{"id":52467,"date":"2020-07-09T16:27:03","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T23:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/?p=52467"},"modified":"2020-07-09T16:27:03","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T23:27:03","slug":"new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"New Marketing Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we approach the four month mark of social distancing, business closures, and remote work<\/a>, some states are \u201creopening\u201d only to shutter again<\/a>. Initially, brands rallied and inspired in their messaging around the pandemic, emphasizing that \u201cwe’re all in this together<\/a>.\u201d By now, most folks are experiencing fatigue from drastic life changes. Marketers once again need to pivot in response to a new challenge. This time, they’re negotiating a widening gap between people’s experiences in this unprecedented and uncertain time.<\/p>\n

The Elephant in the Room<\/h3>\n

Marketers need to consider the amount of emphasis to put on novel coronavirus as well as people\u2019s direct experience. \u201cAs we\u2019re building creative, it gets down to the tiniest details, whether it\u2019s print, digital, broadcast, an out of home piece, or direct mail,\u201d says Lindsey Hope, an account director at Lift<\/a>. With uncertainty and varying lead times before a piece goes live, \u201cwe even have to consider legal disclaimers,\u201d she adds. Email has become more critical as a marketing channel because of the speed and ease to produce something.<\/p>\n

Messaging may focus on how a business is \u201cworking to keep their customers safe or how their product helps customers move in a forward direction,\u201d notes Hope. If the benefits of a product or service relate to the pandemic or the business is an \u201cessential\u201d service, that will be the emphasis. The telecoms industry, for example, may elect to take a more direct approach, since their service enables people to connect with work, school, and social networks. They may lift up good value with a particular bundled package or flexibility so the consumer isn\u2019t locked into a particular plan or service. These are all important considerations for consumers during a time of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Some clients may speak directly to COVID-19, while others are much \u201csofter\u201d in their approach, continues Hope. They may focus on saving money, with \u201cmessaging elements that speak to COVID without directly saying it,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Changing Scale and Ambiguous Timelines<\/h3>\n

Like most hazards, this pandemic is continually changing and emerging. But unlike disasters such as tornadoes or wildfires, C19 is not localized, with external supporters rallying for support to rebuild. Initially, the global scale of C19, lack of available information, and fear brought people together. Now, we\u2019re \u201cseeing greater variation in what people\u2019s experience is\u201d and that presents a different challenge for marketers, Hope says.<\/p>\n

At every level, whether by state or city or by socioeconomic group, there are shifts that marketers are being sensitive to understanding. This is true both personally and professionally. Hope observes that as we move forward, people\u2019s experience is more closely tied to their political views. She is originally from Texas and now lives in NYC. Her family\u2019s experience is \u201cunbelievably different than what my experience has been.\u201d Wearing a face covering may seem perfectly reasonable to a New Yorker. But it can feel like an element of control to someone from Wisconsin<\/a> who hasn\u2019t yet experienced a lot of devastation.<\/p>\n

Companies are trying to stay neutral as tensions rise. As a marketer, Hope faces that \u201cdelicate, but fast-paced effort of figuring out what the right formula is.\u201d Brands need to position themselves as being supportive of customers (or potential customers) and to grow business. If a company is national or global, plans may include different messaging for different markets.<\/p>\n

Not knowing when things will get back to \u201cnormal\u201d adds another layer of complication. Sports programming, for example, is difficult to plan. Hope and her team are constantly consuming information about progress with C19. They then sort that information into viable communications plans for their clients.<\/p>\n

Changes in Brand Marketing<\/h3>\n

The tone of brand marketing, which communicates how a consumer feels<\/em> about a particular company, product, or service, has shifted. Unemployment is a bigger factor at play here too. Hope highlights a moving spot by web hosting company GoDaddy<\/a> as an example of brand marketing going more in the direction of support for customers. The ad shows businesses that are closed while the soothing voice of Donald Sutherland reminds viewers of ways to stay open (#OpenWeStand). It is only at the end of the piece when the company logo appears. Fiona Parkin, Executive Creative Director of Advertising at GoDaddy recently appeared in a discussion with Creative Circle about \u201cTurning Your Business Back On<\/a>.\u201d In it, she shared that, fittingly, she sees her role as both helping small businesses with tactical questions as well as providing a support network.<\/p>\n

