So I started the day with a specific plan in place. After completing a couple of tasks and recording my work on the project sheets I stepped outside to take in the beautiful spring day in Austin. As I walked along the back yard soaking in the sun I thought to myself, what a perfect first day of Spring Break and fourth day for SXSW going strong downtown.
A quick glance at my house disrupted that train of thought.
It also disrupted my day, although that wasn’t immediately apparent when I judged the extent of work ahead of me.
Getting antsy
What caught my attention was an army of ants soldiering up the side of my house. I quickly surveyed the situation and knew I needed to get a ladder and a can of ant spray. I returned, climbed the ladder and began spraying. I have a two story and as I followed their path I kept aiming higher and higher. And then I stopped. There were hundreds and hundreds of ants at the roofline entering the house via a vent and a seam in the soffit. They were well out of reach. I needed my 24' foot extension ladder.
Setting up the extension ladder was no easy feat. I have a large live oak six feet from the house. I occasionally trim the canopy to keep the branches from scraping the house, but the last trim was at least nine months ago. While the clearance was narrow, I did manage to get the ladder stabilized. Up I went 18 feet and began spraying.
As dead ants dropped to the ground, peered along the roofline.
Oh no.
Further disruption
Roof fascia damage from a branch rubbing against it in the wind. More unplanned work that couldn’t be delayed.
Several hours later I had a pile of branches, a very stiff neck, sore shoulders and tired legs. I also had many items on my checklist that didn’t get completed.
And that made me think about responding to disruption in the market. What will you do when a competitor makes a significant product introduction that fires the imaginations of the market, press, analysts and even your customers and partners?
Communications mayhem
How will you respond? What will you say? What will you do? What will you publish?
Will you throw an army of marketers and communicators at the problem? Will you release a raft of content designed to take the air out of you competitor’s sails? Will you go for quantity or quality?
When I put it that way, the answer seems obvious, doesn’t it?
Ultimately, the communications strategy you put in play should not deviate in tone of voice, or from your value proposition or your key messages. In some way you’ll need to address your competitor’s announcement, probably indirectly through a reinforcement of your own strategic direction, portfolio of solutions, and roadmaps.
Stay the course
Be crisp, clear and concise in your response. Precision in communications matters most in a crisis.
A carefully constructed and consistent conveyance of calm assurance in your communications will be far more impactful than cutting a conveyor belt of confusing clutter.
That will serve only to undermine your credibility and throw your marketing and communications strategy (and teams) off plan.
Both will cost you more than it’s worth.
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