KPMG: Delivering timely, actionable insights prioritising customers
As part of our 10 opinions for 2021 campaign we interviewed David Deighan, Head of Communications at KPMG. KPMG Ireland is at the heart of business in Ireland, with 102 partners and over 3300 people based in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway.
KPMG is a leading provider of professional services, offering a range of audit, tax and advisory services to a broad range of domestic and international clients across all sectors of business and the economy. They are helping their clients explore potential obstacles to change and collaborate on critical decisions that can deliver real value to their businesses.
Talking about digital, what was your biggest challenge in 2020? If there were no challenges, what were your biggest learnings?
The biggest challenge, amplified and accelerated by COVID-19, was the age-old issue of prioritising content and messaging and deciding what was the most beneficial to the end user. When the pandemic broke, almost every business organisation went into overdrive trying to reassure their clients and customers; firstly, of continuity and secondly of their commercial relevance. This meant massive amounts of information were being produced. There was a real challenge sifting through all the content that could be useful, but in practice ran the risk of being duplicate, repetitive or quickly out of date. Once it became clear that lockdown was going to last more than a few weeks, most businesses seemed to adapt very quickly. In our case, clients were looking for guidance on some very practical matters. These included pragmatic interpretations of government support for business. They had to be produced and shared widely, very quickly and, as we operate on an all-Ireland basis, had to target both jurisdictions at the same time. Doing this quickly and accurately was probably the biggest challenge we faced – thankfully it quickly became clear that there was an unprecedented demand for this type of content, and we scored very highly in terms of traffic and engagement.
Where you are now, what do you think 2021 holds for you? In other words, what will your focus for 2021 be in terms of digital.
Despite ubiquitous technology that allows for any number of information channels, there are still only 24 hours in the day. This means attention spans are often short. Meanwhile, it’s impossible to say how in-person events and meetings may reemerge. It is likely, however, that some behavioral patterns have been altered for the foreseeable future and that many decision makers will keep short circuiting their approach to information and insight gathering. Both heighten the already primary importance of digital. So, our focus will be based on being as relevant as possible to our clients and their needs. In professional services that means timely, actionable insights delivered in various formats, long and short, quickly and in an accessible manner.
What company/companies inspire you in terms of their digital achievements? Why do you find it inspiring, and what initiatives do they do?
I was taken by the audacity (or cleverness – there’s a fine line) of Burger King in Britain urging people on Twitter to get their takeaway food from McDonalds to help the restaurant industry during the English lockdown. They also encouraged people to go to KFC, Subway, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, or even the local restaurant or takeaway - anywhere jobs were at risk. Being magnanimous got them lots of free publicity in a cutthroat world. And just when you wondered was their altruism for real, they said; "We never thought we'd be asking you to do this, but restaurants employing thousands of staff really need your support at the moment.” (I think there’s something in my eye!) "So, if you want to help, keep treating yourself to tasty meals through home delivery, takeaway, or drive thru." Their parting shot, however, highlighted their unshakeable belief they do still have the best burgers. They confidently tweeted "Getting a Whopper is always best, but ordering a Big Mac is not such a bad thing either." I’m lovin’ it!
Read about Central Bank of Ireland, Dublin Airport, Ibec, Samsung, VHI or learn more about the other opinions by downloading our report.
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