A positive spin to help our city win

Public relations guru Naomi Spires has donated her company’s time to help Gold Coast businesses struggling to make sense of the coronavirus crisis. She says together we can overcome the challenges.

WITH ANN WASON MOORE

IN the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis, Naomi Spies has become a frontline worker for bottom lines, operating to help businesses survive. With the Gold Coast built on the industries of tourism and hospitality, the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting our city hard as shops are shuttered, bottom lines shrink and workers are sent home. While Naomi, founder and managing director of public relations agency Ruby Communications, may also be operating out of the office, she and her team are helping help our city’s traders strategise their survival – and she’s not charging a cent.

Just minutes after posting a social media call-out last week offering Ruby’s “Covid-19 free business health check”, Naomi says her inbox was inundated. “There is a lot of fear and panic out there right now – not just about the health repercussions but the economic impact as well,” says Naomi, who last year was Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the PR and media category. “We have had so many businesses reach out for help, the emails started within minutes of publishing the post.

“We get them to send through their basic information and then take a deep dive into tactics they can use to immediately change their messaging, we show them how to pivot and find their niche. It’s not a painstaking process but it is personal.

“I just wanted to be a part of the solution right now. I feel so strongly that if you just take a breath, push the fear to one side and look for the quick and easy push and redirect, you’ll make it through.

“It’s not about us making money; we’re doing this for free. But it is about making sure that businesses survive. After all, we need business for us to stay in business.

“The last thing the Gold Coast needs is mass lay-offs, this is our way of helping.”

Despite the dire economic news, Naomi says there is a lot that businesses can do to stay afloat. In fact, she says there is actually huge opportunity in the market if employers and employees are willing to pursue it.

She says the most critical advice is simply not to panic, but to plan.

“Every business needs to be ready to pivot and to be prepared,” she says.

“Don’t be afraid to change your marketing campaign and your messages, the situation is changing every day and you have to be ready to move with it. For tourism businesses, the message is don’t stop marketing. Get people booking now for later. Get the deposits, get the money so you can keep moving.

“Build in some deep discounting, it’s not about soaring profits but staying alive right now.

“If people see value, they will come. Offer full refunds for every booking, give people the peace of mind that they can cancel if they need to – give them that motivation. Target your home and drive markets, nobody is going to travel far right now, but we have a big enough population and a diverse enough industry where we can sustain ourselves.

“Hospitality is the other industry being hard hit and again the messaging matters. Communicate quickly and often and you’ll survive.

“We did an influencer campaign with Jamie’s Pizzeria showing people eating their pizza on the beach and in their homes and it worked really well – the message is you can still order and stay safe.”

Naomi says just as employees are being encouraged to work from home, retailers should target their customers shopping from home.

She says new figures show that despite a huge decrease in foot traffic at shopping centres, there has been a correlating rise in social media consumption and online shopping.

“When we look at our influencer campaigns, we’re seeing a 22 per cent increase in impressions over this time last year; while there is a 76 per cent increase in daily accumulated ‘likes’ in Instagram hashtag advertising posts over the last two weeks.

“What that means is that there are a lot of eyes on screens right now. There may not be feet in shops, but there are fingers ready to click ‘buy’. Refocus your staff from instore to online, seize the opportunity, this could actually be a really good time for retailers.

“Advertising in newspapers and on TV is also the way to go right now, everyone is watching the news, so use that audience to get your message across. Think about where your brand sits in that.

“When we start the new normal, you want to make sure your brand is represented properly.

“The businesses who will survive this are those who are jumping in and making a noise. If you pull back you will sink quietly. Don’t panic, plan ahead and act quickly – opportunities are rife and ripe.”

Naomi says with such huge disruption to normal working life, the Gold Coast could be an unexpected winner in the “new normal”.

She says an increase in flexible hours and working from home would make our city an even more attractive location.

“A lot of businesses I speak to are quite confident that they will ride this out, they are working collaboratively with others and feeding strategic alliances – and they are finding that flexibility is leading to more productivity,” says Naomi, who has been juggling working from home with parenting two children.

“If we can offer that here, that’s how we will attract toptier employees from Sydney and Melbourne. Whether you’re an employee or employer, why wouldn’t you work on the Gold Coast if you could?”

Naomi says despite the “Ab

Fab” stereotype of the PR industry, it is actually very serious business.

In fact, she says her passion for PR developed while handling a rail crisis in Britain

“I think everyone loves that PR image of superficial Ab Fab types but the truth is our profession can be the difference between life and death for businesses, especially in times of crisis. Our crisis communication skills mean we connect swiftly and correctly with customers, we make sure things are not blown out of perception and that reputation is protected.

“It’s a very serious side of the business that is managed with great care. For me, I think I really fell in love with that side of the business when I was working in England in the mid2000s and there was a rail tunnel collapse.

“Thank goodness no one was hurt, even though there were two trains headed towards Gerrards Cross at that time. It was my job working for the private rail company to get people back on trains, despite the headlines and two months of closure.

“It was an amazing experience and we brought that company back from the brink. It really opened my eyes as to how you can handle something and turn a crisis into a victory.

“When I came back to Australia I wanted to bring that learning here, and so I set up Ruby almost 10 years ago.

“Now we have two offices and we lead from the heart. I love this city and I know that we can come back from the brink too. We are all in this together. It’s our responsibility not just as business people, but as people, to help.”