3. Introduction
One certain thing in this new era of uncertainty is that the traditional rules of
marketing no longer apply. Markets and consumers are acting in ways that are
unprecedented and unpredictable and we are all operating without a roadmap.
The purpose of this paper is to help marketers and leaders manage their brands
through this crisis both in terms of sustaining demand and playing a wider role
for their communities.
Unlike the heroic key workers who we depend on, most marketers and brands will
not be able to save lives, but we can help save livelihoods by using all the assets
at our disposal. People want and need this help. Global data from Edelman shows
that 62% of people believe their country will NOTmake it through the crisis
without brands playing a "critical role" in the fight against COVID-19.
So, we’ve set out to address three questions, informed by the experience of our
team, our clients and our network:
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1. 2. 3.
What do people
need at this
moment?
What principles
should guide our
actions?
What brands
can we learn
from?
4. 1.Whatdopeopleneedatthismoment?
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TLDR: COVID-19 has turned Maslow’s hierarchy on its head. Brands should focus on the lower
layers of the pyramid for the foreseeable future, rather than on lofty aspirational messages.
Emotions are intense right now. Valuable research released last
week byThe Outsiders shows that both skilled and manual
workers in the UK are feeling huge amounts of confusion,
fear, and anger. People are worried about themselves, their
jobs, their families, and their communities. Relationships
are under huge strain as family units adapt to restrictions
they never imagined.This has massive implications for
the tone and content of any marketing.
An intuitive leap that many brands will make is
to the ‘we’re all in this together’ types of
messaging, but don’t assume this will
resonate. A disturbing theme is that
people’s trust in others is declining;
38% of Americans worry that they
can’t trust others to behave in a
way that’s beneficial for the wider
community, according toTRIPTK.
But there is also an optimistic side to lockdown culture. March data from neighborhood hub
Nextdoor shows a 262% increase in US conversations about help, including a 17X increase in
conversation about helping local businesses.The good is coming out!
Inverting the hierarchy of needs
We need to rethink the traditional wisdom encouraging marketers to elevate their brand
above ‘functional’ physiological and safety needs in favor of higher order values of self-
actualization and potential. Right now, basic physiological and safety needs are real priorities.
We shouldn’t make the mistake of attempting to address the self-actualization needs when we
don’t have their house in order in terms of the basic safety needs of customers and employees.
Waterstones and Amazon, among others, have caught a lot of heat here with the former initially
insisting on staying open during the lockdown while staff complained of proper safety
precautions.
In the simplest terms, folks want to know:
• Does this brand get me and understand my needs right now?
• Is this brand helping me right now?
• Is this brand showing up for my community … you guessed it… right now?
5. Given this re-prioritization of consumer needs in this moment, brands need to rapidly adapt
the ways they are creating value. We’ve identified three ways to address these needs based
on data analysis of thousands of different tribes of interest across the US and UK by Codec
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Source: Codec selectedTribes from a broad range of cultural spaces and analysed over 1.3m content interactions over the month of March.
1.Whatdopeopleneedatthismoment? (cont.)
Safety & Security Needs
From: Telling people to stay safe at home
To: Helping people stay safe at home
Rather than add to the huge volume of noise telling people to
stay at home think about how you can help them do it. Take
inspiration from UK garage legend DJ EZ who performed a
marathon 24 hour virtual live set, dedicating it to those
working on the frontline, asking for people to stay at home as
‘payment’. The hashtag #stayhomewithDJEZ reached over
40m people worldwide. Staying at home is much easier for
some groups than others so how can your brand can help
those who most need it?
Love & Belonging Needs
From: Owning the national conversation
To: Facilitating (lots of) local conversations
Confinement is leading people to explore much deeper into
their neighborhoods, communities and passions.They’re
looking to join and create synchronous online moments of
connection to give much needed structure to lockdown life.
Local businesses are leading the way here by organising
virtual tastings for whiskey and wine lovers.Think about how
your brand can help these new communities convene; what
content or tools could you provide?
