This podcast series commemorates Bloom Consulting’s 20th anniversary, and Clare Dewhirst, director of City Nation Place, sets the stage for an exploration into the domains of Nation and Place Branding, with each episode focusing on Bloom Consulting’s 14 crucial steps to crafting an effective Place Branding strategy—a journey that will unfold across the series.
In this episode, the spotlight is on the fifth step to Nation Branding; mitigating project risk and strategizing crisis management. Clare is joined by Philippe Mugnier-Ete, the Global Director for Tourism Development at Bloom Consulting and Sharon Flax Brutus, a tourism experience curator with over 30 years of industry expertise. She currently serves as the interim chair of the British Virgin Islands’ Yachting, Hotel, and Tourism Association and was the Director of Tourism for the British Virgin Islands from 2013 to 2020. Explore the essential strategies and challenges in managing risk and navigating crises within Nation Branding.
Clare: Hello everybody, and welcome to the Bloom Conversations. In this conversation, we’re going to be focusing on step five in Bloom’s 14 Steps to Nation Branding. This step is all about mitigating project risk and strategizing crisis management—basically, planning for the future before the future plans for you. I’m joined today by Philippe Mugnier-Ete and Sharon Flax Brutus. So, let’s get going with this conversation. Philippe, can I start with you? Why is it so important to plan for crises, and what do you mean when you talk about mitigating project risk?
Philippe: Bonjour Clare, thank you for having me. As we’ve seen in previous episodes, Country Branding is a long-term process that requires consistency, continuity, loyalty to the strategy decided, and operational permanence. However, life isn’t a long, quiet river, and Country Branding isn’t always roses and sunshine. It is a discipline that involves facing reality on a daily basis and adapting constantly because crisis management is also part of the process. Practitioners must confront this reality and consider what could jeopardize the Nation Brand project during its implementation.
Clare: When discussing crisis planning in Nation or Country Branding, it’s clear that having a practical response plan is crucial. However, we also need to focus on reputational risk and the strategies for managing a reputational crisis. Would you agree?
Philippe: Yes, this is at the heart of the subject. In the Country Branding process, crises can be of any kind. We must keep that in mind. First, there can be internal reasons—they could simply be budget cuts for some economic or political reasons. There could be changes in government or project management leadership. It can also be lower stakeholder engagement than expected. And in these cases, as the origin of the crisis is internal, the reputation, the image, and the perception of the Nation Brand may not be affected, if appropriate decisions are taken by the Nation Brand organisation. What may be affected is the credibility of a Nation Brand process within your organization and stakeholders involved. Interruptions in the Nation Branding process are inevitable. It is then crucial to answer the question: what would we do if this were to happen? It must be anticipated and clearly part of the operational plan. When the crisis is external, the situation changes. And that is what we are focusing on today.
Clare: Sharon, turning to you, you’ve had your share of crises to manage. I’ve had the privilege of speaking to a few of the tourism boards across the Caribbean and of course one of your current challenges is the hurricane season and the damage that that can bring. What crisis did you have to deal with when you were at the tourism board?
Sharon: Well, at the tourism board it was a very interesting 7-year period. The British Virgin Islands (BVI – further in text) have indeed faced significant challenges. The most notable during my tenure were Hurricane Irma in 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Both, in essence, were crises that needed to be managed from a reputational standpoint, given that the BVI had to maintain its image as a luxury destination.
Philippe: Indeed, crises can take many forms—geopolitical turbulence, humanitarian issues, state scandals, terrorist attacks, industrial or climatic disasters. Unfortunately, the BVI has faced almost all of these, from hurricanes to pandemics to governmental upheaval. These crises, though disastrous, required us to protect the integrity and branding of the destination.
