Communications Lessons to Live by in 2022 and Beyond

Brukeme Dickson

Everybody wants to be heard and seen; this desire has existed since ancient times and is still quite relevant in our 21st-century, fast-paced world. On a personal level, this desire is met in relationships we build with the people in our world— parents, siblings, friends, and colleagues.

In the corporate world, it is met through communications, making the principles and strategies that pertain to this industry invaluable to every brand, regardless of size. Generally, communications is perceived as a bullhorn that aids a brand’s evangelical efforts as it courts its customers. However, many do not realise that it is a whole lot more than that.

Beyond making public announcements on a brand’s mission statements or activities, communications, when done right, fulfils the desire of every man (in this case, the target audience) to be heard and seen— ensuring every campaign and strategy deployed ends up a raving success. From my years as a consultant at one of Africa’s foremost storytelling, public relations, media and communications agency, I have seen firsthand that listening is the first step to running a successful campaign and accomplishing communications objectives.

Without listening, you can never pick up the components needed to engineer successful campaigns or crisis management. Listening avails you the tools you need to make a personal connection with your audience and pull on their heartstrings. This is what made the Heineken credential ad, which aired in 2017, the huge success it was.

The ad integrated experiences that the average Nigerian can relate with— the love for titles and the culture of bearing gifts when visiting family. The results? In Nigeria, the campaign recorded major success across major media platforms— with several awards recognising the campaign’s reach and impact.

The campaign, which was tweaked in different countries to fit varying cultural contexts, recorded sweeping success across board. On the financial side, Heineken recorded a drastic increase in its operating profits, meeting its 2017 expectations after a floundering financial year in 2015 and a recovering year in 2016.

Another lesson that can be culled from the Heineken credential campaign is the organic way the brand identified with its target audience. The brand cleverly leveraged the attributes it has in common with the average Nigerian— the desire to travel far and wide, the affinity for titles, the dedication to quality and the love for family— and that caused the campaign to achieve sweeping acceptance within Nigeria.

The brand’s campaign approach was such a powerful one that establishes human connection incredibly fast, as it builds on the desire the average person has to connect with like-minded people— as a study by the University of Kansas on the “Similarity in Relationships as Niche Construction: Choice, Stability, and Influence Within Dyads in a Free Choice Environment” revealed.

After listening to the target audience to extract the data needed, due attention must be given to the mode and medium through which messaging is communicated. The general principles of communication need to be adhered to in creating messaging— it needs to be clear, concise and correct.

A survey spanning over 30 countries which was carried out by Eurostat— a Directorate-General of the European Commission, founded by the European Parliament— in 2021 revealed that the majority of people do not verify the information they see online.

This propensity of the larger populace to swallow what they see on the internet hook, line and sinker makes it imperative for messaging to be fact-checked multiple times to avoid the spread of wrong information that may be damaging to brands, eliminating avoidable crises and saving companies losses that are incidental to crises.

Ensuring that information contained in communications messaging is fact-checked is paramount. However, in today’s world, where the average person is confronted with an obscene amount of information, and the chances of quality content getting buried in the landfill of data is incredibly high, it is not enough to have all your ducks in a row.

Your messaging must be clear and concise to stand out; this entails great attention paid to the language and the medium used. The medium goes a long way in determining how the messaging is crafted; conveying a message through video adverts is quite different from conveying it through a radio jingle or a design on social media.

In paying attention to all these, however, you must never take your eyes off the target audience— they influence every decision that you would have to make. The target audience dictates the medium used to accomplish communications objectives as well as the messaging projected. It will be foolhardy to launch a campaign targeted at youths through traditional mediums when the majority of them rely on social media for their information.

The target audience also determines how messaging is phrased. A campaign targeted at the boomers’ generation has to be worded differently from one targeting millennials or GenZs. Why?

The individuals in these generations do not process trends and words the same way; hence trying to use trendy words, for instance, that GenZs are conversant with to communicate with baby boomers is a recipe for disaster as people are more likely to ignore messages they cannot relate with or they do not have a connection to.

