Communications Strategy in a Time of Crisis with Katy Wickremesinghe
Katy Wickremesinghe is founder of KTW London and The Wick Culture. She shared her top communication strategy tips with AWITA Members.
“Our environment is changing dramatically so when considering business and communications strategies you need to adapt in equal measure.”
Katy suggests thinking about:
What your stakeholders need versus what they want for the immediate quarter.
Themes of betterment, cultural enrichment.
Valuing supportive and stable relationships and structures.
Unified voices and sharing or collaborating will be a consistent them.
There are several themes, which Katy feels are key to helping you address Covid-19 specific challenges - both external and internal.
Externally these are creating emotional commerce, developing authentic conversations in a new digital landscape, signposting efficiently and relationship management.
Internally it's about demonstrating empathy and a culture of care.
Katy cites the celebrated psychotherapist Esther Perelman as a constant mantra in her approach “The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives.” You are only as strong as your network.
We asked Katy to give us her Top Ten things to think about in terms of communication:
Really think about emotional commerce. In times of crisis, people want to communicate with value driven businesses.
During this period of enforced pause, it is vital to build solid narratives around your business or organisation, not just what you do but why you do what you do.
This is a time to demonstrate your business ethics – what do you stand for and how can you add value. Is your value proposition clear and does your purpose immediately spring out?
The pull rather than push marketing model is key for now. When people are ready to spend and consume, they will come to you proactively if you are able to define this.
If your clients are unable to speak with you physically, then it’s vital that they are able to speak with you virtually. Start by being more proactive and consistent with your owned content.
If you you can’t get people to come to you, you must go to them. We are in an era of 'The Founder’ - audiences love expert insights from professionals and those who lead in what they do. Therefore try and position yourself in thought leadership areas, offering views on the market to press when needed and ensure that your exhibition or show content is also being shared with journalists writing in this arena.
Don’t allow your team to become echo chambers of panic. Demonstrate empathy and care at the start of a (Zoom) meeting but then lead a structured and positive exchange laying out practical needs and tangible outputs.
Relationships count for everything – this period is an important time to build longer term authentic relationships outside of transactional purpose.
Understand what is in your sphere of influence and what is not.
If you manage others, make sure you manage yourself first. Be kind to yourself - it is essential to be resilient, positive and forward thinking to recovery mode as a leader.