Self-Esteem & Growth Needs
From: Upselling your products
To: Upskilling your community
Social distancing is restricting people’s access to many of their
favourite brands and services. From DIY beauty treatments to home
baking, the ‘make and mend’ mentality is a constant theme in the most
engaged-with content as people look to learn new skills to cope.
Think about how your brand can help people learn new skills to stay
safe and/or sane They might not be able to buy your product right now
if you help them emulate it you’ll likely have an advocate for life.
Burger King has already addressed this insight in a charming smart way
but there’s so much more for brands to do here.
6. 2.Whatprinciplesshouldguideouractions?
1. Empathy: A tone that is genuinely considerate of people’s
needs at this time.
2. Generosity: Mobilize your assets & community to help those
who most need it, and avoid expensive endorsements.
3. Utility & Agility: Only say and do things that add genuine value,
and constantly assess what constitutes value. What was
meaningful last week may be table stakes or counter-
productive today.
4. Acts not ads: Make a meaningful contribution and document
the story, avoid elaborate productions.
5. Hands-on leadership: People want to see your leaders’
personal commitment to making a difference.
6. Do it your way: Run initiatives through the lens of your brand’s
purpose & personality so you still build long term value.
TLDR: Here are the six principles to guide brand behavior in the Coronavirus era. We
recommend always hitting at least four of these for any initiative.
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7. 3.Whatbrandscanwelearnfrom?
Empathy
A tone that is genuinely considerate of people’s needs at this time
Headspace: “Weathering the Storm” free content + free subscriptions for medical workers.
Bestpracticeexamplesofourkeyprinciplesinaction
Audible is providing hundreds of free educational and entertaining audiobooks in multiple
languages for anyone to listen to during this time, supporting working parents concerned
about how they can educate and look after their children during school closures.
Is this sensitive to someone who might be worried about
their health or the health of those close to them?
Is this sensitive to someone who might be worried about
their financial stability?
Is this sensitive to the essential workers who are
continuing to work and support their local communities?
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The 21CB team uses a simple tool to pressure test the empathy of all
communications through three mindsets:
8. ££￡
3.Whatbrandscanwelearnfrom?(cont.)
Bestpracticeexamplesofourkeyprinciplesinaction
Generosity
Mobilize your assets & community to help those who most need it. Avoid expensive celebrity or
influencer endorsements unless a big chunk of the fee is going to charity.
FIFA: All-star footballers are using
their celebrity status for good and
raising funds to fight Coronavirus
by playing a series of competitive
matches in FIFA20.
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The Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief
project has been set up with charity
partners Help Musicians, the PRS
Foundation, and MusiCares, to
fundraise for artists. Spotify will
match donations to the relief fund
up to a collective total of $10M. A
separate feature will also allow fans
to directly donate to individual
artists through their profile page.
Unilever - Introduced early payment
terms for smaller suppliers,
partnered with the UK govt on a
£100M awareness campaign while
Lifebuoy shared its adspace in India
with competitors acknowledging
that customers may have easier
access to other brands at this
moment.
9. Utility and agility
Only say and do things that add genuine value.This is not a one-off moment—constantly
review how to adapt marketing and product assets to the needs of your communities.
Decathlon: Working with 3D printers to hack scuba gear to make ventilators.
Visa: pivoted its Olympic campaign to put out a series of PSAs using its ambassadors to
demonstrate how to wash your hands like Olympian.
GTB bank:The leading Nigerian bank moved quickly to set up a mobile self-assessment
‘pre-test’ for users and bankers, and partnered with the government to convert Lagos’s
Teslim Balogun Stadium into a fully equipped, 100-bed intensive care center.
Brewdog, LVMH, AB InBev: Adapted production to make hand sanitizer for hospitals and
health care workers around the world.
Lyft: Expanded business model to include food delivery and medical suppliers—kept staff
employed and the community healthy.
