Expected, recurring and sudden events, crises, conflicts and disputes, and the catastrophes that are ravaging the world announce the birth of the forces of nature as a pivotal player in the future global system, changing the concept of power in international relations and transforming climate change and its repercussions to become more like an undisputed first global power.
Events and conflicts need to harness the subtle art of persuasive messages, emotional appeals, and storytelling to mobilize empathy and solidarity. They require speakers and messages that touch the surface of an individual’s consciousness in society, and resonate with the underlying psychological currents that drive human behavior. Campaigns designed not just to be seen or heard, but by Through highly advanced technologies, as the most important tools for countries to manage catastrophic events, it is possible to feel these precautionary warnings on an emotional level, and to take advantage of the rich tapestry of human emotions to mobilize the masses towards a pre-determined destination, whether it is a matter of stimulating public opinion, changing the recipient’s habits and behavior, or generating loyalty. For a system or value, and creating stories that are compatible with the deeper values and motivations of the audience with its various orientations and data.
At its core, public influence strategy revolves around recognizing the complex, often unconscious factors that influence our daily choices, and addressing them with skill that goes beyond transactions to create truly transformative engagement. With this strategic approach, public relations rises to an artistic level that not only communicates with the public institutionally, but also He also works with him on a personal level as part of the crisis management team.
Creating an integrated program to influence public opinion and then the public mood and create a media phenomenon also requires setting clear, measurable goals for the media phenomenon that one wishes to create, analyzing the audience in terms of searching for the audience, and dividing it into segments based on demographics, psychological characteristics, and media consumption habits. Then develop the message, where key messages are formulated that resonate with each segment of the audience, and are compatible with the cultural and spiritual values and underlying interests, and identify the most effective media channels (traditional and digital), and even create new channels to reach the audience and make their opinion part of content creation. The public itself is the one who distributes it, in addition to the official distribution.
There are a number of studies that have been conducted in various societies to shed light on how countries use media and public opinion strategies to influence the public, including, for example, the public relations strategy used by the United States government to announce recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria destroyed infrastructure. for Puerto Rico, highlighting its role in providing critical infrastructure, such as providing 300 power generators to help redevelop Puerto Rico, and amateur and professional photography to illustrate the government’s recovery efforts, not to mention drone video and visual documentation, which is essential to the storytelling. Demonstrating the impact of efforts, appointing experts and making them available to conduct interviews, comment on procedures, and provide advice and guidance.
This campaign implemented more than 500 media presentations and used targeted media lists, which led to the publication of more than 300 news stories across major and subsidiary news outlets, and the involvement of all social media channels to deliver the message positively. This campaign achieved coverage that reached more than 665 million media impressions. And significant participation from audiences in different countries, which led to amplifying the efforts of the US administration and telling compelling stories in a public relations campaign to direct the public’s attention and shape the narrative around a national issue with a global flavor.
There are countless campaigns in various countries of the world that are distinguished in terms of the quality of publication and content, and the use of non-random scientific methodology away from media panic and dwarfing the importance of professionals in the psychology of dealing with the consequences of disasters before, during and after their occurrence, and specialists in media psychology, which I am almost certain are. They are not part of the arsenal of any country that is not advanced in the thought of crisis and disaster risk management.
*An Emirati writer and researcher on issues of peaceful coexistence and cultural dialogue
#Disaster #strategic #communication