I think we can all agree that the last thing we were expecting of 2020 was a global pandemic that would result in isolation from our colleagues and friends, projects and deals put on hold, the economy in a total state of turmoil and devastating personal losses. But looking beyond this extremely negative introduction we have also seen a seen global decision to rise to the challenge, to obey social distancing, to make working from home work! and most of all to help each other, in whatever way that we can, to ensure that we make it out the other side.
We are very happy and grateful to share with you some wonderful ideas, creative solutions and tokens of wisdom from the founders of Blue Oceans PR, Raminta and Kristina:
Please can you tell us some more about Blue Oceans PR and your unique areas of expertise within the company?
K: Blue Oceans PR is a boutique PR agency inspired by the Blue Oceans Marketing strategy that encourages unconventional ways to communicate about businesses, pinpointing the unique expertise that can help entrepreneurs stand out. As such, we pride ourselves in finding unique communication angles for businesses to reach their target audience. One group of our clients are industry disruptors, start-ups, niche industry businesses and passionate entrepreneurs; another part are tourism industry clients, hotels, medical tourism destinations, municipalities or even countries. I am focused on tech strategy and crisis management, while Raminta is lead on destination strategy communication and business development. But most importantly, our team is a group of creative writers, thinkers and all around a smart group of professionals, who we could not do without. So our focus now is to make sure that our agency has enough projects to get us through this time, as they can help so many businesses by streamlining their communications.
What have been your crisis tactics so far?
R: As a number of the businesses and entities we represent went into shock, our first priority was to restructure their strategies, often shifting focus to internal communications. With the tourism industry a lot of communication efforts were stopped, which affected our own business immensely, but we will be ready to pick up the pace as soon as the borders open up and the industry needs a strong push. We encourage tourism clients, telling them that even with limited resources they can communicate about their values instead of the actual destination. We are so happy to see that the medical tourism clinic we work with has reoriented to act as a temporary hospital, hotels have offered quarantine assistance, cities have huddled together to fundraise, and organized hackathons with the aim of offering international solutions for the crisis. We are doing our part by spreading the word about the initiatives without compensation, contributing to spreading positive messages to inspire others. In addition, we are also shifting towards clients that really need communications right now - government, financial bodies, etc.
K: Some businesses that are online have reduced their communications, while others chose to prioritize communications at this time. So we found ways for them to reach top media and focus on their brand building even amidst the crisis. Offering expertise, helping others, and looking for ways to build bridges in the communities are all newsworthy events that companies can now talk about if they can afford to do so. After all of this is over, they will be in a much better position than their competition, who have not built new bridges, relationships or worked on establishing trust and credibility with their audiences during a trying time.
Travel is one of the industries that have been the most affected by Covid-19 and sadly could be one of the hardest to re-build. What ideas and creative solutions have you been offering to your clients in this industry?
R: At this time it is important to showcase the character of people at the destinations. Showcase the rituals that still go on despite the closed borders. Once things go back to normal, people will probably shift first towards domestic tourism, but in time they will turn their attention to those places that have weathered the storm. There are so many things that can be done to showcase the unique character of the destination or tourism business. Restaurants can share simplified recipes of their fantastic dishes, hotels can talk about their character in helping the community in need, and cities can showcase pictures made with drone cameras (Here’s a fun example from Vilnius).
How can we encourage consumers to stay loyal to these smaller enterprises whilst most customer’s plans have been put on hold for the foreseeable future?
K: Businesses will need all the help they can get and some effort to get online as soon as possible if they are not. Businesses need to be accessible in order for them to remain relevant. We are all unsure how long this pandemic will last, but businesses who think ahead will be able to build new relationships. Consumers cannot stay loyal if they cannot access a business or enterprise. Those businesses and services who cannot go fully online, should be inventive and creative and build new ways they can be relevant and talk about it on their social media at the very least. Boutique designers can offer a free respirator mask with the purchase of an item, sports studios can offer free classes, florists can teach people how to make flower arrangements from flowers they can deliver, we’ve even seen a bar offering to deliver craft beer – challenging people to become bartenders. It is important to remember – we are all in the same boat. People will be more united than ever – they will want to support their local shops and businesses, but they will go back to those who have not stopped the information flow, showcased their character amidst the crisis and worked hard to build new communication channels.
Within your own company what are you doing to stay positive and ensure the best outcome?
R: We welcome this new reality as an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and our clients, to build new bridges and establish new business patterns.
K: We have doubled down in looking for new clients, looking how to make our skills useful to those in need and doing everything for the remaining clients so they would come out of this crisis stronger than ever. In the meanwhile, we are building new remote work rituals like ‘gin o’clock’ :)
As we are all currently in emergency mode right now, it would be comforting to think that some positive change will come from all of this. What do you think (if any) this will be?
K: Positive change is already happening. People are starting to collaborate – building new relationships and sharing resources. If we keep these patterns after the pandemic, we will recover faster than anticipated and stronger than ever. The trying times build resilience and build stronger character, as well as bring people together.
We have heard of amazing ideas such as BrewDog using their resources to create more hand sanitisers to help the cause! Have you got any advice as to how SMEs can stay connected and relevant to their customers whilst isolation is taking place?
K: Creativity is definitely the way forward in getting customer attention. Companies can look closer and see what skills and resources they can reorganize while being in tune with that people actually currently need. It’s definitely about time for someone to invent reusable toilet paper. :-) Joking aside – a lot of good examples can be seen around the world where creativity can save a business – from the big corporations like Amazon making coronavirus self-testing kits and Google offering Premium version of Hangouts for free – small businesses are too looking first at what they can offer to their community like offering free classes or webinars, 3D printing companies are printing ventilator equipment and so on. That said, profiteering from the crisis should be refrained from - it is better to do nothing if you are not genuine about helping others.
A huge thanks to the team at Blue Oceans PR for sharing. For more creative thinking and advice throughout this time get in touch with Raminta and Kristina: https://www.blueoceanspr.com/