Of crises and opportunities: how brands should behave now

Last week's world is no longer this week's world. Countries around the world have declared a state of emergency. Major cities are on lockdown - even the city that never sleeps. Almost all conferences and events are canceled, postponed or virtual - even the European Football Championship. All over the world, people are working from home and using the virtual world to communicate, create, produce and distribute. However, uncertainty is omnipresent.

While COVID-19 is a serious matter and will undoubtedly have a massive impact on the economy, it does not mean that we will have to stop working in the coming weeks. However, we will have to adapt significantly. These rapidly changing and disruptive times are both a challenge and an opportunity, and people will remember how brands responded and communicated for a long time to come.

First, marketers should review their planned marketing messages. If they just continue as if everything is normal, this will not resonate with customers or add value to them. Brands should not try to hijack the current news now. A majority of brands that try to do so will fail at it. And run the risk of being judged as insensitive and irresponsible.

Show solidarity

The Corona crisis is currently leading to a wave of solidarity between people and within communities. Brands should also show solidarity and help where they can. Here are some of the best brand actions we've seen so far:

The owner of the luxury brand Louis Vuitton, LVMH, will use its perfume production lines, to produce hand disinfectant, to protect people from the outbreak of the coronavirus. And also distilleries around the world now produce not only gin, whiskey or rum, but also Disinfectant.

Mint Mobile, the wireless carrier owned by Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, is offering all new and existing customers through April 14 unlimited free high speed data add-ons an. "The last few days have brought the world to an unprecedented moment of uncertainty where reliable communications are of the utmost importance. As your communications provider, we feel it is necessary to do something that could potentially help us all get through this difficult time a little bit," Ryan Reynolds said in a statement on Twitter.

In Switzerland followed UPC already following this example. The mobile operator increased the Internet speed to 100 Mbps free of charge from March 19 to the end of April for all customers who have an Internet subscription with less than 100 Mbps.

Facebook, meanwhile, is ready to help small businesses 100 million US dollars to be made available, to weather the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, announced the "Boost with Facebook" program.

In addition, more and more grocery stores around the world are opening their doors early to seniors and people with other health conditions, giving them the opportunity to shop with fewer customers.In Zurich, the food delivery service Felfel now delivers breakfast, lunch and dinner to people's doors, and Zurich restaurants such as the Bauernschänke and Neue Taverne are launching under the name of "Away At Home" a new ordering and home delivery service. The Tages-Anzeiger has created an overviewwho supplies what.

Use digital communication

The current times are changing the rules of the game in our industry. We all have to react agilely and constructively to the changing environment. In the best case, we not only react, but become proactive shapers of this new world.

This includes, among other things, broad and two-way communication via digital channels, preferably video. We humans are not used to being antisocial and isolated. At Jung von Matt/Limmat, we use video conferencing tools like Zoom right now not only to hold meetings, but also gather in front of our computers to do yoga together, cook and eat dinner, knit together, and so on.

Chipotle, for example, offers lunches with celebrities. They call it "Chipotle Together" and use Zoom as a "virtual hangout. Last week, 3000 fans were able to virtually chat with celebrities in online chats each day. The company shares links to Chipotle Together Zoom meetings on Twitter.

Consider how you can entertain and inform your customers using webinars, podcasts, recorded video, live streaming and other forms of online engagement. Now is the time to make video available, for example, to learn a new skill or provide a bit of distraction during difficult times, as NBCUniversal's Universal Pictures just did by making its current movies slated for theatrical release - 'Invisible Man,' 'The Hunt' and 'Emma' - available as early as Friday for a 48-hour on-demand rental at $19.99 each make available from home.

We and our customers still have to do our work. We just have to do it a little differently than before Corona. Or: We may do it differently, we may try out new possibilities, new rules of the game and take advantage of opportunities. For this reason, starting on Friday, Jung von Matt/Limmat will regularly appear on LinkedIn publish a #allezuhause game rule. These rules are based on insights that we generate through our research. They should help us to better understand the consequences of this extraordinary situation and, ideally, to react proactively.