Filed under: Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Corona Virus, Corporate Evil, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail
There’s an old saying that where there’s crisis, someone is making a fortune.
But this time, things are different.
Whatever industry – except, perhaps, video-conferencing, pasta-making and loo paper manufacturing – everyone is being challenged.
In fact the impact of COVID-19 has been so fundamental – from how society lives to how business operates – that things may never be the same again.
That sounds terrifying, especially with so many challenges to overcome, but one of societies greatest abilities is their way of adapting to – and creating – the ‘new normal’ which is why [to paraphrase Alvin Toffler] the illiterate of business in a post-COVID-19 era won’t be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Right now, across the World, the everything is being re-written.
What people want …
What people value …
What people expect …
What people aspire to …
And while some will claim that as things become normal, so will habits … it doesn’t take much to realise COVID-19 has already pressed societies reset.
The British government gave data to supermarkets so they could prioritise the elderly.
Companies stepped up for the greater good … from free food for the DR’s and Nurses to manufacturing products needed in the fight against COVID-19.
Communities started forming again. Really forming. Coming together to look after each other with compassion and fairness.
Humanity can work.
Government can care about the masses.
Commerce can balance compassion with profit.
The people who keep the country moving can be more respected than the people who earn the most.
We can’t forget this.
I hope we are not allowed to.
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I think the UK may be doing better than the US. But did you write this post a few weeks ago as my family have told me the limits of people’s patience is starting to be met.
Comment by George May 5, 2020 @ 6:26 amBut I agree with you Robert. The system can work, the problem is those in power choose for it not to the majority of the time.
Comment by George May 5, 2020 @ 6:27 amEven the shortage of supermarket products was short lived. The way many companies quickly adapted their operational infrastructure is impressive.
Comment by Pete May 5, 2020 @ 6:39 amI think the panic about food shortages was enhanced by people being forced to see they weren’t as important as immediacy culture had let them believe they were.
Comment by Bazza May 5, 2020 @ 7:23 amYou may have a point there Baz.
Of course there was shock [privileged] people were seeing food shortages for the first time in their life, but maybe it was the realisation they were not special that affected them the most.
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 8:13 amyawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn.
Comment by andy@cynic May 5, 2020 @ 12:34 pmHe writes every post a few weeks ago. Why would this be any different?
Comment by Bazza May 5, 2020 @ 7:24 amYes …
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 8:13 amAre you calling the virus corona or covid? I could be wrong but it seems to have shifted to covid over the past few weeks and I am not sure why. Was it commercial media who didn’t want corona to get free publicity? #conspiracytheory
Comment by Pete May 5, 2020 @ 6:38 amYou are on the wrong blog, you want Alex Jones.
Comment by George May 5, 2020 @ 7:08 amWhile the name of the virus has shifted from coronavirus to COVID-19, I think its less to do with advertising revenue conspiracy and a common name for the World media to talk about and connect to.
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 8:15 amCorona is the category, Covid-19 is the brand extension.
Comment by John May 5, 2020 @ 9:22 amI am very interested to see how Corona, the beer not the virus, communicates after this situation. They can’t make a joke about it but neither can they ignore it.
Comment by Pete May 5, 2020 @ 6:39 amWhat does the old PR rule say? If faced with a crisis, keep your head down till it passes then come out like nothing ever happened. Maybe this time that doesn’t sound bad advice. The worst thing for then would be seen to use this as a platform for their ads, even if they have a better reason to than most.
Comment by George May 5, 2020 @ 7:07 amI’m with George. Or they have do something that nods to the situation rather than is focused on it.
Comment by Bazza May 5, 2020 @ 7:25 amAnd me.
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 8:15 amYour government has done a better job than ours. When I read articles about how badly the UK authorities are dealing with covid, I always think, “you’re not in the US then.”
I know you mean what you’ve written Rob, but you can’t believe it. Some positive change may come out. Working from home and valuing the environment, but as soon as the government and corporations have the chance, they are going to be back in control and doubling down on that power and that will force the positive changes people have made to be lost. At least here.
Comment by Bazza May 5, 2020 @ 7:28 amMaybe.
I do think the establishment will try and force compliance to old rules, but I do think some things have been sustainably changed.
Maybe not in terms of everything we would hope … because, as the financial crisis of 2008 showed us, people are quick to forget … but maybe more than many think or could imagine.
I mean, if people just decide they’re going to work from home more often – and I certainly am going to – the impact on the rental/banking/insurance sector could be huge – just from that.
I think most people can see the differences between how the US and UK governments have handled things. Our government have blatantly lied about so many things but your lot have made them look amateurs. The big thing – at least in the UK – has been questions about who and what is important. I do worry we may be reaching our ‘peak’ for that, but to just have a city of reserved pricks – that is London – come out and clap for medical workers is a bigger step in a positive, collective direction than this country has seen in years.
Whether it continues is the question. But if it does, I do think the benefits will be huge in almost every capacity.
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 8:23 amPeople don’t change that quickly. When social distancing ends in a few years time, you’ll be hard pressed to see many differences.
Comment by John May 5, 2020 @ 9:27 amThat’s not the characteristic of London you’re describing. That’s just the hedge-fund ghetto in which you currently live.
Comment by John May 5, 2020 @ 9:29 amIt depends on what we’re talking about John … people’s habits can change in a shorter time than we have been in quarantine. It depends on how much it has positively impacted them that drives the continuation when things return to ‘normal’.
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 9:47 amFulham is too cheap for Hedge Fund managers John. But yes, I appreciate it’s got parts that are ‘up-market’, but I find it interesting you think the city encourages community when my experience has been anything but that. Especially if you are new to it.
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 9:48 amI’m not here to think, I’m here to mock. But you’re right and wrong. Brits aren’t welcoming. It’s not limited to cities.
As for habits. Are you actually talking about habits (which the research suggests takes 66 days to form – not the spurious three weeks that’s cometimes bandied about) or are you talking about new behaviours dictated by temporarily changed circumstances?
Comment by John May 5, 2020 @ 10:30 amWell let’s say it is especially bad in London. Does that help? And again, it depends on the habits we’re talking about. Major shifts of behaviour take – as you say – apparently 66 days before it starts to become the ritual, but it is also about how much you want the change that is occurring.
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 10:34 amI guess that the difference between us is that my faith in the population of the UK is not as high as yours. It would be great to see some of the changes you have in mind, I’m just not as hopeful as you. Which is strange given my innate optimism and positivity.
Comment by John May 5, 2020 @ 10:49 amwho the fuck are you?
Comment by andy@cynic May 5, 2020 @ 12:34 pmwhat have you done with the bitter, twisted cynical prick campbell?
He’s never been the same since he bought an Audi.
Comment by DH May 5, 2020 @ 1:16 pmSurely a German SUV should make me more of a prick than a saint?
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 1:33 pmdont worry campbell, youre a prick whether youre in satan or oprah mode.
Comment by andy@cynic May 5, 2020 @ 1:51 pmEnough with the compliments …
Comment by Rob May 5, 2020 @ 4:46 pmYou’re bathed in compliments.
Comment by DH May 5, 2020 @ 5:18 pm[…] The Reset Button … […]
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