It’s official: we can hug our friends and family! I personally am so happy to be able to show the ones I love how much I care for and appreciate them. But when it comes to businesses showing appreciation for the customers that have stood by them during these difficult times, everything is still having to be done at a distance and rather differently than before. So, when everyone could do with a little hug, how can comms and marketing teams help show their company cares and give a little something back?
The growing role of customer advocacy
For any B2B business, the likes of customer success teams have become integral in helping to keep customers happy. Customer experience is now the key brand differentiator, above service or product. Not only will a great customer experience ensure customers will stay with you and are more likely to pay more, increasing customer lifetime value, but these satisfied customers can also become brand ambassadors, spreading the word about your business and bringing in new clients.
As such, whole teams are now being dedicated to customer advocacy – top clients working hand-in-hand with the company to help gain awareness in the industry through the likes of events, speaker engagements and thought leadership. It’s certainly no surprise as to why. Any comms or marketing professional knows that word of mouth is still one of the most powerful tools out there – especially as we’re becoming increasingly sceptical of marketing and advertising. In the end, it all boils down to trust.
Building up this trust with your customers first hinges on how you communicate with them. Comms teams are a key ingredient for customer advocacy and need to work closely with customer excellence teams. Moreover, this past year, every business has gone through a lot, potentially had to make cutbacks, and deciding your product or service was one they couldn’t do without means a whole lot more. To keep your customers singing your praises will take a little more too.
Ramping it up a notch
For many, business is only just back up and running – some are still not quite fully operational. In any case, it may mean there is not much spare money floating around in company coffers to be sending the usual corporate gift baskets or organising a large exclusive event for your customers. While your company may wish to offer loyal customers a free upgrade or discount code, that currently may not be feasible either. This is where customer communication comes into its own. Through your customer comms and marketing there are other simple ways to give back and to demonstrate how much your customers mean to you, without breaking the bank. Here’s five of them:
Email marketing is an age-old customer communication staple, but it may be time to give the content you share an update. For example, was there a great internal initiative your company undertook that received brilliant feedback and made a real difference? Your customers may be facing a similar challenge and appreciate hearing how you overcame it. Not to mention, this presents an opportunity to show how your company values align with those of your customers.
More importantly, you’re showing how you’re not getting in touch with your customers just to try and sell another product or service. Everything you do is not only about how you’re helping them to succeed but it’s about their overall business and organisational success. It can be easy to pull on any internal communications about these new initiatives and to repackage these to share with customers too. Or if you create customer newsletters, why not include a section dedicated to this? Remember, if possible, always tailor these to ensure they are actually relevant and useful.
While still effective, email may also not be how every customer wishes to be communicated with, especially in light of the pandemic unleashing a whole raft of new communication and collaboration tools. It’s time to reassess where your customers are spending most of their time and where they want to be receiving information. This can be easily done through pulling on available engagement data and analytics.
Taking the time and effort to speak to your customers where it is easy and convenient for them is another means to show you’re putting them first. It’s not about your company’s needs but making things easier for them. Not to mention, if you’re speaking to your customers on the right channels, it’s more likely they’ll listen.
This also shouldn’t be a one-sided conversation. The continuous sending of content without being able to share anything back can become a little disengaging, even disheartening. Enable your customers to communicate back with you and to share their thoughts and suggestions. If customers feel they can influence product updates and innovations based on their needs, they will be truly invested in you, knowing they will benefit from these developments in the future. Ultimately, customer advocacy is about forming partners, not just customers.
Comms and marketing teams have unique access to a whole host of easily actionable feedback sources, from email responses to social media messages and comments – these need to be listened to and acted on. Not to mention, these are invaluable for informing wider and overall business strategies.
As well as your customers’ needs and challenges, hopefully you’ll be well in tune with any big upcoming projects or undertakings on their side. When they start talking about it, make sure you join in the conversation too – whether that be further sharing the announcement across social, or even giving them a little shoutout in your own company newsletter. Let them see that you’re supporting them and praising their achievements.
