Crisis aversion and crisis management have taken on a new urgency in the world of brand management. The companies that navigate these challenges proactively and responsibly are more likely to survive, if not thrive, as these events unfold.

While some short-sighted companies are trying to capitalize on crises, others are wisely positioning themselves as responsible citizens and public assets. They are positioning themselves as leaders, the voice of reason and reliable problem solvers. They are building relationships, while leading stakeholders to higher ground. They do the right things at the right times without concern for the bottom line. Investor relations must be handled simultaneously with public safety concerns.

In a crisis, everything that your organization does will impact its brand.

Everything that spokespeople say and don’t say matters. Even nonprofit organizations must strike the proper balance in substance and tone. Branding and positioning are part of crisis communications. Be part of the solution.

What factors make consumers trust brands during a crisis?

1. Wellbeing of customers;
2. Wellbeing of employees; and
3. Not taking advantage of the crisis to maximize profits.

During a crisis, consumers don’t want messages of hope, optimism, nostalgia or even statements about strong moral principles. Consumers want brands to demonstrate leadership and action by taking care of customers and employees. Ultimately, leaders are winners in the hearts and minds of stakeholders and stockholders.

Employees Are A Priority During Crisis Communications

Data shows that during uncertainty, workers want their employers to be their trusted leader. Fifty-four percent of consumers are concerned with how employers are treating their employees during a crisis. Better treatment fuels brand trust from consumers, as 48 percent trust brands more when they take care of their employees. Likewise, employees are important resources who can help spread important messages and they can help prevent misinformation.

Learn About The Six Steps Of Crisis Communications

Gary Chandler is the CEO of Crossbow Communications — an award-winning public affairs and government affairs firm. We specialize in public health and environmental issues. We serve the world.

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The coronavirus has billions of people and millions of businesses fighting for survival. Of course, our first concern is for our nation, communities and families. But we must account for the fact that few brands will be untouched. Nonprofit organizations also must think about branding and positioning as part of the equation. In our race to reopen the world, businesses must avoid negligence and failure to safeguard public health.

To turn this issue into an opportunity, brand management must project a tone of crisis communications to build relationships and to demonstrate reliability. We must be responsible, responsive, relevant, trustworthy and extremely proactive because actions speak much louder than words. The pandemic response may forever tarnish the brand of China and elected leaders around the world who failed by prescribing misinformation and mismanagement to the masses. The events will also forever tarnish corporate brands that fail to do the right thing for consumers, employees and other stakeholders.

Many governments and corporations will face a gauntlet of lawsuits for negligence. The fallout is far from over, which means that there is still an opportunity to emerge from the pandemic as a leader and the voice of reason.

Building loyalty in a time of crisis can make or break a brand. Organizations are turning on a dime to improvise and make difficult decisions that will ultimately have lasting effects on their brands. When asked what factors make consumers trust brands more, the top three responses focused on the wellbeing of customers, the well-being of employees, and not taking advantage of the crisis to maximize profits. What consumers don’t want are messages of hope, optimism, nostalgia or even statements about strong moral principles. Consumers want brands to demonstrate leadership and action by taking care of customers and employees. Brands that fail to take these actions put their reputations and trustworthiness at risk.

Organizations showing up for their employees is one of the top reasons consumers trust any given brand. Data shows that during uncertainty, workers are looking to employers and managers to lead even more than they are looking to governments and other organizations. Consumers are watching. Fifty-four percent of them say they are concerned with how employers are treating their employees in this time of crisis. Better treatment fuels brand trust, with 48 percent indicating they trust brands more when they take care of their employees.

Clear and frequent communications from the company will increase brand loyalty among employees. But not all companies are doing it. Only about half of employees say they are satisfied with their employers’ COVID-19 actions, and less than 60 percent believe their employers are communicating well during this crisis. Among those who are satisfied with their employers’ COVID-19 actions, 90 percent believe their employers are communicating well, resulting in significantly higher levels of trust. But too many employers are letting their employees down. Employers who are communicating poorly during this crisis are experiencing significant distrust with 63 percent indicating they trust their employer less.

