Catherine Devaney on how the impact of 2020 has shaped communications at a global level

In her Valedictory session at the Catherine Devaney, Deputy MD and Head of Health, UK, WE Communications spoke at length on "critical factors and forces that will shape communications in 2021".

According to her even before COVID, the world demanded a new way to lead to communicate and to work. Increasingly, it all comes back to a purpose, she said. Speaking on how 2019 was called a year of protests by the media because of the crowds of IPRCCA 2020, people who are marching in the street supporting issues they believed in, she said, “I think we can see that  activism is on the rise.”

She cited an example from a dance number performed on Britain's Got Talent that supported the Black Lives Matter movement which received a lot of flak in the form of complaints. However, ITV, the UK broadcaster of Britain's Got Talent defended the performance, the group and the message on social media and in print. “I love the message that they ran. They said we are changed by what we see, just as we are changed when we are seen, the lines taken from a powerful purpose lead ad campaign that the broadcaster launched earlier in the year. So social action is a powerful force,” she said.

Then she gave another example from Australia. “In Australia, we've had a three-year partnership with the nonprofit plastic-free foundation, which encourages people to reduce plastic use, and as the driving force behind plastic-free July, and this year, even with a global focus on Black Lives Matter and the pandemic. The plastic-free movement saw 326 million participants in the challenge which was a 30% increase over last year's participation,” she said.

According to Devaney in 2019, 83% said they believed brands could be capable of providing stability in uncertain times.

Talking of another great example of brand communication Devaney spoke of Avon.

“The brand was so committed to help end violence against women and girls globally. This was a critical moment for Avon even in India, to introduce introduces promise through action. It is not a pleasant subject for anyone to discuss and the temptation might be to look the other way. But Avon has leaned into its purpose and given a voice to the voiceless, talking about a subject which some consider unspeakable. The Avon Foundation for women and their communications partners launched the ‘isolated not alone’ campaign. They worked with NGOs fighting against gender-based domestic violence, rallied support from influencers and hosted live sessions on Instagram to address questions around Legal Aid and mental health. Overall, more than 15,000 clients received health services including screening and counseling. $122,000 in grants to frontline services to support women and children in need and at risk, and more than 2.9 million users were reached. Consumers are clearly asking for meaningful action over lip service or rhetoric,” she said.

Devaney cited several other examples of brands taking a stance and meaningfully acting with purpose. The examples included that of Microsoft announcing to go carbon negative and removing all carbon that they've admitted as a company since they were founded in 1975.

“For so many brands, the pandemic has been a forcing function in driving companies to articulate and commit to a purpose that speaks to the most foundational human needs, not just a product's utility. But the real test of a true and resilient purpose-led brand is how its purpose comes to life inside the company and for its people. We have seen a real uptake in client requests for support on employee engagement over the last year, and we think this is only set to increase. Without employee engagement, your company's purpose is hollow. Of course, your employees are your biggest ambassadors for your purpose. In some cases, in the past couple of years, there's been a huge disconnect between outward displays of purpose and internal negligence,” she said.

Devaney also spoke about employee engagement and transparency. “Last year, only 50% of respondents said employee engagement programs and meeting their people's needs, and only 20% are prioritizing investments to address factors like emotional health, equity and inclusion and culture. That's not just an HR or internal comms misstep. That is a missed business opportunity in the face of uncertainty and hardship. We have all seen too many companies pull funding from internal programs, go dark on their employees because they just don't know what to say. Or simply let employee engagement efforts fall by the wayside as other priorities feel much more urgent to them,” she said.

“This year, businesses are wondering how to be resilient in their purpose when they're constantly in reactive mode, concerned about crisis response, reputation, management and relevance,” Devaney added and cited the example of HSBC on rolling out an employee engagement campaign Drumbeat. Then she spoke about how Intel used technology in providing medical assistance to people during the pandemic.

“The legacy of COVID-19 will recognize that modern life no longer requires us to be physically present. And 2020 was definitely a year of cyber firsts, as COVID-19 opened our eyes to digital alternatives in work in life and beyond, and remove geographical barriers accelerated tech adoption rates amongst all age groups, and this provides opportunities for brands to use new platforms to engage with audiences,” Devaney said.

She also raised another important point and said, “I think this is really important, it also requires brands to take responsibility for considering the accessibility of their communications, particularly for brands in healthcare, financial services and energy. How can you ensure that you are not contributing to the digital divide? How can you work hard to ensure that the more vulnerable in our societies are not left behind?”

Answering her own question she said, “One way to tackle the issue of engagement is to seek input and canvass opinion from advocacy groups that represent these people. Even better, if you can actually work with the customer themselves. The stakeholder customer is another important trend for 2021. In 2024, the site factory found that 63% of consumers of global consumers would like it if their favorite brand asked for their ideas for new products, and 76% expected companies to use their feedback to improve their offerings.”

According to Devaney, moving forward, the rise of stakeholder capitalism and approach demanding businesses be run from multiple stakeholders including customers, clients, employees, communities, and the natural environment, who keep brand purpose centerstage.

“Engaging effectively with all your stakeholders is going to build trust, which is important in a world facing a crisis of trust. Created by the perfect storm of COVID-19 disruption, increasing polarizing politics, and the rise of digital misinformation brands prepared to offer new levels of transparency as consumers look for new ways to validate claims of all kinds. The trust economy is thriving. However, instead of seeing this as an added box to tick brands need to embrace the opportunity by sharing more information with the world from ingredients to carbon footprints to salaries, brands can differentiate themselves and strengthen their purpose and messaging together with transparency is authenticity,” she said.