Perhaps your client is also looking to try and boost awareness of their own company. Are there any joint PR or marketing efforts you could do, might they be a good fit as a panellist for that upcoming webinar or speaker for a virtual event? Going that extra mile can really show how much you care. Not to mention, when it comes to external PR, this is a brilliant opportunity for them to share their story about how great it is working with you.
Two small words can carry a lot of weight and impact – but something so simple can easily be overlooked. Whether this is a message from your CEO shared over email or even a bigger call out over social or in a corporate announcement, highlighting your customers’ great successes in the past year will be greatly appreciated.
Remember, though, especially if you’re going down the route of an individual message, again, personalisation is everything. Nothing can invalidate a thank you more than the realisation that it is a blanket message being sent to everyone on your customer database. Be conscious of the timing these messages are sent and, using those customer insights and feedback gained, craft relevant thank you messages that will truly resonate.
Every business wants and needs their customers on their side and right now, it is even more important to have those third-party brand ambassadors, building your credibility and your reputation. It’s definitely time to say a little thank you.
Just one parting word of caution, don’t concentrate or adapt your efforts too much on just one or two customers, to the potential detriment of others. At the end of the day, you want to be trying to keep all your customers happy and the more you can build into brand ambassadors, the better.
And if you’d like to see a little bit about how we’ve been helping delight customers and spreading the word, take a look here.
Firstly, while a little off topic, we have to acknowledge that we’ve all made it through the drab winter months and spring has finally sprung. Not to mention, like the flowers finally coming into bloom, surveys show there is also growing optimism looking towards the future.
Now, back to the big developments we’re seeing unfolding in the world of tech and we have to start with Deliveroo’s highly anticipated IPO — and subsequent flop. It has even been hailed as one of the worst market debuts on record. So, what went wrong? Read more on the Daily Telegraph. Deliveroo has also been under fire from employees protesting against their poor treatment by the company. The Guardian has more details on the recent demonstration and Firefly’s CEO Claire Walker shares her view on what makes a successful IPO here.
There could soon be more bad news for the big players in the tech world, as the UK has launched a new watchdog to crack down on big tech. Find out more about the plans for tougher regulation and new rules granting consumers more power over their data on City AM. This may not be welcome news for the likes of Google, which is already in hot water for allegedly tracking and storing information on Android users without their consent. The Daily Telegraph has the full story.
Cryptocurrency has been dominating the media for months and continues to be all over the news, with the cryptocurrency market having just hit $2 trillion, but now it’s making headlines for other reasons. Research has revealed that Chinese bitcoin mining is generating more annual emissions than some European countries. The Metro outlines the full research and findings.
There is, however, some more positive news. While we were likely all still stuffing our faces with chocolate, the UK’s electricity system was enjoying its greenest day ever on Easter Bank Holiday Monday, with favourable weather and low power demand causing a swell in renewable energy sources. BBC News has the full analysis. There are also some hopeful developments on the horizon in the world of gaming. The British Esports Association (BEA) is pushing for Esports to be more accessible to disabled gamers, with gaming tournaments exclusively for players with disabilities. BBC News has more on how the BEA is hoping to make this possible.
And finally, back to where we started. If you’re still in need of something to help brighten up these ongoing Covid days, Will.i.am may just have the thing for you. The rapper will release the ‘Xupermask’, a ‘smart mask’ with inbuilt noise cancelling headphones, a charging port and LED lights. It will set you back a pretty penny though, with a retail price of $299. Check it out on the Daily Mail.
Like to find more tech news and stories like these? Our daily Firewire newsletter collates the biggest tech news stories of the day in one handy email – sign up here.
With over thirty years of experience here at Firefly, we’ve seen a lot of things come and go and experienced many transformations and makeovers, not only of ourselves, but our whole industry.
While there would normally be a fair bit of breathing space between each new iteration, now, we’re lucky if we get a few weeks. Having recently reflected on how comms professionals and marketers have had to adapt with Just Marketing in May last year, our thoughts are already in need of a serious update.
Normal – but not as we know it
Entering this new year, not only have we made changes, but the whole world has changed yet again. The ‘new normal’ is a phrase we’re all a little tired of hearing but, don’t worry, it may soon fade away and be replaced with a new phrase. In 2021, we will now need to prepare for the ‘next normal’.
