Germany and the world are in crisis: a war is raging in Europe, supply chains no longer work, companies that were still in good health yesterday are asking for state aid, people in art and culture are fighting for their livelihood, cost of living threatens to divide society, populists are positioning themselves. The world is out of the ordinary. But the crisis mode is by no means new when viewed in daylight. Since 2008 we have been going from one crisis to another: Lehman bankruptcy, economic and financial crisis, euro debt crisis, Russian war against Ukraine, “refugee crisis”, Brexit, Trumpian protectionism, climate crisis, crown pandemic, raw materials and energy crisis. Rather, what is new is the current state of a “multi-crisis”, the fast pace or sequence in which crises follow and correlate with each other.
What does this crisis mode do to those responsible for communication? As the sensory center of their organization, they are right in the middle of the hurricane’s eye. Due to the multi-crisis, we are acting with all our resources at the limit or even above the load limit, much falls by the wayside, especially innovation and creativity are victims of the modality and its impact rate – but especially long – term issues that must be laboriously developed and constructed and should. Schedule setting power is lost due to constant overload. Communication loses its face, its distinguishability and no longer remains in the minds of stakeholders and other interest groups with their own themes (spin). What remains are quickly identified tendencies, reactive, supposed “devotees” patterns that are indisputable and interchangeable so as not to cause further irritation in an emotionally charged situation. Positioning problems disappear in the crowd – or rather, in the noise of the crisis – and can no longer be associated with their organizations.
This development is diametrically opposed to stakeholder expectations: they want brands with faces that are involved in ongoing debates, present solutions and do their part. The Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 is clear on this: “70% or more believe that CEOs should inform and shape policy debates on specific business issues. The majority also say that companies are not doing enough to address societal challenges such as climate change and wage inequality. Other problems include the retraining of the workforce and the credibility of the information. “[1] But playing Joe Kaeser is (a) not always the classic nature of CEOs, and (b) it’s not always advisable. However, executives need to become more offensive and more able to converse in the public space, especially in times of crisis. In short: in times of crisis, communication becomes even more important because the “License to Operate” and above all the “License to Develop”, becomes more political and, above all, more uncomfortable. Dirk Kurbjuweit described it quite aptly in his SPIEGEL cover story about Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck: “Political communication is the most dangerous speech and silence there is.” The “strategic reluctance”, respect and, in part, fear of most organizations and their leaders is correspondingly great.
Socio-political communication must be formed. Organizations and in particular their managers must build a social radar and make their contribution to crisis management, not only economically, but also communicatively, emotionally and empathically. This does not mean calling into question the mouths of internal or external stakeholders. On the contrary: it needs guidance and a basis of values for decisions. They must have the courage to resist and sometimes to go out of their comfort zone, because: “Only an attitude that costs something is a real“ attitude ”, everything else is just a fashion. Anyone who supposedly wants to do everything right has no profile and is not noticed.
Antje Neubauer, Martin Brüning and Cornelius Winter will discuss how communication needs to position itself in this permanent crisis mode at the 2022 Communication Congress on 23 September 2022 between 10:45 and 11:55 in the panel “A turning point in communication? – The consequences of war, pandemic and climate change for the brand and corporate communication”
[1] Edelman 2022: Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 – Country Report “Trust in Germany”, abrufbar unter: https://www.edelman.de/sites/g/files/aatuss401/files/2022-02/2022%20Edelman%20Trust%20Barometer_Germany % 20Report_k.pdf
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