During a state of emergency, we all move into wartime mode. In this war against COVID19, the front-line soldiers are the nurses and doctors treating patients and all the hospital and health-care staff that support them. The weapons experts are the scientists working round the clock to find a vaccine and a treatment. Air cover is provided by those keeping essential infrastructure afloat e.g. police, grocery and pharmacy employees, trash removal employees, etc. The rest of us are on the homefront helping out however we can by social distancing (which I predict will be Oxford Dictionary’s 2020 word of the year).
So what is the role of brands at a time when we can only go out and shop for essentials? I think brands should be playing one of three roles: Givers, Helpers, or Fighters
Givers
If your product can help in any way make everyday life easier for a social species that can’t fully socialize then give it away. Your customers will be grateful and your ‘free trial’ might entice new customers
- TELUS and Rogers added free channels so we could stay entertained while cooped up at home
- Zoom relaxed the 45-minute limit on free accounts in hard-hit countries and K-12 schools
- Loblaws has removed pickup fees for PC Express orders
- Salesforce creating a COVID19 Response Package for healthcare providers free of charge
Helpers
If your product falls in the non-essential category for daily social distance living then go the extra mile to help others:
- All the major Canadian grocery stores (ok they’re essential but they’re going the extra mile here) creating dedicated senior hours so the more vulnerable can more effectively socially distance
- Coca-Cola Philippines reallocating all commercial advertising space and budgets towards supporting relief and response efforts for the most affected communities
- Sunwing Airlines gave away empty seats on their planes to stranded Canadians abroad because it was the Canadian thing to do.
- The faculty at every educational institution switching to digital classes so their students can continue to earn their diplomas and degrees.
- YouTube downgrading their video quality so that the internet runs smoothly for everyone else.
- Shopify creating a $750 million fund to offer loans and cash advances to small businesses.
- Budweiser diverting its sports marketing budget to the Red Cross blood drives in stadiums
Fighters
These brands are changing their very operations to directly fight the virus. Shout outs to:
- Hiram Walker, Pernod Ricard, and small Toronto distilleries are retooling its plants from making Whisky to hand sanitizer to help keep supplies up.
- GM working with Ventec Life Systems to increase the production of its respiratory care products
- Tesla and Space X changing up their factories to make ventilators
- Gap and Canada Goose producing medical gear for front line healthcare workers
Give your product away. Help the war effort. Fight the war. That’s how brands can participate in the war against COVID19. I’m sure there are many other examples of brands giving, helping, and fighting. I would love to hear about them in the comments.