THURSDAY 20 AUG 2020 12:40 PM
COMMS GOGGLEBOX 20 AUGUST
In today's GoggleBox our experts discuss the mixed signals around the govt's decision to lift lockdown restrictions, and Ben & Jerry's political stance.
To be (in lockdown) or not to be?
"Spent the last two hours attempting to decipher opinions from people impacted by sudden lockdown from those in it and people responsible for implementing government decision. General support for need for lockdown. 💯 anger about how late announcement was and how confusing the new rules are. 💯 agreement it is even worse communications than the numerous shambolic communications that have gone before. I've spoken to senior folks locally in West Yorkshire who are responsible for communicating and enforcing this and even they are confused."
Stuart Bruce, Independent management consultant
"I agree timing and method of communicating is unacceptable. The variety of rules and messages is confusing and hard to keep track of. It needs a simple way for ongoing comms and a known process for the emergency comms. The impact of this latest announcement on the families celebration Eid will be deeply felt. The public has no easy way of following the governments intel or decision-making. The daily briefings at least helped to convey what they were seeing , followed by the decisions they were making - something similar is certainly needed!"
Jennifer Thomas, Communications director
"The daily briefings were a way for people to understand, not only what was happening that day, but also that this was the government’s main focus. It helped us all feel that this was priority number one with high levels of accountability and greater transparency. The briefings themselves may have been flawed, and some of them raised more questions than answers, but the act of having them gave some comfort and reassurance, and that’s gone now."
Alan Oliver, Santander UK
"Even this morning councils didn't have the information residents need.
One (white) Bradford councillor I know with a large Muslim electorate is getting absolutely slaughtered in Facebook because he said he was trying to get more information to share but that he understood the need for lockdown while very critical of the communication of its timing."
Stuart Bruce, Independent management consultant
Ben and Jerry’s goes political
"Part of the Unilever acquisition deal was about maintaining 'independence' through an independent board. So that's the answer to how it can do things like this. I wholeheartedly endorse the sentiment of the tweets and have no problem (indeed admire) companies that take strong, principled positions. But the problem with this thread is it links to partisan sources, rather than credible, factual sources. Linking to titles like Tribune undermines its arguments. It isn't how a company or brand should go about purpose, responsibility or whatever you want to call it."
Stuart Bruce, Independent management consultant
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