How to Connect Brands with Meaning

…for business success, social impact and a positive climate of opinion.

It has never been harder to reach and influence people. More than ever there is a need to be imaginative, intelligent and strategic in your communications. A good Communicator will thrive on the challenge of coming up with something exceptional with creativity, even for a technically complex product and service.

Listen

Seems obvious. It begins with listening and asking the right questions to really hear the client perspective. Good PR is not about quantity, but rather about the quality, timeliness and relevance of the information that is conveyed. This is to create an intelligent and farsighted strategy — often in a way the Management Team don’t expect. There is generally already a whole arsenal of communications material that can be leveraged and maximised, using in-house talent and resources to create relevant, memorable and well targeted campaigns.

Create

The DNA of any organisation starts at the top, so knowing your good self is key to a solid reputation that can withstand crises and the test of time. Immerse yourself into your business and bring in fresh perspective, coupled with a healthy dose of realism, lateral thinking and most importantly — experience and knowledge of today’s digital media. Nobody likes dependency, so ensure to distinguish your brand campaigns into stand-alone projects, putting you in control at all times with the help of practical, proactive and relevant support when you need it.

Collaborate

Building a strong relationship based on mutual trust creates campaigns with longevity. Make your work style collaborative and build value-adding connections for your brand and business. If you provide a service that is better value for money and delivers results, get your customers involved in saying it for you.

Be Prepared for a Crisis

Staff problems, product contamination, consumer misunderstandings, corporate fraud, compliance, personal reputation issues, such matters need to be dealt with sensitively and effectively, as news of these types of crises travels fast throughout the digital world.

Media Training

One misplaced comment can have damaging consequences. Make sure you attend a course with your Board and Management Spokespeople to teach you the inside track on how to handle the media and stay on message. Whether you want to limit damaging news or promote positive messages, media management to underpin your brand is a skill that needs to be learned properly.

Environmental, Social and Governance

A company’s identity and reputation is tied up with the way it behaves and conducts itself in the world. Ensure you conceive ESG projects and campaigns with meaning and impact to underpin and strengthen your overall business strategy, corporate brand and reputation. This is any organisation’s soft underbelly because of its growing importance in customer choices — so how you behave affects your bottom line.

Don’t risk your Reputation

It is all about creating a positive climate of opinion and favourable starting points at all levels. The ability to bring relevant solutions to the problems of society today will keep your brand relevant, providing you define, review and nurture it constantly. Don’t forget your internal brand ambassadors, as every interaction they have with your customers may impact the value of your brand.

Campaigns such as #Balenciaga demonstrate how the value of a brand can be gone from one day to the next, so don’t take the risk.