#COMMSTRANSFORMATION - The three main trends in communication that gained much traction during the last COVID year
The three main trends in communication that gained much traction during the last COVID year and I expect them to develop even stronger this year are human centricity, on-line communication/ digitalization and emphasis on reputation and social responsibility.
Trend number one: human centricity
Corporate communication during pandemic became much human-centred – in both internal and external context.
Within organizations employee communication became more prominent and much more appreciated, winning importance and visibility.
It became also clear that corporate culture supporting the well-being and mental health of employees is of key importance, not only during change periods and crisis situations like a pandemic.
Leadership communication, as well as internal communication, supported and will further support the introduction of employee well-being initiatives helping organizational leaders deploy a more empathetic and human style of communication and people management.
Trend number two: on-line communication/ digitalization
We have observed digitalization as the main trend for a couple of years now, but COVID together with pandemic has brought a sudden and instant transfer of almost all communication activities to on-line channels. And again, it applies to both internal and external communication.
When it comes to press and media in general, we could see the move of traffic to already existing on-line information platforms. Also, traditional print media had to invest in their on-line versions. Among all of this on-line noise, publishers are moving towards paid online content, supporting high-quality journalism.
Changes in the media industry impacted to a large extent also PR activities:
Contact with the press representatives is fully online now, including on-line press conferences and briefings, on-line TV interviews and phone radio comments. No more live events or discussion panels, we meet virtually.
Need for content and intensified content generation – on-line channels need content constantly to use their full capacity and meet the expectations of a modern audience that craves fresh news, updated even several times a day. This creates more space for corporate thought leadership and corporate information but, unfortunately, poses also the danger of low-quality information and fake news generation.
Many organizations decided to invest in their own digital communication channels. More and more companies are present in social media to publish their own content, they also implement such tools as blogs, webinars and podcasts to directly reach their target audiences.
Trend number three: emphasis on reputation and social responsibility
The rise of social media dramatically increased the transparency of public life and corporate actions as well. It gave an opportunity for external stakeholders to see if and how companies followed their corporate values amid pandemic crisis. We could see if corporate leaders walked the talk and how firms’ employer branding and CSR strategies were translated into actions.
Many companies gave the example of great social solidarity with those affected by COVID-19 to the largest extent. This sensitivity to social problems is rewarded by customers declaring that they prefer the products and services of the companies socially responsible over those which focus on their profits only.
We could clearly see a shift in perceptions - commercial enterprises are no longer a separate part of a larger society. They are held accountable for their impact on the environment they operate in. Currently, companies pay more attention to their positive impact not only on employees and their business partners but also the natural environment and local communities. Pandemic elevated this trend adding more emphasis on health issues.
Magdalena Biedrzycka-Doliwa, Head of corporate communications at Deloitte Poland
Any thoughts or opinions expressed are that of the author and not of Global Alliance.