Brands getting their approach right to COVID-19 social communication

It’s easy for any brand to send out a blanketed email talking about a crisis or trend. As the recipient of hundreds of brand emails and social messages, there’s been a clear distinction of those “getting it right” and those severely lacking in empathy and even others altogether tone deaf.

The key attributes to brand social and digital messaging during times of crisis, like COVID-19 include the most basic of components:

• Acknowledge how they will compensate employees and/or provide benefits (show your care and take care of your employees)
• Special benefits & resources for customers (here’s how brands will help those who drive the bottom line)
• Important health & safety info (reinforce key messaging in alignment with pandemic protocols)

Blanket, corporate-speak messaging do not resonate.

There are two brands, in particular, who have done an exceptional job of doing the right thing amidst their COVID-19 messaging:

• Lululemon. Their CEO did a few things in their recent email statement that showcased compassion and consideration of the long term (see image below):
  1. Explained they were closing physical retail locations
  2. Said employees are important and SHOWED it by saying they will continue to pay for scheduled hours
  3. Said people are important and SHOWED it by referencing their Global Relief Pay plan
• OneDine. Their CEO took immediate action regardless of the bottom line. They announced  FREE “tap and pay” touchless payment system for all restaurants. ALL. RESTAURANTS. When people come back from social distancing, germ-centric areas will continue to be avoided, like touchscreens. They are waiving all setup and transaction fees and providing FREE table sensors at no cost for tap and pay activity. They can have restaurants onboarded, at no cost, in as little as 72 hours. The OneDine system integrates with most POS systems and installs easily.

It’s important to showcase brand best practices so that it gives other brands an opportunity to take notice and copy what works. While it should seem common sense, we will continue to see brands making mistakes in these changing times.

If you’ve noticed brands getting it right, please share them here.