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In our rapidly shaping and shifting world, there is nothing more important than strong leadership. An organization can get along without it in a status quo environment – but the moment crisis rears its head, leaders are needed. Leaders who project strength, communicate clearly and show empathy.

There’s one thing we can be sure of in volatile times: it’s not a question of “if” the next crisis will come, it’s “when”. So, building competency in crisis communications should be a priority for every company and every leader.

Understanding crisis communications management

Crisis was once a term reserved for headline-grabbing events such as oil spills, plane crashes, large corporate scandals or major economic volatility. But in today’s deeply interconnected world, information is available to many different audiences, each with their own priorities. This means something that was previously a minor issue – only of interest to people inside or close to a company – can now be disseminated worldwide in an instant, finding that audience to whom it matters most. A small slipup can impact a company’s reputation and do lasting damage, sometimes more than a major event. Accounting mistakes, social justice issues, supply chain disruptions, privacy and cybersecurity, geopolitical events and workplace dynamics are just a few issues leaders need to navigate today. And they must navigate very quickly and very publicly.

Key elements of crisis communications and management

At ChangeMakers, we focus on five key elements that leaders need in a crisis:

Vision: Communicating a clear and compelling vision for your organization. Your stakeholders – the public, employees, shareholders – need to know your continued purpose and motivation regardless of the circumstances.

Agility: Adapting quickly to ever-changing circumstances and making decisions based on incomplete or uncertain information and communicating well.

Empathy: Showing an understanding of the lived experience and responding to the needs of your employees, customers and other stakeholders. Empathy and compassion should be visible in all communication.

Resilience: Demonstrating you can manage these setbacks and maintain a composed and calm demeanour throughout, while supporting others through transparent and open communication.

Collaboration: Working quickly to use your networks to find solutions to complex situations.

With so much at risk, more should be done to prepare.

A recent poll of executives* who’ve experienced crisis events shows that:

  • 38% had not anticipated the risk.
  • 24% anticipated the risk but weren’t prepared.
  • 64% reported the crisis set their company back financially.
  • 35% reported it impacted their ability to retain and recruit talent.

Clearly, more can and should be done to prepare leaders for a crisis – before it hits. Though we can’t know specifics of tomorrow’s crises, we can strengthen our vision, agility, empathy, resilience and collaboration through rigorous and data-informed training.

ChangeMakers Training Academy

The ChangeMakers Training Academy was created to answer this very challenge. We help leaders identify and strengthen the skills needed in crisis… skills that enhance and protect your reputation and maintain and build trust throughout any crisis.

We will help you prepare for any situation through: 

  • Risk audits
  • Rigorous simulations 
  • Understanding your stakeholders and issues
  • Data-driven tools focused on protecting, promoting and evolving your reputation
  • Communicating with empathy and transparency

Reputation capital matters more than ever. ChangeMakers Training Academy prepares leaders and their teams to step up when it matters most. Change is always coming – don’t wait for it to tap you on the shoulder. Be prepared to face it with readiness and determination.

*Source: https://senateshj.com/campaigns/crisis/

About the author
Vasie Papadopoulos / Vice President, Corporate Communications
Vasie is a seasoned communications leader with deep expertise in both public and private sector organizations. Her experience ranges from developing strategic communication plans, data-driven business strategies, creating unique company initiatives to leading and training organizations and executives on thought leadership, media training, public outreach, and crisis communications in complex and highly regulated sectors. When she isn’t working, she travels photographing the world.

In this age of disruption, change is the only constant. It is critical in this complex, competitive environment, for brands, businesses, and executives to know exactly where they stand.

Navigate your corporate reputation in real-time.

ChangeMakers Reputation Score© technology assesses your organization, analyzes how competitors compare, predicts reputational risks in advance, and creates opportunities for future growth.

Find out more about how we can help

BC Government – Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training

ChangeMakers designed an engagement program seeking to gather input from people with lived and living experience of poverty across BC. To ensure accessibility and inclusivity, we built in measures including honouraria, translation and interpretation, counselling, wellness supports, and coverage of other costs such as transportation, childcare, and food when necessary. 

