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Influencer culture in Lockdown: where do we go from here?
Kirsty Grierson

Influencer culture in Lockdown: where do we go from here?

A lot has been said about COVID-19 marking the end of influencer culture as we know it. Consumers are tired of seeing social stars brag about their lavish lifestyles or preaching from their #gifted million pound home, promoting products that we ALL know they don’t and would never use – Khloe Kardashian and Febreeze, what?!

I get it and we have felt the same. Particularly as we navigate what is going to be an incredibly difficult few months for everyone.

However, for all the covidiot influencers who have got it seriously wrong, a lot have also risen to the occasion, helping to spread important messages to otherwise hard to reach, younger audiences.

As these uncertain times continue (sorry!) and conflicting messages and cluttered news just gets worse, audiences are desperately looking for people who they can connect with, trust and rely on – the micro influencer. Those who are genuinely experiencing the same things their audience are and who can share real content their followers can relate to.

In Finland, social influencers have actually been defined as ‘critical operators’ throughout the pandemic. They have used their platform to communicate Government guidelines and speak to a traditionally hard to reach audience. And what better way to reach your audience than working with the people you are trying to reach?

Influencers are always a key part of our campaigns and although the big names out there will always be big, it’s the micro influencers who are coming out on top for our clients at the moment.

Throughout lockdown, we’ve run influencer campaigns for the Scottish Government, Young Scot and Baxters to name a few – all of which have been used to spread a message quickly and efficiently, something a traditional media campaign just couldn’t do.

But why micro influencers?  They are the most flexible and can create content quickly that is authentic and believable. They are close to their audience and know what they respond well to. With fewer followers, they are much more likely to engage and respond to comments – they genuinely care and want to help their followers, which reflects well on the brands we work with. Finally, they are real. Without management teams, ulterior motives or big production budgets, their content is incredibly personal and personable and resonates with their audience better.

Post-pandemic, I think we can expect to see all influencers take a step back and take stock of the content they’re sharing. The high profile, aspirational type content still has its place but moving forward, honesty and authenticity is going to be key.

WORK FOR CHANGE: EFFECTIVE CHANGE COMMUNICATION
Shaun Bell

WORK FOR CHANGE: EFFECTIVE CHANGE COMMUNICATION

If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s that everyone and everything can change.

Over the last few months people, governments and organisations around the world have been forced to transform how they work at a pace that’s been dubbed a new “industrial revolution” by some analysts. As we all navigate this change, trust in leadership, remote technology and honest, authentic, effective communication have never been more important.

At Stripe we’ve supported our clients as they adapted their communications to resonate, reassure and engage with customers, service users, employees and stakeholders in new ways. The recent pace of change has been incredible and largely born out of necessity, but here are some of my observations from recent experience that I believe would apply at any time:

  • Leadership is key. Visible leadership and trust in our leaders is absolutely vital, so buy-in from the top is essential. Whether that’s weekly video updates from the CEO, employee team briefings or regular email communication, the right level of communication provides reassurance that the best plan is in place.
  • Nothing is more powerful than our emotions. We’ve all experienced fear, anxiety and hope over the last few months and the best performing brands responded by investing time in research to understand their audience and working hard to humanise their communications. They helped customers and service users feel in control amid a world of chaos.
  • Take time to do a pulse check. Use data, insights and measurement to understand how people feel and track how things are changing. Whether that’s bespoke market research, the YouGov public monitor or a quick employee pulse survey.
  • Listen and learn from employees on the frontline. Remote working technology has given employees more opportunities to have their voices heard and influence organisational change. It’s a two-way conversation and the best businesses take employee feedback seriously and put insights into practice.
  • The right technology is transformative. Zoom, Slack, Teams, Yammer and Miro already existed but for most organisations uptake was low. Out of necessity businesses around the world took a leap into remote working technology without the chance to review what would be most effective. As businesses continue to adapt to new technology, now is the time to re-examine what’s in place and seek ways to make workforces more connected while introducing automation and artificial intelligence tools into everyday practice. If you’ve taken the first step into transformative tech, what’s next?
  • Authenticity and creativity matter more than ever. Honesty, transparency and bold creative ideas need to be at the heart of communications as people increasingly question what they see, hear and read like never That’s come to the fore during the Black Lives Matter movement as brands are increasingly scrutinised on their stance and support – with brands like Yorkshire Tea and Ben & Jerry’s recognised for authentic responses.

