Why Caribbean Brands need Public Affairs Pros, Now!

These days, a lot is going on in the world. The twenty-four-hour news cycle is trained on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting global fallout. Inflation, the big economic story in the first quarter of 2022, preceded Europe's newest war, with supply-chain and labor-market challenges materializing months ago, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we grapple with these immediate issues, questions around climate change mitigation, racial and gender-based inequities, data protection, and even a new global corporate tax regime remain unanswered. And, I haven't even mentioned local developments.

The Davis administration has proposed an aggressive agenda in The Bahamas, including wholesale tax reform and increasing compliance, Family Island development, public service reform and digitization, advances in Blue, Green, and Orange economy development, and enhanced foreign relations. As I said, it's a lot.

As brands respond to, adjust for, and maneuver through these global and local issues, consumers who have access to more information faster than ever before also expect brands to be clear about their values and ultimately to pick a side.

Just a few months ago, brands in the United States were shifting the tone of their external communications from empathetic, public health-based messaging to a more optimistic, "back to normal" tone, as this article from Marketing Dive details. Now, many face a new challenge-- consumers are demanding that they take a stand and cut ties with Russia.

We tend to see these concerns as the domain of big US and European multinational corporations. In the Caribbean, where marketing, communications, and public relations roles are often rolled into one, whose job is to help brands negotiate the minefield where global and local issues, government policy, and consumer/community expectations intersect? What support can leaders in the public and private sectors call on to design, implement and manage the strategies and relationships to secure the best outcomes for their organizations?

This is where public affairs pros enter the chat.

It's common to use the terms "public relations," with which we are more familiar, and "public affairs" interchangeably, but the two disciplines are different.

Both roles have similar elements, especially in communicating and building relationships with the public. Both rely on designing strategies and campaigns. In contrast, public relations can act as an extension of marketing, creating awareness about a brand's products or services and creating consumer goodwill; public affairs is more stakeholder-oriented and more political.

Public relations pros spend the majority of their time drafting press releases, helping to design marketing campaigns, focusing on brand development, and analyzing market research. Instead, public affairs pros focus on tracking political developments, advising brand leadership on related political and social issues, lobbying governments for regulatory or legislative changes, and keeping key stakeholders informed and engaged.

In the Caribbean, where corporate leadership might not appreciate the unique skillsets each of these marketing/communications roles fall into, it might be premature to start a conversation on the distinction between public relations and public affairs. In fact, when the constant gripe is that brands do not have the budget to separate and adequately resources each of these roles, it might not even be possible.

However, the world and consumers are not waiting for us to catch up or find the resources. The relationship between the local and global is becoming more integrated, the issues and challenges more complex. Consumers and communities expect brands to respond in values-based, authentic ways, and they have no hesitation in using social media and other platforms to express their dissatisfaction.

Now, more than ever, brands need advocates, coalition builders, and advisors who understand the political and social landscape, can build trust with stakeholders, and ultimately influence policy decisions to maximize business success. They need public affairs.