It’s ironic that at a time where people need to hear the most from companies, they’ve gotten
radio silence. As the pandemic sweeps the world, it’s obvious previously drafted plans of
conducting ‘business as usual’ are all out of the window. Now, all these plans need to be
rethought.

Some global brands have taken it upon themselves to spread awareness, all while reinforcing
their own brand image. Nike chose to twist its consumers’ athletic aspirations into a life-saving
call to action with new campaign; “If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world,
now is your chance: play inside, play for the world,” to remind people of the need to stay home.
Similarly, Brazil McDonald’s redesigned the iconic arches of the brand’s logo, drawing the two
sides of the brand logo’s “M” apart to emphasize social distancing. However, globally many
Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) pulled back from advertising, as they fear being accused of
taking advantage of an unfortunate situation for corporate gain. A survey of marketers conducted
by the Interactive Advertising Bureau in Q1 of 2020 shows that nearly a quarter of brands have
paused all of their paid marketing communications for the first and second quarter of the year.

But is risk aversion the right strategy?

To answer this, we need to look from the POV of a consumer. Do they event want brand
communication? Turns out, yes! We need comforting and reassuring communication, which
provides specific information about what these brands are doing in response to the situation.
People consider their favorite brands as trusted partners, and want to keep up with them
especially with regards to how it is affecting their employees, the products and services they
provide.

It’s astonishing how the lines between the public sector and private sector are continuously being
blurred. Studies showed 63% people believe that their country will not make it through the
Covid-19 crisis without brands playing a critical role in addressing the challenges involved and
55% perceived that brands responses were far quicker and more effective to dealing with the
pandemic than their respective government was, thus illustrating the massive faith we hold in
them. Furthermore, 86% viewed their brands as an essential backup, ready to spring to action
with assisting anyone not helped by their government. At the same time, consumers hope brands
would put humanity over capitalistic gains, as 71% people stated if a company placed their
profits before people during the crisis, they would effectively lose their trust forever.

Consumers want brands to be as active as the government, if not more, in the fight against the
pandemic. 89% want focus on production that helps people face pandemic-related challenges.
Strong sentiments for frontline workers and severely affected demographics leads 89% people to
believe they should offer free/discounted products or services, while 54% will only consider new
products if they’re relevant to the current climate. The bottom-line? Brands need to end their
radio silence, and come together to put solutions before sales.