Expertise

Social Impact Consulting

Working with the BC Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (SDPR), we were brought on to design and lead province-wide engagement to inform an update to TogetherBC: BC’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. As part of the strategy’s legislation, it must be updated every five years. We designed a robust engagement program seeking to gather input specifically from people with lived and living experience of poverty across BC. This included regional Town Halls, small group sessions, an online survey, DIY conversation toolkit, and other tactics including working with the Minister to host roundtable conversations. To ensure accessibility and inclusivity, we built in measures including honoraria, translation and interpretation, counselling, wellness supports, and coverage of other costs such as transportation, childcare and food when necessary. The project engaged approximately 10,000 people across British Columbia, including approximately 12% identifying as Indigenous. We crafted a What We Heard Report which will be presented to government to inform an update to the poverty reduction strategy in 2024.

Situation

Based on extensive initial engagement in 2017-18, TogetherBC, British Columbia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, was released in 2019 and sets a path to reduce overall poverty in BC by 25% and child poverty by 50% by 2024. With investments from across Government, TogetherBC reflects government’s commitment to reduce poverty and make life more affordable for British Columbians. It includes policy initiatives and investments designed to lift people up, break the cycle of poverty and build a better BC for everyone.

Targets, timelines, and accountability for TogetherBC are laid out in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Act. This act states that the strategy is to be updated every five years. To inform the update to the strategy, the Government of BC engaged us to design, facilitate and report back on what poverty currently looks like across BC and potential solutions to addressing it from the perspective of those with lived and living experience and community members.

COVID-19, the housing crisis, climate emergencies and inflation are some major local and global events that have significantly impacted British Columbians. Government needed to understand the experiences on the ground and how these events have impacted certain populations and issues in different ways, as well as solutions that are making a difference, new programs and services needed, and where government can prioritize over the next five years of the strategy.

Problem

Since the current government in BC came into power, more than 378,000 people have been lifted out of poverty, including 104,000 children. However, much of this can be attributed to COVID-19 relief supports from the federal government, as well as other temporary measures during the pandemic. Other important actions have been completed that are making a difference in reducing poverty, but for some groups, it is still not enough and challenges remain.

Hearing directly from people with lived and living experience was also a direct mandate of this engagement, which presents major challenges requiring innovative thinking to ensure accessibility and very low barriers to participation.

Solution

We designed and facilitated a comprehensive engagement program resulting in a What We Heard report summarizing all the input from throughout the engagement period. Engagement tactics for this project included:

  • 5 virtual, regional town halls
  • 30 small group sessions, both in-person and virtual throughout BC, in partnership with community and service organizations
  • 4 roundtable sessions with the Minister
  • Online survey accessible through the GovTogetherBC website
  • DIY Conversation Toolkit with up to $2000 in funding available for groups to host their own sessions
  • Consultation website and opportunity for written submissions

To ensure accessible engagement options, we coordinated significant supports including the following:

  • Wellness support sheet for all sessions
  • Language interpretation for virtual and in-person sessions when requested
  • ASL and captioning for all town halls and for small group sessions when requested
  • $100 honoraria for small group session participants and $30 honoraria for town hall participants
  • Food/catering for all in-person small group sessions and roundtables
  • Up to $2000 in supports for each organization looking to host their own conversations

Promotion of the opportunity to engage was conducted through widespread community outreach, including through organizations on the ground, digital channels, and ministry offices. A QR code and link to the engagement website was included on two rounds of income assistance payments, as well as the myselfserve.gov.bc.ca website where individuals can access their government assistance information.

