How to get sensitive communications right during large-scale crises.
“We’re in the same storm – but not the same boat.”
“Unprecedented times” could be the defining refrain of COVID-19. It moved fast - the breaking news of a deadly epidemic, contained to one population, was shortly upgraded to a global pandemic. The ‘P’ in pandemic could stand for ‘passport.’ A pandemic is an epidemic that travels.
The storm that is COVID-19 is undoubtedly a category five – classed as causing “catastrophic damage.”
In order to communicate sensitively and effectively during crisis, uncertainty and fear, we first need to recognise that not all people, all businesses, all countries are impacted in the same way.
An anonymous saying shared worldwide puts it simply: “We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be.”
This applies to people, communities, businesses, and entire countries.
Personally, you may not be hugely affected. Maybe you live in a place that acted fast and as a result has a comparably low number of cases and deaths. Maybe you’re lucky enough that the tens of thousands of lives lost elsewhere are mostly felt as horrific statistics; somebody else’s misery. Maybe you don’t fall into the “vulnerable” category, so your movements have been slightly less restricted and you haven’t felt particularly unsafe.
Maybe you still have a job, and maybe you’re a business owner working out how to bounce back in an international economic collapse that exceeds the wreckage of the 2009 Global Financial Crisis.
“I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it's not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be.”
Your boat could be well-equipped and stable. Or, it could sink.
In the early days of the outbreak, and throughout the following weeks of New Zealand’s lockdown, the way businesses communicated with the public was one indicator of who could weather the impact, and who would flounder in the shallows.
The importance of understanding public relations and clear and meaningful communications had never been more clear.
At its core, PR is about how the public perceives you. It’s about creating goodwill and trust.
PR can mean the difference between the collapse of a business – and its ability to revive and thrive.
If your organisation isn’t perceived as acting appropriately and sensitively, even the smartest marketing won’t keep you afloat.
What flag is your boat flying?
It is important to know your customer base well. To some extent, communications and marketing is subjective. What appeals to some consumers will not appeal to others, or could cause offence that loses you their business.
For example, are your customers financially and/or emotionally impacted by the current events? What do they want to know or hear from you right now? Will they feel reassured by your communications and marketing continuing as usual, or will they react negatively if you don’t adapt?
At the most basic level, good communications will leave your customers feeling prioritised and informed, remaining loyal to you.
Tone, word choice and image use are crucial. Emails, social media posts and other forms of digital marketing need to be clear, concise, and sensitive. Direct email is better received if it appears to come from an ‘actual human,’ as opposed to a faceless organisation. It can be personable without being casual. It makes it clear that the safety of customers and delivering what they need is your priority.
At the most basic level, good communications will leave customers feeling prioritised and informed, remaining loyal to you. Inversely, poor communication can cause them to feel unimportant, angry or offended, and can create the impression that the business is insensitive and avaricious.
Example: Tinder vs Bumble
During the pandemic, two dating sites took a very different approach in communicating with their customers.
Bumble’s email made it clear safety was paramount, and gave options to support this. It was signed off by a real person – the CEO. It’s obvious this is a different sort of newsletter to normal.
Tinder adapted its standard newsletter, but by taking a more removed, light-hearted approach it didn’t take into account the gravitas of the pandemic. To some, the information might have been helpful. But to others, it’s highly insensitive.
Some examples of businesses getting it right (in our view):
And some examples of missteps:
Using recognised Government branding: This would have only just skated in on the side of relevant and defensible – but using the official COVID-19 branding to advertise your products is a quick way to alienate customers.
Leveraging a crisis for sales: At a time when hand sanitiser was at a national shortage and can literally save lives, a promotional company suggesting businesses use branded sanitiser to reach customers, is regarded by many as insensitive. There are times when businesses can leverage a situation to make money, but this tactic is marginal when it is a national crisis. Price gouging also fits into this category.
Not adjusting communications to suit: In a crisis, all automatic marketing emails should be either:
Turned off until the situation has changed
Adapted to the situation, and
Not sent multiple times a day.
These emails below are irrelevant when people can’t shop. It is also irritating to fill your customers’ inboxes like this at the best of times, but a large number of emails and these subject lines during lockdown was incredibly poor communication, and may have cost them customers, and most certainly lost them subscribers.
The below was, presumably, intended to provide parents with something fun to do during lockdown.
It missed the mark by a million miles.
It’s beyond insensitive when the death toll for the pandemic was rising by thousands each day around the world.
It is offensive, and many subscribers complained. The company offered an explanation, but did not change the competition, which inferred that people would be wanting “a job to do” and that this job should be to capture “amusing” “fails” like your child crying.
Keeping afloat
When communicating with customers or the public at large during a crisis like COVID-19, think about what boat they might be in.
Do:
Be sensitive
Be customer-focused – let them know you’re considering their needs first.
Be clear and concise
Be consistent – keep communicating when relevant change occurs
Ask for help if you are unsure
Don’t :
Continue with ‘business as usual’
Ignore the impact the situation may have had on your customers
Forget that your boat will be different to many others’
Remember, your public relations approach now can mean the difference between weathering the storm – or shipwreck. PR is about how the public perceives you. It’s about trust and confidence, which will be vital to your ability revive and thrive.