Finding Strategies for Business During the Pandemic

Posted May 06, 2020 by Monica Hoel

Brian Chandler’s public relations firm is offering data-driven advice to companies.

Brian Chandler’s public relations firm has taken on a new and urgent role: providing businesses with relevant information related to the COVID-19 crisis.

Brian (E&H, ’97) is president and CEO of Commonwealth Public Relations, based in Richmond, Virginia. He started a COVID-19 PR and Communications vlog on YouTube at the very beginning of the outbreak in the United States. “This came from the desire to be innovative and provide relevant and real information on what we are seeing in the community and what we are doing as a firm. We’re interviewing innovators in business and our industry, providing our own perspective and advice, and also offering to schedule free sessions where we can provide help and ideas. We’re getting questions, requests to be involved and some compliments for being innovative.”

He began the project with a very honest, personal video about how overwhelming this situation is for businesses, and how many calls he was getting from clients trying to figure out this new landscape.

Brian and his team are using data to offer advice on dealing with perceptions, employees, marketing, and mission adjustments that might need to be addressed during a complicated economic environment.

“While we have been focused on written content for the last 11 years, deciding to create a series of videos hasn’t been easy,” Chandler said. “But we knew all along that we needed to do it and push through because people need access to helpful information.”

Brian says it’s a complicated time for all businesses, through the vlog series, he has offered tips of how companies should consider their employee’s mental health when the economy reopens, advice for certain brands that need to “step up,” and free counsel to businesses looking for advice.

Brian Chandler, E&H Class of 1997

“This came from the desire to be innovative and provide relevant and real information on what we are seeing in the community…”
Brian Chandler
E&H Class of 1997

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Finding Strategies for Business During the Pandemic

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