Public relations has been adjusted to a new normal and will continue to be affected by COVID-19. In times of crisis, companies need to be responsible for their messaging or risk and not damaging their brand. At COCO Public Relations, we help our clients navigate the current media landscape. This helps our clients to support their brands while remaining socially responsible
A Shift in Public Relations
PR professionals are accustomed to dealing with short-term crises. A long-term crisis that faces the entire world is a completely different thing. With the dialogue having shifted worldwide to a singular topic, brands face the need to adjust their messaging accordingly. COCO Public Relations helped our clients to restrategize the public relations approach during Covid-19. This is to ensure that their new marketing model is communicated to the press.
It’s extraordinarily rare for the entire world to go through a crisis that affects us all equally. Many brands started to take a new public relations and marketing approach that quickly gained popularity with the public.
What Can Public Relations Agency Do?
The question to ask yourself is: What do consumers need right now that my brand can provide? Safety is a basic essential need for humans, and right now the need for comfort is greater than ever. Consumers want, and even expect, their favorite brands to swoop in and make them feel better.
With people being encouraged to stay home, companies are being forced to get creative in order to stay afloat. Here’s what our team at COCO Public Relations Agency has learnt so far:
1- The world is in crisis management mode. It’s important to stay up-to-date on what’s going on around the world and how different governments are reacting.
2- Brands face the need to refine their values and ensure that they fit with the current climate.
3- Staying silent will render your brand irrelevant. And have consistent conversations with your public relations professionals on how to create appropriate messaging to your audience.
4- Now is the time to focus on building strong relationships with influencers and key opinion leaders. They can provide attention back to your brand when life goes back to the norm.
The Role of Public Relations in the New Normal
As companies all over the world shifted to working remotely and the conversation shifted to being predominantly about COVID-19, Public Relations professionals had a huge responsibility right away to help their organizations transition into this new normal. This included adjusting company values, creating new communication strategies and processes, and figuring out how to provide employees with a sense of togetherness during a time when they aren’t going into the office.
It’s important to understand your consumers and identify whether or not your current messaging still fits in a COVID-19 world. Brands have a responsibility now more than ever to humanize themselves and help bring more positivity into the world. How does the current state of the world relate to your brand and to your audience? Are you adapting your messaging to show authenticity or simply ignoring that times have changed?
For industries whose main sources of income have been all but halted due to COVID-19, it can be difficult to know how to stay relevant with consumers. User-generated content, which literally means content created by the consumers, is an incredibly powerful tool right now for staying relevant. With social media booming more than ever from so many people craving human connection while stuck at home, user-generated content has been exploding in popularity among brands. People are constantly looking for relatable, engaging, and inspiring content to feel connected to. At COCO Public Relations, we believe in utilizing market trends along with thoughtful planning and creativity to help your brand thrive even amidst this new normal.
Here are some tips on what you should be doing right now:
Be a leader in the community
Your company may already be an outstanding corporate citizen, but during these trying times it’s important to do even more. Put extra effort into forming strong relationships with your community, whether it’s through financial support or volunteer work.
Reminisce on past experiences
This is where user-generated content comes into play in a major way. It’s no secret that people are feeling more nostalgic than ever. Trips and events have been cancelled all year and have them reflecting on the fun times they’ve had in the past. If people are already thinking and posting about past experiences, why not encourage them to talk about a past experience with your brand?
A good example on this kind of campaign is when Hamilton Island ran a social media campaign asking past visitors to use the hashtag #HIRememberWhen and share their memories of the island on their social media accounts. The campaign ended up garnering over 6.7 million impressions and resulting in 4x more than their usual web traffic.
Create virtual experiences
While travel restrictions are still in place and people are being encouraged to stay at home, many companies are opting to bring their customers options for virtual experiences instead.
Zoos are live-streaming their exhibits, gyms are offering virtual training classes, and cooking schools are offering virtual cooking classes. Take what your brand has to offer and adapt it to the virtual world so that you can continue to provide for your customers. When Covid-19 hit our shores, we as a public relations had to take immediate steps to re-look and strategise for our clients. One of our client, B.P. De.Silva, the home-grown luxury jeweller’s virtual concierge service was launched during the circuit breaker in Singapore. When Covid-19 happened, it became exceptionally clear that the best way the brand can be connected with their clients was through the web.
At some point, we will be on the other side of COVID-19. When that day comes, people will be more concerned about both their physical and financial safety than ever. It’s important to ensure that your brand takes these concerns into account and does everything in its power to build trust with consumers and make them feel safe. Utilizing the expertise of public relations professionals at is integral in moving forward after COVID-19 and making sure your brand thrives above the rest. And we at COCO Public Relations can help communicate your brand to your consumers in this new norm and beyond.
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