Boris Johnson had less than 24 hours to recover his breath between easing restrictions after the two-year pandemic and serving up the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Political and business leaders globally are now stepping up to face the public and media scrutiny of how they will deal with this new crisis.

Against an international outpouring of compassion for the people of Ukraine, companies are suddenly, in some cases overnight, faced with new sanctions and regulations that could make or break their business.

But, over the last two years, life under public scrutiny has changed. Lessons have been learnt, new tech has been introduced, relationships with social media have accelerated, expectations have moved and the ‘new normal’ has resulted in new templates for crisis communications. 

As PR and digital marketing specialists for the travel industry, we are looking forward to sharing our insight at ABTA’s Crisis Communications in Travel event on 30 March. We are going to examine how PR professionals can ensure they are fully up to speed with new practices and current thinking. 

We will address the best ways to prepare our spokespeople. It’s no longer just about ‘live, in-person’ interviews; how do our spokespeople portray empathy and authenticity in the face of a barrage of questions on Zoom? How do you prepare for a video call, and who can we use as best practice examples? We will remind ourselves of what our key messages need to include, and what the audiences want and need to hear from company leaders. We will discuss the importance of being prepared for all possible outcomes and look at recent effective case studies to analyse best practice. 

We will learn why social media is such a crucial tool when it comes to crisis and post-crisis communications. Not only is it a platform to control your own messaging, but also a place where incidents can be amplified quickly and without warning. Understand how social media fits into your crisis communications plan and see examples of how, and how not to use it.

As digital marketing specialists, during the pandemic, we had to quickly create new online campaigns which could be utilised at short notice depending on the state of geographic regions – while most were implemented, some were not due to quickly changing situations. Preparation was key and fundamental to their success. 

Finally, we will look at how to maintain communication during a crisis and continue to get our message across as well as the role of post-crisis communications to prevent further damage to your brand and ensure a positive outcome.

At 8020, we, along with all the other fantastic travel PR agencies out there, were, thankfully, the first port of call for our clients who were dealing with the effects of Covid on their business and customers. Never has the importance of crisis communications preparation and management been so key and valued. We look forward to sharing these new insights, alongside other leading industry players, on 30 March. 

ABTA’s Crisis Communications in Travel training is taking place on 30 March at ABTA’s offices in central London. Bringing together keynote speakers and an audience of senior communications professionals from across the travel industry, get practical guidance to help you plan and update your crisis communications strategy. 

Download the full agenda, see the speaker line-up and register your place here.

Author: Trudi Beggs, Director, 8020 Communications