Wrapping up Season Two + a shameless plug for Medianet X IPRD crisis comms webinar
🦠During this wrap-up of Season Two Co-hosts Jo Stone and Greer Quinn have heard from journalists and industry leaders about the way the pandemic is changing work lives, media content, newsworthiness and even shaping how our news is delivered.
🦠It’s becoming clear that Covid-19 isn’t going away within the foreseeable future and businesses need crisis management plans that can adapt as quickly as mutant strains. So during this mini-episode, Greer and Jo also talk about an upcoming collaboration with Medianet to present a webinar with live Q+A on the topic “Crisis Communications for a Covid World”. Event link here.
COVID is the gift that keeps on giving
Greer: We’ve found that even 18 months on, we’re still helping clients with crisis strategies and internal and external communications issues almost every month,” Greer says. The pandemic isn’t going away and if you think that because you’ve managed to dodge a COVID catastrophe so far that you’re in the clear, think again.
Jo: It’s awful because we sometimes get calls in the evenings or on the weekend from organisations desperately seeking PR help because a crisis never seems to happen during office hours during the week does it! And more often than not, they’ve never even thought ahead about how to handle adverse media coverage or a COVID-10-caused crisis.
Greer: In recent weeks we’ve seen influencers breaching COVID-19 restrictions for parties and brands then subsequently publicly dropping them. We’ve even seen well documented super-spreader events that have led to humiliation and reputation damage for attendees and organisers.
Jo: Yes, we’ve also seen organisations facing staff backlash over mandatory vaccinations.
Greer: So in this short podcast, we’re wrapping up Season Two with some of the top takeaways from our guests and we’ll end with our top three tips for PR crisis planning in the pandemic.
“We're fighting the same battle that every news outlet across Australia is fighting, which is that there could be 110 terrific stories to cover on any one day, but resourcing means that we can't get to all of them.” - Andrew Drummond, Editor, Australian Associated Press
Jo: Let’s start with Andrew Drummond from AAP – that was a great insight into this vital Australian news wire service, which is a bit of a secret weapon to have in your PR tool kit.
Greer: The news deserts he was talking about across Australia are only broadening after all the COVID closures, so Andrew’s pitching brief will be a huge help if you want some AAP traction. NewsCorp’s AT Home magazine flipbook is a direct response to the pandemic and Editor Kelly Baker told us that PR people need to know that while it’s lifestyle-focussed, it’s still anchored in news values.
Content is everything, and storytelling is everything, to us as a brand. What they [influencers] create that we're able to repost is just as important as the reach that they have. It's about getting good content as much as it is about them providing it on their own channels. -Mel Carrero, Marketing Manager, Spell
Jo: And it was magic talking to Mel Carrero from Spell – talk about a brand at the cutting edge. What they’ve been doing with content creation has been so innovative – there are a lot of ideas in that chat PR’s can learn from. It was also great to hear from Starts At 60 founder Bec Wilson. Her platform is the largest in the country for the over 60’s and there is a lot of pent up demand in the travel sector particularly so that’s a consumer group that shouldn’t be overlooked for lifestyle and travel products.
Zeroing in on over 60s
“This consumer is 50 per cent of private wealth in Australia. Ninety-four per cent do research online before making significant purchases. Fifty-five per cent of all leisure travel spending is in this category normally. And that's got pent-up demand written all over it.” -Rebecca Wilson, Founder, Starts at 60
Greer: And of course, there was the interview with Daniel Doody from Studio 10. He was all about the media release and the pitch – and there are amazing national opportunities for the right story.
“I love meeting different types of people within our community. We live in a multicultural society, so it’s just so heart-warming and so great to see people that are passionate about a certain product or a certain cause.” - Daniel Doody, Roving Reporter, Studio 10
Jo: In each episode, we demystify a little bit of jargon from the media world – things like noddies, embargo and backgrounding and in this episode we are turning the tables a bit, but I guess the jargon term for this segment could be COVIDIOT – someone who ignores or breaks public health orders. And if you are in a comms role for any business or organisation, you know that it only takes one COVIDIOT to cause a crisis. So with this in mind, we thought we would give you the PR Darlings top three top tips for crisis communications plans in the era of COVID.
Greer: These are just a couple of the things we’ll be discussing in an upcoming webinar in collaboration with Australian media database company MediaNet on October 6, 2021, which is all about crisis communications, albeit with a COVID twist. Now, Medianet is a must-have service for PR firms – their database keeps you up-to-date with all the platforms, papers and programs in the Australian media, but also all the contacts you need. This brings us to our first crisis communications tip – making sure you have updated contacts. You need to know the journalists who are likely to be working in your patch. You don’t want to be scrambling for a mobile number at the last minute.
Jo: Updating contacts is also important for your internal team. Has someone left the organisation or changed jobs? And who else do you need to contact? With pandemic-related issues, you also need contacts for the relevant authorities like the Department of Health or the Chief Health Officer (CHO) and the State Government for example.
Greer: Our second crisis comms tip in the pandemic is to make sure your business, organisation or client is actually practising COVIDSafe protocols. This is where a lot of the bad publicity stems from – for example a venue that hosts an event that becomes a super spreader event will face even more media backlash if journalists find out there was no sanitiser available, check-in code, too many people were there and they weren’t wearing masks.
Jo: And the third most important tip of all is to actually have a crisis communications plan. So often this is something that nobody puts any thought into – and that is when a PR disaster really unfolds. Putting a plan together should be a service that you offer as part of your role in PR. And brainstorming with your client some of the potential COVID-19 crises is a great way to start. Regular reviews of the plan is also a must-do.
Greer: Thanks so much for tuning in to It’s PR Darlings Season Two. If you’re listening to this before October 6, 2021, then head to Eventbrite or Medianet to find our Crisis Communications in a Covid World webinar – links are also in the show notes and we would love to have you along.
This has been Season Two of It’s PR Darlings. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of It’s PR Darlings, please share, subscribe and review. It’s PR Darlings is produced by Jo Stone from Sticks and Stones PR and Greer Quinn from Forward Communications.
Medianet X It’s PR Darlings Webinar: Crisis Communications for a Covid World
Book here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/crisis-communications-for-a-covid-world-tickets-168883459975.
If you think your business or your clients have escaped a COVID-19 crisis, think again! This pandemic is ever-evolving. While we might be well practiced during lockdowns and closures for the impacts on businesses, there are still risks – think super-spreader events, staff vaccination fallouts, supply chain interruptions, new mutant strains, or a staff member’s anti-mask rant that goes viral. This is the virus that keeps on giving.
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