coexist

It was really interesting being a part of a brand communication fire-drill recently that was a direct result of the fundamental shift in how people interact and how we view “confidential” information.

Dealing with sensitive information is something clients and agencies do every day. It’s taken seriously and given a touch of common sense is not a big deal. This week, our client realized that it’s a bit more challenging when dealing with “don’t tell” information that affects the people that were asked to keep it a secret.

In this case, a merger announcement was made to a staff of 300+ people and they were asked to keep it a secret until the public announcement the following day. It’s pretty likely this information would have leaked in any era but today it’s more likely that it was Tweeted from someone’s Blackberry during the meeting.

People view their conversations within social networks as somewhat private (especially younger, digital natives) and this is naturally where they would turn when confronted with a big change that concerns them. Businesses benefit from the open sharing of information and cross-organization peers being connected. Businesses also need to confront the challenges being open and connected create.

Like everything beyond the press release – the brand message can’t be completely controlled in the social space – only nudged in the right direction. I can’t help but wonder if the perception around the merger would have been different if approached in an open way. I’m not saying the merger was perceived as negative – I’m questioning whether it could have been done in a way to actually create a ton of positive buzz and awareness through empowering associates to share.

Reach and how information will be shared is a part of every campaign agencies roll out today. The same consideration should be given to brand/corporate communications.