{"id":23579,"date":"2020-04-11T11:45:35","date_gmt":"2020-04-11T18:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=23579"},"modified":"2020-04-11T11:45:35","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T18:45:35","slug":"four-steps-marketers-can-take-to-navigate-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=23579","title":{"rendered":"Four Steps Marketers Can Take to Navigate the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"hero flex flex-wrap max-w-4xl mx-auto leading-normal relative flex-col lg:flex-row  print:flex-col\">\n<div class=\"print:w-full print:flex-col w-full px-5\nflex flex-col md:pl-8\nlg:w-full \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"pt-4 md:pt-0 head sm:pb-20 xl:pb-8 \">\n<h2 class=\"font-sans text-sm leading-normal pb-3 tracking-itty\">Step one: Press pause. Step two: Rethink everything.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"print:hidden w-full lg:w-full\"><video class=\"w-full h-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu\/content\/uploads\/Kellogg_Complex_Calkins_Animation.mp4\" autoplay=\"autoplay\" loop=\"loop\" muted=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"900\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/video><\/div>\n<div class=\"px-5  flex lg:hidden meta pb-10 pr-16\">\n<div class=\"pt-6 pr-10\">\n<div class=\"whitespace-no-wrap uppercase text-ns font-sans pt-6 pb-2 tracking-med\">BASED ON INSIGHTS FROM<\/div>\n<p class=\"font-sans text-sm\"><a class=\"text-purple font-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu\/author\/clinical_professor_of_marketing\">Timothy Calkins<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"md:px-4 max-w-4xl mx-auto leading-normal builder overflow-hidden relative\">\n<div class=\"lead max-w-lg mx-auto px-5 md:px-10 pb-8 overflow-hidden\">\n<p>It\u2019s hard to imagine a more challenging environment for marketers than the current moment. With a global pandemic affecting the way nearly everyone in the world works and lives, nothing feels certain anymore. And even the uncertainties are shifting rapidly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-4 w-full md:w-56 md:float-right mb-8\">\n<div class=\"print:hidden bg-red p-6 md:ml-16\">\n<div id=\"midarticle-subscribe\">\n<div class=\"tp-container-inner\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bodytext max-w-lg mx-auto px-5 md:px-10 relative\">\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a really complicated time for brands right now, because the world is changing so quickly,\u201d says Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Kellogg. \u201cIt\u2019s really rare in life that you see things change so fundamentally and profoundly as they\u2019ve changed in the past few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So how should brands think about marketing, as markets are upended around them?<\/p>\n<p>Calkins offers four steps companies can take to find a way forward, whether that means delivering the right message at the right time or deciding to say nothing at all.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 1: Press Pause<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people are complaining that they are seeing things from companies that don\u2019t fit the moment: coupons in the Sunday paper that don\u2019t make any sense anymore,\u201d says Calkins.<\/p>\n<p>This is likely a result of marketing efforts getting planned and locked in weeks, even months, in advance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe awkward thing is that it\u2019s going to take a while for all that activity to work through,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if you\u2019re a marketing leader, one of the first things you want to do is pause everything that you can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is easier said than done, however. These days many campaigns are automated, run by algorithms without a lot of human direction. This can make it challenging to even know which campaigns are even running. So before you can press pause, Calkins advises, you need to figure out everything you\u2019re doing across every channel.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 2: Rethink Your Plan for Spending and Investment<\/h2>\n<p>This is the big one.<\/p>\n<p>While some companies are dealing with an unexpected wave of demand, most are crippled with the opposite problem: business has dried up, and it\u2019s dried up quickly.<\/p>\n<p>These brands have a critical decision to make: Do they want to invest in their business and marketing efforts in order to stimulate demand? Or do they want to conserve their resources until the environment is more favorable? While some restaurants are going all-in on increasing their takeout capabilities, for instance, many are opting to save their money in the hopes of reopening later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"print:hidden pullquote w-full overflow-hidden\">\n<blockquote class=\"text-2xl md:text-4xl text-center font-sans p-8 md:p-16 max-w-2xl mx-auto\"><p>\u201cEven if you had a lot of money to spend on advertising, people are not feeling inspired to go spend a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-center md:text-2xl pt-4 block\">\u2014 Tim Calkins<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"related1\" class=\"print:hidden md:w-56 md:float-right mx-2 md:mx-6 lg:mx-16 mt-2 mb-4 md:mb-8 overflow-hidden border-b border-grey-lighter md:border-b-0\">\n<article class=\"related\">\n<div class=\"text-lg leading-med md:border-b md:border-grey-lighter md:pb-3 mb-3\"><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bodytext max-w-lg mx-auto px-5 md:px-10 relative\">\n<p>But even businesses outside of the hospitality industry are deciding that additional marketing efforts might be misplaced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there\u2019s no question we\u2019re going to see cuts in advertising, because right now there\u2019s not a lot of money to spend on marketing efforts,\u201d says Calkins. \u201cBut the bigger problem is, even if you had a lot of money to spend on advertising, people are not feeling inspired to go spend a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A brand can launch the most fabulous social-media campaign in the world. But if its customers are anxious about paying the rent, it\u2019s not going to matter. \u201cLikewise, if they can\u2019t even leave the house, they\u2019re not going to take advantage of that wonderful sale going on. You\u2019ll say, \u2018I don\u2019t need a winter coat right now\u2014I\u2019ll get by,\u2019\u201d says Calkins.