Vermilion Pinstripes Communications

On Monday, 17 July 2023, two scandals rocked Singapore’s normally staid and boring political environment. One was the resignations of two Members of Parliament over their “inappropriate relationship” as deemed by their party, while the other was a low-resolution video of two senior members of an opposition party over an intimate dinner. 

In platforms such as social media and online forums and communities, people were playing online sleuths, digging up old interviews or personal details, and sharing their views and theories. The local media also went on an overdrive to get their scoops, such as staking at the MPs’ homes and interviewing the neighbours and a former driver of one of the MPs. Even a seemingly innocent response from one of the neighbours, “No, I seldom see (the MP) and his wife go out together”, made its way into a news article. 

Imagine if your business was hit by such a scandal.

Suddenly, your employees, business partners, customers, and anyone purportedly a stakeholder would be asked for their comments, views, or any details at all. 

The issue is this: What appears online, stays online. The digital footprint, whether positive or negative, lives on forever in the online world. These have the potential to impact your business reputation. As such, it is imperative to always be prepared for a crisis, effectively navigate the situation, and influence the narrative. 

This article explores the significance of crisis communication in today’s evolving and interconnected world, where the physical and digital realms converge. We will also examine the types of crises that can befall businesses, discuss the process of crisis communication planning, the benefits of a well-planned Crisis Comm Plan, and the consequences of not having one. 

More importantly, we will provide you with a free 10-step Business Communication Guide to help you create your own crisis communication plan.

The late Apple founder, Steve Jobs, once said: “Ad campaigns are necessary for competition. But good PR educates people; that’s all it is.”

So, what’s “good PR”?

In a nutshell, Joh Ju, our Communications Strategist shares that “good PR” is positive public relations in the form of a positive story in newspapers, magazines, TV or radio.

For any business, good PR can help open up new opportunities or generate new leads for business.

To understand how to effectively manage communications during this global pandemic, we need to take a look back at past experiences with outbreaks.

Back in 2003, Singapore experienced the SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak. It started in February 2003 with a young woman infected while travelling abroad. Her return to Singapore set off the spread of the SARS virus to 238 people, 33 of whom died. It was a global epidemic involving 20 other countries. Singapore managed to contain the virus in May 2003.

During that time, just like today, the speed of the outbreak and the amount of information (or misinformation) made it terrifying and challenging to manage. What we are seeing in this COVID-19 outbreak is panic buying in many cities worldwide when information is unclear, delayed or misinterpreted by the public.

For businesses on the path of growth, there are multiple reasons why a communications team is beneficial for your business, be it short-term, such as an upcoming event, or for longer term business goals. The next question is, should you consider in-house professionals or look to retain a public relations PR agency?

“Can you get this into the media?” - This is a common question that PR professionals get from their internal stakeholders. Earned media is not easy but it gives your brand credibility.

So, let’s talk about how to work with the media.

I get many requests popping in my inbox daily, but some of the popular ones are:

• We have a new product launch coming up – can you send an announcement to the media and let them run the story?
• We have a contest for customers – by purchasing our products, they stand a chance to win. Can you issue a press release to the media about this contest?
• Our CEO will be in town for our new centre opening – can you invite the media to our event?
• We don’t have advertising budget. Can you get the media to write about our new product instead?

The first three requests automatically assume that media relations is the only way to promote new products and activities. The last request shows that there’s no clear line of distinction between advertising and public relations (PR).

The truth is that advertising and PR aren’t interchangeable!

Businesses know they need marketing but do they know that they need Public Relations (PR) too?

Public Relations (PR) is a complex relationship that takes effort, commitment and clear communications. As the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) says, “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics.”

Why should your business invest in PR?

It is not difficult to understand why cookie-cutter messaging happens. Today’s environment offers many communications platforms for engagement with a variety of audiences within a very small window of time for responses. To further complicate matters, the line between PR and marketing is thin in areas where marketers and communications professionals overlap – branding, content, social and analytics are just some examples of these areas.

Over the years in my career, it became apparent that when PR and marketing professionals work together with their sales colleagues brand intimacy happens, and sales accelerate. At Vermilion Pinstripes, we use a modern marketing framework developed by my colleague, Veronica Lind where it guides teams from identifying, targeting, engaging and selling to their most profitable customers.

“Local businesses tell me that their #1 dislike is to sell. They don’t want to sell by selling, preferring to talk about everything else instead of their own brand, capabilities or products. And so, their brand doesn’t stand out. In this competitive marketplace, I help them articulate their brand with confidence, boost reputation and shape perceptions among their stakeholders. Now, these businesses understand the power of messaging for brand clarity and loyalty.” - Joh-Ju Koh, Communications Strategist.

In the competitive food business, restaurants know that good reviews by certain food reviewers will translate into packed houses nightly for two weeks to a month. PR, whether through traditional media or social media channels, is that powerful for B2C businesses.