Not another Covid-themed clickbait
Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash
‘Avoid touching your face - glasses help!’
‘Best movies on Disease Outbreaks’
‘From fat - to - fit; learn how these weight loss supplements helped people make the best out of the lockdown lethargy.’
It wouldn’t take a marketer's ingenuity to spot moment marketing at its exhaustive finest between these lines appearing oh-so-frequently, be it in your Gmail inboxes or Instagram feeds. If you are a public relations professional, your word processor might remember hasty permutations of these phrases hoping it would be the deus-ex-machina for those grim-looking business trends. And if you are a media person or a journalist, you’d know how filters and labels on Gmail haven’t been particularly effective in separating actual covid-related emails from ads and spam.
The COVID Public Relations pitch thirst has become as trendy as it could get. However, with overuse, and more importantly, the onset of the second wave, the sentiments towards COVID-creativity is shifting from light-heartedness and amusement and now teeters between needless plugs and outright insensitiveness. In times like these, when millions of articles and ads on the pandemic are produced and consumed, how do businesses cut through the clutter and differentiate themselves without sounding inconsiderate?
The Global Public Relations market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.2% by 2021. This growth is borne out of companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the impact of the pandemic. These are times when brands have begun to realise how a well-planned PR - strategy is more than a supporting cast to marketing and how it can help foster equity with their customers. So while there is clear scope for growth for the industry, there might be no clear incentive on why one would want to relook at well-established strategies other than genuine compassion. For newsjacking to not seem like it capitalising on misfortune, it becomes imperative to focus on a few things.
Let’s just circle back to the good old 4S model of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), according to which all communications should be:
Symbiotic
While there’s no denying that individual channels have their merits, each of them is unique. A correct media-blend has the potential to offset each other’s weaknesses and maximise gains. Considering the situation, it might seem like digital marketing has become time-worn. But the truth is that it is a goldmine that should be leveraged, albeit in newer ways.
Synergistic
Powerful storytelling cannot thrive in siloed channels. Using different strategies and media in the right proportion amplifies the results compared to when they are carried out alone. However, to fully realise the power of IMC, Moderation is the Mantra, especially when you try to touch upon a cliched and simultaneously sensitive issue like COVID.
Synchronistic
Timing and sequence of the strategies can be the turning points for any campaign. At this point, taking cognisance of your surrounding and crafting communications in tandem with it becomes supremely paramount.
Systemic
As parts of a whole, all communications should be transparent, consistent and aligned with the core intended messaging.
“But in the end, these are just hygiene points,” you might say, and you’re right. With evolving consumer behaviour and change in the overall media mix, what would truly stand out is the 5th S- which stands for, no biggie- Sensitive. While sensitive and humane communications should be the default mainstay, there is a renewed exigency for empathetic and clear messaging across all fronts. So while PR and ad agencies focus on being more perceptive, the rest of us could avoid harsh criticism and instead support each other in these challenging times.
The next time we hard-sell and push for more articles, let’s understand that newsrooms, having had cutbacks as well, might not have the resources to cover our story. The next time we come across a covid-centric mail pitch or an ad, perhaps we could try to appreciate the vigour with which businesses are still trying to thrive despite it all - including creativity slumps.
