#MsInterPReted: PR Done Well or Done Wrong in the COVID-19 Era

3.31.20 S2_Epi8_Molly_Julia light text

As the public relations profession absorbs its share of the COVID-19 impact with job, contract and revenue losses, most practitioners are still seeking to help their clients and employers craft truthful, productive and forward-looking messages.

Yet examples of both good and poor PR practice abound, in the current environment. How is COVID-19’s global societal impact bringing out the best – and the worst – in brands’ public relations and marketing communications?

Two veteran practitioners who – like Kelly and Mary Beth – are no shrinking violets to calling shots as they see them, Julia Angelen Joy and Molly McPherson join #MsInterPReted with the latest they’re witnessing from the PR front lines of the crisis.

Included in Kelly’s and Mary Beth’s discussion with Molly and Jules:

What to do as an independent practitioner, when faced with sudden loss of bookings and business
How a “rising tide lifts all ships” mentality in the PR profession and a sense of connectivity between public relations professionals will help our community of colleagues
Why being bold and calling out bad PR examples is important for the improvement of the profession to elevate trust and ethical codes in public relations
Entities doing PR wrong or right during COVID-19: WeWork, Gov. Cuomo, Texas Roadhouse, the tourism / hospitality industry, mega-brands versus small-businesses (among other examples)
What happens when there are disparate value systems, mixed motives and disconnects between leaders and staff
How PR needs to be mobilized to fight fear that’s pervasive in teams, organizations, communities and entire societies right now
What it means to “have the difficult conversation” to acknowledge from the beginning of a crisis situation that a crisis is – indeed – happening (and how skipping this key incremental step is a major mistake)
Why information-hoarding is one the most common – yet most damaging – behaviors leaders engage in, that damages (or even destroys) trust
What roles ACCOUNTABILITY and TRANSPARENCY play in the current crisis
Is COVID-19 the PR industry's “moment of truth” to prove our worth in serving our clients / employers AND the public… and if it is that moment, are we making effective use of it?
Observations of small and regional PR firms being the culprits of bad PR pitches tied specifically to coronavirus
How LEADERSHIP is the common (yet uncommon) thread that must undergird strategy and basic good decision-making
What it means when “doing the right thing” can mean completely different realities to completely different entities (such as a commercial retail interest versus public health official)
Use of humor as a coping mechanism by individuals (such as on social media) versus as a connectivity tactic by brands in their advertising
How strategic communicators should help brands stay human and real in this crisis
How COVID-19 is going to force companies to build better, stronger cultures of communications
How being labeled an “essential” versus a “non-essential” business factors into messaging and decision-making during COVID-19
And much more.