MISSION / Mars–juillet 2020 07 MOMENTS

When trust becomes the issue.

From lockdown to a billing controversy: choosing dialogue and making solutions accessible.

THE MISSION IN ONE SENTENCE

March–July 2020. Initially supporting REDAL’s digital and media communications during lockdown, WHAT IF DIGITAL then advises a change of approach as billing complaints intensify: engage openly, explain adjustment procedures and give customers practical ways to act.

READ THE THINKING ↓

ISSUE Facing a sensitive situation ↗ ADVISORY Reputation & sensitive communication ↗ ADVISORY Media, speaking & visibility ↗ ADVISORY Digital strategy & new uses ↗

THINKING 01 / 07

01CONTEXT

An essential service during lockdown

In March 2020, lockdown disrupts everyday routines and the relationship between organisations and the people they serve. For REDAL, an essential service provider in the Rabat region, a practical question emerges: how can communication with customers be maintained when travel and conventional procedures become difficult?

The challenge goes beyond maintaining a social media presence. It is about keeping information accessible, facilitating remote procedures and preserving customer relationships at a time when face-to-face interactions are severely restricted.

WHAT IF DIGITAL supports REDAL in developing and implementing its digital communication strategy, combining message development, graphic design, community management and targeted media campaigns.

Electronic billing and remote payment solutions become the first priorities. Promoting these services addresses a concrete need: helping customers complete essential procedures without visiting an agency.

This initial phase establishes a communication framework that, just a few weeks later, will face an entirely different challenge.

REDAL advertising banner introducing alternative payment solutions — Alternative payment options — information and easier access Création WHAT IF DIGITAL pour REDAL, 2020

REDAL advertising banner promoting electronic billing — Electronic billing — a remote service during lockdown Création WHAT IF DIGITAL pour REDAL, 2020

May 2020 — promoting electronic billing and remote payment solutions. Created and produced by WHAT IF DIGITAL.

1 641 029Advertising impressions — May 2020

1–20 May 2020 campaign. WHAT IF DIGITAL / REDAL post-campaign report. Not a measure of the June–July controversy.

299 452Video views — May 2020 campaign

May 2020 campaign report (service-continuity communication, before the controversy).

6Negotiated newsletter distributions — May 2020

Distributions through Médias24 and TelQuel, documented in the May 2020 report.

02TENSION

When a bill becomes a public controversy

As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, bills based on estimated consumption raise growing concerns. For some customers, the amounts charged appear inconsistent with their usual consumption patterns. Confusion quickly turns into public criticism.

During lockdown, movement restrictions disrupted routine meter reading. Some bills were therefore based on estimates derived from previous consumption.

From late May, and especially in June 2020, customers challenged the amounts they received. Estimated readings, tariff brackets and adjustment procedures were not easy to understand. Differences, whether real or perceived, became a source of concern.

The controversy spread across social media. Posts and comments multiplied, with news outlets and influencers taking up the debate. Accusations circulated, but these did not in themselves establish improper conduct. Technical explanations struggled to be heard.

The issue was no longer limited to bills. It also concerned the gap between what REDAL was able to explain and what customers could actually understand. Communication now needed to address questions, listen to criticism and make procedures understandable.

WHEN EXPLANATIONS ARE MISSING, CONFUSION FILLS THE SPACE.

03WHAT IF

What if the response began with dialogue?

The question is no longer simply what to publish. It is how to help an organisation speak where criticism is already unfolding, despite the uncertainty of those spaces.

For WHAT IF DIGITAL, the lack of accessible information had become a factor in the controversy’s escalation. Withdrawing from social networks or relying solely on generic statements would leave competing interpretations unchallenged.

The consultancy advises REDAL not to avoid the controversy: respond to customers on the platforms where concerns are raised, meet journalists and influencers, exercise the right of reply where appropriate and explain the available remedies. The proposed shift is from confrontation to sustained, factual dialogue.

This requires a difficult choice: entering conversations in spaces the organisation does not control. WHAT IF DIGITAL’s two partners bring their recommendations to a working group that includes REDAL’s communications leadership; decisions are discussed and approved jointly with the client.