So, what does that mean? More specifically, what does that mean for comms and marketing professionals? And what tools, competencies and mindsets will be needed to successfully navigate it?
To hopefully help answer these questions, here are our insights into the five key elements for a comms and marketing B-R-A-I-N in 2021.
B:readth
The lines between comms and marketing have been gradually merging but we will now see that line fade out completely.
Despite working at a distance, different departments have been forced to collaborate more and to achieve desired goals, especially in trying times, marketing and comms cannot be working in silos. We need to be thinking about the bigger picture – we’re no longer either comms or marketing professionals, we’re all the moulders and builders of brands and their reputations. There’s a reason we’re now talking about the reputation shaper brain and not the comms or marketing brain.
Those reputations are built on views from others – customers, partners, the media, employees or candidates, stakeholders, even Alexa and Google Nest. As a result, our job roles are even broader than before and cut across all these elements. Not to mention, with changing customer expectations, we’re now needing to interact far more with other disciplines too, such as supply chain teams or R&D. We’ve gone far beyond multi-tasking, we’re multidisciplinary.
R:esourcefulness
In 2020, many marketing and comms budgets were slashed and while the economic outlook for 2021 is brighter, many businesses will most likely still be penny pinching – or at least much more discerning with where they spend their precious pounds. Consequently, comms and marketing professionals may be expected to do the same activities and achieve the same results and outcomes (or even more) with less. 2021 will be the year of the ‘work-around’, finding ways to conduct activities differently ̶ and possibly, more cheaply.
Our industry is known for creativity but now, we need to get creative with our resources. The same avenues and possibilities that were previously a standard go-to may no longer be open to us. For example, take the likes of surveys – whether that be looking at public sentiment, that of customers or employees – these can offer critical insights for the required direction and structure of comms and marketing, even overall business plans. But they can be costly too. So, we need to make the most of what we have to hand: Using social media polls to garner customer feedback and whether you’re using Zoom, Google Meet or Slack to keep up with colleagues, creating internal polls within these platforms is easy.
If you cannot offer monetary prizes for employee polls, how about randomly selecting someone from those taking part to finish early on a Friday or start later on the Monday? It’s free and certainly a good incentive.
A:ccuracy
The flip side to covering so much ground and different areas of expertise is that more attention needs to be paid to pursuing the right activities, with the right audiences that will generate the intended results. While making really solid plans is still nigh on impossible, outlining clear, concrete goals is key. If these are not defined and agreed, it’s easy to fly off in different directions, overstretching (potentially already strained) teams and ending up far off target.
‘Think before you do’ must be any reputation shaper’s mantra. Hopefully being able to still gain those crucial insights into behaviours, needs and wants, you are armed with the necessary information to target where you can truly offer value – perhaps even identifying the issues people are not even aware of themselves. With circumstances changing at such rapid rates, people don’t only want to work with those who can address their current problems but can predict, and even help avoid, future ones.
These missions and goals also need to be accurately measured. When budgets are tight, not only do we need to prove value to customers and clients but also internally. We need to ask ourselves: Are these metrics a proper reflection of efforts and value and do they work in the current climate? If not, change them.
I:ntimacy and intent
Many of us have got a little up close and personal with colleagues, customers and clients over the past months, with intimate peeks into private and home lives.
While the current situation in the UK is very worrying and there is no indication when lockdown may be lifted, with vaccines now being rolled out, it’s possible that this year, we’ll begin to see a return to the office. It will no longer be Zoom all day, every day (perhaps to the disappointment of Zoom) but a careful balancing act of working with colleagues in-person and remotely. Still, how we interact and communicate with one another has fundamentally changed and even as we enter another new phase of working, that shift will carry over.
This greater sense of intimacy also brings with it a greater sense of responsibility. Having come closer together, there are now more feelings, no matter the industry or sector, of needing to give something back. Reaching out to communities to share positive actions being undertaken will be part and parcel of growing and safeguarding a company’s reputation.
