resources, they
most brands to connect with their audience. Building a could all help spread awareness. Simple and informative
connection with new customers and maintaining your pre- pieces of content will be appreciated by the audience.
existing ones will be now more difficult, than it has been in
the recent past. With most organizations already dealing 5. Communication needs to be empathetic -
with a slowdown, if not a complete shutdown, marketing At this time, while people are uncertain about what is hap-
during this period will need a lot of creativity and tact to pening, and what to expect, being empathetic to their
ensure that the message of the brand is effectively com- needs and fears will let you be more understanding as to
municated.
what type of messages will be appreciated. If there is an
1. Social Media will play an important role - act of kindness that you could do during this period, don't
hesitate. It can help build trust and goodwill with the pub-
During this period, social media will be the one channel of
communication that will probably not experience a slow- lic and show that you care for them.
down. In fact, with most of the public now at home practic-
ing social distancing, their activity online would have undoubt- During these times, every action firms take could be good
edly increased, as social media would probably become the or detrimental to your brand. However, by using empathy
primary means of communication with others. With easy to craft an informative social media campaign, firms could
internet access, a number of different social media platforms, reach their audience organically. Firms' focus right now
and an estimated over 375million social media user in India, should be more on sharing factual information and educat-
it would be well advised to use social media to increase our ing their audience. This is an opportunity for firm's brand
brand visibility through organic means. With each platform to show that it genuinely cares about its customers.
having a different style of content and catering to a differ-
ent type of consumer, creativity will be required in creating The main resort to all these problems is Internet. But the
content specific to the target platform. internet connections must be up to graze, businesses must
make sure their system security is not compromised, and
2. Remote customer services in times of lockdown - an increased effort is a must to manage communication
Obviously certain services that require a face-to-face inter- within workforces not physically working together are only
action at some point will probably require a lot of changes some of the hurdles to overcome. Communication within a
in their methods of operation. Use your social media ac- company is crucial at the best of times, and the world is
counts to help spread information about the change in not in the best of times right now.

PR COMMUNICATION AGE January - June 2020 35