Sharon: During the hurricanes, and then the pandemic, we also had to deal with governmental upheavals, including the unfortunate situation where our head of state was arrested on foreign soil. These events were disastrous, but it was crucial to protect the integrity of the destination and its brand. As an organisation, the BVI Tourist Board had to work very quickly to communicate with our stakeholders and the industry that the BVI was still standing and that we had a plan. It was important to share information concisely and quickly to maintain confidence in the destination. One crucial aspect of reputation management is knowing how to share bad news truthfully and effectively. Doing so can help evoke the loyalty and empathy needed for your destination to either recover or maintain a positive image in the international community.
Philippe: It’s very interesting what you say, Sharon. When dealing with crises, the first step is to predict or model scenarios of what could go wrong—what could affect your image or reputation, your influence, what could damage your Country Brand? Next, it is crucial to decide which actions would be necessary to mitigate this risk. Risk mitigation begins, as you say, with reassuring your team and stakeholders that you are prepared to react, to assume responsibility for your deliverables, and to alleviate any disruption to branding projects during their implementation.
Sharon: Yes, Philippe, you tend to need to look at the worst-case scenario—what can go wrong and how badly can it go wrong? Then you work forward from that because you look at the “what-ifs”. For example, during the hurricanes, we were completely cut off from the rest of the world. We had no communication. As a tourist board, we put plans in place for managers who were based internationally to assume control in the event of a catastrophic communication failure. This ensured that there was always a point of contact outside the country. Timing is crucial when it comes to risk mitigation and protecting a destination’s reputation. In the absence of timely information and efforts to safeguard the Destination’s Brand, others may draw their own conclusions. One of the key elements of risk mitigation is clear and timely communication. It’s essential to ensure that all stakeholders receive the same message, avoiding any conflicting information from the destination.
Philippe: Every share of this crisis situation requires total availability, great resistance to stress, and a real mastery of the right messages to broadcast at the right time through the appropriate communication channels. So, the challenge is to be relevant in the storm, ensuring the conditions that will be necessary for a possible and rapid return to normal. Media overload, for instance, can affect the rapid treatment of problems and make post-crisis recovery more complex if the image and brand of the territory are damaged due to poor crisis management. The most crucial step is, therefore, to anticipate crises and prepare for them. As Nation Branding practitioners, you cannot hide a crisis under the rug to preserve the nation’s image. The team managing the Nation Brand must step up during times of crisis. While it’s impossible to think through every possible scenario, having a playbook and standard operating procedures in place is surely helpful during times of uncertainty.
Sharon: Absolutely. What helped us, and could help other organisations as well, was putting together crisis management workshops and seminars. We brought in experts to speak not only to our team members at the BVI Tourist Board but also to relevant government departments that disseminate information during a crisis. It was important to be prepared for anything negative, whether caused by nature, by people, or by external forces. It was quite interesting during the workshops to see how different departments and entities shared information while aiming to protect the brand. We were able to identify and suggest that certain keywords might not be the best choice because they could cast a more negative light on the situation. For example, rather than focusing on the number of deaths, we could highlight the survival rate, which avoids trivialising the negativity. Anticipation is key, as is loyalty to the brand and destination—not in a negative way, but to ensure the messaging is correct. Acknowledge the challenge and disaster, but also emphasise that there is a plan in place to move forward.
Philippe: That’s an excellent approach, Sharon. I believe that for each scenario, the next step involves setting up an ad hoc organisation that must be activated immediately to control, as much as possible, the quality and relevance of the information that circulates during the crisis. And you also have to consider the fact that the people in charge of crisis communication may themselves be in a situation of great personal difficulties.
Sharon: Exactly. What made it particularly challenging for us was that many of our government stakeholders lost their homes during the hurricanes. They had no communication themselves and were under significant stress, but we had to come together to provide leadership during this time. The crisis management plan we had in place was essential for mitigating reputational damage, but it was also crucial for considering the well-being of the people in the destination. We had to recognise that we had to, as a leader, have some sort of empathy in asking an individual to deal with a crisis when they had no home to go home to. While a crisis may involve damage to the infrastructure, it’s also important to think about the damage caused to the human psyche.
