Traditionally, Public Relations has carried the unfortunate reputation of being an unnecessary add-on to a business. A PR professional was considered a flack, if you had money to pay for it -- great -- if you didn’t, no big deal. However, with the growing demand for consistent and effective communication during this pandemic, our business has shown its resilience and importance, now more than ever.
As we have probably all done countless times in the weeks since this begun, a lot of us can often be found checking the social media pages of our favorite restaurants, bars, or coffee shops to see their current plans. Are they open? Do they offer delivery or pickup? Are they closed? Maybe closed for good? Can I donate to their employee relief fund? Are they giving back to their community? These questions are all effectively answered because of the power of the public relations team behind the curtain.
I suddenly became the singular voice for many of my clients who run small businesses across the country. Due to their limited staff, I immediately had to disseminate info to media outlets and figure out a relatively uniform and straightforward approach to communicating with their guests. As a woman who lives her life with a carefree attitude (laissez les bons temps rouler, y’all!), I had to switch over to my more serious nature. I was faced with a new responsibility: crisis management.
There’s only so much to reference as our world hasn’t seen a pandemic on this scale since the early 20th century. It’s also important to understand that this peculiar situation we’re in is very fluid and seems to dramatically change almost every day. With social media becoming more and more important in a world of isolation, how are restaurants able to reach their customers in a unifying way? We adapted our communication towards a virtual medium, through channels such as Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and other forms of digital Q&A.
We don’t need to be rocket scientists to realize that communication is rapidly changing right now. But it’s very easy to slip into a mindless routine of scrolling through social media outlets or news channels without registering anything on an emotional level. The pitfalls of an oversaturated media world! I quickly realized how important humanity is right now. People need to put food on their table every night. People want to be reassured that things will be alright. We need to show that at the end of the day we’re all humans and we’re all in this together. For example, if restaurants are offering an employee relief fund, they need to know exactly how to promote that opportunity to their customers in a tasteful and impactful manner. This is exactly why public relations plays a crucial role. The fundamentals of this profession are based on the interconnection between people, whether that be positive or negative. We discover exactly what matters to the public and how we can link the greater media to certain businesses in order to provide what is needed.
For David Guas of Bayou Bakery, Coffee Bar & Eatery - kids and families in his community needed access to free meals as a result of the mandated school shutdowns. At simoneink, we connected the local Arlington media and national press with David’s relief initiative in order to promote this rapid response to the greater populus. Having an effective communication approach ensured a streamlined way to provide food to those in need.
My hope is that when we are able to return to society, we carry on with some of these new habits. We keep up with our video calls with our relatives in far away places. We know how to differentiate between trustworthy and suspicious media. We continue to give back to our communities and those more in need. We support all of our amazing and loveable small businesses. And of course, we wash our damn hands!