The importance of PR to protect and enhance reputations in a crisis

By Tim Jotischky, Director of Reputation at The PHA Group

The pandemic has led to a predicted 11.2% annual decline in UK GDP, according to the OECD, with almost every sector affected by coronavirus. Arcadia, a darling of the high street less than a generation ago, and Debenhams, which traces its history back narly 250 years, have become the latest big names to face oblivion.

Covid has accelerated the demise of weaker brands and reputations have been trashed. But even businesses which seemed healthy a few months ago are fighting for survival.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The imminent worldwide roll-out of vaccines is forecast to trigger a period of economic growth of 4.2% and 4.1% in the UK alone over the next two years. And this is a pattern repeated worldwide, with stock markets rebounding with the news of regulatory approval for the vaccines.

So, now the question for businesses is how to manage their reputation through the remnant of the crisis and emerge stronger from the pandemic?

Corporate reputation and strategic consultancy

According to a global survey by the International Communications Consultancy, the two biggest growth areas in public relations are corporate reputation and strategic consultancy, ahead of social media and community management and marketing communications. The pandemic has made many businesses re-assess their priorities and that is unlikely to be a short-term trend.

One in three senior executives at leading global companies consider reputation is essential to planning business strategies, according to a survey of 600 C-Suite executives across 12 countries whose businesses each have more than 1,000 employees. The results show how the pandemic has brought corporate reputation into focus.

Take Tim Martin for example. At the start of lockdown in the UK, the millionaire founder of Wetherspoon pubs suggested his 40,000 staff should consider working at Tesco and indicated the company would not continue to pay employees. Or Sports Direct, which claimed trainers were an essential retail item and forced staff to continue working. Those decisions can have economically damaging consequences; consumers are increasingly sensitive to issues of corporate social responsibility and may react with their wallets.

Having the right strategic counsel in place is the best way of preventing your corporate reputation from being damaged and sometimes that requires a pro-active approach. However, when mistakes are made it is vital to be prepared with the right structures and processes in place.

Crisis preparation

Training the senior leadership team for a PR crisis and the subsequent media attention is a vital step. This includes ensuring key spokespeople are media trained in communicating key messages and managing difficult press interview situations – if you want an example of what can go wrong when you have not prepared properly for a media interview, look no further than the Duke of York’s defenestration at the hands of Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis. His reputation never recovered.

However, media training is only one component. Every organization, however small, should have a crisis manual. It helps to identify risks to the business and to build a plan for crisis management for staff and stakeholders to refer to. What do you do when an unfortunate remark by the chairman develops into a full-blown media storm – or, in the case of the FA’s Greg Clarke, necessitates his resignation within hours of an appearance in front of MPs? Having a process and structure in place is crucial.

And understanding both the opportunities and risks of your online presence can also play a part in managing a crisis. Social media and company websites can be a powerful tool to communicate a message and reach a huge audience, but they can also add fuel to the fire if accounts are mishandled or staff are not properly trained. A plan and a process, with clearly understood guidelines, can mitigate against that risk.

Taking the front foot

Alternatively, reputation can be managed with a positive, pro-active approach. In today’s world, staying silent can be fatal for businesses, particularly in such a competitive landscape and with a greater expectation of a transparent corporate culture.

Since the start of the pandemic, many brands have scaled back their marketing budgets. 62% of marketers changed their strategy due to COVID-19, including Coca-Cola, for example, which paused all Q2 marketing in the UK having previously spent $5.8bn on advertising two years earlier.

Tempting as it may be to curb marketing or communications spend and keep a lower profile in times of crisis, doing so may do more damage than good. In a 2009 study, the Journal of Advertising analysed Procter & Gamble’s response to the Great Depression. In contrast to its competitors, the brand increased investments in marketing and reaped the rewards. Today it is a brand worth $230bn.

Brands that get on the front foot in times of crisis have been shown to benefit from maintaining and increasing brand equity and share of voice. And that has been particularly important this year, with media consumption at its highest among consumers increasingly isolated in lockdown or other restrictions. A Censuswide poll shows that almost half (48%) of us are reading media publications more than usual and radio listenership has also risen by 22%. Consumers are seeking familiar brands and trusted sources for reassurance in strange times and there are opportunities for businesses to capitalise. Being seen as a good corporate citizen is a way of communicating your brand values even when you cannot serve your customers; for example, the burger chain Leon was widely praised for a campaign to feed NHS staff at the height of the pandemic.

In many ways, consumers have never been less forgiving in the judgements they make; they see through brands whom they deem to be inauthentic. The pandemic has reinforced the importance of corporate reputation – and those who get it right will emerge from it all the stronger.