N:onconformity
In uncertain times, it’s easy to hold on tight to anything that’s familiar. As we may start to see what seems like a return to ‘how things were’, many may assume and will return to the same activities, the same approaches. Afterall, we know they worked before and more importantly, they feel safe.
With budget restraints and unpredictable changes to contend with, this behaviour is forgivable, but it will not in fact yield the same results as before. Following months of mundanity in lockdown, people want to see something different. Those marketers and comms professionals who are brave enough to still try a wacky campaign (albeit likely on a reduced scale and budget), will be the ones to get cut through and stand out.
As mentioned before, ours is a creative industry, so we need to make sure that we’re still flexing those creative brain muscles.
So, this 2021: Look at the bigger picture, specify, be resourceful and, while it may be scary, be bold!
It’s fair to say that there’s a lot going on at the moment and it may be hard to keep up with the news – especially if you’re also trying to scour online for last-minute Christmas presents. So, in case you’re busy concentrating on getting that perfect gift or what size turkey you’ll need for your Christmas bubble, we’ve rounded up the biggest news in tech to be keeping an eye on.
With Covid vaccinations now underway, there could be some more good news on the horizon for the UK tech scene. British mobile networks are hoping to take up a leading role in emerging radio technology, OpenRan, which could be worth up to $21bn. The Daily Telegraph has the full story.
The end of the year is also set to mark a bumper month for tech IPOs. As a household name now, everyone has been watching Airbnb closely as it continued to raise the price of its shares ahead of its IPO on 10th December, making it one of the largest US IPOs of the year. Head to the Guardian to read more. The Guardian also covered food delivery company DoorDash’s huge IPO.
We’re also one step closer to landing on Mars, with SpaceX undertaking its first suborbital flight test, continuing plans to take that giant leap onto Mars in four years. Want to find out more and where to watch the live stream? Head to the Independent.
However, it’s not all good news for everyone. The future may not be looking so rosy for the big players of Silicon Valley, as the UK Competition and Markets Authority is asking for more powers to crack down on tech giants. You can find out more about what the CMA is proposing and what new regulations could look like on the Daily Telegraph.
Tech giants are also facing additional challenges. Google is currently coming under fire and receiving employee backlash after sacking leading AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru. To read the whole story of what happened and the response from other Google employees, head to BBC News. Uber has also announced that it’s putting the brakes on plans to create its own self-driving car, putting a stop to the ambitious initiative by transferring its autonomous vehicle tech to rival Aurora, according to the Financial Times.
UK fintech and challenger banks, such as Monzo and Revolut, may also be in for a rough ride in 2021, as a new Accenture report has found that UK consumers are uncertain about their ability to survive long-term. CityAM covers the full report and analysis.
Following huge disparity revealed across different parts of the UK, leading industry body, TechUK, is also calling for the UK government to address the “Local Digital Capital gap” in the coming year. CityAM has more on this and the call to digitally level up.
Hopefully you’re a little more clued up now on what to watch out for in the world of tech as we move into a new year. But if you’re still struggling to find that perfect gift – or aren’t sure what to gift yourself from Santa – as a little Christmas gift from us, here are some of the best tech gifts and gadget round ups from GQ, Metro, The Sun, Glamour and the Guardian. Some of these are certainly on our Christmas wish lists.
It’s hard to believe that autumn is almost upon us (especially with the ongoing heatwaves) – but with so much happening, it’s not surprising the year is flying past. If you’ve been struggling to keep track and worried you may have missed something, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our round up of the latest and greatest news in the world of tech.
One story that has been dominating the headlines is TikTok and its possible US ban. Needing to distance itself from Chinese parent company, ByteDance, TikTok started the quest for a US partner and the question of who this will be has finally been answered. It’s Oracle who has pipped others (including giant Microsoft) to the post. Will this deal satisfy all parties – and what’s Oracle going to do with the partnership? We’ll have to wait and see. You can read more about this story on the Guardian.
Another big deal that took place this month was Nvidia’s $40bn takeover of Softbank’s Arm. To find out more details, check out this article on the Financial Times. The pandemic has prompted many of these mergers and acquisitions, according to Reuters, global M&A volumes were booming in September – and it’s tech that’s leading the way. Tech is also seeing plenty of external investment this month, with the likes of Klarna receiving $650m in funding from BlackRock and GIC – and it’s now valued at a $11bn. Read more on that on the Financial Times.
