The Importance of Communications and Experiences in Times of Crisis

by Monette Iturralde-Hamlin / October 21, 2020

The Philippines has been living in a crisis for seven months now. That means it’s been more than 200 days of planning, pivoting, and adapting. Throughout this period, I’ve witnessed and experienced just how important effective communication is.

As the Founder and President of TeamAsia, my initial response to the COVID-19 crisis was to make sure that we took care of our people and our business. This meant ensuring that people could work from home, that they were aware of how to go about the health crisis, and that they knew how to safeguard themselves and their families.

We also needed to continue taking care of our clients through crisis communication. All of the different industries were affected, and COVID-19 was a crisis for everyone, especially because people didn’t know what was happening. We sent out press briefing highlights, presidential announcements, and DOH updates to our clients almost daily, and let them know what can be done for their businesses. We kept our ears on the ground and made sure we had accurate, timely, and factual information. We wanted to be a sane voice to our clients, a source of credible news amid all of the misinformation around.

In dealing with a crisis, especially one of this magnitude, just the one-way type of communication is not enough. A crisis can usually feel like a black hole that needs to be filled. People experiencing a crisis are looking for truth, for proof that they can trust someone. They are looking for solutions, while also craving for meaningful connections. Communication then has to be more experiential, because we need to truly reach out to people and make them feel that they are heard. This is exactly what TeamAsia’s Integrated Marketing Experience Approach (IME) allows.

Simply put, IME empowers consumers to actively take part in a brand’s story by engaging them across different channels. IME helps us foster trust between our clients, create genuine interactions with them, and fill the void of this health crisis’ disruption. This strategic approach lets us deliver a message to the right people at the right time, especially in the now normal.

Internally, the most important thing was keeping the TeamAsia family safe, and keeping them together. From seeing each other almost everyday, we were all pushed into a situation wherein we couldn’t anymore. That being said, we didn’t want our people to just know that we were there for them, we wanted them to feel and experience it.

Aside from the usual sending of health protocols and updates on community quarantine, we also have morning pop-ups Mondays and Fridays to start and end the week as a family. We always start our pop-ups with a prayer, as there’s something so powerful in being able to take a moment, thank God for the day, and lift up our worries to Him. Our pop-ups aren’t all about work either; we talk about different happenings and updates on our lives. Aside from morning pop-ups, we also have monthly pop-ups, which usually come in the form of a game night. This is a chance for TeamAsians to test their knowledge and wit, show their competitive spirit, and just have fun.

We continue to have our learning and growth initiatives, be it through Jedi sessions with our Creatives Director Shu Manalo, or HR talks about mental health. Bea also has Open Spaces with fellow TeamAsians, where they get to talk about anything and just feel safe in each other’s company. We’ve also had a number of virtual town halls, to ensure that our people know what direction the company is headed for. If people know our direction, they feel safer, and are not left in a vacuum. That’s IME — using different channels that reinforce our message and plans to reach each TeamAsian.

On the external front, we use digital tools and platforms to show that TeamAsia has the expertise to pivot into the digital space. The old templates for the business case of how much things would cost and where to reach your audience were not useful anymore, so we did a copious amount of research to adjust to the new world.

Our IME approach makes sure that our brands are able to communicate with their consumers. That’s why we tested out various platforms such as Zoom and Streamyard to see what would work best. We then decided to do a three-part Experience Online webinar series for our 28th anniversary, which was an important stepping stone in executing the virtual events we did after. We also created new channels that we didn’t have before, such as The Red Circle, our own integrated publication, B2B: Breakfast to Business, our podcast hosted by Bea, and the Virtual Arena, where we redesign on ground conferences for the virtual world.

These channels opened up even more opportunities to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right place and time. From sending our presidential announcements via email, we started publishing them on The Red Circle. This puts the announcements on a different channel, and aside from just offering the announcements alone, the audience also has the option to explore other stories on the publication. For B2B, brands are able to push their message through the podcast, and they get to have engaging conversations with Bea and their listeners.

IME isn’t just about sending a message; it’s knowing your audience and reaching out to them through the best channel possible. It paves the way for more holistic and interactive engagements between brands and consumers, especially during a crisis. IME is also what pushes us to create these Next Level Experiences (NLE) for our brands and their audiences, and is also what helps TeamAsians imbibe the philosophy of NLE. By creating Next Level Experiences, we get to truly connect with different brands and audiences, and keep the conversation going. By providing something more experiential and meaningful, we build genuine, two-way relationships that can weather any crisis.