With the beginning of 2020, the world has completely changed in the terms of socialization, interaction, and the way we engage with others due to the pandemic of COVID-19. Coronavirus has affected nations worldwide and forced the government to take drastic steps like quarantine, lockdown, social distancing, and many others. It has not only successfully created abnormal pressure on public health systems but also on crisis communication creating a high demand for PR as a tool of communication in the corporate sector. Due to which the companies have found various new methods to communicate with the public both internally and externally like social media, online meetings, and conferences, digital media, etc.
According to a study conducted by The Institute for Public Relations (IPR) and Peppercomm, on how prepared businesses were for COVID-19 and how they are handling the impacts, 30% said their organization was “very” prepared for COVID-19 while 55% said they were “somewhat” prepared. However, almost half (44%) said their crisis communications plan did not specifically address an infectious disease outbreak. Meanwhile, 10% of respondents did not have a crisis communications plan at all.
Communicating with the masses has always been essential for the brand or company. During a crisis, the customers expect that the brand will fulfill social responsibility and make correct decisions for its employees, shareholders, suppliers, consumers, etc. While the global market was on the verge of shutdown, so was the PR industry. With a low budget to spare, many companies thought of PR as a luxury service. While other companies prioritized their budget and used this opportunity to create a brand a brand recall value and leading the market.
Many corporate companies like Hyundai Motors, Reliance, etc. have used PR as a crisis communication tool during COVID-19 interestingly and effectively to communicate their contribution towards society and to build their public image.
