Those who redefine their communications strategy will emerge stronger from the Corona crisis

On my social media channels, posts from colleagues in the PR consulting industry pop up in the news streams. They promise good communication in times of crisis. Fair enough, the corona virus will also put even more pressure on the PR consulting scene. Self-advertising may increase attention, but hardly our credibility.

Photo: Courtesy of University of Basel, The Center for Molecular Life Sciences

As far as communication is concerned, it seems that crisis management is running excellently via the channels and instruments of standard communication. Proof of this thesis is the fact that media reproduce diligently the topics which politicians and an uncounted number of experts present to us every day — sometimes even unreflected.

But it is also a fact: Criticism of the anti-pandemic strategy of Western governments will become even more fierce. This will grow to a formidable challenge for the responsible politicians. Some of them will fail, a few are likely to emerge strengthened.

The laws of communication are not being rewritten with the Corona crisis. But the circumstances are changing dramatically.

The following macro themes will have a significant impact on the PR industry:

1. The global economy is sliding into a massive crisis. We with it. Waves of layoffs, disruptions, the death of major players in all sectors of the economy, difficult personal fates will be part of the daily news for weeks, months, if not the next two years, despite of government intervention.
2. Social change is accelerating. The debate about the role of the state vis-à-vis the individual freedom of its citizens will intensify. Western societies will also have to debate what price we pay for protecting individual groups at the expense of society as a whole. This puts additional pressure on the inter-generation contract.
3. Digitization is taking off. I am convinced that in a few years’ time, we will look back on the Corona crisis as the historic event that gave the Western world the digitalization boost it needed to develop answers to the pre-dominance of Asia. In certain areas, we will succeed in finding a common path. In others, the competition between countries, technologies and providers will only become fiercer.

So what does this mean for the world of communications? There are certainly no simple recipes for dealing with changing conditions. However, the following developments are clearly emerging:

The death of media is accelerating. The media landscape is being plowed up. Whereas publishing houses were still more or less able to keep their heads above the waterline before the Corona crisis, many of them will go down in the near future. The consequences will be layoffs. Even more media outlets will disappear. For the PR industry, this means having even less editorial contacts in the future. Therefore, traditional media will continue to lose importance as an echo chamber for our clients’ messages.

In-house communication channels are becoming crucial. As the media landscape thins out, social media channels such as LinkedIn for business topics and Instagram for branding, marketing and advertising can fill the vacuum, at least temporarily. In the wake of accelerated digitization, we will see new channels such as Medium or Pocket, which will allow us to disseminate own content and thought leadership. It remains indispensable that own content can be distributed on own channels.

Sponsored content is a must. In the past, if a PR consultant provided his client with advertorials in print publications or paid for content on online platforms in order to increase coverage, he was probably at the limits. Today, media products are successful and have correspondingly interesting user groups because they are able to balance between free and paid content. In many cases, we should and have to rely on media channels for our clients’ messages. This cannot be done natively, i.e. without payment.

In principle, too, special attention must be paid to social change in the planning and design of companies’ internal communications, especially after the pandemic has been overcome. Uncertainty will remain high. Setting the right tone of communication with local and international stakeholders at different stages of return from the pandemic is likely to be particularly difficult.

Accelerated digitization and the ability to reach target groups by using owned-channels offers an enormous range of opportunities.

Accelerated digitization and the ability to reach target groups by using owned-channels offers an enormous range of opportunities. Media professionals will have to focus on the main topics and the media mainstream. The vacuum produced by shrinking editorial teams is not something I consider insignificant from a political perspective — given the fact that Western political systems need media in its supervisory role. But companies will increasingly have to communicate under the radar of daily reporting. The media’s power of definition will be limited to fewer cases with greater impact on society and the national economy.

We will continue to communicate in crisis mode, at least to some extent. Those who use their resources accordingly will survive. Those who already think about the exit from the crisis and who develop adapted strategies, will make their brands and companies more valuable.