the role of brands in the time of coronavirus
TRANSCRIPT
The Role Of Brands In The Time of Coronavirus
Matt WilliferChief Strategy Officer
Thought Leadership | 27 March 2020
P.2 / Thought leadership
Over the last two weeks many businesses and their agencies
have been uncertain how to progress in this unchartered
territory. In part, this is because Coronavirus has thrown up other
immediate conundrums that demand solution – from changing
patterns of demand, to supply chain issues, to the adoption
of strange new working practices, to each of us emotionally
processing and adapting.
But the uncertainty is also due to a wariness of being
misinterpreted. None of us want to be seen as cashing in. The
cultural context has undergone a seismic shift, and brands are
treading carefully.
However, the initial evidence is that people are keen for
brands to show initiative – as long (of course) as this initiative
is authentic, of use, and there is a rationale why that initiative
is coming from that brand. According to a hot off the press
survey from Ace Matrix, only 10% of people say it is not okay
for brands to mention Coronavirus, and 75% say brands have
a responsibility to help out during the pandemic. Over the last
week, when some banks and supermarkets opened their doors
early to people over 70, I am not aware of one single voice
questioning their motives for doing so: the universal consensus is
that they are acting to help, as opposed to cynically wringing
one hour’s more profit from a vulnerable public.
So, if certain brands have a licence to play a role, what might
that role be, and how might it shift in the days, weeks and
months to come? There are a number of potential roles, but I
have grouped them into three: education, practical help, and
emotional support. Taking each in turn …
Do brands have a role in tackling Coronavirus, and, if so, what should it be?
P.3 / Thought leadership
Many of you will be aware of the Kubler-Ross Grief
Cycle – and, whilst it was designed to describe
the psychological stages of a chronic illness, it can
nonetheless be instructive here. The first stage is Denial:
a reluctance to accept the full implications of the
situation. This is not just something that applies to Donald
Trump; it applies to all of us. There is self-evidently a need
for education about the virus and the actions we need
to take. But the job is harder in a context where people
desperately want to believe the opposite.
Unquestionably, education is primarily the job for the
government. Would brand involvement risk pointlessly
duplicating, or even confusing matters? I don’t believe
that need be the case.
Of course, a brand should not factually deviate from
what the government is advising. On the contrary,
it must communicate the same advice, and reflect
the same prioritisation. But, at the same time, who the
message is from, how it is delivered, and who it reaches,
might mean that the same message is heard differently,
and so has a different effect.
Education
Take, as a pressing example, the problem of young
adults not adhering to social distancing. This is the group
who are least at risk themselves. And, with Brexit fresh in
their minds, it is also the group who are cynical about
whether anything Boris says can be believed. Remember,
psychologically, we are all looking for a way to deny.
Give our brains a loophole, and, subconsciously at least,
we are likely to take it.
So, for them, trusted brands could play a role in delivering
information and instruction. Each brand, influencer and
media owner needs to ask themselves whether they can
influence their communities in a way the government
cannot. If they think they can, and as long as they act to
support the government’s message, they should.
I am writing this having just returned from a run in the park.
There was a basketball game going on, where the players
were sweating, jostling each other, in each other’s faces.
No two metres social distancing going on there. Boris
Johnson had not influenced them. But, perhaps a Nike or
Spalding urging these communities to swap match play
for perfecting the individual skill of the free throw might
have had more effect.
P.4 / Thought leadership
So, if the first role is education, the second is to offer practical help.
This is an extension of the kind of brand activism that has been so prevalent amongst
progressive businesses over the last five years – a natural extension from the rhetoric of
supporting a cause to doing something about it.
In the UK, the Co-op donated £1.5m to Fare Share and created 5000 new jobs for those
impacted by Coronavirus. Pret is offering free and discounted products to NHS workers.
Microsoft made the premium version of Teams free for 6 months, and Vodafone is allowing
customers access to NHS on-line without using their data allowance. Lush were very early
movers here: almost a full month ago they offered the public free hand washes in their stores
to halt the spread of the virus.