There’s also more good news. Following the likes of Apple and Microsoft declaring their commitment to becoming carbon neutral, Google has announced that it’s actually successfully achieved that goal – its carbon footprint is now zero. Read more about how Google has managed to get there on BBC News.
For others, though, September wasn’t such a great month. Facebook had a falling out with Australia at the beginning of the month over the country’s planned news sharing law, requiring the company to pay publishers for their content. You can read more on this on the Telegraph. And matters haven’t much improved, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently coming under fire and accused of being a “right-wing echo chamber”. You can check out Zuckerberg’s interview with Axios on HBO here. Finally, Apple and Fortnite have also been continuing to battle it out after Fortnite developer, Epic, was removed from the App Store last month. For the latest on this story, go to BBC News.
Reading the news may not be everyone’s favourite thing right now, you’re either falling into a rabbit hole of scrolling through article after article about you-know-what or maybe you’re avoiding the news altogether. So, while we hope you’re staying safe and well at home, here’s a little summary of the stories you may have missed this month in the world of tech.
First things first, good news. This month it was announced that renewable energy has now become Britain’s main power source. You can find out more on Current.
And while we do have to talk a little bit about the “c” word, it’s not all doom and gloom and there is a lot of good news stories too. BBC News reported that Facebook and Samsung have donated thousands of devices to the NHS, Twitter chief, Jack Dorsey, donated a quarter of his fortune ($1bn) to fight coronavirus (Guardian) and a non-profit has released an open source tool that allows you to print reusable protective masks in just a few hours. You can read more about this story on The Daily Mail.
With people across the globe forced to stay at home, Esports is also booming, pulling in audiences of tens of millions. Read the full story on City AM. Or, if you’d like to know which footballing stars are heading onto the screen instead of the field, you can pop over to the Guardian.
Talking of sports, the fitness industry has also had a major digital makeover, with everything from virtual gyms to hula-hooping (yes, this is a real thing) now available online. Head to The Telegraph to learn more about the digital fitness revolution. Not only wanting to help us stay fit in lockdown, but also help curb coronavirus, The Daily Mail also announced that Fitbit is launching a new feature that could detect the virus before symptoms emerge.
But with so many businesses and individuals alike flocking to Zoom, there have been reports of potential security flaws, with half a million Zoom users’ details found on the Dark Web according to The Daily Mail. TikTok has also recently come under security scrutiny as The Independent reported that hackers can replace people’s videos with their own.
The big tech winner earlier this month was Disney+, shooting past 50m subscribers, but there’s a new streaming player in town, with newcomer app, Qibi, reaching 1.7m downloads in just its first week. If you maybe want to give Qibi a go, you can read more about it on BBC News.
Last, but most definitely not least, ending on a happy note, we want to take our hats off once more to veteran, Captain Tom Moore, who has raised a staggering £27m (and counting) for the NHS with an epic garden walk. Well done!
Want to stay up to date with the latest tech news? Every morning, the Firefly team creates a roundup of the biggest news stories across the technology space. Sign up to Firewire by emailing hello@fireflycomms.com.
In the run up to International Women’s Day, it was only too fitting that a few of us Fireflies attended an event hosted by Women of Wearables, a leading global organisation supporting women and diversity, to find out what it’s really like being a woman starting her own tech business.
Four formidable female founders, all in the health- and wellbeing-tech space, took part in a very honest and open panel discussion to share their personal experiences:
The discussions were so relatable, and my colleague Charlotte even admitted to falling in love (professionally, of course) with one of the panellists.
The insight and advice shared can be applied in many different scenarios – it wasn’t just for entrepreneurs or women. So, if you’re like us and enjoy feeding your mind, here’s our key takeaways:
Remember, tech is just the enabler
Contrary to what you may think, the technology is far from the be all and end all. Everyone on the panel unanimously agreed that you mustn’t focus in on the technology itself but start with the problem you’re looking to solve. The technology is just bridging the gap between a need and a service. You need to know what you wish to build before you can then find people who can help you build it.