Philippe: Sharon, your incredible leadership in managing such a significant crisis has been recognized internationally, highlighting the kind of leader you are. Beyond addressing human challenges, your successful navigation through the crisis also revealed to the world a previously little-known quality about the character of the destination and its people. This demonstrates that while every crisis undoubtedly brings sorrow and pain, the way it is managed serves as a powerful form of communication. The manner in which crisis management is communicated showcases the nation’s authority, legitimacy, credibility, and relevance. I recall the resilience, solidarity, courage, faith in the future, and optimism of the BVI people, which has garnered worldwide sympathy. This, I believe, played a significant role in the destination’s swift recovery.
Sharon: Yes, I think the way the crisis was handled, as you mentioned, was remarkable. When you consider a small country with only 30,000 people and the spirit of resilience they showed—it’s inspiring. The morning after the first storm, people woke up not fully realising that the destination had just endured the strongest storm ever to make landfall. Yet, we became like the “little engine that could” because of that resilience and the swift implementation of plans, all with the understanding that, yes, this is a crisis, and we need help. Tourism was, and still is, the leading revenue generator for the destination and its people. How do you recover when your infrastructure is almost entirely destroyed, yet you still want to welcome guests to your destination? A plan was quickly put in place. I once had a boss who always said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” because every crisis presents an opportunity. I believe the way we communicated information strengthened brand loyalty in both cases: during the hurricanes and the pandemic. While our legal team classified these events as crises, they also emphasised the need to make our destination even better than before. Ideally, we would avoid crises altogether, but when they do occur, the goal for leaders and managers is to find ways to improve the situation.
Philippe: Sharon, on the former Bloom Conversation podcast episode, we discussed the importance of using Place Analytics to understand current perceptions and accurately define target markets based on realistic objectives. One key aspect of any crisis is how it alters the knowledge and image people—both inside and outside the country—have of a nation. A crisis can significantly change the perception and emotions associated with a Nation Brand. Consequently, the post-crisis period is often marked by a redefinition of priorities and target markets. Even amidst the turmoil, and especially as you approach the recovery phase, it is crucial to rely on data more than ever to make informed strategic decisions and optimise brand performance. Data management allows for tailored analysis of markets, enabling a global brand strategy while ensuring necessary local adaptations. When destination marketers are in the midst of a crisis, they often believe that the entire world is aware of the situation and that everyone shares the same emotional response. However, this isn’t always true. Market observers react with varying degrees of sensitivity. For instance, while a crisis may deeply affect the local population, it may not evoke the same level of emotion elsewhere. You may recall how, when Hurricane Irma struck the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the emotional impact was strongest in the American, Puerto Rican, and British markets, which makes sense given their cultural, economic, and linguistic ties. It was essential for your organisation to proactively communicate strong messages about the situation on the island. However, the perception of events in the BVI differed significantly in the French, German, and Italian markets, where there was less affinity with the BVI. In France, for example, the media focused more on Saint Martin, a French territory. Given this, it was in the BVI’s best interest not to overwhelm the French media with too many details or images that could negatively impact the country’s brand in the minds of the French public. This careful communication strategy likely contributed to the swift revival of French tourism to the BVI. In times of crisis, every organisation, especially Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), must ask: what information should I share in each market where I have a brand interest? Ideally, this question should be addressed before a crisis occurs, and data and analytics can provide ongoing insights to guide these decisions.
Sharon: Yes, data is crucial, as you mentioned, in determining how much and what type of information should be shared in each specific market. It’s also important to consider what’s happening in other parts of the world that might diminish the impact of your messaging. This makes it essential to develop a comprehensive sales, marketing, and PR strategy during any crisis, with the ability to pivot and adapt quickly. As a destination management organisation, you want to avoid alienating your target market with your messaging, while also effectively communicating with your international partners. I remember right after the hurricanes, we were still focused on attracting the cruise industry to the BVI, despite facing significant challenges. We approached it differently, understanding that in a crisis, sometimes you have to accept short-term losses for long-term gains. Many in the industry, both locally and internationally, respected the BVI for being upfront about the situation, saying, “It may not be ideal for you to visit now, but here’s what we need from you to help us recover.” That approach was crucial. It’s also important to consider who your market is and tailor your messaging accordingly. What you share in the UK may differ from what you share in the French or Italian markets—not because the crisis itself is different, but because these markets may perceive the crisis differently. The key is to effectively communicate that you are managing the crisis and are on the path to recovery.