As consumers adjust to the new world and start engaging in more comfort-seeking behaviors, 65 percent of consumers indicated that during this crisis a brands’ actions have a significant or major impact on their trust in that brand. A study from Morning Consult shows that consumer attitudes about brands have evolved during the coronavirus crisis. Fewer than half of Americans (41 percent) trust large corporations to guide them through these anxiety-inducing times.

The 34-page report examines how brands can still drive situation-sensitive and purpose-led growth during this pandemic. Research for “Weathering the Storm: Brand Management in the COVID-19 Era” was conducted among 2,200 adult Americans on March 28-29. The findings highlight the urgency of brands to employ practices that serve consumer needs and do not sacrifice quality, while also delicately approaching the situation with humanity. According to Victoria Sakal at Morning Consult, key actions now can define how organizations emerge under the new normal.

“The goal is not to just hang on and weather the storm with your existing customers, but to look to the future,” said Victoria Sakal, managing director of brand intelligence at Morning Consult.

In order for large companies to fortify consumer affinity and loyalty, Morning Consult’s research suggests that they should put their purposes and values into practice. A majority of those surveyed (over 75 percent) answered that they think it is either very or somewhat important that brands take care of their employees and treat them well, have products available when they need them, care about society, contribute to society, stand for something beyond just profit and show sensitivity and empathy. 

Moreover, Americans’ top five considerations when deciding whether to buy from a company right now are largely rooted in the basic, fundamental needs of consumers: product availability, safety and cleanliness, financial accessibility and compliant solutions. Boomers were most likely to buy from companies that stand for something beyond making a profit and for companies that are providing flexibility (87 percent).

“To that end, what this research shows is that older generations are definitely more appreciative of the efforts that companies can make,” Sakal explained.

Amid this unprecedented environment this much is clear: what companies communicate to consumers, through both their actions and their advertising, will have lasting effects. Participants of the Morning Consult special coronavirus report noted that messaging should be centered around informing and improving the situation, helping stakeholders rather than selling to them, all while remaining practical and sensitive. 

The consumers surveyed indicated an interest in not only how brands are taking care of and providing for them, but also how they are managing and protecting their employees by complying with safety and health measures. Consumers also want to be provided with useful updates on business operations and the availability of products and services, which can have real implications on their day-to-day lives.

Gary Chandler is the CEO of Crossbow Communications — an award-winning public affairs and government affairs firm. We specialize in public health and environmental issues. We serve the world.

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Earned media is the Holy Grail in the marketing world. It’s credible and influential. It can fuel your social media campaign, which can go viral in the digital world. In reality, earned media is a double-edged sword that some compare to surfing a tsunami—it can make you or break you.

Earned media (content), is material produced about you or your business by an unpaid third party, including mainstream news and main street bloggers. With strategic planning and opportunism, organizations can position themselves for positive media coverage. A seasoned public relations firm can help streamline the process for maximum impact.

Understand the differences between earned, shared, paid, and owned media.

With owned and paid media, you are in control of the content. With the others, you are counting on influence and performance.

Paid Media: As Forrester puts it, this is paid content as in an advertisement or sponsorship. Common examples of paid media include commercials, print ads, online ads, sponsored blog posts, and sponsored social media posts. Paid media is typically the least trusted form of marketing. For example, Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising found that half of respondents or fewer trusted ads they saw online, whether on videos, in search engine results or on social media. With paid media, you buy access in the form of social ads, PPC programs, etc. to promote your content and brand.

Owned Media: Owned media is anything that your company owns and controls. Owned media includes your brand’s website, blog, social media profiles, catalogs, brochures and videos. Usually, paid and earned media are used to push traffic to your owned media. But, with the popularity of blogs, SEO, and content creation, it’s a lot easier to draw traffic organically.

You can spend a lot of time on your owned media – the content and distribution channels that you control such as your websites, white papers, newsletters, and social media campaigns. For example, if you want to share your insights on the latest trend in your industry, you write a blog post, publish it on your website, and let your followers know through your social media accounts.

Earned Media: Forrester defines earned media as “when customers become the channel.” Your brand earns media when people start talking about you (usually in a good way). According to Nielsen, earned media is the most trusted form of advertising.