Results

The project remained on time and on budget, despite a large scope with a higher than average amount of expenses. The project engaged approximately 10,000 people across BC, including:

8,337 survey responses, which included:

  • 77% currently live in poverty
  • 69% self-identified as living with a disability
  • 44% identified as living with mental illness, substance challenge, or addiction
  • 12% identify as Indigenous
  • Over 300 downloads of the conversation toolkit and 18 organizations receiving funding support to host their own conversations
  • Approximately 500 people in attendance through town halls, Minister’s roundtables, and small group sessions, including approximately half of which with lived and living experience
  • Approximately 100 written submissions though the consultation website

Change events will impact you both planned and unexpected. From M&A Transactions, Rebranding, Financial Change, Leadership Transition, and Public Crisis.

Learn from others who are navigating change this year.

Dive into our Reputation Index 2024 to uncover how major events impact brand reputation- and learn what it takes to protect your biggest corporate asset- Your Reputation.

Download the report PDF now

Data Intelligence

Services

  • [01]
    Audience, stakeholder and customer analysis
  • [02]
    Board and Executive Advisory
  • [03]
    Brand Positioning
  • [04]
    Business and Marketing Strategy
  • [05]
    ChangeMakers Reputation Score – powering Reputation Scorecard and Predictive Analysis
  • [06]
    Corporate and Organizational Strategy
  • [07]
    Data Intelligence and Analytics  
  • [08]
    Employee Experience and People Consulting
  • [09]
    Growth Strategy
  • [10]
    Transformation and Change Management

Change events will impact you both planned and unexpected. From M&A Transactions, Rebranding, Financial Change, Leadership Transition, and Public Crisis.

Learn from others who are navigating change this year.

Dive into our Reputation Index 2024 to uncover how major events impact brand reputation- and learn what it takes to protect your biggest corporate asset- Your Reputation.

Download the report PDF now

Sponsor Energy

Sponsor Energy Inc is a private, Alberta-based energy provider that believes in keeping prices on power and gas as low as possible and in making a difference in the communities they serve. With some of Alberta’s lowest and most competitive fixed-rate options, Sponsor Energy ensures their customers receive exceptional value without compromising quality.

Expertise

Marketing

Services

Creative Concepting
Creative Production
Creative Strategy
Media Planning, Buying & Post- Campaign Analysis

Sponsor Energy campaign - website and Song advert ad

Energy Crunch

In the fall of 2023, Albertans faced a cost of energy crisis. Within a deregulated energy market that was supposed to provide more choice and lower costs, the price of electricity had exploded. On top of rampant inflation affecting Albertans’ grocery bills, interest payments and rent, expensive electricity was the last straw. Albertans were feeling increasingly ignored by government and taken advantage of by the big companies who they felt were price-gouging them and calling it inflation.

Time to be Loud!

Sponsor Energy Billboard - Utility bill so high you'd rather live in the dark ages?

We knew the level of outrage at high energy prices wasn’t going away any time soon, so we embraced it. We knew we had to be as loud as possible for as long as possible if we were going to achieve aggressive growth targets before the market shifted again.

To break through to a cynical and disaffected audience, we needed to give voice to that anger. We decided to be a brash, combative truth teller that was firmly on the side of all Albertans struggling with their electricity bills. Our mission was to bring Power to the People.

Sponsor Energy - Wall poster ads

With this brand positioning, we got into market with snappy headlines on an eye-catching electric pink background. The headlines ensured we were top of mind with the audience and always positioned the big utility companies as a shared enemy we were collectively fighting against.

These headlines came to life in OOH billboards and wild postings across the province. We created attention-grabbing radio spots designed to highlight the frustration Albertans felt at their sky-high electricity bills. This brand awareness push was supported by a lower-funnel digital buy focused on driving conversion and conquesting anyone searching for the big providers. As the cold weather drove electricity demand, and prices went up, we leveraged The Weather Network to get in front of Albertans in another smart, targeted manner.

Flip Off!

While our initial communication was in market to keep new customers flowing in, we worked on a way to create a big splash – an emotionally fueled way to convince Albertans to break up with their energy provider. We channeled Morgan Wallen, Luke Coombs and Oliver Anthony in a country rock song for the ages. Our lyrics gave voice to what our audience really wanted to tell their energy providers – FLIP OFF!

