|
U.S. financial markets are in crisis, stock markets are in chaos worldwide, and, consequently, all is not well here in Brazil either. Everybody says we should proceed with caution, so I’m doing what everybody else is: sitting around and waiting for the crisis to finally hit us like a tidal wave. But I’ve also found myself wondering why organizational communicators have not emphasized how communication can help organizations survive a crisis. In times of caution, the only priority communication seems to get is first place on the list of budget cuts.
Our president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva (or simply Lula, as he is best known), is considered among the best communicators of all current world leaders. Regardless of the crisis at hand—whether economic, political or even ethical—our president continues to enjoy sky-high levels of approval.
Recent polls show that Lula and his administration enjoy a 70 percent approval rating, despite his claim that the financial crisis wouldn’t “make its way across the Atlantic.” As it turns out, he was wrong. The crisis did make its way across the Atlantic, hitting Europe. And it didn’t need to cross any ocean at all to reach Brazil.
This popularity cannot be explained by effective communication tactics alone. But, if we take a close look, we see that Lula’s policy achievements have not surpassed those of the president who preceded him. In other words, the difference hasn’t been in the policies; the difference has been in the communication.
So why aren’t business leaders investing more in communication to strengthen their relationships with stakeholders, as Lula does, and to restructure their companies?
If anyone reading this article is a business communication professional who has not dealt with severe budget cuts during the current economic crisis, please feel free to post a comment on my eXchange site. Such rare exceptions deserve to be shared and studied. However, if you have not been so lucky, let me ask you this: Why do you think your company has picked your department to start cutting back on spending? You might smile and politely agree to do your part to help the organization, but are you really convinced that cutting back on communication costs is the best way to get your company through a crisis?
And why would any company that insists communication is strategic choose to trim down the communication budget at the first sign of smoke? Is that really so strategic after all?
F/Nazca, one of the 15 largest advertising agencies in Brazil, recently ran a public statement in the country’s leading newspapers. The statement carried the following headline: “The Crisis: Would You Like Yours With or Without Sugar?” It was meant to jolt communicators back to their senses and to show advertisers that this was not a time to sit around and wait. It was a time to take action. Part of the statement reads, “We believe that if this isn’t the right time for innovation, then when will the right time be? We believe that if this isn’t the right time to stand out from your competitors, then when will another opportunity come along?”
The F/Nazca’s statement aims to make us communicators think about how we would like to be perceived during this economic downturn and beyond. Although the weather forecast may be for stormy seas, it is no doubt better to keep moving than to sit around and wait for a tidal wave that, in fact, may never come.
Fábio Betti is a journalist with a post-graduate degree in organizational communication. He is partner and vice president of Business Development at Novacia, an integrated communication agency that specializes in producing content for digital media. |