In the beer and liquor industry, Miller Lite is doing things that are \u201ccompletely different from anything we\u2019ve seen from them,\u201d Hope says. They shared a video of an empty bar<\/a> on Twitter, prompting viewers to donate to the Bartender Emergency Assistance Program<\/a> as a \u201cvirtual tip jar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retailer Walmart launched a free virtual summer camp<\/a> with new activities rolling out daily on their app to keep the kids entertained. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and featuring other celebrity guests, it’s playful and fun for their corporate brand. It’s also impressive, Hope notes, how quickly this campaign was pulled together.<\/p>\n

Business as Usual<\/h3>\n

For some companies, marketing remains more or less the same. But new decisions are being made about what to include visually. Hope points out that a lifestyle image of people all together enjoying the big game wouldn\u2019t be relevant at the moment, that it \u201cwould be a total miss.\u201d So the image may switch to people video chatting instead.<\/p>\n

The good news is that everyone is learning together at the same time. There are no \u201cexperts\u201d on this type of crisis communication with the technology that we have available today. But learning from and inspiring each other is critical as we continue onward.<\/p>\n

\n

About the author.<\/strong>
\nJess Powers writes about marketing, food, and wellness. She has experience in nonprofit communications and emergency management. Follow her @foodandfury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we approach the four month mark of social distancing, business closures, and remote work, some states are \u201creopening\u201d only to shutter again. Initially, brands rallied and inspired in their messaging around the pandemic, emphasizing that \u201cwe’re all in this together.\u201d By now, most folks are experiencing fatigue from drastic life changes. Marketers once again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":52468,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-employer-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Marketing Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic | Creative Circle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we move past the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing teams must take changing tides into consideration as they firm up their strategies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Marketing Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we move past the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing teams must take changing tides into consideration as they firm up their strategies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Creative Circle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CreativeCircleStaffing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-09T23:27:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniela Negrette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Creative_Circle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Creative_Circle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniela Negrette\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\",\"name\":\"New Marketing Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic | Creative Circle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-09T23:27:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/430a421aff02903a687b43ea5f3db691\"},\"description\":\"As we move past the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing teams must take changing tides into consideration as they firm up their strategies.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg\",\"width\":820,\"height\":556},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/\",\"name\":\"Creative Circle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/430a421aff02903a687b43ea5f3db691\",\"name\":\"Daniela Negrette\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c9bfd2edf4dd463b90c0f33bbeb447dbb32bccd5e45ca823b09ceb350c9ee31?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c9bfd2edf4dd463b90c0f33bbeb447dbb32bccd5e45ca823b09ceb350c9ee31?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniela Negrette\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/author\/dnegrette\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Marketing Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic | Creative Circle","description":"As we move past the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing teams must take changing tides into consideration as they firm up their strategies.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Marketing Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic","og_description":"As we move past the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing teams must take changing tides into consideration as they firm up their strategies.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/","og_site_name":"Creative Circle","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CreativeCircleStaffing","article_published_time":"2020-07-09T23:27:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":820,"height":556,"url":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniela Negrette","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Creative_Circle","twitter_site":"@Creative_Circle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniela Negrette","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/","url":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/","name":"New Marketing Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic | Creative Circle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-09T23:27:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/430a421aff02903a687b43ea5f3db691"},"description":"As we move past the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing teams must take changing tides into consideration as they firm up their strategies.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/new-marketing-considerations-during-the-covid-19-pandemic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/new-marketing-considerations.jpg","width":820,"height":556},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/","name":"Creative Circle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/430a421aff02903a687b43ea5f3db691","name":"Daniela Negrette","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c9bfd2edf4dd463b90c0f33bbeb447dbb32bccd5e45ca823b09ceb350c9ee31?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5c9bfd2edf4dd463b90c0f33bbeb447dbb32bccd5e45ca823b09ceb350c9ee31?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniela Negrette"},"url":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/author\/dnegrette\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}