Change is never easy but it has the potential to unlock innovation and make us think differently. The right change helps us achieve better business, create a better society and to better us as individuals.

Last week I saw a post on Instagram that made me question whether our experiences in 2020 have changed us for the better. I liked it. I wasn’t alone – 464,000 other people liked it too.

HOW CRISIS PROOF ARE YOUR BRAND COMMUNICATIONS? A GUIDE TO CONFRONTING UNCERTAINTY HEAD ON
Hilary Joiner

HOW CRISIS PROOF ARE YOUR BRAND COMMUNICATIONS? A GUIDE TO CONFRONTING UNCERTAINTY HEAD ON

One of the many observations noted in these strange and unprecedented times is how quickly we can all adapt in an emergency.

As a result of this particular emergency most businesses in IT, finance and HR provisions have spun into meltdown to catch-up with the concept of lockdown while we moved ourselves into an almost entirely digital space.

Our customers and employees are now all better connected than ever before, yet they have never been so isolated or remote to any real tangible outcomes. Secure in our virtual bunkers, staff and consumers alike are looking for any answer that offers intelligence, insight or empathy.

Step aside for the 4th emergency professional service, Brand Communications.

Proactive budgets can be the first to get slashed in changeable financial situations, however, once the reactive piece is complete, provision to deliver your message now and, perhaps more importantly, in the future is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity.

If you need to be reminded of how receptive the public is to concise and logical messaging, just look at the reaction the other week to the government changing their messaging from ‘stay at home’ to ‘stay alert’.

Everyone has woken up to realise how important is to be seen, understood and believed as individuals and collectives. From an audience perspective we’re craving information inside and outside of work and in a world where we can no longer touch, we’re looking at everything through a digital filter.

With huge swathes of our workforce working distantly or remotely – if at all – the only real thing that holds them together is understanding what they belong to, how and why.

 

So where do you start crisis proofing your brand?

Well, as Walter Landor once said, ‘Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.’

So, let’s start there.

Brand Communications is all about telling a story. Not just any story – your unique story. Generating and perpetuating your myth that will engage, endorse and activate.

This isn’t just about good looks, it’s the blueprint for your business and a guide to being heard. In an ever-fluctuating situation, done well, it is one of the most real assets you can own.

You can’t prepare for what you can’t see but you can prepare for what you might, and without knowing who you are, you can’t prepare at all.

It goes without saying that brands are based on what you do or sell pulled together with research and strategic insight. Those two aspects are what define your unique proposition. However, there is a check list of must-haves that formulate that information into a complete Brand Communications piece for now and the future…

Here’s our top 6:

  1. Clarify your (new) mission and vision

    This is your purpose and ambition: why you are here and where are you going – medium to long term. Most businesses have or will need to adapt their offering and plans, and it’s vital that everyone understands and aspires to what these are.

  2. Define your core values

    So everyone is clear how to do what you do, from an internal and external perspective. From making decisions to interacting with colleagues. Behaviours can vary and are guided by values, and in a crisis they will bond and include.

  1. Set short term goals

    Time bound objectives can be managed and completed. People want to be part of a success story, but they need to know how and it needs to be practical.

  1. Demonstrate present, accessible and insightful leadership

    This is a battle of sorts. Leaders need to be seen and they need to be relevant. Create regular and structured forums to share information, inspire and unite. People are more likely to worry if they are given random bouts information and if their leader is aloof or mysterious. Include opinion where you can but make clear decisions and deliver them with assurance and empathy.

