Media training and supply chains
Supply chains have never faced so many risks. This is probably why a growing number of organisations are approaching us to help their comms teams and spokespeople to handle media interviews about their supply chains. As a result, our media training for supply chain professionals is in greater demand than ever.
In particular, ESG issues in relation to supply chains are moving up the agenda for companies – and for the media. According to the Thomson Reuters Institute’s recent Global Trade Report, 81% of survey respondents said that ESG is important or very important in helping their businesses decide which suppliers to use. This was the case with nearly eight in ten (97%) of US respondents and 90% of those from the UK and European Union.
Media training for luxury houses
We provide media training for luxury houses and many of them are aware of the recent investigations into alleged exploitation of workers in the supply chains of brands including Armani, Dior and Loro Piana. Ensuring that workers are properly paid and looked after is and increasingly important issue for luxury brands.
That’s why they bring us into provide media training for their spokespeople, so that they are well able to handle these issues. This means putting across positive messages about the work they do to protect everyone involved in their supply chain. But it also means that their communications teams and spokespeople are well placed to handle allegations of bad practise.
Crisis communications training for luxury brands
Crisis communications training for luxury brands is something that is also experiencing growing demand, we’re finding. It’s essential that all of those working in the fashion industry are ready to handle media inquiries about their supply chains. We’ve been working with the in-house media relations teams and public relations companies of two global fashion retailers to equip their country managers to deal with questions and interviews relating to their supply chains.
ESG issues aside, investors and customers also want to know that the companies that supply them have robust, resilient supply chains. The pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and now President Trump’s proposals to introduce and increased tariffs mean that supply chains are more fragile and risky than ever. This is why in house Comms teams and public relations companies bring us in to train their supply chain managers to do media interviews. They need to be able to reassure their target audiences that their supply chains are fit for purpose.
Crisis communications course for a luxury brand
The realistic scenarios that we develop with luxury sector PR agencies and in house comms teams might include a fire at a store or offices. We also recently provided a crisis communications course for a luxury brand around sustainability. Here we imagined that an investigative journalist had shown that some of the supposedly sustainable materials and manufacturing processes that the brand claimed to use were, in fact, anything but. A few years later something very similar to this fictional situation arose in real life for the luxury house. They told us that they felt much better able to manage and contain the issue.
With the explosion of social media, a more vocal and demanding population, as well as the pressures of the 24-hour news cycle, organisations such as luxury houses are subject to more risks than ever before. That’s why their crisis management should be comprehensive, effective and ready to roll out at a moment’s notice.
Just as supply chains themselves are vulnerable to more threats than ever before so talking about them is an increasingly risky business. Not doing it, by the way, is not an option. If you refuse media requests to provide information or do interviews journalists will still report on the issues but will simply “no comment,” you. The result is that you will appear suspicious, hostile and opaque – never a good look for any organisation or its supply chain management.
Media coaching for supply chain managers
Our media coaching for supply chain managers allows them to get their messages across during media interviews and to use examples and proof points to illustrate and support those messages. For instance, if you say that you protect those making your product and packing them, then can you give us some examples of how you provide that protection? You might claim that your supply chains are greener than ever – but what does that mean in practice? Some specific references to sustainability initiatives including some granular, visual detail will really help to make the point to the journalist.
You might also make a general claim that you are using new technology to improve the resilience of your supply chains and drive down costs. That’s all very well but if you can tell me a story about how, for instance, you’re using AI in your warehouses or transport then, as a journalist, you’ve got my attention. I’m also more likely to believe you.
Media training for supply chain professionals
But our media training for supply chain professionals also allows them to handle difficult questions. We know that supply chain management is complex and full of risks. It can also involve trade-offs that many people might not understand and might even disapprove of. We help company spokespeople to explain why they have had to make difficult decisions, and we also help them to manage questions relating to politics, regulations and competitors.
It’s worth remembering, though, that supply chains are not entirely about risk. When we provide media training for clothing companies and fashion retailers, we equip their spokespeople to put across positive messages. We help them to promote new ESG initiatives and to talk about the good things that they are doing with technology that can improve supply chain resilience while benefiting people and the environment. The point is that your supply chain management can be a positive for media relations as well as a defensive play.
Crisis communications training
We frequently find ourselves providing crisis communications training relating to the supply chain for companies who have been exposed by the media. We might create and deliver a last-minute training course for somebody who is about to appear on the Today programme or Panorama, for instance. It might also be the case that a senior manager has a long-standing commitment to a profile interview with a trade publication when a difficult story about their supply chain breaks. To cancel the interview would look defensive and could create a further wave of negative publicity. That’s why we help people to deal with difficult media interviews on the supply chain.
Ideally, we recommend that people have done this training before they find themselves faced with media interviews. Our media training for supply chain managers is cost effective and every course is created to meet the exact needs of you, our client.
Media Training for luxury brands
Come and speak to us about our media training for luxury brands. You can follow us on LinkedIn here.
