People before profit; earning the trust of the consumer

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“It is critical that brands are able to sustain, remain and build their trust during this time. What is most critical that will impact brands in the short and long term is that brands are expected to put people ahead of profits during this pandemic,” Carla Santiago (General Manager, Edelman)

Let’s start with a question; how are you as a business or organization putting your people before profit?

As I sat down to listen to this podcast, I was curious as to what was going to be said, that I had not heard before about our current pandemic. What I learned is that the same thing can be said in different ways, and depending on your mind-set at the time, you will take the message in differently.

I was going to include this with the first article I did on the podcast, “COVID-19; The Unwanted Visitor, a podcast series launched by the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and hosted by Johnson Johnrose, the Communication Specialist for CTO. Once I heard the two podcasts, I realized that it would not be possible to do that. This short, but highly valuable episode, is a must hear for all industries.

Each podcast, Johnson speaks to leading experts about the varied impacts of COVID-19 on the travel industry in the Caribbean. In this episode, he has an informative discussion with Carla Santiago, the General Manager out of the Miami office of Edelman, a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations around the world.

What the team at Edelman did was conduct 12-market studies on the critical role brands are playing during this pandemic. On March 26^th, the team interviewed 12,000 people in: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, and the UK. What they found was that brands have power. The curiosity was stemmed after a study was released on the role of the private sector during the pandemic. Below are some key points to consider, and I do recommend that industry leaders take a look at the full document. The link will be provided at the end of the article.

Putting people towards profits.
The eyes are on you right now leaders. People are looking at your response to see if they can trust you. You are expected to put people before profit. Research shows that 81% say that they expect to the brand to do right by them; this means ensuring their safety and well-being. They should be finding solutions instead of selling passion or image. They need to be tangible and fast, not evocative and theoretical.

Do not disappear. Maintain communication with the world. Do not go dark.
This is not the time to disappear and be absent from the world. You have to find strength and collaborate with other organizations to come up with ideas to help the community. Remember, the communication we are having with others at this point should be solving problems. We should not be selling anything. Communicate with compassion, emotion and underpinned with facts. More than ever, people want information.

This is also a great time to encourage employees to learn something new. It can be anything: a new language, a new skill, anything that will help to put them ahead, and ready for post-COVID-19. You can do this by sharing resources that support their: emotional, physical, mental well-being.

Keep your brand top of mind.
Now is the time to prepare. What precautions have been set in place for the future? You have to think details for the safety and security of the: clients, community, employees, guests, or patients. You should start preparing.  Innovate now! Put operational ideas in place. You want the world to see that you are thinking of them.

Research has shown that 9 out of 10 countries feel like they will not recover if their brands don’t get involved. The government alone has not earned the trust of people; brands have done a better job. A suggestion that Carla provided was for the tourism industry. “Name a Medical Chief Officer for the destination. Medical professionals are the most trusted voice. Let them be the ones to share information about the safety of travel to your destination.”

We can’t predict when active marketing can begin; we just have to pay attention to what is happening. The world is in different phases. The movement of people is in different phases. Our job is to pay attention and avoid being static.

To view the podcast series, please visit https://anchor.fm/onecaribbean.

To view the Edelman Report visit: https://www.edelman.com/research/covid-19-brand-trust-report