The PR Shop

WITH DAVE BULLARD

WHEN IT COMES TO SAFETY, WHAT DO WE SAY AND HOW DO WE SAY IT?

Our festivals and events are coming back. Many of us will return this year and, as long as the fight against COVID-19 continues on an upward and aggressive path, we’ll all be back in 2022. We’re all thinking hard about how our events will change. Will we need to require masks? Temperature checks? A valid vaccination card? How many more cleaners will we need to keep surfaces sanitary? How will we make sure vendors comply? It will be absolutely critical to communicate these changes to our customers. The way we talk about the future of our events will be a major factor in the success of our returns. Our role as the information link between our events and our fans has never been more important.

That’s because not only have our events changed, but so have our customers. The accounting and business services firm Ernst & Young’s annual Future Consumer Index shows some eye-opening statistics:

• 50% of consumers believe the way they live their lives will change significantly;

• 40% want their lives to get back to normal, and;

• 53% say their values have changed.

On the one hand, change of this magnitude is usually much more gradual, giving us plenty of time to adapt. On the other hand, rapid change is plainly visible and forces us to adapt now. One thing is clear: People want to get back to normal, whatever normal turns out to be post-pandemic.

There’s no firm playbook yet for communicating about our events in a post-crisis world. Here are my thoughts and suggestions:

First, Do No Harm

Use the physicians’ Hippocratic oath and make your first principle that whatever you communicate won’t make things worse for consumers. Studies show that our customers are eager to come back to our events but they are also anxious about being in crowds after more than a year of being told crowds aren’t safe.

Reassure them by making information available while not necessarily making it prominent. Your website is a perfect place for a detailed discussion of your safety and cleaning protocols and admissions. You can then direct anyone asking a question or making a comment on your social channels to that section, where they can get an answer without dragging the entire discussion into the comments swamp of a Facebook post.

Use A Scalpel, Not A Chainsaw

Torturing the medical metaphor a bit further, I’d say that communicating your plans for and commitment to safety requires a surgeon’s touch. The less said, the better. The more you focus on it in public, the more your customers will wonder whether you’re really safe.

I’ve thought a lot about how we’ll advertise my event this year. It’s the definition of a mass gathering: 1.3 million people over 13 days, with free national touring concerts that draw between 10,000 - 40,000 people.

I’m coming down on the side of subtle. I believe that each of us will be subject to safety protocols handed down by state or local health authorities and if we’re allowed to open, that’s as good as saying that we meet or exceed those standards; we’re safe to attend.

As a result, I don’t think we will need to bring safety into our slogan or theme for the year. It’s good as a single word in the body copy. “We’re back, safe, and as much fun as you remember!” or something like that.

Have A Plan

Whatever you do, don’t just start communicating about your safety and sanitation plans. Think of it as a campaign within a campaign. It requires a careful and structured rollout.

Your mileage may vary, but here’s what I plan to do: As soon as we know we are good to go (it’s not at all a certain thing), I think we should get all of the safety information out quickly. A speedy rollout assures people we’ve got a plan and gives them the most time to get comfortable with it. This includes messaging on the eventgoer’s own responsibilities -- are they required to wear masks, show vaccination records, etc.

Then we can get on with the business of whipping up excitement for the event itself without having to slow down to communicate about another piece of the safety plan.

Use Every Tool

Lastly, this is the year to stretch out and use every means of communication available to you. Before someone buys a ticket online to your event, they should see information about what they will have to do in order to attend. It should be reinforced by signage at the entrances (“By entering, you agree to wear a mask at all times except when eating,” for example).

A standard line in your email newsletter should be something like, “See our safety plan here, including your responsibilities.”

Consider staffing a phone number for one year or one cycle of events that consumers can call with safety questions or to report a violation.

Surveys show that our patrons desperately want us back, but they’re also worried. Using a light but constant touch can help them feel reassured and excited to come back.

About This Column and Me

Thanks for reading this far! This is the first column for The PR Shop. My intention is not necessarily to tell you how things should be done, but to spark a conversation around these issues, usually driven by data. There’s never just one way to accomplish a goal and I’d love it if someone can show us a better way.

I’m the Public Relations and Marketing Manager for The Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, the nation’s first and oldest state fair, dating to 1841 (the Fair, that is; not me). The Fair has become primarily a huge food-and-music festival not unlike most major festivals, and we market it that way.

I have spent my entire life in and around media, starting as a stringer for my hometown weekly newspaper at age 16 and spending many years in print, radio, TV and online media. I have run a solo PR, marketing and video production business and founded one of the nation’s first online-only local news publications in 1999.

I’m married, with two sons and a grandchild, and two cats. Penn State grad. Love sports, especially soccer, as well as sudoku and logic puzzles. Why, yes, I *am* a nerd! Thank you for asking!

I am a student of marketing and public relations, particularly of the way messaging can improve (or overcome) rational decision-making, a field called behavioral economics. I am finishing my IFEA CFEE certification and cannot recommend it highly enough.

I am the moderator for the IFEA PR and Marketing Virtual Affinity Group every 2nd Tuesday, and want to invite you to join us for our monthly chat. I can be reached anytime at dave.bullard@ agriculture.ny.gov and am here to support the great people and events of our industry, so drop me a note with suggestions, thoughts or counterarguments anytime.

Dave Bullard is the Public Relations and Marketing Manager for the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse and a public information officer for the state agriculture department. In his 7 years there, the Fair has grown to 1.3 million attendees to become the largest state fair in the East. He spent most of his life in print, radio, TV and online journalism and has owned a one-man public relations company and a small online news publishing firm. Dave is married to a retired teacher with two grown sons, bangs the drums in a band for excitement and plays poker and sudoku.

WWW.KALIFF.COM