Ford: Joined forces with 3M to design powered air-purifying respirators that can leverage
existing parts from both companies, boosting production of healthcare supplies.
3.Whatbrandscanwelearnfrom?(cont.)
Bestpracticeexamplesofourkeyprinciplesinaction
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10. Acts not ads
Focus on what is really needed and how your assets (be it money, space, tech, or product) can
meaningfully address it. Doing this and documenting it will create newsworthy content, as the
likes of Apple, YouTube, and Amazon have demonstrated.
Apple launched a COVID-19 screening tool so you can see if you need testing.
Apple is also giving people stuck at home the chance to try out some of its professional
creative applications at no cost. For example, the company is extending Final Cut Pro X's free
trial period from 30 days to 90 days.
Airbnb have set a public goal of providing housing to 100,000 COVID-19 responders, the latest
evolution of their global disaster response initiative which was actually inspired by a Brooklyn
host in response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
3.Whatbrandscanwelearnfrom?(cont.)
Bestpracticeexamplesofourkeyprinciplesinaction
Hands-on leadership
This is a human crisis and we want to see business leaders stepping up personally.
Tim Cook broke open Apple's supply of masks from construction projects and donated 10
million of them, including 200,000 to his home state of Alabama. Meanwhile, the Lyft founders
introduced a new driver service to deliver essential goods to those in need while also donating
their salaries through June to help support drivers.
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11. Do it your way
All the while running the initiatives
through the lens of your brand’s
purpose & personality so that you
continue to differentiate and
reinforce long-term equity. A clear
understanding of your brand
archetype is a great shorthand guide
here. Pinterest and Nike, two of the
brands that are responding in a
coherent, creative, and authentic way,
show the benefits of this in action.
Pinterest, guided by their mission and focus
on being ‘the world’s inspiration company,’
has the clear archetype of the Muse and is
framing all of its content through the line
STAYINspired, while providing tailored
inspiration to its communities.
Meanwhile, Nike has consistently
adopted the Hero archetype in all
its communications—
encouraging its community to
think of staying in as a heroic act
while also donating significant
funds and making premium NRC
services available for free.
THE
MUSE
3.Whatbrandscanwelearnfrom?(cont.)
Bestpracticeexamplesofourkeyprinciplesinaction
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12. Well-intentioned but tokenistic actions
A notable example is the ‘logo-distancing’ from the likes of Coca-Cola, which has
generated a lot of heat for being opportunistic.This is subjective––there’s also the case
that simple visual messages can cut through when people are constantly being
overwhelmed with fake news and complex messaging. However, for many, Coke’s media
placement at one of the world’s biggest meeting points confused the social distancing
message it was promoting for many consumers.
3.Whatbrandscanwelearnfrom?(cont.)
Whatnottodo
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13. Pandemic profit mongering
Of course businesses have to drive demand to survive and eventually thrive again, but we
need to be cognizant that this is a hyper-sensitive environment. People are also
responding badly to any sense of brands capitalizing on COVID-19 with relevant but
insensitive messaging—one example being Ritual, who was forced to apologize for sending
insensitive CRM emails regarding Coronavirus.
3.Whatbrandscanwelearnfrom?(cont.)
Whatnottodo
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14. Finalword
Marketing was already bloody complicated and now we’re writing a new playbook in
real-time while trying to secure the future of our families and businesses.
It’s a daunting moment, but brands have a fighting chance of making a difference if
we set about it with integrity, purpose, and a clear understanding of what our
communities really need.
To that end, we’re partnering with cultural data gurus Codec to profile the ways
Coronavirus is impacting the moods and needs of different social tribes and what
they need from brands right now.
Please let us know your burning questions so that we can all build this roadmap
together.
TwentyFirstCenturyBrand
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15. If you have any questions, ideas, or comments
on MarketingThrough Crisis, please contact
steph@21cb.com - we’d love to hear them.
