Written by: Michelle Dias, Director of Professional Development, CPRS Toronto
Since the pandemic lockdown, some agency clients quickly ramped up communications while others turned off campaigns entirely. Toronto-based public relations agencies have followed. Agencies working in the healthcare sector, pharmaceuticals and those representing essential work such as grocery stores or the food sector, have been working tirelessly to feed the news cycle with information on how their clients are supporting the pandemic.
For many agencies, they have either lost clients or had client work put on hold as businesses slow down or halt altogether. The most impacted agencies reflect the hardest hit industries: the travel and hospitality sector, sports and entertainment, plus those associated with in-person retail. Postponed or cancelled events have impacted influencer-related work, a large component of the work for many Toronto-agencies, working with and representing influencers.
The consumer and media space in Toronto for the last 10 years has been healthy and vibrant despite the shutdown or reduction of media outlets. PR events, product launches and partnerships have continued to thrive as a source of content. Until a vaccine is made widely available and industries begin to reopen, agencies across Canada will continue to do their best to remain creative and resilient with innovative content series or colleague incentives.
Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada (H+K) is a leading public relations and public affairs firm providing services to local, multinational and global clients from its eight offices across the country. Sampling from John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” video series, H+K has launched a weekly content series on Instagram that highlights “Happy Headlines”. The photo series shines a light on their clients and special work being done in the area of corporate social responsibility and Canadian culture during COVID-19. This simple yet thoughtful approach to storytelling is a positive break in the sometimes-bleak stories shown during this lockdown.
“In the midst of all the pandemic media coverage, we noticed that there was an increase in people searching for good news. We were inspired by the creative ways our team, clients and people in our communities were finding ways to do good in these challenging times and wanted to do our part in lifting people’s spirits by sharing their stories. Each week, our team crowd sources a series of Happy Headlines that celebrate positivity, good corporate citizenship and how Canadians are supporting each other.” Emilija Businskas, Vice President, Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada
Toronto-based agency Pomp and Circumstance is led by co-partners Amanda Alvaro and Lindsay Mattick. The agency was recently featured in the Toronto Star for their colleague engagement program called, “#SoloBucketList”, where colleagues are encouraged to learn a new hobby or skill not necessarily related to client work. In the case of agency-partner Lindsay Mattick, she has been spending time in quarantine perfecting new and challenging recipes. The agency offers a $500 bursary fund to help employees get started on their #SoloBucketList. This unique initiative goes a long way for the small agency that thrives on creativity.
“We have always encouraged our team to be creative and adventurous and to keep a bucket list of desired experiences close to them. We do this because we believe that a thirst for the world fuels creativity, which in the field of PR is an essential client skill. When the limitations of COVID-19 set in, the #solobucketlist was our way of helping keep our team’s spirits up to enable them to do their best work. Our attempt at turning lemons, if you will, to lemonade.” Lindsay Mattick, Co-Founder, Creative Director, Pomp & Circumstance.
Strategic Objectives (SO) is recognized for its out-of-the-box ideas when it comes to events and publicity in Toronto. Keeping in mind their clients’ social media objectives, SO recently launched a survey to 80 of Canada’s top influencers to learn how they were coping with the quarantine. The results showed that influencers are on pause as businesses begin to pick back up. Some positive highlights showed that there is still an appetite from audiences to receive inspirational or engaging content such as workouts, quizzes, and home décor tips. The well-thought-out survey unveils how content will pivot post-COVID and how influencers and agencies will need to adapt.
“Our creative approach to public relations has always been driven by strategy and that includes Influencer Marketing. We wanted to have the most timely, relevant, and meaningful insights to help guide us in making the best recommendations to our clients to achieve outstanding results,” says Judy Lewis, co-founder and partner, Strategic Objectives. “We have proven that there is tremendous power in Influencer Marketing if understood and managed in an authentic and strategic way.”
For many, the hope is that when the pandemic ends, and businesses begin to open, agency life will quickly resume to normal. Or a new version of normal.
Written by: Michelle Dias, Director of Professional Development, CPRS Toronto