<\/p>\n<p>Marketers should now be thinking instead about what their market will look like when the public-health emergency begins to subside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not that you get through the pandemic and then everybody goes right back to doing what they were doing,\u201d says Calkins. \u201cPeople are still going to be staying home. They\u2019ll be very cautious in their spending. As a brand leader, you\u2019ve got to think about how\u2014even after we get through this and things begin to ease up\u2014we are going to begin restarting our business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He believes that for many brands, the best decision might be to cut back on current spending and investment altogether, so that money will be available later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bodytext max-w-lg mx-auto px-5 md:px-10 relative\">\n<h2>Step 3: Check Your Messaging<\/h2>\n<p>For brands that do want to move forward with a campaign in the current environment, they need to ask whether their current message is still relevant and appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis challenge is almost a harder one than shutting down your campaigns,\u201d says Calkins. \u201cHow do you get the message right, and how do you hit the right tone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Campaigns that brands put together just a few weeks ago may no longer be effective, or worse, may register as tone-deaf or insensitive to the difficulties many people are now experiencing.<\/p>\n<p>Some ads are clearly a bad idea. \u201cIt\u2019s not a time to be too flippant. It\u2019s not a time to make health jokes. It\u2019s not a time to run ads featuring people hugging each other or ads with big group gatherings,\u201d says Calkins. \u201cThose are pretty easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Determining which ads might work is far harder. \u201cClearly you need a more serious tone\u2014that\u2019s a given. But at the same time, you don\u2019t want to be too down in the dumps,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople are looking for a boost. They\u2019re looking for ways to feel okay as we navigate through all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some brands have been able to navigate this new environment successfully. Calkins points to Sam\u2019s Club, which recently launched\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/adage.com\/article\/cmo-strategy\/sams-club-honors-retail-heroes-rare-primetime-ad-brand-wednesday-night\/2246526\">a new ad on primetime television<\/a>, a rarity for them. \u201cIt was really a thank you to all of their employees who are working so hard to try to keep the shelves stocked at this time. And they went through and they named employees all around the country who are working hard,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>This ad works on at least three levels: It gives a nod to Sam\u2019s Club\u2019s employees\u2014\u201can important group to think about,\u201d Calkins says. It also helps to build the brand, making people feel positively about the organization. And finally, it communicates a business message. \u201cIt says: \u2018We\u2019re open. We\u2019re ready for business. We\u2019re here to help. We\u2019re a place you can turn to,\u2019\u201d says Calkins.<\/p>\n<p>Calkins points to other brands that have gotten their tone right. A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/nmVRFui61U4\">new spot by Jack Daniels<\/a>\u00a0taps into how people are trying to connect with each other virtually.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/YeDhhuo5nE0\">Nike launched a campaign<\/a>\u00a0about playing in your own home. And\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3_t9niMNkdg\">a new ad from Budweiser<\/a>\u00a0salutes the doctors, nurses, Red Cross workers, and scientists on the front lines fighting the coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re seeing the brands that can move quickly to adjust their messages,\u201d says Calkins.<\/p>\n<p>But the key is to move quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think these messages will start to seem very predictable and lose their impact if you wait. A month in, people are going to be sick of staying inside. The easy jokes won\u2019t be easy anymore. And we\u2019re going to have a lot more people dying, and more economic hardships, and the uncertainty of when we come out the other side,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is going to get darker before it gets lighter. That\u2019s why the easiest thing to do right now is to pull back on all marketing. And it\u2019s not necessarily a bad idea: better to do nothing than to come across as insensitive or inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Step 4: Look to the Future<\/h2>\n<p>Ultimately, brands need to make sure that whatever messaging they engage in, it is consistent with who they are and what their brand stands for.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBrand purpose has become a big deal,\u201d says Calkins. \u201cBrands say, \u2018We care so much about this cause or this particular belief.\u2019 This is a time where you want to be very careful that you live up to that.\u201d If, for example, your brand is built around its low environmental footprint, this is not the time to be sending vast quantities of excess inventory to the landfill or to be swapping in less expensive\u2014but more environmentally damaging\u2014materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want to make sure those values come across as you make decisions. It\u2019s easy to live up to your values when times are good; it\u2019s a lot harder when times are tough. And now times are tough,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Companies also need to make sure that whatever message they communicate they can actually deliver on in the future. With so much changing so quickly, and economic predictions looking more and more dire, this becomes incredibly challenging to do.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, while companies might wish to broadcast to the world that they care about their employees, that messaging has to be consistent with how they are acting. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to go out with a message saying, \u2018We really care so much about our employees\u2019 at the same time that you\u2019re letting them all go,\u201d says Calkins.<\/p>\n<p>Which brings up another thorny challenge for brands as they look into the future: making sure that their messaging remains sensitive, so that even if they do have to lose some employees, they will be ready to recruit these individuals back to the team. \u201cThat\u2019s going to be tough,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of a marketer\u2019s job right now is internal messaging. What works in your favor right now is recognizing that we\u2019re all going through this. People understand that times have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Step one: Press pause. Step two:&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23580,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23579\/revisions\/23580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}