Cairo, Egypt – Lamia Kamel, the founder of Narrative Summit and CEO of communications agency CC Plus, has commented that the role of public relations is emerging in times of crises such as the ones being experienced with the spread of the coronavirus.
It is the responsibility of all institutions to set the broad lines of communication policies and to open channels of communication between different entities and uphold human values, she said.
Kamel insisted that these are elements that Narrative Summit, a platform for nation branding, has promoted since its inception. We witnessed this act of building bridges of communication, she said, during the visit of the Egyptian Minister of Health to Italy, and before that to China, to project what Egypt stands for to the world.
“In light of the rapid developments of the current situation, it is vital for business owners and their partners to implement a crisis management plan and to ensure there are steps taken in regard to all parties,” she said. “There should be many coinciding elements to this plan, chief among them being the achievement of institutional solidarity through effective internal communication for employees.”
“We must exercise leadership at turbulent times. At such times it’s the company’s integrity and commitment to team solidarity that count. When the crisis ends you will need the team’s efficient and loyalty to move forward and compensate for slow times” advised Kamel.
Kamel stressed the significance of the conscious use of brands on social media platforms, keeping in mind that now is not a time in which the focus should be on commercial profitability, but rather the most pressing concern for people now is sustainability.
The spotlight, she said, should be placed on reviving human values and a concern for how we can develop sustainably even in times of crisis and uncertainty. The continuation of progress and investment during this crisis should work to break the barrier of fear and use innovation to perhaps alter the image of what work will look like in the future.
In light of the above, CC Plus was keen to provide a set of guidelines on all its social media platforms to help organizations in managing the current crisis and to provide tactical and practical steps to ensure the safety and health of their employees and uphold their company’s brand name in times of crisis.
