I would love to applaud my colleagues for Now we have to distinguish between two types of Communicators. Communicators and PR professionals who work for companies, Communicators and PR pros who run agencies. I would love to applaud my colleagues for doing an excellent job in keeping the public informed and up to speed with COVID-19 pandemic related-news. Your tenacity and pivotal role in flattening the curve, cannot be over-emphasized and for that, I say thank you.
The aforementioned group whom I call « Les Stars du moment » more than ever has had to devise strategies and carefully crafted organizational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. I also have to mention here that Communicators and PR pros who work for organizations/companies, most importantly, have to carefully craft and dispatch messages that cater to the needs of employees, stakeholders and their publics.
Added to this, is their constant search for innovative ideas that are adapted to the digital world to keep their publics, and stakeholders informed about the pandemic. They are also tasked with migrating physical events unto the digital sphere, hence the rise of webinars via Zoom et al. This group, I will say has been slightly affected by the crisis but their digital prowess and overall know-how has been enhanced. Moreso, their roles in organizations are more than ever being appreciated not as after-thoughts but as strategic tools in advancing their organization’s agenda.
The latter group, the Communicators and PR pros who run agencies, have suffered and are still suffering from major business setbacks. Those experiencing the most setbacks are those into events and we all know the reason why. For those who mostly carry out digital activities, might be slightly affected with the crisis. For those whose activities were offline and required physical presence, they have had to migrate unto the digital sphere, activated their creative geniuses, and have come up with content for their client that has drawn, draws and will draw attention, increase engagement with their publics and enhance the organization’s brand profile.