This is not another visibility campaign. It is a change in the organisation’s communication posture at a sensitive moment.

STAY PRESENT. EXPLAIN. LISTEN. ACT.

04DECISION

Structure the response, not automate the relationship

When enquiries intensify, consistency matters as much as speed. The crisis team needs shared, reliable information without reducing individual conversations to automated replies.

Together with REDAL, WHAT IF DIGITAL develops an evolving response guide: recurring questions, approved explanations, billing adjustment procedures and rules for escalating individual cases. The guide is updated as new situations arise.

Moderation remains human. WHAT IF DIGITAL’s two partners and community manager read and respond manually using the platforms’ native tools. Messages are adapted to the context and the issue raised rather than being generated automatically.

For a few dozen cases requiring individual attention, a dedicated WhatsApp group allows the matter to be escalated to REDAL’s communications director, who connects customers with the relevant operational teams.

The process connects public communication to a practical route for follow-up. Communication does not itself guarantee a remedy; it helps people reach the appropriate teams and procedures.

05INTERVENTION

Explain the process so customers can act

Responding to criticism is not enough. Customers need to understand their bills, check their own consumption and prepare the information required for an adjustment.

WHAT IF DIGITAL develops and produces an approximately three-minute motion-design video in Moroccan Arabic (Darija), explaining the June 2020 bill, consumption calculations and tariff brackets. Script, voice-over, illustrations, storyboard, animation, editing and sound mixing are delivered in-house. Supporting graphics and platform-specific messages complete the approach.

The explanation goes beyond information: customers are shown how to read and document their own meter index, then bring that information and their bills to a dedicated desk at a REDAL agency. The aim is to make the review and adjustment process easier and faster.

Where a discrepancy is confirmed, an adjustment may take the form of credit carried forward to future bills. REDAL’s teams handle the procedure; WHAT IF DIGITAL’s role is to make it understandable and accessible.

The content is no longer simply asking customers to accept an explanation. It gives them practical ways to check and act.

EXPLAINING THE PROCESSREDAL · 2020

The June 2020 bill explained — official REDAL video

Darija-language video published on REDAL’s official YouTube channel, conceived and produced by WHAT IF DIGITAL to explain billing mechanisms and practical verification steps.

Original video published by REDAL · Moroccan ArabicWATCH ON YOUTUBE ↗

UNDERSTAND. CHECK. DOCUMENT. ACT.

06DELIVERY

Mobilising the media to spread the explanation

Once criticism is circulating through news outlets and social platforms, an official account is not enough. Explanations must also reach people where they already get their information.

WHAT IF DIGITAL draws on its partners’ press relationships to organise direct discussions between REDAL, journalists and influencers. Meetings, factual clarifications and rights of reply serve one purpose: give reliable information to those amplifying customers’ concerns.

The approach involves relationships with outlets including Hespress, Médias24, TelQuel, Le360, Yabiladi, Les Éco and Le Site Info. According to the team’s account, some also circulated the explanations and educational video beyond paid placements.

The original May media campaign had already focused on REDAL’s service territory around Rabat. But its delivery figures, presented at the start of this story, do not measure the effect of the media engagement that followed during the controversy.

The goal here is not publication volume. It is to bring useful information into the conversations that matter.

07LEARNING

When communication also enables action

According to the team’s account, the controversy eventually subsided. Above all, the engagement illustrates the value of communication that connects strategic decisions, dialogue and practical action.

According to WHAT IF DIGITAL’s partners, the most visible accusations and criticism gradually subsided, while media outlets and influencers helped circulate practical explanations. This is a qualitative account of the outcome, not a statistical measure or evidence that communication alone caused it.

The experience nevertheless matters: an engagement initially focused on digital communication became strategic support in a sensitive situation, involving decisions discussed with communications leadership, human-led moderation, press mediation and content designed to help customers take practical steps.

The central lesson is this shift: communication is not only a means for an organisation to make itself heard. It can also help people understand an issue affecting them and act on their own circumstances.

USEFUL COMMUNICATION DOES MORE THAN INFORM. IT ENABLES ACTION.

A QUESTION TO CLARIFY?

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