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.

What makes any visual communications interesting?

If the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is true, then it follows that in this age of instant digital marketing the art of visual communications is more important than ever.

What makes any visual communications interesting, what grabs attention and what persuades an audience to sit up and absorb its messaging?

A common denominator of all this can inevitably be an element of sexual attraction. This premise was examined and debated in Vermilion Pinstripes’ webinar “Visual Communications - Does Sex Sell?”

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.