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Is it a bird; is it a plane?
In an opinion piece for Gorkana, Andy Berry discusses how PRs can best help their clients in the current market turmoil.
When the early settlers arrived in Australia in the 17th century they encountered a strange black bird that they could not identify. That it was a swan should perhaps have been obvious but the view at the time was that all swans were white.
This description of the previously unimagined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his book The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable has become the metaphor of choice for something that ‘could not’ exist.
In the same way, the events in financial markets in recent months are being viewed as black swan events.
The reality is rather different. Events comparable to those seen recently in global financial markets have indeed been seen before; it is just that these events occurred before anyone currently working in or reporting on those markets had been born. The world was a different place; in 1929, when the financial system last faced a crisis of current proportions, Herbert Hoover was president of the US, Ramsay MacDonald was Prime Minister and Sheffield Wednesday were on their way to winning the old First Division Championship. Markets were certainly different, as was the technology that supported them and the newspapers that reported on them.
So much of what we as communications professionals do is informed by the experience that we have gathered over our years either in PR or in the ‘real jobs’ that we had before moving over to the dark side. How then can we best add value to our clients and help them in their hour of need when the crisis they and we are dealing with is new to us?
To answer this it is worth identifying what our clients value most from us. Clearly, they value our communications skills and the relationships that we have with journalists, as well as the ability to bring a different perspective and disinterested view. Increasingly, however, they also value our knowledge of their business and the industry in which they operate. It is not enough to know the names (and even have good relationships with) the key national and trade journalists in, say, the credit markets. Rather it is about having a deep and rich knowledge of the industry, what drives it, what has caused the problems it faces and how your client’s business is affected by those problems. If you don’t know your CDOs from your CDSs you are unlikely to be able to help your client. Make sure, though, that you communicate in a language that the wider world will understand – the best communications are about making the complicated simple.
What, then, can you do to help your client at the moment? First, establish a communications plan. Sun Tzu, the Chinese military strategist, said: “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy." Life, though, will be far less difficult if you have a plan. If the crisis affects your client directly, find out what has gone wrong and why. What is the client doing to address the situation? Who needs to know what and when – and how do you plan to reach those audiences? Much of this might sound obvious. However, in times of crisis it is all too easy to panic – not helpful at a time when what your client needs most of all is calm, considered advice.
Ask questions at every turn; it is far better that your client prepares for difficult questions with you than feeling exposed when confronted by the media. Prepare your case. Remember, too, that you will (hopefully) have spent time building relationships with the media and wider stakeholders. Now is the time that you will need to make the most of those relationships. Don’t expect favours, but if you have invested in those relationships your client stands a better chance of a fair hearing.
What if your client is not currently in the media spotlight? Make sure that your client understands the media context. Given the current febrile media environment, announcing even the most mundane corporate news creates the risk of being caught up in the maelstrom. It is important that all stakeholders, including the media, are aware of the state of your client’s business. But, at the risk of committing heresy, consider whether proactively seeking media coverage is the right thing for your client in the present environment. This is not to suggest that you seek to hide, merely that your client might be better served by less, not more, media coverage. Equally, be prepared to let the little things slide; don’t seek to correct any and every minor misunderstanding in the media. The risk of provoking a disproportionate response is perhaps greater than ever.
The role of the City of London and the very existence of businesses built over decades are being called into question. That most valuable of commodities – trust – is in short supply. Nobody knows what will happen next or when the current crisis will end. What is clear, though, is that trust must be rebuilt, and that communications will be a key contributor to success in doing so - or in large part responsible for failure.
Whenever life returns to what we then come to accept as normal, companies that have communicated well with all of their stakeholders will come out with reputations and brands enhanced, not damaged.
These may not be black swan events but perhaps they do herald a new world.