16^th April 2020

How does a brand communicate through a global pandemic? The question many communications and marketing managers are being asked by their teams!

But when few have experienced a pandemic before, it can be a difficult question to answer. The dilemma has manifested in some companies choosing to stay silent, while others believing now is the best time to reach out to their captive audience.

In this webinar, ‘To Do or Not to Do: The Dilemma of Digital Communications Amidst COVID-19’, Calvin Siew, Director of Klareco Communications helps to unpack this question by exploring:

• How COVID-19 has changed your target market’s behaviour
• How you can get your message right to connect with your audience
• The little things that brands have done, that have reaped big rewards
• Is advertising on the cards

During the webinar we conducted a quick poll with attendees. The results revealed that 46% of our webinar attendees still do not have a strategy in place for Covid-19 recovery and that 53% are not proactively communicating externally during this time.

These results highlight the need for proactive communications that will not only keep your brand front of mind for when the upturn comes, but also to offer your audience insight and a sense of normality during these times.

With this in mind, here are Calvin’s key questions from the session that those planning for Covid-19 recovery should be asking:

• What do you want the legacy of your brand to be? When times are good it’s all too easy for brands to communicate about their successes. But it’s the brands that successfully communicate during the bad times and offer their audiences helpful and informative content that will be remembered. Now is the time to build relationships with your audience and leave a legacy that will stand you in good stead for the future.
• How can your brand provide leadership during this time? Audiences are looking to brands for leadership. They want to see how you can be part of the solution. If it’s not possible with financial or operational means, they will acknowledge your leadership if you are able to support in terms of reducing panic and fear through addressing their immediate concerns, through education and correcting misinformation as well as helping to raise awareness of public service announcements.
• How can your brand help your audience escape the reality of the day to day? The most popular content online right now falls into two broad categories – content that helps people resume some normality, albeit from the comfort of their homes, and content that taps into escapism, inspiring people to think to the future and what lies beyond the Covid-19 pandemic.
• What do you have in common with your audience? Now more than ever, we are all united. Although our individual situations differ, we are all going through the same experiences and fearing the same uncertainty. How can you leverage this shared experience to humanise your brand? Afterall, the audience you are communicating with is a person sat at home in front of their laptop too, just like you.

If you would like to discuss the webinar further, or meet with our team, please check out our CommsClinic. It offers you 15 minutes of complimentary communications consultancy with one of our consultants. You can use the time to get answers to your burning communications questions, sound out your COVID-19 strategy, road test a creative idea, or even just find out more about the Klareco team.