Philippe: So, Sharon, can some crisis open new tourism development on PR opportunities?
Sharon: I definitely think so. I recall that after the storm, as a tourism professional, I went to meet with the cabinet and government officials. One of the cabinet ministers told me, “Well, you won’t need a marketing budget right now because you have nothing to market.” I responded, “No, now we need it more than ever.” The thing about tourism and destination marketing is that if you’re not visible, you’re forgotten because there are so many other destinations competing for attention—not just in the Caribbean, but worldwide. During any crisis, especially after the storms, we had to rethink our approach to marketing tourism. We expanded beyond just promoting sun, sand, and sea; we explored philanthropic tourism and invited people to visit not only as tourists but also to help rebuild the destination. So, in any crisis, it’s essential to find new ways to improve and communicate more effectively.
Clare: I’ve been listening to this detailed conversation and have learned a great deal. I’d like to sum up what I think I’ve gathered. First and foremost, the need for thorough planning stands out as a key takeaway. It’s essential to have a plan in place that addresses all the “what-ifs,” assigns responsibilities, and ensures communication channels are ready because you never know what might be affected. Open and honest communication is also crucial—you can’t hide a crisis. Being transparent instils confidence that you know how to handle the situation. Philippe, your insightful point that data is critical, even in a crisis, really resonated. There might be a temptation for those facing challenges to feel they need to communicate everything to everyone. But as you pointed out, that’s not always necessary. The way you perceive your crisis might be more intense than how the rest of the world views it. So, it’s important to use data to determine which markets you should focus on communicating with. Strong leadership is another critical aspect. While we’ve discussed this largely from a Nation Branding perspective, Sharon emphasised the importance of considering your team as well, particularly how they’re personally coping with the crisis. Planning for that is important too. However, a crisis can also present opportunities. Great ideas and new development concepts can emerge from challenging situations. Sharon, it was fascinating to hear you discuss the new tourism proposition centred around philanthropy and recovery. We’ve seen similar initiatives succeed in other parts of the world. I’ve had insightful discussions with Brad Dean in Puerto Rico, for example, where managing the recovery was seen as just as important as managing the crisis itself. Updating the public imagery of your destination is also vital, especially around sensitive times like the anniversary of a crisis. The world’s media might be tempted to revisit the situation with stories like “One year on after Irma: Where are the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico now?” It’s essential to have positive imagery and narratives ready to manage those anniversaries and the recovery process effectively. So, that’s my summary of our 20-minute conversation. Did I miss anything? Is there anything else you think I should add before we wrap up?
Philippe: A painful event can open the door to optimism if a proper crisis management plan is in place. So, be prepared. Crises are a part of life and of any Nation Branding project. Plan for the future before the future plans for you.
Clare: A well-managed crisis can positively impact how you’re perceived. For a place like the Virgin Islands, where tourism is crucial, but so are investment and wealth management, demonstrating reliability and effective management is beneficial. Thank you so much for this important conversation—I really appreciated the opportunity to listen. I think it’s time to wrap up, so thank you again, Sharon, for joining us from the Virgin Islands. I almost wish we had done this in person, so I could have flown over to see you!
Sharon: We’d love to have you! Thanks for having me on. I hope I’ve been able to shed some light on what’s important during a crisis. It all comes down to three words: plan, communicate, and proactivity.
Clare: Perfect. What a great way to conclude. And thank you, Philippe.
Philippe: Thank you, merci!
Clare: And I look forward to the next episode of Bloom Consulting Conversations, where we’ll be moving on to the sixth step in the process for Nation Branding. Thank you very much for listening.
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