The Do’s and Don’ts of Marketing in a Global Crisis
In every situation there are winners and losers and no more is that coming to the fore right now than in how brands are faring and reacting to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many companies have been quick off-the-mark to adapt and I’ve been hugely impressed by the nimble and proactive ways brands have identified new strategies to keep their customers and communities engaged and built new products and solutions to match the ever-changing environment we’re currently living in.
While I’ve been impressed by the reactive drive and innovation — seen largely by smaller businesses and those with a passionate and active community — I’ve also had my face hidden in my thoroughly sanitised hands, cringing at how many companies have so woefully got it wrong; failing to take the most simple of steps to adapt to a seismic shift in our physical and emotional states.
So, here are three easy as hell do’s and don’ts for brands trying to operate in today’s climate:
DO
1. Think about how to reframe your business in light of the ever-changing macroclimate. Language should be adapted to the current environment and you should think about how to position your business in a way that feels relevant and real to people right here and right now.
2. Adapt your medium. Out of home advertising or anything that requires design, development and human interaction is out of the window. Think about where people are now and the easiest route to reach them: radio/illustration-led visual explainer video, user-generated-content, AI-generated video etc.
3. Act in real-time. Yes, we all love efficiencies but with things currently changing at such pace, we need to slow down and only push out marketing materials and messages when we think that people will be in an emotionally receptive state to receive them.
Don’t
1. Let your automated campaigns run. I’ve seen SO many awful e.gs of this over the last few weeks. While some are verging on humorous, really it’s just lazy and insensitive. STOP IT NOW!
2. Shove whatever it is you’re trying to sell down people’s throats. Yes, we may all be spending a lot more time in front of a screen right now but that doesn’t mean we want to be bombarded with 10x more content/collateral a day (apologies for adding to that with this post — whooops!)
3. Pretend like nothing is happening. It’s tone-deaf. Yes, we all need some positivity in the world right now but we’re not stupid and we respect companies who talk to us like humans.
Have you seen any examples of brands doing a particularly good job? Any that you want to name and shame? I’d love to know what you think as well as how you’re adapting your own marketing activity.
