From the first weeks of the war, it was possible to see certain tendencies: how the president, the commander-in-chief, and business communicate, what happens in the country’s media, and communication between Ukrainians.
Natalia Turkevych, our agency’s specialist, analyzed and highlighted the top 5 trends in communications:
If trust in the governmental structures was not too high before the war, then after February 24, total trust to the president, his decisions, and, as a result, in state bodies can be traced. As of March 1, the level of trust of Ukrainians in Volodymyr Zelenskyi reached 93%, which none of the Ukrainian presidents has ever had.
✅ The prohibition of criticism of the government is not a formal thing that everyone, even the opposition, followed for a long time. Everyone united against the enemy (we can do that), so we will return to constructive criticism after our victory. That was the informal rule. Moreover, public criticism of the authorities was perceived as “treason”. We are also watching whether this trend will continue and its consequences.
✅ “Campaign about the campaign”. There was a large-scale campaign about what an information campaign should be like in Ukraine during the war. That may include checking information, monitoring official channels, not shooting positions and equipment of the military, observing media hygiene, and much more. Undoubtedly, the information and media awareness among Ukrainians increased during the war.
✅ Transformation through communication. It applies to both brands and private and public persons. Several companies have transformed from business communication to public communication.
In addition, we got new stars and new faces. Like any other occasion, war changes the image component and affects reputation. Among the positive examples: Valery Zaluzhnyi, Hanna Maliar, Vitaliy Kim, Iryna Vereshchuk, Serhii Kyslytsya, Dmytro Kuleba, and who else is among your favorites? It is also necessary to mention the change in the image of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who in a few weeks of the war turned into a world symbol of the fight for freedom and democracy.
✅ The fog of war is Carl von Clausewitz’s term for the unreliability of information about the situation in the theater of war. Every day, we receive a lot of information, but we never know what is true. According to Clausewitz, three-quarters of what the action in war is based on lies in the fog of the unknown. In particular, statistics of losses among the civilian population of Ukraine and our military live in this concept.
