Covid19 — what’s your PR saying about you and your business?

Are you showing your true colours now?

Many of us globally are now impacted by the Coronavirus. In the UK, there has not been an event of this magnitude, which has so deeply impacted our daily lives since the Second World War.

Our enemy is invisible to us. It is uncaring of age, status, income, credibility, good, bad, fat, thin, healthy, unhealthy. It has killed many thousands — in the UK on April 10, 980 deaths were reported over the previous 24 hours. The highest so far and it doesn’t account for deaths which have occurred outside of hospitals ie. in care homes. The actual total in one day is probably much higher.

In business, how we behave at this time will really matter eventually to our bottom line. History has shown us that in times where the deep psyche of a country is affected by an event, then the effects of that event will continue for many years to come, even for generations. We will as human beings, business owners and as consumers, make different decisions when this situation eases. We will not be the same again. Business will not be the same again. You are fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

Brands which behave badly at this time will be remembered for their poor behaviour, and those which behave well will benefit eventually. This will also happen at a local level. If you behave well, even if you are under extreme stress yourself, it will not be forgotten. Stop and consider how your reputation will fare and act now to amplify the positive mindfully and stop the negative.

Stories of this virus and its global impact will run and run and run for decades to come. Behaviour will be remembered. This will apply to family relationships, friendships, business and consumer relationships. You will have felt it already.

Here are just a few of the things that I’ve seen as a journalist/PR hybrid which speaks to all that is bad in business:

• The ‘I Don’t Care About My Team’ Factor — lack of caring for staff by laying them off in a manner which is driven by concerns about money and not about human beings eg. airlines telling people to take their holiday or work for free or similar. Also hotels which make staff redundant on the same day and oh, by the way, get out of the accommodation in the hotel today too.
• The Profiteering Factor — those brands or businesses which have suddenly and unexpectedly found their product or service is in high demand and they whack up their prices (this has happened in the UK with a minority of wholesalers).
• The Smug Factor — congratulating yourself publicly because your business is getting financial support from the government (UK relevant) and looking down on those businesses which don’t qualify. Or those which send internal communications telling colleagues to ‘make hay while the sun shines’. Taking to social media to preach about why you have the moral high ground or how well it’s all going for you. If you can’t embrace the ‘we’re in it together’ message, best to say nothing at all.
• The Hard Sell Factor — out of desperation going in hard to sell to people by sending direct messages over social media, disguised as asking how people are when you have only just be-friended them and you don’t know them. No one is fooled. In the UK, this won’t work and will damage your reputation. Even remotely we can tell the difference between a genuine request about a contact and a ‘hook’ to follow up with a sales message.
• The Cynical Marketing Factor — the massive upswing in unsolicited marketing calls from those who are trying to protect your wealth, or question you about business insurance or utilities when, in fact, these are often spam marketing cold calls. In the UK there’s been a massive upsurge from the Manchester area and also from Brazil for some reason.
• The Criminal Factor — the creativity of scammers who within hours have worked out ways of exploiting the vulnerable by tuning into people’s fears, guilt and the need to give back by carrying out criminal activity. I urge anyone who has the misfortune of being scammed at this time to report it to the local authorities.
• The Woe Is Me Factor — those brands and businesses which are refusing stubbornly to engage in the new world of business which is emerging — waiting for everything to go back to the way it was. Those who won’t attend virtual meetings, won’t engage on social media, won’t do video, won’t do email marketing, in fact the words and phrases ‘won’t’, ‘can’t’, ‘not interested’, ‘won’t make any difference’ etc. This is actually saying in our new world of business ‘I’m not willing to make any effort to engage with human beings in my community including clients and colleagues’. You will look archaic, old-fashioned and, even worse, uncaring about anyone else.

In another article I will share some of the amazing things brands and companies in the UK are doing to help us all through this situation. For now please read this carefully and consider changing your behaviour if any of these apply to you, your business or your brand. I’m basing my comments on 30 years’ experience of the world of media and also as a student of history, even as a student of my own history. I’m also basing it on what I’ve seen happening over the last month in the UK.

Why is this all important? It’s very simple. To save lives, to inspire, to keep spirits up, to give hope, to be a leader. All of us are in this together, like it or not. We have a choice to make the best of it or make the worst of it. Whatever our worries or our stresses are around this, most of us are not facing the worst of this. If you are ‘raking it in’ by dint of fate, be humble, be grateful and consider others, as the next victim could be you or a loved one and then none of that will matter.

Those truly at the heart of this don’t give a flying ‘**ck’ about business, money, income, job security or any other thing. They are trying to survive, they are grieving those who have not survived, they are unable to care for loved ones trying to survive, they are caring for those who have this virus while staying away from their own families to protect them.

We have a moral duty to support them by reminding them what they are holding on for, what they are protecting, what they are fighting for. Just as our descendants did in the past at times of war. For we are at war here.

How you fight this war in your own home, street, community, town, city, county, region, country in your life, your business, your profession now, and in the weeks to come, will affect the rest of your life. No exceptions.