COVID-19: Is it the End or the Beginning of the New?

Authored by Yuvraj Mehta - Head Corporate Brand Management & Communications, Larsen & Toubro.

American president – John F. Kennedy - observed that the word ‘crisis’ in Chinese, is composed of two characters - one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

The question before all of us today is – which part of the word do we react to? Do we live in fear of the COVID-19 crisis or do we seize the moment.  I believe the biggest opportunity this crisis has given to companies and businesses, is the chance to burnish our brand’s reputation. The key to doing this lies in effective, humane communication.

Global lockdowns have completely disrupted our society and affected trade & commerce around the world. Individuals, governments, companies, corporate houses all are fighting this pandemic and working out ways to survive. For communicators also, it’s a challenging time and they need to quickly adapt to this new reality.

As a professional communicator, with extensive experience in handling communications in both good and bad times, I believe this is the time to communicate. Silence and ignoring media calls are the worst strategies during crisis. We should understand that these are difficult times for your employees, vendors, clients, bankers, etc., also and communicating effectively to them becomes significantly more challenging, and doubly more important. The big question now before any communicator is ‘How to Build Trust’?  Some of the steps, which I learnt through handling multiple crisis in my career are listed below, and if used properly will help brands build their narrative and trust.

Before ‘How to build trust’, the questions I asked myself was - whom do my audience and customers trust? In a situation like this, do they believe big celebrities, influencers and other influential external people or do they trust my brand?

Corporates have more of a responsibility to communicate accurate information

In any crisis, people want to listen to the brand first. For them, brands are the trusted source of information. As per a study by data and consulting company – Kantar, ‘Brands are expected to be a trusted source of accurate information. They should keep their clients and customers informed about their efforts to face the situation.’

Companies and big brands have a certain amount of trust vested among the consumers. When a consumer trusts a brand, they are more likely to trust what the brand is communicating as well. And so, they would be failing in their duty as responsible corporate citizens if they didn't put out information that is in the public interest. This could be giving government announcements greater traction by putting them out over your proprietary communication channels or it could even be advertising. ‘Advertising’ in a time of crisis can have a negative connotation attached to it. But you can advertise your brand and still convey a public interest message.

To control the narrative, brand should communicate frequently and transparently. Otherwise your energy will be wasted in battling speculation rather than taking the control of the narrative. But how do you earn that trust? Quite simply, it’s a combination of when, how and who you communicate.

Communicate Frequently and Humanely:

Never fall into the trap of staying silent, avoiding media calls and turning off your social media listening tools during crisis. The longer you stay silent, the less you communicate, the less transparent your communication, the more room there is for rumor and speculation. People with vested interest, competitors and trollers will fill that space with their opinions and wrong information. Ultimately that will tell on your main stream media and influencers. All these will not only create confusion and anxiety among stakeholders but will immensely damage your brand.

As Winston Churchill said “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” In today’s social media-enabled world, speed of response is critical.

Today, your employees, vendors, customers and your entire stakeholder universe are flooded with information related to the negative impact of covid19 on your business. They are anxious, worried and looking for reassurance and some semblance of certainty. In the absence of clear-cut communication, it’s only natural that they will latch on to speculation or rumor.

Adapt to the Changing Narratives:

In times like this, communications should be simple, frequent and humane. The impact of a pandemic like COVID-19 is constantly changing, and hence your brand messaging should adapt accordingly. Otherwise, in such a fast-evolving situation and with so many uncertainties, your earlier messages will not serve its purpose in the new dynamics.

Your communication should constantly evolve and stay relevant. At the start of the pandemic, many brands focused on health and safety with messages urging repeated hand washing, avoiding touching the face, and home staying safe.

Now, with the lockdown gradually getting lifted, the thrust of communication has shifted on how to carry on in the new normal, hailing the corona warriors, social distancing at work place, etc. During lockdown 1.0, our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s message was "Jaan hai to jahaan hai' which has now changed to 'jaan bhi jahaan bhi."

At L&T, we also adapted to the changing dynamics. Initially, the messages were on health and hygiene. We propagated the new code of etiquette – safe sneezing, frequent hand washing and avoiding touching the face and staying clear of self-medication.   Now with offices and sites at certain areas opening up as per government guidelines, the communication has shifted to social distancing at work place, what to do when inside factory/ building, how to use transportation, wearing masks etc.

