How to take care of the brands in the midst of a social crisis?

Has someone searched references in the network on offices that had faced a similar picture? What was your first reaction to protect your brands?

José Ignacio Solari-McCann Santiago (JIS): McCann network is always active and it´s always data source, information or inspiration. After 18 October, we naturally resourced a lot of studies of regional or global crisis but we were also very responsible of analyzing this social unrest as a unique and particular event that we are living in Chile, from there build the way to find solutions for our clients.

Diana Triana-McCann Bogotá (DT): From the creative department we focus on analyzing which were the cares, repercussions and changes that we should make in the messages that we were sending to the people. That´s why we decided to develop (by Weber Shandwick) a crisis protocol for the most sensitive clients to this situation, which included to listen the conversations that were getting in the media, an analysis of that listening and some recommendations to implement.

Which were the key points that allowed you to create new messages? Which was the major mistake that you tried to avoid?

DT:  It´s key to keep yourself informed. Sometimes in the typical rush of the agency we forget about keeping ourselves informed about what´s happening outside. This can´t happen, not when you are in an important moment of the country and especially when the communication of this country is your responsibility too.

JIS: The major mistake is treading the fine line between what´s opportune and what´s opportunist. We believe that the only way of being in the right place is being tremendously empathetic, listening to the people much more and being responsible for each thing said or done.

Which is the main lesson that you have learned so far?

JIS: Empathy should always be invited to our conversations.

DT: My lesson is that as agency we always have to be alert and close to our team and clients, trying to helping them by speaking with truth, but a truth well told, which shows all the points of views, without fanaticism and without attacking the ones who think differently. Well, that’s what we’re here for. To help the world to communicate better.

Does this set the tone for 2020 or the rest of the decade? Why?

JIS: It will completely mark a before and an after and we are already living it. 78% of the Chilean people think a better country is coming and we are connected with that, with that sense of hope and optimism for what lies ahead.

DT: This reinforces what we were already learning in the last years, and it surely will be shown during all 2020: today society takes the floor more than ever and will not be silenced or stand quiet. For this reason, our responsibility as agencies and advertisers is increasing, because society is pushing us to be every day more honest, relevant and powerful with our messages.

Do you feel more challenged? Why?

JIS: I feel that the challenge is something intrinsic for the ones who work in advertising. What is happening these days is inviting us to be more united and with an even clearer horizon where we have to move towards all together.

DT: Yes, it´s just what I said before. Because I feel (I say this with great enthusiasm) that our responsibility as communicators grows with each crisis. And that´s, in the middle of that crisis, where better creativity comes out of Latin American people.

Source: McCann Worldgroup Latin America

  Advertising, Brands, Diana Triana, Jose Ignacio Solari, Marketing, McCann Worldgroup