Elevator Over the past few weeks, we’ve witnessed crisis communication management from all the economic entities across the world. From your regular grocery store to your internet provider, from your dentist to the local food bank: there is someone thinking quickly and strategically about the next steps. There’s a manager, a communications department or a PR agency, who is forced to make a delicate decision on how to handle this extraordinary situation keeping many factors in mind.
Naturally, the first step was to acknowledge the situation at hand, being mindful of the messaging and how it would be perceived. The second challenge was to reassess and adjust day-to-day operations according to the “new normal”. Each choice that a brand makes in this moment will have an impact on how consumers perceive it in the future, as we explained in a previous journal post. Over this past decade, brands have worked closely with influencers and bloggers to build and strengthen brand awareness. Due to the current situation, a number of issues have been presented. Brands now need to step back and ask themselves, is influential content still relevant? How have influencers and bloggers been affected? Did the pandemic alter the influencing trend?
Influencers Have a Role to Play
Influencers are concerned by what we’re facing. Many PR campaigns are on hold, leaving them unable to create sponsored content. They also face a challenge when it comes to thinking of fresh and creative ways to keep their audience engaged on a daily basis. With that being said and with many offices closed for the foreseeable future, consumers have more time than ever to spend on social media. Many are looking to be distracted with light hearted content, unrelated to the pandemic. This leaves influencers in a tricky and pressured position.
At the beginning of the outbreak, influencers represented a large and great method of communications to spread the word on the social distancing rules to follow. Even the Quebec government leveraged their power of influence. During one of his press conferences, François Legault called influencers to spread the message “Stay at home” and the necessary guidelines , as he’s aware that young people would be more keen to listen to artists, bloggers, influencers’ advice over his. As expected, they responded well to the call by sharing tons of information across social media. Some Quebec artists like Coeur de Pirate or Koriass, created original compositions and used their visibility to speak to their young audience.
The World Health Organization also used social media trends to promote the hashtag #safehandschallenge, to raise awareness on how to wash your hands properly. In response to WHO’s initiative, celebrities and influencers across the world shared their own hand-washing techniques and nominated friends to reproduce this challenge. This is how Selena Gomez, Mariah Carey, Serena Williams, Arianna Huffington and so on showcased their bathrooms and their hand-washing techniques, emphasizing that we are all on the same boat!
Good vs Bad Influence
The outbreak also raised some questions that we couldn’t have possibly imagined a few months ago. An influencer who will remain unnamed, used social media to share her anger and frustration towards the fact that although she announced she was putting any collaborations on hold, she was still receiving mailers from press agencies. She voiced her concern that several people, including herself, were all endangered for an “unnecessary and frivolous product”.
My first thought was: “shoot, I liked her so much, how could she be that narrow-minded?”. In my eyes, she failed to analyze the situation with an open mind and at a larger scale. Behind this mailer, there is a company that is struggling with retail closure, the production safety change, with a turnover decrease and the human resources consequences. Behind this mailer, there are multiple people involved, like services providers, communications agencies, and employees. Behind this mailer, there is an economy that despite an awful and unfortunate situation, is trying to survive. Right now, every preserved job is a success for our future. These were my thoughts when she was criticizing the decision made by this brand.
If you’re scrolling social media channels like us, you’ve probably heard of the Arielle Charnas’ scandal. The lifestyle influencer based in New-York divulged in mid-March via Instagram that she was unwell and updated her followers on her journey. One of her friends, a well-known doctor, allowed his urgent care facility to test her for the coronavirus. What a privilege in a time where tests are that limited! The influencer eventually announced she tested positive for the virus and decided to move to the Hamptons in Long Island to get some rest. In that moment, she broke the internet as people started to complain about her behaviour and accused her of spreading the virus and breaking social distancing guidelines. What’s the main point? Don’t showcase that you’ve got special treatment or you’re not fulfilling your civic duty at the peril of getting in trouble and being the victim of a social media backlash!
The current generic statement we’re hearing is “in the world after...”. Unfortunately, predicting the future is a fool’s game. However, we can bet that our world will change and evolve in more ways than we can imagine. What we do know for certain, is that influencers play a key role in persuading the community. While many of us are turning to trusted and admired influencers as an escape, we must keep this in mind. Influencers have the ability to encourage, motive and inspire. They have the ability to create action and change. So, let’s leverage their skills to spread awareness and positivity whenever the chance presents itself.