We partnered with local up-and-coming singer Garrett Gregory to record the song and released 30-second lyric videos on Sponsor Energy’s social media channels, along with a province-wide radio and digital-audio buy which drove massive impact with our audience.

Generating Power

Our creative grabbed Albertans’ attention and continued to drive new customers for Sponsor Energy, generating between 750 and 1,000 new sign-ups per week for the four months we were in market as well as increasing searches for Sponsor Energy more than 600%.

The Flip Off song was so well received that Garrett is now releasing it as part of his own catalog, which means it will soon take on a life of its own.

Sponsor Energy - Social media ads examples
Tired of the big four monopoly? Get out of Jail. - Sponsor Energy - Billboard ad
How many lightbulbs does it take to change your utility provider. One. - Sponsor Energy - Billboard ad

Helping leaders build organizational readiness and resilience.  

For more than 40 years, we have delivered training services informed by a deep understanding of the North American media landscape, trends in issues management and crisis communications. 

From government officials to c-suite executives, we are proud to work alongside the world’s biggest brands and help non-profit, private, as well as public sector leaders put big ideas onto the public agenda.  

Our team has built training programs that go beyond theory, bringing our real-world experience to deliver workshops that prepare organizations for meaningful communications with the media, analysts, regulators, customers, shareholders and employees.   

Invest in your reputation with the ChangeMakers Training Academy.  

  • Spokesperson Media Training   
  • Issues and Crisis Communications   
  • Plain Language Writing and Editing   
  • Communications Planning 101 
  • Effective Presentations   
  • Dealing with Disruptions   
  • Public Engagement  
  • Brand Journalism for Social Media  

We’re happy to also offer customized training based on organizational or leadership needs. 

When it comes to training, we adapt to your organization’s needs. Sessions can be facilitated in a group setting as well as one-on-one, in-person and virtually. Workshops can be regularly planned and scheduled or set up due to an urgent issue (e.g., resulting in a high-stakes interview).  

We create custom simulations that introduce participants to the critical components of a crisis communications plan and give them an opportunity to practice the key steps in response planning and communications.

Roanne Argyle
Roanne Argyle
She/Her
President, Reputation Management
Robert Gemmill
Robert Gemmill
President, U.S.
Kim Blanchette
Kim Blanchette
She/Her
EVP, Castlemain
Megan Gabrial
Megan Gabriel
EVP, Reputation, Risk, & Advisor
Vasie Papadopoulos
Vasie Papadopoulos
VP, Corporate & Public Affairs
Jeremy Desel
Jeremy Desel
SVP, Reputation, Risk & Advisory
Hilary Friesen
Hilary Friesen
She/Her
VP, Social Change
Stasa-Veroukis-Regina
Stasa Veroukis-Regina
Director, Class Action Advisory and Communications
Rachel Cohen
Rachel Cohen
Senior Account Manager
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In our modern world is the Medium still the Message? 

In our modern world is The Medium still the Message? 

Everybody has heard the phrase “The Medium is the Message,” Marshall McLuhan’s famous contribution to the study of communication. It may seem like a complex theory from a philosophical genius, but it’s actually quite intuitive. McLuhan is saying the medium through which information is transmitted shapes and influences our perception and understanding of the message itself. If you watch a commercial on TV, the very fact that it’s a TV ad is going to change how the audience understands it. McLuhan was thinking about this in the 60s just as TV was rising to mass media prominence, reaching tens of millions of people simultaneously. If VW had a commercial at half-time at the Super Bowl, we all saw the same thing at the same time, in the same context. And context is what McLuhan was focused on. 

But people no longer watch TV in the traditional sense – they consume content on multiple devices: casting, streaming and binging content free from a set time and location. The proliferation of digital media has transformed the traditional mass communication model into a more personalized and one-to-one communication paradigm. Context is now continuously changing as digital messaging can follow us from browsing, to streaming, to scrolling – constantly shifting mediums. This begs the question: do we still need to consider McLuhan’s thesis? Can’t we, as marketers, advertisers and communicators now just focus on the message? 

