Playmaker instead of plaything: Should brands invest in marketing during the crisis?

Crises mean a state of emergency in the company. They can’t always be avoided, but they can be managed: good preparation and strategic marketing help protect the brand.

First of all: Not all crises are the same. In addition to macroeconomic crises such as the corona pandemic, the energy crisis or the war in Ukraine, a crisis can also be industry or company-related, self-inflicted or externally inflicted, an acute incident or a longer-lasting crisis mode. Accordingly, crisis communication is diverse and highly individual. But regardless of the specific crisis scenario, crises are always a test – and brands with strong communication prove to be an effective protective shield. Studies show that companies that invest in their marketing during crises survive critical phases more unscathed than competitors who cut or eliminate budgets. What’s more: These companies are not only in a better position compared to the competition, but are often even better off than before the crisis.

Communications experts know that it is essential to intensify marketing in bad times – in the event of a data leak or product recall as well as in the case of personnel affairs, economic difficulties, eco-scandals, ethical or social conflicts. Professional crisis marketing helps to show presence and attitude as a company and as a brand, to stay in dialogue and to actively control messages.

Why is confident crisis communication important?

Cost cutting, ducking and sitting it out are wrong crisis strategies, with fatal consequences. Every crisis has the potential to permanently shake the relationship between the organization and its stakeholders. In our networked world, information is spread in a matter of seconds – in the worst case scenario, even a shitstorm – and endangers reputation. In addition to a loss of image and negative press, the loss of trust also threatens to have economic consequences in the medium term, such as a drop in sales, falling share prices or a deterioration in creditworthiness. Often it is not the crisis incident itself that causes the greatest damage, but rather the company’s inappropriate response or inadequate communication.

A prime example is the Volkswagen Group, which quickly lost twelve billion euros in stock market value due to the disastrous communication surrounding the emissions scandal. The solid sales figures – not least due to the strength of the group in the Asian market, which was largely unaffected by the diesel scandal – should not hide the fact that VW needed years to repair the damage to its image: While the VW brand scored 40 points in the YouGov Brand Index before the diesel scandal and thus ranked well ahead of BMW, the index plummeted to 9 points after the scandal and ended up 22 points behind BMW in the automotive ranking. Volkswagen had lost in all areas, from price-performance ratio to image as an employer. It was only from 2019 that the index values ​​increased again in small steps and in 2023 VW was able to regain its position just ahead of BMW.

A professional crisis campaign helps to compensate for or at least cushion an information or trust deficit by allowing companies to set the storyline. Anyone who falls into a state of shock loses the power of interpretation and loses the opportunity to help shape the public and media perception of the crisis in the interests of the company and thus limit the damage.

How can companies prepare for crisis communication?

The challenge: Crises usually do not announce themselves well in advance. Those responsible for crisis communication are therefore under time pressure – it is all the more important to deal with the basic mechanisms of crisis communication when the water is calm and to prepare preventatively: A crisis communication plan depicts various scenarios and defines responsibilities, information lines, wording rules and escalation levels . Regular training also helps to optimize the ability to react and avoid mistakes caused by blind activism.

Beyond this framework, you also need a good sense of tactics and tone – and the ability to steer the communicative dramaturgy in an agile manner instead of being driven by it: How do selected PR and marketing instruments interlink to form a crisis campaign? that calms the situation? Press release, press conference or CEO video statement? Poster or ad, social media or influencer event? What information will be published on which channel at what time? Marketers who specialize in crisis communication provide valuable support here.

What rules apply to crisis campaigns?

• React quickly and transparently: Openness and honesty create acceptance and prevent rumors. Successful crisis communication provides ongoing information and is finely balanced between facts and empathy.
• Address target groups individually: Stakeholder groups that are heterogeneously affected by the crisis have different needs and expectations of communication that should be served accordingly. If possible, employees are informed first so that they do not give any contradictory information to the outside world (“one-voice strategy”).
• Don’t forget to build trust: Crisis communication doesn’t end when the first wave of attention subsides and “the cow feels like it’s off the ice.” Now it is important to analyze to what extent the reputation has been damaged among the various interest groups (customers, employees, partners, investors, etc.) and what measures can be used to recharge the brand values.
• Learn from the crisis: After the crisis is before the crisis, companies should incorporate the learnings into the crisis communication plan and thus increase their crisis resilience. Which measures worked, how well did the internal processes work, where were there weak points?

A successful example is Kaufland’s handling of “Wendler-Gate”. Actually a horror scenario for every marketing team: The elaborately produced video campaign with pop star Michael Wendler had just started when the celebrity testimonial with conspiracy theories about the corona virus attracted attention. In order to protect its own company values, Kaufland removed all Wendler content from all channels within two hours (!) and distanced itself from the advertising partner’s statements in a social media campaign. Even in the subsequent, quite controversial discussion about advertising ethics, the company remained present with a clear stance. A few months later, Kaufland reported that the brand had hardly suffered, but had been able to significantly increase brand awareness, especially among young target groups.

My answer to the question of whether companies should invest in marketing during the crisis: Yes, especially! Or to put it in the words of the legendary entrepreneur Warren Buffett: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

Marco Trutter, a brand expert from Augsburg, regularly examines the marketing industry as part of the B4B section “trumedia Brand Lab” and gives concrete recommendations for action for consistent and sustainable brand communication. He is also CEO and managing director of trumedia GmbH, which has been supporting global corporations, medium-sized companies and promising start-ups from all economic sectors – from automotive to finance, food, fashion and sports to medical – with brand management and development since 2009.