The COVID-19 pandemic has upended virtually every industry, compelling businesses to quickly and continuously adapt to the ever-changing consumer landscape. How has this impacted the marketing communications function and strategy? What are some of the key skills needed to be successful in this new reality?
On February 25, IABC/Toronto hosted a webinar with Stephanie Nadalin, AVP of External Communications and Irene Daley, AVP of Strategic Marketing at Canadian Tire. These executives shared key insights they have learned, and are still learning, on how to break through and win with customers in a global pandemic, and spoke about how these lessons apply to communicators across sectors and industries.
Stay true to your brand purpose: “When a crisis hits, your brand purpose becomes even more important. When the pandemic began, we realized that we needed to take responsibility for our customers and employees. We had to place their health and safety first, ensure we brought in the products they needed and also started a COVID relief fund,” says Daley.
Break down silos: According to Nadalin, “When the pandemic began, communications became a strategic resource hub and we started consulting across business units that we hadn’t supported in the past. Getting to the table sooner and collaborating with peers across the business helps to bring in innovation and solve challenges in a way that helps not only the customer, but every stakeholder in your business.”
Let your customer’s needs be your guide: “We had to ditch all our pre-pandemic plans and rejig everything to suit the new reality. At the beginning of the pandemic, we highlighted the quality and breadth of our products and how to be a home expert. Now we are more focused on helping Canadians rediscover joy and giving them hope. In a time of crisis, you need to adapt to meet your customers’ needs. That is how brands stand out,” says Daley.
Walk the talk and speak as one: “The words that we use matter both internally and externally – we had to streamline and align our messaging such that it became an anthem for the whole company. We also had to ensure that we were all talking and behaving in the same way. We realized that we are not just Canadian Tire, we’re Canadian, and we need to reflect that throughout the way we conduct ourselves and our business,” says Daley.
Be agile and push progress over perfection: “There’s no historical precedent for how to respond during a pandemic unless you were around for the Spanish flu,” Nadalin quips. “You need to constantly test and learn, be okay with operating in the grey and recognize that you might be a trailblazer in some cases.” Adds Daley, “It’s more important to work together and move forward as one team than to strive for perfection.”
Contingency planning is key: For Nadalin, it’s crucial to have that “pivot plan” embedded in all our plans going forward because things could change at any time. And we also need to have shorter spurts of planning to ensure that we cater to the flavour of the week or month. This helps to avoid analysis paralysis and plan better for the future.
Missed the webinar?
The recording is available for free to members and for purchase to non-members. Access the recording here.
Recorded: Thursday, February 25, 2021 from 12 to 1 p.m. EDT
Duration: approximately 1 hour