The answer is a resounding no. McLuhan’s insight is more significant than ever, but with one huge difference. Marketers during TV’s reign had to take TV’s context into account to craft relevant messaging; now we need to actively create relevant context alongside relevant content.     

TV: The King of Reach 

We can’t ignore the fact that McLuhan’s world looked vastly different in the 1960s, when TV was the silver bullet to achieve reach. The duopoly of Google and Meta collectively could begin to approach something resembling that reach a decade ago, but a multitude of changes (technology, competition, further fragmentation in the digital space) have made it increasingly difficult to achieve true mass reach with any one channel. Audiences have never been more fragmented. So, we’re faced with a difficult challenge: with reach being a fundamental predictor of success, it has become increasingly more difficult to achieve, and is further complicated by challenges that make it difficult to evaluate true reach. Measurement of reach is hindered by the closed ecosystems of the big online giants, limitations around cross-device tracking, ad-blocking and privacy regulations.  

Digital: The King of Precision 

TV brought us tremendous reach – but it was a blunt instrument. Scale, yes. Ability to be relevant to individuals? Not so much. We can approximate some of the scale with digital, but we now have tools to deliver messaging with incredible control over the who and the where. As we plan communications to deliver maximum results, precision vs. scale becomes the quandary. A broader reach strategy will achieve a broader audience, but at the cost of precision. This broad approach has its place; it is effective for awareness, driving household penetration for brands, campaigns and organizations, reaching people who may not fit neatly into specific segments. Yet mass is no longer the silver bullet it used to be as today’s consumers expect creative content to be relevant to their needs, interests and preferences. They want content that addresses their specific pain points, desires or challenges. We see that McLuhan is still as right as ever, the Medium is the Message – but now the medium (and thus the message) is personalized.   

The who and the where are the priorities for effective digital communication. Creating the who and the where must go hand in hand with creating the messaging for it to be relevant. We know relevant messaging drives engagement and builds stronger connections. And in a medium that promises continual personalization, users will become desensitized to generic or repetitive messaging. Relevancy helps combat fatigue while delivering results: boosting CTRs, driving higher conversions and continuing to engage and retain audiences. 

Personalization 

As today’s media landscape continues to evolve, communicators and advertisers need to strike the right balance of reach and relevance to deliver successful campaigns, resulting in messaging that is not only seen by the right people but is seen in environments where they make sense and resonate with their audience. With relevance comes the seemingly impossible task of achieving scale while delivering personalized content. 

McLuhan is as relevant as ever. The medium is speaking as much as the message, and everyone needs to listen to what it’s saying: personalization. From strategy to creative, media-buying to execution, ChangeMakers understands this core truth, and we’re equipped to bring the right data sets together to ensure an audience-first approach is embraced across our disciplines and departments. When the quality of attention you achieve is arguably more important than scale, having a deep understanding of audiences and context is not only a fundamental pillar in communication, but arguably the starting point for everything.  

How to navigate change on social media.  

We find ourselves in the teenage years of the dominant social media platforms – Facebook is 20 years old; Instagram is 14; and 18-year-old Twitter has angrily changed its name to X. As with any teenager, volatility is the norm. Recent years brought us the mountainous rise of TikTok, the faltering of Twitter, the birth of Threads, the rise and fall of the metaverse, Bill C-18, Apple’s app tracking transparency, and generative AI for all. There’s been a tremendous amount of change. 

Constant change and disruption is woven into the fabric of the digital landscape. So how do communicators and marketers navigate these rapid transformations of technology, norms, and tastes? There are really only two choices – radical change every quarter or create a long-term, stable social strategy. The former is going to consistently get you into trouble, the latter will set you up for success for years to come.  
 
Just because platforms are volatile, doesn’t mean brands have to be. Amidst the chaos, the smart move is to create integrated strategies that bring together social, creative, media, and web teams to curate moments, and create ownable content focused on measurable goals.  

