Updated: 01/04/2020
The corona crisis poses unseen challenges to people all around the world. It is unclear what will come. However, it is all the more clear how brands should behave now. And how not.
It’s not the time to use the hype opportunistically or even hack the news for PR stunts. It’s also not the time to announce great success stories. Or to suddenly turn your brand into a moralizer.
On the contrary, it's time for compassion.
Brands should be there for us. Like the friend you can call any hour of the day. Like the friend who always helps you move. Like the partner who helps you through a lean period. Or the mentor who gives you courage.
Brands should be there — for their customers, employees and business partners.
When the world gets to the other side of the Corona crisis, who will you remember? The party friends? Or the people who stood by your side in dire times?
Your brand has the potential to support others. To make it easier for you to develop ideas, we collect strategies of brands that contribute with what they can contribute.
LVMH (Louis Vuitton) announced it will use perfume factories to produce disinfectant gels. The group will make the gels freely available to health authorities.
Similarly, CraftBeer brand Brewdog, produces disinfectants and donates them to the health authorities.
Small brands employ this strategy, too. Such as local hat manufacturer Herr Brömme & das tapfere Schneiderlein who turned to producing face masks for nursing homes.
Brands use their reach to convey critical messages to the population:
Audi plays with the circles in its logo to make clear: if we want to stick together, we need to keep a healthy distance.
Coke sends the same message as Audi, however on its billboard in Times Square in NYC.
Netflix uses attention from their audience to show them how to wash their hands properly.
McDonald’s Brazil hacked its logo, too, by integrating a gap into the golden M to promote social distancing.
As many people work from home the situation requires adjustments of many products and services. For example, Notion has just introduced new functions that make remote work more pleasant.
Instagram launched a co-watching feature that allows users to explore content together in a video chat.
Smart Furniture Firma Stykka designed the StayTheF***Home Desk to make sure that also those without a desk at home can work remotely.
Brands that live mainly offline need to go one step further and bring their offering completely online, such as the Berlin club scene with their Stay Home Club techno live streams.
Craft Beer Brand BrewDog makes its beer experience digital, by opening digital bars globally.
Subscription-based services provide access free of charge. GetHenry provides free scooters for public service workers in Vienna.
Good brands have communities that stick together. This is where brands mobilize help. For example, soccer club 1. FC Nürnberg encourages its fans to help older people with their shopping.
Price increases are often planned for a long time so that customers can adjust to them. However, brands suspend planned increases to relieve customers of financial pressure – such as Xero accounting software.
All brands have very specific knowledge, often developed over decades, which they can make available to their target groups.
Startup Accelerator Techstars held a webinar in which CEOs shared their experiences from times of crisis with start-up founders.
The global economy has had good years. Healthy companies are opening up their war chests to help partners — and thereby protect their supply chains from collapse.
Example: The supermarket giant Salling Group (owner of the Nordic version of Netto) provides EUR 67 million for small suppliers who are under particular pressure.
For some brands, contributing means maintaining the program. This is especially useful for niche brands whose passionate fans are grateful for distraction from daily developments.
Tyre manufacturer Goodyear, for example, announced that the brand stands by its fans by continuing to share exactly the information and news that fans expect from the brand.
Do you know of other examples of how brands make the world work during the crisis?