At the initial phase of pandemic, Nike encouraged people to stay home with the message, “If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world, now is your chance. Play inside, play for the world.” Uber’s ‘Thank You for not riding’ and Parle G – girl picture disappearing from the biscuit – all requested people to stay indoors.

But now brands are encouraging us to – follow the home quarantine rules, donate generously, spend time with family and get ready to adapt new normal. Goodnight ‘Stay Home, Stay Protected’ talked about staying indoor and spending moments with their families and Honda urging consumers to #StayHome ‘Until We Drive Again’.

They are showing gratitude to our Corona warriors – Doctors, security guards, police, sanitation workers, journalists etc. Dove thanked these frontline workers and said their ‘courage is beautiful’. Mankind Pharma paid tribute to the medical fraternity, Mahindra and Mahindra acknowledged the ‘warriors on wheels’ and said ‘ye desh abhi ruka nahi hai’ and Reliance Jio showed tribute to the resilient spirit of India and said ‘Jeeta Rahe Mera India’.

Connect with your Internal stakeholders

The first target for communications should be the company’s employees. Reassuring them is a company’s primary responsibility. You must establish your brand as the first line of information for them. Whatever news or information has to be delivered must come directly from the management.

Top Management should directly engage with a company’s employees, through webinars, virtual town halls or pre-recorded video messages. But this communication will only be effective if it is honest, transparent and clear, even if the news you are delivering is bad. Several CEOs around the world are using video messages to address concerns, rally their staff and keep them motivated.

L&T’s Chairman, its CEO & MD and other directors have held a series of webinars and responded to various concern of employees.  They also connected with employees through newsletters and other media. Emails to the staff built rapport by talking about non-official but interesting subjects such as books to read, music to listen to and sports to play as they stayed at home during the lockdown.

Companies should also reassure their vendors and clients whose business are dependent on them. These can be done through one-on-one communication, media stories and select group virtual meetings.

Align & Promote Government Efforts:

In times of unprecedented crises such as now, it’s all the more important that the public and private sectors pull together. Even the best government policy cannot effect change without resources. But a combination of government policy and private sector resources can turn the tide in any crisis. Italy, for example, one of the worst hit countries by COVID-19 was running out of ventilators because of the flood of COVID-19 positive patients. Then Ferrari stepped in. Together with the Italian Institute of Technology and the Camozzi Group, the luxury car maker conceived, designed and built a high-tech ventilator in just five weeks. This is a great example of a company which has the tools, factory, expertise and engineering know-how deciding to devote all of its resources to finding a solution at a time of crisis.

Closer home, L&T has realigned and rolled out smart technology solutions in 20 plus cities to support local administration in monitoring crowds, tracking patients, communicating with the public - and even maintaining law and order. The company is also converting various hospitals into COVID-19 special wards across various states of India.

Brands should donate generously and support the government in fighting the pandemic. Many corporate have come forward to support the government. Tata Trusts and Tata group together pledged Rs 1,500 crore, L&T donated Rs. 150 crores to the PM care fund, provided medical equipment worth Rs 40 crore, and set aside Rs. 500 crore to take care of contract workers at site;  and Coca cola committed Rs 100 crores in India.

Brand should also echo and amplify messages from the government and health organizations about coronavirus etiquette.  Amul messages ‘Better Saaf than sorry’ encouraged people to wash their hands and ‘Salaamul Namaste’ to greet others using the no-contact namaste method. Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google are among the leading tech digital platforms that partnered with the Ad council and US government agencies to extend the reach and impact of Covid19 response messaging. Companies like Audi, Coke, McDonald, modified their logos to promote social distancing messages. Fevicol amplified social distancing message with ‘Kal ke majboot zodr ke liye, aaj thori doori maintain karona’.

By rallying your customers, vendors and employees around a larger and topical cause, you position your brand as sensitive to the realities of life, and thereby make it more humane, relatable and trustworthy. This is as good a time as any to demonstrate that your brand has a robustly positive long term outlook, that its concerns rise above the purely transactional and, most importantly, that it has its heart in the right place.