The term earned media describes news content featuring or sourcing your brand, products, or services.

Earned media coverage comes from media relations when a media or news outlet includes your company, product, service, expert, opinion, or ideas in a news story (online, print, radio, TV, podcast, etc.). It’s when a newspaper or industry trade publication (blog, magazine, or website) features your brand or quotes your expert. It’s appearing on a TV morning show or the evening news. It’s what most people think of when they think of public relations. Some might call it “publicity.” It’s the most influential form of communications today. It’s a branding bonanza because it also positions the company as a leader and the voice of reason.

In the world of media overkill, your audiences need an effective filter or they’ll be overwhelmed. If you gain earned media, you are more likely to cut through your audience’s filters. Plus, earned media offers third-party credibility.

Earned media also enables your brand to reach a wider audience – an audience that may not know about you, but can benefit from your content, products, or services. Earned media may take more work because you are not in control of the process and decision-making, but it should be a major component of your content marketing strategy. Leaders are newsmakers.

Earned media management is a strategy based upon the concept that new campaign methodologies, standardized data and processes, and technology allow communicators and PR professionals to target influencers, distribute messages and measure the business impact those activities have on the behavior of stakeholders. Earned Media Management unlocks the full potential of opportunities by better integrating the creativity and art of the discipline, with technology and data to optimize and measure results.

Gary Chandler is the CEO of Crossbow Communications — an award-winning public affairs and government affairs firm. We specialize in public health and environmental issues. We serve the world.

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Public affairs is another term for stakeholder relations among individuals and groups with common and competing agendas. It’s typically found at the crossroads of public opinion and public policy. Stakeholders often include politicians, civil servants, influencers, customers, communities, clients, shareholders, trade associations, think tanks, business groups, charities, unions, the media and more.

Public affairs practitioners engage stakeholders to educate, motivate and de-escalate.

It’s essentially a specialized form of marketing, where the product is an outcome that usually impacts people, planet and profits. Public affairs professionals help shape the debate with strategy and messaging. Not all lobbyists are registered. Most work happens behind the scenes with research, strategy, writing and coalition-building.

Public affairs work combines government relations, media relations, issue management, stakeholder relations, corporate and social responsibility, and strategic communications advice. Practitioners aim to influence public opinion and public policy by building on common ground with stakeholders. Unfortunately, propaganda and misinformation has long been part of the equation.

Political chaos is the norm and public affairs professionals must anticipate, plan and respond without missing a beat. Strategists are reevaluating the best practices of opportunism and risk management.

While stocks soar, trust in corporate America and elected officials in Washington, D.C., continues to drop. America’s discontent with politics and business is not party-specific. A new survey conducted by the Public Affairs Council, in conjunction with Morning Consult, finds that Clinton and Trump voters have more in common than you might think: neither group trusts Washington politicians nor America’s CEOs.

The online survey polled 2,201 adults on their attitudes and expectations for major companies and elected officials. The surprising findings show bipartisan agreement on sentiment.

● Clinton and Trump voters agree that Washington can’t be trusted. 58 percent of Trump voters, 59 percent of Clinton voters and 63 percent of conservatives say elected officials in Washington have low honesty and ethical standards, despite Republican control of Congress and the White House; and

● Only 47 percent of Americans trust major companies to behave ethically, and only nine percent of Trump voters and eight percent of Clinton voters give CEOs high scores for honesty.

“Businesses are worried about core issues like trade and tax reform, and they’re also jumping into public debates on immigration, racism, LGBT rights and climate change,” said Doug Pinkham, president of the Public Affairs Council. “But with all the political turmoil in Washington, their world feels riskier. Many firms are having a difficult time finding their footing at the intersection of business and modern American politics.”

According to the study, there’s a correlation between the most untrusted industries and perceived underregulation. When compared to other industries, technology companies are considered the most trustworthy and least in need of new regulations. Conversely, pharmaceutical and health insurance firms are considered the least trustworthy and the most under-regulated.

Gary Chandler is the CEO of Crossbow Communications. He is the author of several books about health and environmental issues from around the world. He also is the author of the Language and Travel Guide To Indonesia.

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