In today’s society, which is influenced mainly by millennials and GenZs— generations that value transparency and social action— articulating a brand’s ESG stance is always a plus.

A 2021 PWC Consumer Intelligence series revealed that consumers, and employees as well, demand that companies respond to environmental, social, and governance issues. 80 percent of respondents in the series stated that they are more likely to buy from companies who have an environmental stance, 76 percent a social stance, and 80 percent governance stance; with a similar percentage (84%, 83%, and 86%, respectively) stating they are more likely to work with companies who are addressing ESG issues.

Above all, in achieving communications objectives, due attention must be given to trends. Trends are an easy way to identify what has your target audience’s attention per time in order to leverage it. In paying attention to trends, you need to identify what is trending socially and what is trending in the communications industry— if a lot of organisations have hopped on a train and more are flocking towards it, chances are it is yielding results.

A classic example of this is what obtains with the influencer marketing trend. Although influencer marketing, as we know it, began sometime in the 20th century with the likes of Coco Chanel influencing the fashion world, and was only reserved for individuals with a certain level of sway, a lot has changed. In our climes today, literally anybody can become an influencer, with mini-influencers springing up everywhere, and this has been beneficial to the communications industry.

Social proof is such a powerful tool for communications players to leverage, and statistics show that brands still have so much to gain from leveraging it. A 2021 State of Influencer Marketing report released by Linqia— a leading influencer marketing platform situated in the United States— revealed that companies who used TikTok-led influencer marketing campaigns in 2020 experienced 325 percent in interest, with more companies taking advantage of this platform and others like it.

More so, shopability in influencer marketing has increased drastically, with many influencers giving their audience the option of patronising the brands being influenced instantly.

There are many other trends to look out for, like search engine optimisation and podcasts, as highlighted by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. Two trends that every player in the communications industry must avert their minds to, however, are virtual reality and augmented reality.

These twin trends have revolutionised storytelling and elevated consumer’s experiences, as they offer amplified immersive experiences compared to other mediums. Augmented and virtual reality have been integrated into everything from video content to data visualisation and product testings, giving each consumer a personalised experience with different brands and availing brands the opportunity to receive real-time feedback— giving room for prompt iterations where needed.

Over the years, since these two revolutionary offshoots of technology have been created, augmented and virtual reality have experienced hyper-growth and adoption. According to various forecast reports, this accelerated growth and adoption rate is on an indefinite upward trajectory— moreso as the metaverse takes shape and evolves.

A 2021-2025 forecast report by Technavio— a leading market research company with industry-wide coverage— the global virtual and augmented reality market “is expected to grow by USD 162.71 billion from 2020 to 2025 at a CAGR of 46%.”

Proactive communications professionals who wish to elevate their Communications ante need to take advantage of these technologies, or risk being caught unawares as the two tech-powered realities sweep the industry.

In leveraging trends and technologies, however, communicators must never lose sight of the importance of telling a story. Regardless of how sophisticated and in vogue a trend or technology is, it cannot ensure the success of a campaign independent of a story. Trends and technology only serve to amplify the story you tell your consumers, not replace them. “Telling an impactful story is a non-negotiable in today’s attention-fragmented world.”

“Great storytelling evokes emotion and connection. It inspires action and builds trust”— and is the foundation on which every successful campaign and communications strategy is built. People don’t want to be talked at; they want to make a connection with another human. This can only happen through effective storytelling.

Telling an effective story requires that you understand (and care about) your audience deeply. Find out what makes them laugh, reflect, sad, or angry. Then take all of that information and weave a powerful story that resonates deeply with them.

All in all, regardless of what trends and strategies you choose to adopt and what story you choose to tell, one goal you must always have in mind as a communications specialist is connecting with the consumer personally.

*Brukeme Dickson, a Communications Consultant wrote in from Lagos.

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