If users don’t win, everyone loses  

We are in the midst of a fierce battle for attention. Consumer ability to jump toward shiny new platforms is forever shifting how social media properties operate.  As communicators, we should be rooting for more success, not failure. A healthy, competitive social media ecosystem is better for all of us as it incentivises communicators to create compelling messaging.   
 
Meta’s platforms, along with TikTok’s, increasingly suffer from a proliferation of out-of-touch and socially disconnected ads. A surge in poorly crafted, and often auto-generated messaging results in user disengagement; they post less frequently, see less of what they want, and before you know it, you’re in a platform death spiral. This cycle creates a worse environment for users, contributing to declining diversity, doom-scrolling, and deteriorating mental health – which is a lousy environment for organizations to communicate with users.    
 
No one should add to this deterioration. Marketers and communicators must be thoughtful about what we bring to the party. Audiences want to be seen and acknowledged, and they crave relevant content. Brands who lead with authenticity and demonstrate they understand the diversity of their customers’ values will continue to flourish.  

Paid and organic: BFFs  

Organic reach is dead. But that doesn’t mean organic efforts should be abandoned. It just means that paid campaigns and organic publishing shouldn’t operate in silos, and certainly not with distinct teams behind them. Organic and paid should be part of the same strategy conversation – with creative and media at the table. Paid and organic can complement each other strongly. Organic audiences are engaged supporters, driving content views, comments, and organic website sessions. Organic content nurtures and informs those who know your brand or your perspective. These audiences are your most loyal, and insights from their actions and interests will inform your paid audience targeting, and your next round of creative content planning. On the flip side, within your best performing social media content – that’s tested across millions of targeted impressions, and dozens of AI powered creative treatments – lies the spark for your next most engaging organic content.    

Bigger! Better! Fewer!  

Face it, very few are waiting for your organization’s next social media post. You should be communicating when you have something relevant to say. It’s more effective to focus your integrated social media efforts within your brand’s own schedule. Find your most meaningful and most impactful moments. Pick your times to speak, and break through with meaning, authenticity, and the weight of a focused ad spend to drive higher exposure for the moments that matter (to you and your audiences). Less is more!  
 
Bigger moments are more likely to align with strategic outcomes. And social media outcomes should be a means-to-an-end, aligning with actual business objectives. Your organization is not powered by impressions and likes. Calibrate your conversions and turn on an ecosystem that is fine-tuned to nurture first-party customer data – data from which you can grow more meaningful relationships. Engaged audiences are more likely to connect through to your websites, your ecommerce shop, your CRM initiatives, and your physical assets.    

Embrace platform formats  

The smartphone is the TV of today. And vertical video is its 22-minute sitcom. XDR screens and 5G networks have made social media feeds the perfect place for vertical video entertainment. Steve Jobs dreamed of an entertainment and communications device for the park bench, the bus, and the bathroom. And now we have it, full-screen and lightning fast. Today, content carrying your message needs to resonate with your mobile viewer within just 2 seconds. This is why your creative and social media teams should integrate from the start, so that possibilities are never missed. Your content planning and production stream can be designed to incorporate native platform truths, from the start. The format is vertical, short, and quickly engaging – with branding and key message right up front. 
 
Because social media is so volatile, we as marketers need to be extra focused on stability. When users, platforms, and policies ebb and flow, integration and cohesion are our secret weapons. Increase the proximity between social, creative, media, and web teams. Lead with authenticity. Embrace and test new platform formats. These are the efforts that enhance immediate success during these platform teen years and prepare us for weathering the expected volatility ahead.  


About the author
Laura Lewandowski / Executive Vice President, Media
Leadership matters, more than ever. Building competency in proactive crisis communications management can prepare you and your leaders for the next crisis. Amid organizational and societal shifts, leaders who project strength, communicate clearly, and show empathy can earn confidence, reduce risk, and improve brand and personal reputations, even when crisis hits.