As the Corona crisis took over the world, several brands pulled back their advertising and marketing efforts. While some feared that marketing campaigns could earn backlash against the brand, some just didn’t know to say. So, should brands communicate? Should they communicate at all? A 12-market study (12,000 people were interviewed across countries by PR company Edelman) on what role customers expected brands to play reveals some interesting points. Customers want brands to act responsibly, take care of their employees, and not aim to reap benefit from the crisis. Respondents wanted brands only to speak about their products after knowing how people’s lives are getting impacted by the crisis. Several said they wanted brands to make a difference during the hour of crisis by helping the community and bringing everyone together. Brands, they felt, should use their power to educate and inform. Everyone wanted to hear from the brands they associate with, but was expecting messaging that had empathy for the struggles that were being faced. Having said that, this crisis is a great opportunity for brands to talk to their customers. It’s a moment for them to prove that humanity comes before profits. While many brands did end up losing this golden opportunity by putting the proverbial foot in the mouth, others have really been able to build an amazing crisis communication strategy. Here are some brands that have really aced their messaging and communication at this time of crisis: Pidilite Pidilite’s Fevicol has been acing its social media game for a while. This simple but powerful creative said it all. It kept the seriousness of the situation and the messaging about social distancing at the forefront, but the brand imagery and their core brand messaging is also integrated beautifully. Social distancing made simple #corona #FevicolKaJod #MazbootJod This, by the way, isn’t the first time that Pidilite has created such creatives on topical issues. From the Mumbai rains to Brexit to Game of Thrones, Fevicol social media channels have been buzzing with fun, quirky takes that sometimes incorporate important messages. Lifebuoy In times of crisis, innovative messaging is great but it’s even better if it’s backed by some on-ground action. And that’s exactly what Lifebuoy has done so well. For many years now, Lifebuoy’s brand messaging has centred around the importance of washing your hands, so their Corona campaign was simple yet effective. However, it’s not just the messaging that Lifebuoy did so effectively. They have actually partnered with PayTM on a crowdfunding campaign to get people to donate sanitizers and soaps to domestic workers, migrant labour, and other disadvantaged sections of society. During the Corona Crisis, it’s not just about innovative messaging, brands have to be ready to back their words with action. Zomato Zomato is another brand that has really got its crisis communications plan in place. The brand has set up an initiative to provide free meals to migrant workers and daily wage labourers as India goes through its 21-day lockdown. What’s more, it also has an option on the app where (if you’re practising social distancing), you can request your delivery rider to leave your food outside the door instead of handing it to you. Now that’s what we call some next level crisis communication strategy! Once again, this has worked so well because Zomato has been unafraid to put its money where its mouth is. With the recent COVID-19 lockdowns the daily wager community has seen their only source of income come to a screeching halt, leaving them struggling to arrange for food for their family. Please help.by donating to ‘Feed the daily wager’ to help ensure they don’t sleep hungry during this period of lockdowns. Click the link in our bio to contribute. #BeaHungerHero #Bethechange #Covid19 TravelBlue Travel Blue is a travel accessories brand that provided over 2000 N90 face masks to travel retail partner Flemingo. This helped Flemingo protect airport staff against the COVID-19 across airports in India Mumbai Duty-Free, Go Duty-Free, and the Duty-Free Galleria stores in Delhi and Bangalore all received these masks. Once again, measures like these go a long way in building brand goodwill at a time when the world is grappling with so much panic and uncertainty. Amul When it comes to topical content, few can nail it like Amul. This time too the brand’s simple yet effective copy brought home the strong and powerful message of hygiene and social distancing. #Amul Topical: Precautions against the Coronavirus! Read also: Content Marketing During the Times of Crisis What can we learn from these brands? There’s a lot that marketers can learn from brands at this time of Corona crisis — both in terms of what to do as well as what not to do. Here are some of our key takeaways: Be mindful of the situation People are grappling with an unprecedented situation — and it’s likely to constantly play at the back of their mind. This doesn’t mean that you only need to create content and messaging around COVID-19, but it does mean that you have to address the crazy reality of the moment. Even if you’re putting out a regular story, it’s a good idea to mention the pandemic and the current situation first. Back words with actions This is something that every brand that’s nailing their communication strategy at this point is doing. Any number of brands are sending emails to their customers saying “We are with you during this tough time”, but that isn’t enough. Not by far. You can either make a donation to a worthy cause, organize a cause yourself or even provide some extra value to customers during this period. People will always remember how brands valued and supported them at this juncture so it’s very crucial to get this right. Avoid fear-mongering This one is an absolute must. You have to realize that people are suffering from all kinds of stress and anxiety at the moment — whether it’s about their job,
