Using a recovery audit to rethink your post-pandemic communications
The world is changing - your communications must evolve too
Nothing else in our recent history has accelerated change and produced divergence as rapidly as the current global pandemic. ING is already helping clients navigate change by tailoring emerging trends to their unique communications needs.
For those that design, develop, manage and invest in places, spaces and cities the prevailing view is that business-as-usual won’t return. So how can businesses use communications to more effectively recalibrate targeting, values and purpose?
We have seen that things can be done differently, giving us a new sense of what’s possible and what’s valuable, both commercially and in human terms; the new reality will almost certainly be different to the old.
That is true for PR & communications as well. Businesses are slowly getting back to business, but the path to recovery remains uncharted. That’s why we have devised a new Built Environment PR and Communications Recovery Audit to help brands and organisations navigate change.
Communications strategies will need to evolve to the changing circumstances the future will bring. This Recovery Audit is aimed at helping companies from across our industry not only adapt to this fast-changing world, but thrive.
ING’s fortnightly intelligence briefings have been tracking how the built environment has already been adapting to these most challenging of times. Looking beyond the daily news grind, which has at times seemed relentlessly negative, we have found examples of imagination, ingenuity, generosity, flexibility – and real and lasting innovation.
A billboard by artist Morag Myerscough outside U+I’s Mayfield development in Manchester, thanking key workers.
The built environment is still the world’s most valuable sector - and growing recognition of the important role it will play in recovery is positive, but also puts organisations, brands and cities under far greater scrutiny.
Companies that have received much-needed government support will be watched carefully as we move into recovery. Everything from executive pay, tax residence, dividend payments, profit margins, diversity, and wider commitments to the ESG agenda will come under greater scrutiny than ever. Green-washing and purpose-washing will be called out. Commitments will need to be real and enduring.
As we recapitalise global markets, those involved in our sector will need to reconsider how to make places more productive as remote-working disrupts old models, spending localises and culture shifts.
New patterns of work will make us rethink the purpose of the office – underlining its value as a crucible of a company’s culture and values, rather than a gathering place to get work done. New and imaginative forms of internal communications will be needed to cultivate the sense of belonging and connectedness that fosters productivity.
“For now, there are many more questions than answers. But there is a clear imperative that those with real assets and those that create and manage them must adapt. ”
The mix of uses, infrastructure, services, social commitments, ownership, intensification and placemaking are a few of many topics that will need to be navigated with greater vigour and clarity.
A growing realisation that solving challenges like climate change and inequality are not only interconnected, but also key to recovery, increases the complexity of positioning the sector’s essential role. Those that are seen to be laggards in doing their bit tackle these global challenges will fall behind. Occupiers are already driving this shift – but the pace will quicken.
Ways of working, shopping, travelling, learning and relaxing will inevitably change, with long-term implications. Supply chains and transport networks will need rethinking and the relationship between landlord and tenant is already being re-evaluated.
Men wearing face masks while exercising in Sydney. Credit: Kate Trifo
Patterns of demand for conventional and alternative housing classes will be reshaped by changing domestic and international preferences. And the prospect that global pandemics are not one-off events will accentuate the need for technology-led resilience and trust that the built environment is safe to be in.
Digital disruption will impact culture more quickly than ever before as we move more activities online. At the same time there is an increasing challenge of being seen and heard. Journalists are working to stretched timetables and physical networks are becoming more complex to sustain in the short-term.
A women sits on a Bangkok MRT Purple Line train with seats marked for social distancing. Credit: Ketut Subiyanto
Digital presence is increasingly relevant for defining achievements and leading agendas. Communication noise and fake news has also made consumers more critical, increasing the need for organisations, brands and cities to have a sustained, simple and honest conversation, consolidating existing audiences while sensitively gaining exposure in new markets.
For now, there are many more questions than answers. But there is a clear imperative that those with real assets and those that create and manage them must adapt.
And we want to help you through these atypical and fast-changing changing times. To do so we have developed a 5-step process to help you develop a future-ready communications strategy for your business.
ING’s Built Environment PR & Communications Recovery Audit will be informed by our recent and ongoing intelligence gathering and analysis in the built environment and related sectors – and by the wealth of experience of our diverse and talented team.
It will be tailored to each specific business and lead by ING’s senior directors, drawing on their skills and experience in providing strategic counsel to clients, as well as the training we provide through the ING Academy and our bespoke media and crisis communications training programmes.
The objective is to help you navigate the fast-changing world we all find ourselves in and ensure you are ready to adapt and thrive.
For more information on ING’s Built Environment PR & Communications Recovery Audit do get in touch and we can provide your with a prospectus: