How brands are dealing with the C-Word
We’ve seen some interesting content in response to COVID over the last couple of months. As a business and a brand, is the right thing to make an announcement or say nothing at all? Is it okay to make a joke or is it “too soon”? Beyond all the existing fake news and advice from Trump to inject disinfectant, there’s a lot of crap to sift through.
For us, when it comes to creating content during the C-word pandemic, we feel that the messaging in your content is all relevant within its context and whether you’ve approached it in a thoughtful and tasteful manner. To understand better, we’ve collated content from some of the world’s top brands so you can see for yourself what works and what doesn’t.
Jack Daniels let the world see their ad on the global broadcast of Global Citizens demonstrating how people can stay safe and stay home by practicing social distancing. A heartwarming ad that not only demonstrates empathy but really shares a message of community and the importance of it. A really tasteful approach to an arguably debatable issue of promoting alcohol consumption. Personally, we think its forgivable when considering they’re not actually showing people drinking the product in order to have fun. Watch Jack Daniels, With Love video here.
LVMH dropped a press release to announce their factory conversion from luxury fashion Maison to developing hand sanitisers and offering monetary donations to drive their comms campaign #LVMHJoinsForces. Working with governments and suppliers, they have sensitively promoted their brands without an entirely selfish approach. View the press release and content here.
Petbarn is another great one by simply posting user-generated content by providing reminders on how to keep moving and still abide by the social distancing guidelines and of course, how to entertain your pets during isolation. They kept their content relevant by understanding that a trending search term on Google was, “Can I walk my dog” during the first two weeks of March. Their messaging is positive, helpful and straight-up cute with no room for any bad commenting or backlash from anyone. See their Facebook posts here.
Quilton and the rest of the world witnessed people fight over toilet paper and knew that there was something that they had to do about it. With ridiculous viral memes spreading across the globe, Quilton took the opportunity to reassure people that they don’t need to stress. They post stills and videos of their production facilities and fleet movements. Regardless of the trolls commenting on their page, they continue to deliver rolls of really good and authentic content to the masses. Check out all their fab Facebook posts here.
In summary, when planning your content during the C-Word crisis consider these points to ensure your approaching it in the right way.
Your content should authentically address who you are, how you’re dealing with the issue, what you’re doing and why there’s a need for you to be around.
Always keep it relevant to your brand and your offer.
Share your customer stories! If they’re using your products, that’s a great thing! You can even repurpose by adding your own creative on top it to keep the content fresh and on-brand.
It’s okay to have fun with your content. Yes it’s a horrible time for a lot of people, but it’s also a time that calls for content that can make people laugh. Obviously there’s a fine line between all that, but to put it simply, just don’t be a jerk.