With regard to innovation, some small companies are finding that existing inventions,
previously confined to the fringe, are now finding themselves centre stage - for example,
CleanSlate UV’s technology that sanitizes mobile devices. Other brands are accelerating
their innovation pipeline: Snap is rolling out its Here For You search tool earlier than planned to
help users feeling stress over the pandemic. And others have innovated from a blank sheet of
paper – such as Brewdog launching its Brewgel Punk Sanitiser.
This is not just about brands doing the right thing, it is about them being the catalyst for
everyone to do the right thing. Again, many of the most progressive companies are already
attuned to this kind of brand activity. KLM, the Dutch airline, asks people to fly less to protect
the planet. Cadbury asks people to give up some time to help lonely people. The Doconomy
credit card prevents users from exceeding personal carbon budgets.
With regard to Coronavirus, a great example of this kind of activity appeared at the end
of last week from Miller Lite. Its advertising showed an empty bar with the line “Taps are off.
But tips are needed.” People were then encouraged to click to donate to the Bartender
Emergency Assist Programme (as Miller Lite themselves had also done).
Practical Help
P.5 / Thought leadership
The third role is to offer emotional support. We might
imagine that this would follow the first two roles in
terms of timing – although I imagine there is no hard
and fast rule. Returning to the Stages of Grief as an
analogy, emotions such as anger, anxiety, struggling
to find meaning, and the need to reach out to others
all follow from the initial stage of denial, confusion and
shock.
As self-isolation begins to take its emotional toll, the
most obvious need will be the longing for human
connection. Last Friday night Bud Light sponsored a
virtual concert in America: the first “Bud Light Dive
Bar Tour: Home Edition”, featuring country music
star Jake Owen streamed via Instagram. And Netflix
have created “Netflix Party”, a Chrome extension to
allow people to host group viewing sessions. This kind
of emotional support might be delivered by the big
brands, but it might be delivered by the smaller ones
too; after all, Coronavirus is a global phenomenon,
but it is experienced at a local level. I read over the
weekend about communities putting teddy bears
in their windows so that families with young children
can turn isolated walks into bear hunts: a wonderful
example of creating connection and community at a
safe distance. Initiatives like this might be created by
individuals, but they might also be created by local
businesses thinking imaginatively about how to help
the neighbourhoods in which they exist.
However, in times like these we should also look to the
past and the future, not just the present. When the
present is not good, people look to find comfort in the
past and hope in the future.
So: the past. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion in times
such as these. One of the most important aspects
of being a healthy human being is having a sense
that you are in control of things. When things start to
change for the worse, it’s comforting to have feelings
for the past: even though the present is uncertain, the
past is something we can always depend on.
Emotional Support
One might imagine media brands have a powerful
role to play here. For example, social media brands
unearthing and celebrating individual and shared
memories from social feeds. Or gaming brands
supporting retro gaming. Or entertainment brands
running feel good TV shows from our collective past to
trigger nostalgia. Different people will feel nostalgia for
different things, and this will in part be a function of age
and location – perhaps addressable TV can be used to
target accordingly.
And, finally, what of the future? Whilst the above is about
supporting people in the present and finding comfort
in the past, we also want our society to look forward, to
dare to dream. To anticipate the pleasure of a brighter
tomorrow rather than the dread of the unknown. Brands
can also play a role by creating optimism for the future.
Indeed, brain science reveals that the anticipation
of a future reward can be more gratifying than the
experience of the reward itself.
Media brands have a clear role here – and, peppered
amid the gloom, good news stories have been surfacing.
The Japanese flu drug Favipiravir being deemed ‘clearly
effective’ in treating coronavirus. The huge reduction in
pollution levels across the globe. The surge of sign-ups to
volunteer organisations. The French and Spaniards taking
to their windows and balconies to cheer as one for their
health workers.
It is for this reason that last week’s Guinness advert,
made in response to the suspension of the St. Patrick’s
Day parade in America, was received so well. It was a
hastily put together bit of film – but its quickly improvised
message was powerful. “Don’t worry we will march
again”.
We all want to march again. The best brands help us
believe we will.
For further information please contact:
Matt Willifer CSO
Jo Sutherland CEO