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Finance Monthly connected with Colin McDonough, Director of 50 Words LLC to hear about his company and the crisis communications challenges that they help their clients with.

 

Can you tell us a bit about the work that you do with your firm 50 Words? What are the clients that you work with and what’s your overall goal for the company?

We are a full-service marketing, public relations and crisis communications firm. Although we have customers across many industries, we focus on financial services and professional services firms. This includes bank-owned and independent financial services providers such as asset-based lenders and factors, investment banking firms, financial advisory and turnaround firms and other professional services firms such as accounting and legal service providers. Our clients vary from start-ups through to Fortune 500 companies.

Our goal is to act as an extension of our clients’ marketing and communications departments if they have them. If not, we step into that role as their dedicated team. So, our services vary greatly from client to client. For some, we guide them through strategic planning and for others, it’s all about execution of an existing plan. On any given day, the professionals in our firm could be hard at work designing or updating websites, developing and posting content for social media or digital marketing campaigns, crafting communications such as press releases or helping guide a client through a crisis communications situation such as a criminal matter, downsizing of a labour force or other unforeseen situation.

 

What are the typical crisis communications challenges that you assist with? What’s the best way of handling one?  

Some examples of crisis communications situations we have worked through with clients include criminal matters, bankruptcy and downsizing of a labour forces, labour issues including strike, closing of business unit, sale of business unit, failed merger/joint venture and failed product launch.

The practice of crisis communications management is much different today due to a 24/7 news cycle along with a plethora of individuals on social media platforms reporting news. Brand value can be destroyed in minutes when a crisis hits.

The best approach for any company is to have a tested crisis communications team and process in place before a crisis happens. But sadly, this is not the case for most firms, especially middle market or smaller businesses who don’t want to spend the time or money for this to happen.

Firms need to have a plan and process in place, identify members and roles, select and train key spokesperson(s), control access to all communication points including the website and social media platforms, and build a relationship with a PR expert so he/she is knowledgeable about your firm before a crisis happens. Firms don’t have 24 hours to react when a crisis hits, they have minutes. If I could give one piece of advice to management teams, it would be to invest in media monitoring software.

 

What differentiates 50 Words from its competitors?

Two things. Firstly, our focus on financial services firms and professional services firms, many in the turnaround and restructuring space. A common complaint in any organization about the agencies they deal with is that they don’t understand the nuances of their sector. Our principals have over 25 years’ experience in the sector, so there isn’t a learning curve when they hire our firm. We network in the same industries as our clients so we understand the industry and market dynamics they face. Secondly, we offer a complete solution for our clients. Companies today are juggling multiple agencies to meet all their marketing and PR needs. That doesn’t work for small and middle market businesses who don’t have supply chain or internal resources to manage multiple vendors. We are that single source that our clients need. If we don’t have what they need, which is rare, we bring in a partner to meet their needs.

Rapid technological change is changing the business landscape and businesses have to adapt or will be left behind. While this change impacts all business functions, marketing and communications are particularly affected. The capabilities and competencies required for marketing and PR professionals are evolving and firms often can’t afford to have large teams in house to meet their growing needs. They should build a network of go-to technological savvy marketing and PR professionals to supplement their existing staff.

 

Website: http://www.50words.com/

There are three key challenges currently facing the financial services sector: building trust with customers; embracing new technology; and challenging the challengers as more businesses look to diversify and offer new innovative products and online services. It’s an interesting time, and one where communications are critical.

To combat these challenges, all businesses have to think about the way they engage with audiences and tell their story. Financial services firms in particular need to be seen as human-facing businesses, which is why creating an emotional connection has become as central to a successful communications programme as the value-led product information you provide. In the past this has been far more common in the consumer marketplace.

From smaller start-ups to larger, more established corporate machines, both ends of the scale need help to do this in different ways. The latter often benefit from a focus on refreshing their communications approach and revisiting their market position, such as identifying more engaging and digitally-focused channels (vital given the current landscape of disruptive and challenger SMEs). The former, such as FinTech brands challenging the status quo, need help to build their brand and instil confidence in customers where the brand has a less supporting heritage to build a credible market position.

At Speed, we build a partnership and consultancy position with all our clients from the start to help them on their journey. Working with a wide range of finance and professional services clients, we are particularly adept at supporting organisations with a brave attitude to their communications who are looking to disrupt the market.

Our approach to communications is based on combining business brains with creative muscle. This means utilising intelligence and insight, alongside imagination and creativity. By combining these with the influence and connections we have with media and stakeholders, we create real impact for our clients.

The word impact is key for us. When approaching our work, we always consider the impact and how we can offer a return on investment. The bottom line is in fact a hugely important factor when it comes to external communications – how will our efforts support business development?

Thought leadership positioning to create brand awareness and reputational growth is central to this. From the start of a relationship, we believe it is important that we work closely with leadership teams to understand their challenges, and help to identify their vision, mission and leadership offer. Communications and marketing has an important role to play and should be driven from the top down, so we spend time with our clients to understand their business. We also take a deep dive into their marketplace to understand market trends, core competitors and key stakeholders so we have a clear view on market positioning plus barriers and opportunities.

Telling your business story in an engaging and emotional way allows you to connect with an end audience and demonstrate what you have to offer. Understanding audience groups by segmenting key decision makers and influencers to discover what they need and the challenges they face is key to this. This insight then informs the central narrative we create and the journey we aim to take a business’s various audiences on.

The truth is, it is becoming harder to stand out from the crowd. Businesses therefore need to be brave in their approach and willing to say something different, to have a point of view. This is particularly relevant in the world of financial services where everyone is vying for the same commentary space, to be seen as an expert commentator on growth, the economy, and of course – for the moment – Brexit.

Over the last ten years in the communications industry, we have seen colossal changes in the way we work and communicate; technology has been hugely beneficial but has also brought with it new challenges. We are no longer in a world where we simply push out content. We are now in a two-way discussion with audiences.

The use of social media channels and online content hubs have helped us to communicate news for our clients and provide commentary faster and more efficiently. These channels allow us to engage, have conversations and build emotional connections with audiences. And the speed at which this content is consumed is only expected to increase.

For me, remaining curious and relevant for our clients is key to helping them stand out from the crowd – with our business insight and intelligence we demonstrate this daily. When this is combined with creative thinking and channel knowledge, we are able to identify even more opportunities to deliver our clients’ stories to their target audiences in new and engaging ways. Together we are on an exciting journey and a strong partnership from the start is key to our joint success.

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