You will also have to adapt and change the technology as your business grows and evolves, learning through experimenting what does and doesn’t work. But make sure your overall purpose and goal is super clear – and always keep this front of mind.
Don’t fall into the trap of self-doubt
Asked if she could remove one barrier to make her business more successful, Kim’s candid answer was herself! Always pretending that her business was just some small thing she was working on, she was afraid to admit she really wanted it to be a huge success – but that held her back.
For all the panellists, they struggled to identify as women in tech and Kim’s thoughts are far from uncommon. Karen added that more needs to be done to help instil more self-belief in women from a young age. It has to start with education, as well as addressing health issues – both mental and physical – that’s how to help women thrive. Sometimes these problems could be solved or alleviated with something as easy as a simple phone call, but we need to grant that quick access for women.
Share the burden
We all know the phrase no (wo) man is an island, and this couldn’t hold truer than these tech entrepreneurs. You can’t do it on your own (you will just burn out) and building a strong team is key. Electra made the great point that delegating to colleagues and letting them make mistakes is a learning curve for both of you.
For Kim, taking on an advisor was a gamechanger– they were instrumental in helping her to vet investors, set up and prepare for meetings, continuously guiding her through this unknown process. Also tap into that hive mind and try to find business mentors who are from very different fields with varying expertise. As Electra said: never be afraid of being the least knowledgeable person in the room – that’s how you learn!
It also doesn’t have to be experts that you turn to but can be your own family. Kim brought along her husband to an investor meeting (and he was fantastic), and Sam involves her son in helping with her business’ photography. When dedicating so much time to a new venture, there can be associated guilt of the effect on family life but getting them to be a part of it means they will not only be a huge help and support but also excited and fully on board too.
Help others speak up
As well as your supporters, build up your advocates. Sam explained that with her particular product, women were reluctant to speak up about there being a problem – they were just grateful to have anything at all. Through working with those women who did believe in it, she was able to tease out voices of those women who were shy and less confident.
Here, social media was an important and powerful tool for showing there is a choice. You do not have to just settle. Often people do not know there are other possibilities out there or feel that they can pursue them, but advocates are a great means to build up both awareness and confidence.
Most importantly of all: Start now. It’s never going to be perfect and the stars won’t suddenly magically align. And that can be anything – a business, a project or pivoting your strategy. It isn’t easy but take that first step – even if that is just writing your idea down. Once you do, never give up. If you are sure that what you want to do is really needed (and be truly honest with yourself about that), be tenacious. As these women showed, you will start to see the results. Afterall, if you don’t do it, who will?
We all went on a summer holiday… or maybe not if you happened to book your flight with BA.
Strikes and IT outages wreaked havoc this summer, with numerous cancellations and delays (in one instance, all apparently due to a plug being pulled out). Not only could this quickly turn your dream vacation into the holiday from hell, it’s also a PR person’s nightmare.
In any industry, there’s never a good time for something negative and unwanted to crop up, and certainly not during the height of summer in the travel industry. And of course, the challenge with crisis situations is that seemingly minor incidents need to be handled correctly. If not, they will also slowly chip away at that reputation you’ve worked so hard to build up and eventually crack it completely.
It’s inevitable that there will be tricky situations to navigate through, but for the comms teams, you shouldn’t need to panic, strap on a life jacket or make your way to the nearest emergency exit: you’ve got this.
All too often though, many businesses are still doing exactly that, getting their approach and reaction wrong. So, if something does arise, what should you say, how and when should you say it, or should you take a leaf from Ronan Keating’s book and say nothing at all?
Staying shtum – the no comment predicament
“No comment” is a famous phrase uttered by many a celebrity or politician, but in today’s media landscape not saying something is a comment in itself. Aston Martin has recently featured in the media over serious losses after its IPO, but most notable of all was the lack of anyone to comment. Indeed, just a day after the news broke, the Daily Telegraph followed up with publishing a whole piece analysing why the CEO didn’t say anything.
