PR and Marketing’s Role During Turbulent Times
By Julie Tangen
Geopolitical tension. Financial-market volatility. Inflationary recession. Food and energy shortages as a result of the war in Ukraine. The continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
2022 was an extraordinarily tumultuous year. And fasten your seatbelts, more uncertainty is in store for 2023.
Any “normal” we’d hoped to return to remains elusive. Along with the mix of problems that blew up in 2022, you can add lingering questions around hybrid and remote work, supply chain/distribution issues, and an economy in flux.
Turbulent times require a more intense focus on flexibility, agility, and resilience—much more than just a company’s ability to recover quickly to some baseline.
In business, resilience means dealing with adversity and shocks while continuously adapting and innovating. It means being nimble and harnessing the inevitability of change rather than working against it. Companies must be able to pivot quickly and respond in ways uniquely suited to each crisis, rather than apply one-size-fits-all, inflexible tactics. Or worse, take a wait-and-see approach.
This is where the value and importance of PR and marketing really comes to light. As an agency owner with more than 20 years of PR experience, I’ve seen many ups and downs in the tech market. In down times, our clients look to us more than ever as strategic problem solvers able to assess how to get ahead of competitors with research, creative campaigns, and media coverage to promote innovation and generate momentum.
They need a thought leadership platform and strong media and analyst relationships to deeply understand how others perceive them rather than what they believe or want to be true. This is not the time for magical thinking.
They must lean into the volatility to uncover new opportunities. And they need a trusted, collaborative team with a shared vision of the future to help drive their message forward.
As we reflect back on 2022 and look at what’s in store, we’re thinking about all the clients we’ve seen through the years withstand, bounce back, and make big, bold bets to drive long-term value, despite uncertainty in the market.
Our team has worked tirelessly to support them by bending where we need to bend, pushing when we need to push, and operating as an extension to their team with efficiency, compassion, and empathy.
Because communication impacts every aspect of a company’s performance and results, leaders must be out there consistently and aggressively getting their story out to influencers. That steady approach is what gets companies through the ups and downs.