How we’re helping brand marketers in a crisis
Coronavirus is testing us. It’s testing how quickly the world, economies, healthcare systems, businesses, and people can adapt.
To tackle this crisis, we’re doing everything we can to help our clients adapt.
This post briefly summarizes three ways that we can help adapt your business to the crisis, protect your customer base, and take care of your people.
We’ve included references to a live project we’re running with the Toronto Star, the largest daily news publication in Canada. It’s an example of how you can rethink your messaging and marketing to be more relevant than ever.
Because we’re a small but experienced team, we can work within a timeframe and budget that’s more reasonable than our peers.
If you’d like to discuss how we can help adapt your business in an agile way, you can find our contact details at the bottom of the post.
#1 Reframe your Message
Most businesses have moved swiftly to settle their communities’ fears and concerns by communicating clearly and regularly.
The most proactive brands have gone beyond crisis management to creatively reframe their value proposition within the current context. Here, the nuances of brand voice are more delicate than ever.
We’re here to help our clients rethink and reframe their message to strike the right tone.
As we publish this post, our print campaign for the Toronto Star is being delivered to thousands of households across Canada. The advert reframes their coverage as an essential service for keeping readers educated and informed during the crisis. Not only that, it also helps drive subscriptions for their online breaking news coverage.
This product won’t be relevant to every business. Some brands might be pressing pause, hoping to come back stronger once the storm has passed. During this down time, we can help you think creatively about how to position your brand for a different future. Nobody knows yet what that will look like, but we can prepare you to move quickly once we do.
#2: Market Direct to Consumers
In light of the lockdown, we’re naturally seeing big shifts in media consumption. People are spending even more time on social media. Brands are live streaming content for free.
To help our clients accelerate their digital marketing transformation effortlessly, we’ve made a new addition to the team. With the help of Louis, an experienced digital marketer and previous colleague of ours, we’ll be designing, managing, and tracking organic and paid campaigns on clients’ behalf.
Given that people are staying home, we’re also recommending direct mail campaigns to some of our clients. It’s more personal and trusted than email. It’s also more memorable – the brand recall is 75%, compared to 44% for digital ads*.
Thanks to our recent direct mail campaign for The Toronto Star, thestar.com has seen a spike in digital subscriptions during the last week.
Whether digital or direct, we can help you adapt your marketing stack to stay in touch with customers and grow your base during the lockdown.
#3 Top up your Creative Capacity
We understand that marketers are under intense pressure to react quickly to the changing reality. That’s not easy, especially if parts of your team have been furloughed.
To help marketers respond swiftly to creative briefs as needed, we’re offering our services on a daily, pay as you go basis. You’ll get all the benefits of working with an agency – high quality creative, efficient project management, clear deadlines – minus the agency prices and tied in contracts.
Use us as and when you need, no strings attached.
Final word
At the current time, when the actions of doctors, nurses, and other key workers are, rightly, being elevated to hero status, thinking of your brand or developing your marketing might seem valueless, even crass.
However, we all have something to contribute to the maintenance of a normality that's reassuring to so many. The strength and sensitivity that we manage our businesses with now will contribute to the bouncing back of society and the economy in the coming months once the immediate threat has passed.
We want to do everything we can to help. So whether you’re interested in working with us or just want to talk through your challenges and receive some friendly advice, give us a call and we’ll do our very best to help.
Drop us a note at zayn@cutlerandgoddard.com today or call us direct on +44 7704 496 696 and we’ll respond within 24 hours.
We wish you the best of luck.
