This is part 1 of an ongoing series about how COVID-19 is affecting the world of PR and marketing.
What a difference a week makes.
Last Monday and Tuesday, I was in Milwaukee to speak at an expo. The attendance seemed a little smaller, but it certainly wasn’t a ghost town. At the time, I didn’t think it would be the last event I would attend for a while.
I should be at another conference right now, but it, along with seemingly everything else, was canceled over the past four days. Our agency was right in the middle of it, working with organizers of the local St. Patrick’s Day parade on Wednesday to figure out how to modify the parade (e.g. no handouts) to keep it going, and then to create the communications strategy the following day to cancel the parade.
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Today, I reached out to a former client for whom we developed a crisis communications guide two years ago. In that guide was a section on disease outbreak–at that point, the example mentioned was Zika. Like we tell all clients, the crisis communications guide is an insurance policy that you hope you never have to use, and unfortunately, it was in this case. I’ve been wondering how many other organizations were not prepared in advance and now wish they had been.
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While all the changes have happened so quickly, it’s important for marketers out there to remember to stop or alter prescheduled ads and social media posts. You don’t want to promote something that has been canceled (as seen in the adjacent graphic), nor do you want to seem insensitive during a serious crisis.
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I know it’s hard financially for businesses to waive cancellations fees, but it’s the right thing to do. I had a vacation to Myrtle Beach planned this weekend, and I appreciate that I will be able to cancel the trip without penalty and have my money refunded in the form of credits.
Speaking of Myrtle Beach, I’ve been appreciative of how frequently the CVB (Visit Myrtle Beach) on its website has updated closures, cancellations, FAQ, etc., even adding the timestamp to its updates. All organizations should make frequent updates (even if the update is “nothing has changed”) and communicate those updates everywhere (website, social media, signs, etc.).