Tag: COVID-19 pandemic
8 Things You Can Do Today to Protect Your Business from Coronavirus
For those of us who run businesses, these are really tough times. There is worry about how will business continue, how will teams operate during work-from-from times, how will we survive clients dropping out, how will employees and other expenses get paid. In short, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a scenario which is simply daunting on many accounts. While the situation is far from ideal, let us figure out what we can do to protect your business from the worst effects of the virus and also come out on top. Build a remote work policy As a small business, you may never have had to exercise this option before. But having a remote work policy in place now could very well save your business without compromising the health and well-being of your employees. There are a number of tools that you can use to implement a work from home policy. From email to Slack to Zoom — each of these tools makes communication between remote workers much simpler. Apart from getting the right tools in place, you also need to get a proper plan for deliverables in place. This means making sure that every employee knows what they have to deliver — whether it’s on a daily basis or on a weekly and even monthly basis. If implementing a remote work policy seems intimidating to you, it’s important to remember that there’s no better time to do it. Your clients, vendors, and partners are all trying to do the same thing now, so there’ll be an unprecedented level of cooperation. Who knows, you may even be able to implement a policy that could serve you well even after the Corona scare goes away. Give flexibility to your employees It’s not enough to just establish a remote work option — you also need to be mindful that there are many demands on your employees’ time at the moment. Schools and colleges are closing down, and many parents are struggling with childcare. Even grocery shops are starting to limit how many hours in the day they will stay open for it. In such a situation, you will have to make room for contingencies in case your employees aren’t available at all hours. Also remember that in a global crisis like this, compassion counts above everything else. Your employees will really appreciate the consideration and flexibility you show them at this juncture, and you may even be able to build employee loyalty in a big way. Communication with clients is critical Be transparent with your customers about what your business is going through. The one big advantage of this crisis is that everyone is going through it together— so your customers will be able to empathize. Chances are if they’re bigger companies with deep pockets, they will even cut you some slack till the situation gets better. But it’s very important that you communicate transparently with your clients. If they feel like they don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, they will tend to resent you— especially since they are going through a stressful time themselves. Complete transparency and honesty is the need of the hour. Reduce meetings and travel Travel is simply not an option at the moment— you need to figure out innovative substitutes. Completely cut out all non-essential meetings and conferences from your and your employees’ schedules. If it’s an important meeting, try to figure out if it can be done virtually. If your employees get sick because of travel or meetings, you will end up dealing with a major situation in the long run. Establish clear guidelines around cleanliness The basic guidelines from the Health Ministry are loud and clear — just make sure your office policy supports them to the maximum extent possible. Avoid handshakes and other kinds of contact Encourage employees to wash hands with soap as frequently as possible Remind employees that they shouldn’t be touching their faces to avoid spreading of the virus Keep disinfecting surfaces like doorknobs, handrails, tables, desks, etc. All these guidelines should be followed in the office if you’re still keeping it open. If your staff is working from home, keep reminding them about it through communication channels like email, Slack, and Whatsapp. Think from a long term perspective It’s true that there are many unknown variables when it comes to COVID-19. Hopefully, these unknowns will work out in India’s favour and we won’t suffer from the widespread devastation that has happened in other countries. However, there’s a chance that we might get hit for a long time. While economies like China are slowly starting to recover, one never knows how things will change once the strict restrictions around self-isolation are lifted. So it’s better to be mentally prepared for the long haul. As per SmallBizTrends, 27% of business expect the coronavirus to have a moderate to high impact on their revenue. Take your sales strategy online As offline sales become harder and harder, smart business owners across the world are shifting to an online sales strategy. People are setting up simple, easy-to-use websites that allow their customers to transact online — they’ve also been setting up a solid digital marketing strategy to support this initiative. You need to realize that customers (whether it’s end consumers or business buyers) are also isolated in their homes now. This means that they are spending more time than ever before on their devices— using the internet to take care of most of their needs. Which is why a shift to online sales is the best way going forward. For example, in Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, cosmetics company Lin Qingzuan had to close 40% of its stores. However, the brand engaged 100+ beauty advisors who went on digital platforms like WeChat to increase online sales. In fact, the company’s sales in Wuhan increased by 200% as a result of this. If you feel overwhelmed when it comes