It seems that many companies still have not learnt from Facebook’s hard lesson last year during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as many media sources asked, “Where’s Zuckerberg?” With so many ways to share news and communicate with the public and customers, companies are expected to say something. Not doing so can be taken as a snub, not taking an issue seriously or caring about customers, or even an indication of guilt.
However, there can be a right time to say nothing. In any crisis, it’s important to establish the facts: who is calling you and are they who they say they are? If it’s an unhappy customer, then should you pass it on to customer services? Similarly, is this something that has been a problem in the past? If it is just someone with a personal vendetta now is the time to decline to speak. When it comes to social media trolls, do not engage!
Saying nothing can be a bold move, so just make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.
Fanning the flames
When we were kids, we were all told: “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” While as grown adults we may not always quite follow this mantra, when it comes to the world of comms, there can be something to be said for it.
If you do decide to speak up, it’s important to keep your emotions in check and stick to the facts. An extreme reaction may be seen as providing grounds and proof to accusations and can make the situation a whole lot worse. Few of us have forgotten Elon Musk’s Twitter debacle over Space X’s submarine and the Thailand Caves.
Similarly, don’t make any promises or claims you can’t stick to. When TSB experienced service outages last year, it jumped the gun, explaining that the service would be down over the weekend but up and fully running again on the Monday. This was not the case until many days later. TSB’s continued customer dissatisfaction (not to mention subsequent summons by MPs) are testament to hasty promises doing more harm than good.
The biggest faux pas? Shifting the blame to another party. Here TSB also made a false move, trying to push the problems onto Sabadell. But when it comes to trying to manage your reputation, this is not going to sit well with your customers ‒ always take responsibility and hold yourself accountable.
If what you have to say is only going to make things worse, it may well be time to heed your parents’ advice.
Having your say
So how can you differentiate and make sure that you’re putting forward your view, rather than just setting a match to the situation? Here are some top tips:
In many countries, the summer is a quiet period, but this isn’t always true – and many firms have found that out the hard way! With September around the corner and a new year less than a hundred days away, it’s more important than ever to be prepared. So, buckle up and with some preparation, even a bit of turbulence can still result in a smooth landing.
Not that we are deliberately trying to distract you from your work but stumbling across this new site… somehow… we also thought it was one to share.
If you’ve trawled through your social feeds, devoured everything the Daily Mail side bar has to offer, but are still in need of some distraction, the useless web could be the best next internet pit stop for you. Contrary to its namesake, the useless web is useful if you’ve reached peak boredom levels and have a lot of time to kill.
The way it works is super simple, head to the website, click on the big “please” button and you’ll be directed to a separate obscure website that you most likely will never have previously come across, and certainly never would have needed to. Alan Partridge just rocking out, a seemingly never-ending creation of circles to reveal a cute picture beneath, or a shining mango – yes, literally just a mango surrounded by sun rays.
It definitely doesn’t offer a cutting edge user experience (you cannot skip from one site to another but have to go back to the original page to be re-directed), but it does deliver on what it sets out to do – helping you discover the wonderful and bizarre pages of the internet.
It looks like sunshine won’t be the only thing motivating us to head outside this summer, but you’ll still be glued to your screens.
Two years ago, we were hit with Pokémon Go fever and we’ve since seen a few reincarnations (such as Wizards Unite), but it looks like this latest release is set to be the real winner – and for any Minecraft fans out there it will certainly be up your street!
Minecraft Earth, the augmented reality version of the beloved game is coming soon. So, what makes this any different? Well, whilst having many of the well-known and loved features of the original Minecraft game, this augmented reality version also promises to be much more technologically advanced than its older counterpart, Pokémon Go. Build 3D holograms and walk through your creations, battle enemies “in virtual playgrounds” and really just let your creativity flow in this semi-virtual/ real world.
The exact release date is not yet confirmed but when it does drop, we certainly think it could be worth heading out, come rain or shine.
We operate in London, Paris and Munich, and have a network of like-minded partners across the globe.
Get in touchReceive thought pieces from our leadership team, views on the news, tool of the month and light relief for comms folk
You can unsubscribe at any time, please read our privacy policy for more information