Why Marketers Should Lead Crisis (Covid-19) Response

I was recently on a call with Marija Zivanovic-Smith, NCR’s SVP of Corporate Marketing, Communications, and Chief External Affairs Officer, when the subject turned to Covid-19. I had asked Zivanovic-Smith what she was working on and she said she was busy leading the company’s Covid-19 task force. I regularly talk with C-level marketers and this response surprised me—marketers are not regularly the people leading the crisis response team. I also found out that that NCR’s crisis communication has been recognized as “best-in-class,” having just won a Gold Stevie Award—an International Business Award for Communications and Campaigns Related to Covid-19. Below is Zivanovic-Smith’s insight on why marketers are often best equipped to lead crisis response and the process she has used to do so.

Kimberly Whitler: Your title is interesting. Can you briefly describe your current role?

Zivanovic-Smith:  Chief Marketing and Communications Officer is the simple way to put it.

Whitler: How did you come to be responsible for pandemic planning? By the way, congratulations for winning a Gold Stevie Award.

Zivanovic-Smith: Thank you, the Stevie Award is a recognition of the amazing colleagues I have on the task force and on our marketing, communications team. When we first learned of the virus, we immediately looked at it as a supply chain issue that was concentrated in China. Once it began spreading, we understood that it was much broader than an operational issue. In early March, the CEO and COO of NCR asked me to lead the Covid-19 task force. They understood how important it was to protect our people and our brand. At the core of everything was our ability to communicate clearly and manage expectations. It was important to ensure that the leader of the task force had a laser focus attention on  safety, brand reputation and business continuity. From CEO down, a very clear mission was established to prioritize the safety of employees, safety of customers, and business continuity. It is a natural fit with marketing and communications.

Whitler: Most other companies aren’t doing this. They aren’t tasking their head of marketing with the job of leading the Covid-19 task force. Why do you think your firm’s leadership did?

Zivanovic-Smith: Our leadership recognized that the crisis was  a threat to our brand and not just our supply chain. Of course business continuity was one of  the core priorities of the task force.  Moreoever, leadership understood how important it was to protect our people, our customers, and our brand. These are audiences and areas that marketers have unique skills understanding and communicating with.

You also have to remember that we provide essential services to our customers.  Our systems, services and people kept commerce and banking running during this pandemic – stores, restaurants, banks, groceries, gas stations. So, we didn’t have an option to close down…we had to find a way to protect people while ensuring business continuity and to do this in a way that strengthens brand trust.

Marketing is unique in that we tend to think first about the customer, to help other functions understand the customer, and then to develop programs with this deep insight. In the case of the Covid-19 task force, having marketing and communications closely partner with other functions – it helps ensure that the entire organization is focused on the mission (e.g., employees, customers, brand).

If you look at me, I’ve been here 12 years, I have a unique global understanding from years in public affairs, marketing and communications and I think that was a relevant factor. I was able to navigate the company from day one of the task force. What is a pandemic? It is a crisis by an unknown enemy. You have to put your scenario planning hat on. It is a skillset defined by ability to create strategy in the absence of any precedent, program management, an unmatched focus on reputation and issue management, and the capacity to translate key messages quickly to different audiences.

Whitler: Why do you think some marketers may be uniquely qualified to manage crises?

Zivanovic-Smith: First and foremost, words matter. In times of crisis – especially in crisis – there is an elevated fear of the unknown. Your teams and customers cling to every word from leadership, and marketers understand this emotional reaction to communications. We have the skill set to not only develop the right narrative but also to manage and evolve it. Second, everybody claims that they understand marketing. However, the ability to truly understand the audience and to bring that thinking to crisis management is crucial – and there is real variance in the ability to do this well. This skill is typically very unique to marketing and communications. Third, there is an unmatched focus on reputation. This crisis is challenging because there is an undefined amount of time for crisis response. That means that your playbooks have to be developed and continually evolving for an extended period of time without a conclusion date. As a leader you can understand this challenge. Not only do we have to navigate through the pandemic, but we need to keep the team engaged and fresh. There is no break because we don’t know when this will end. Our profession understands the ins and outs on how to approach an undefined crisis because of its pioneering nature.

Additional marketing leadership insight on Covid-19: Why Marketers Should Lead Crisis (Covid-19) Response and How to Manage a Crisis with No End and How to Mitigate Brand Damage from Covid-19

Join the Discussion: @KimWhitler

Thank you to Sarah Young, a second year at the University of Virginia, who helped during the interview and editing of the article.