One of the biggest after-effects of Covid-19 has been the seismic shift in priorities for organisations globally as well as in our region.
In an effort to safeguard their interests, companies have gone into survival mode to navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic. Across all functions, the “must-haves” have quickly become “the-can-do-withouts” and the long-term objectives have been replaced with immediate needs.
Accordingly, the communications machinery of organisations has been hard at work to maintain the same level of connection with their audiences as before in an effort to sustain their bottom line and stay afloat. But, to truly restart conversations that will generate an enduring impact on business operations, organisations and brands must look beyond the survival mindset and small, short-term wins to embrace a cautious but refreshed approach to bouncing back in this new normal we live in today.
The need of the hour is to look at the ongoing crisis as an ‘opportunity in disguise’, especially since the seeds of the massive change that this pandemic has brought about were sown much earlier. Take, for instance, the rise of strategic communications gradually displacing service-based deliverables in the last few years. While the offering has largely remained the same, it is now packaged under an advisory-based solutions mix that responds to clients’ growing need for strategic input.
To survive and then also succeed in this evolving ecosystem, companies must reimagine their approach to communications. As the region’s largest independent communications consultancy, we have seen that companies that are successful at ‘recalibrating their strategy’ by acknowledging the new reality and adapting themselves to deliver meaningful outcomes, stand to gain the most.
This also needs to be coupled with a ‘reinvention of communications tactics’ to focus on quality over quantity, value over volume and change over convenience. And, finally, the approach needs to be packaged and perfected with a ‘rejuvenated appeal’ that humanises and emotionalises the brand to make it relatable, relevant and, most importantly, resilient.
Communications for a changing world, therefore, is communications that serves as both a differentiator and an enabler more than as a mere facilitator, as was the reality for many years. In a
changing world, communications is nothing short of a game-changer – and that is the new reality of the new normal.