  1. Define your communication pillars

    Have a clear understanding of and format for what you want to say and what you need to say. Both proactive: brand building and selling; and reactive: crisis management and risk minimising / avoidance.

  1. Digitise

    Your brand needs to be appropriate and useful to deliver messages within a digital interface. This is more than a cosmetic refurb, it’s updating your look to really belong within this space. Understand and utilise platforms, ensure positive user experience and create and provide content that engages on the right level at the right time.

Getting to grips with resilience
Morna McLelland

Getting to grips with resilience

With the global implications of Covid-19 front of mind, we’ve heard a lot recently about individual, corporate and national resilience. It’s almost like it’s an elusive superpower that promises to make us invincible, natural leaders, with unwavering confidence and the ability to ride any storm. Well, don’t believe the hype, it’s not really like that.

I’ve been told I’m resilient, but it’s not a superpower. Like everything in life, it takes time, effort and courage, and is something I’m still working on. But it’s a hugely important and incredibly valuable skill I have drawn upon in both my professional and personal life.

 

So how can you build resilience?

First of all, you need to know that unlike great bone structure, resilience isn’t something you’re just naturally born with. It’s 100% learned.

If you did competitive sports as a kid and never won gold (or any medal for that matter), lost something precious, crashed a car or have a crazy story from that time things went wrong on your gap year. If you failed an assignment, had a run of personal ‘bad luck’, moved to a new city or had a flat share that went disastrously wrong… these have all been part of the learning process and have helped build your resilience. Because resilience is how you deal with and transform a situation. It’s how you proactively propel yourself forward, it’s how you take control and make decisions, it’s how you learn and grow. And it’s a continuous process: something Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant talk about extensively online and in the book, Option B.

The second vitally important thing to realise is that sh*t happens, and it happens to everyone. Sometimes it’s seriously big stuff like bereavement, redundancy, miscarriage, relationship break-ups, life changing accidents or health conditions, and sometimes is smaller things like missing out on a job, losing a pitch, or have your best work friend resign. But it happens, and it happens all the time. You need to be realistic that life is not a glorious feel-good Instagram feed, and that sh*t will also happen to you at some point, so get ready.

My last observation is this: being resilient takes effort and importantly, attitude. As humans we naturally focus on the negative, but that doesn’t foster resilience, it’s just self-indulgent. Yes, listen to feedback, but also be kind to yourself. In her TedTalk, Lucy Hone PhD, talks about deciding if something will ‘help or harm’ her, and it’s great advice, especially across social media: will seeing those updates help or harm, will muting that person help or harm, will having a break from social help or harm?

Finally, here’s five practical things that I have found have helped make me more resilient and I hope they might help you too:

  1. Focus on what matters and what you can control – one of the biggest epiphanies I had was that I can’t control everything, but I can control me. It was so obvious but so liberating! By focusing on what really matters to you and understanding what you can and can’t control, you can start to make a plan.
  2. Make a plan – stop fearing failure, instead proactively get out your comfort zone, take action, get creative, make connections and innovate. What’s the worst that can happen?
  3. Make decisions – it sounds silly, but start making decisions. It’s easy to become paralysed in a crisis or a moment of doubt. But trust your instincts and make a decision. It might not always be right, but it will allow you to at least move forward and be proactive (see point above!)
  4. Be confident – don’t think for one minute that resilient people don’t doubt themselves, they absolutely do! But what they then do (after the initial ‘holy sh*t’ moment) is have confidence in their ability and themselves. Part of part of being resilient is giving other people confidence in you.
  5. You do you – understand who you are and what you’re passionate about. If you only ever think of yourself in a work context, it’s very easy for that to become all consuming. Yes I am a ‘boss’ but I am also a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend and neighbour. Take time to explore who you are, what matters to you and what – sport, reading, cooking, creative arts, whatever – gives you headspace and valuable ‘you time’.