When the news cycle is dominated by tragedy, disaster or events that have genuinely shaken people, should organisations continue posting self-promotional content and pushing ahead with planned media campaigns?
If you’re asking the question, you probably already know the answer.
Communicators often look for a framework, a checklist or a risk assessment. Sometimes you don’t need one. Sometimes you just need to read the room.
Years ago, I was leading communications for a company that had a light-hearted story gaining real momentum. Journalists were interested. Coverage was landing. Everyone was happy.
Then a major tragedy occurred.
The team regrouped. The agency regrouped. The discussion lasted less than a minute.
We stopped.
Not because anyone told us to. Not because we were worried about criticism.
Because it felt wrong to continue.
We thought the hardest conversation would be explaining that decision internally when people were excited by the results. I remember calling the CEO on a Saturday morning expecting some pushback.
Instead, he understood immediately.
The question we asked was simple:
What would you think of a company promoting itself while everyone else’s attention was focused on something far more important?
The answer was obvious.
There are no universal rules here. The scale of the event matters. The relevance to your audience matters. The nature of your content matters.
But in communications, judgement is often more valuable than process.
If your instincts are telling you to pause, listen to them.
Most of the time they’re right.
The short version?
Read the room.