SEEING THE LIGHT AGAIN

Covid-19 is one of those “I can’t believe this is happening moments in our lives.” While the impact is so unique (a global pandemic rolling across nations like a tidal wave), as Americans, many of us have had moments that have emotionally walloped us. I remember worrying about life when my parents were in line for gas for hours, watching the Iraq war broadcast live on CNN, 9-11, the 2008 Recession. All of these memories conjured up “end of the world as we know it.”   And ultimately all these moments defined and influenced new behavioral changes and cultural norms.

As a human, it’s heartbreaking and depressing. As a father I worry about my family, especially my children. As a marketer and employer, I worry about my employees, my clients. People first. But we need to find a way to keep going. To be strong enough to visualize we will come out on the other side. We will.

In this moment, it feels like turbulent air. It’s like sitting on a plane that is bouncing up and down and feels unsteady. You want to look out of the window to try and see something. All you see are clouds. So, you quickly close the shade and close your eyes. When will the bouncing stop? You had hoped to look out and see sunlight, to see that we are okay. We sit here today in turbulence, wondering when we will see the light, when will the bouncing stop. In the coming days and weeks, we will see the light. It might be the numbers; it might be medical breakthroughs and it might be a return to some normalcy. Perhaps a blend of all. But we will see the light again.

So, how do we prepare for the future, post-virus? That’s what brands are doing and going through now. And the brands with the strongest purpose, values, culture, stakeholders and leadership, have the best chance in the post-virus world. The brands that are overly product reliant, their success is not a given for them. Great brands always out last products. The post-virus world will be a changed world. 

There will be new process and protocols for the CDC, for local, state and federal governments. For business, for people. New norms like going out with your phone in one pocket and hand sanitizer in another. Retail and hospitality will build in sanitizing and hygiene stations into their experiences. Airlines will develop new cleaning technologies and processes between flights. Stadiums and arenas will showcase hygiene resources throughout physical spaces and the handshake or hug may be permanently replaced by a bow or virtual high-five. Our experiences, and the emotions we seek to stir with marketing will be the same in the future. It’s just the way we go about developing them, will evolve. 

Marketing, via experiences, content, storytelling, sharing, will always be with us. So, let’s open the shade, and look out ahead. There is light. We will emerge again from our homes, and we will get back to normalcy. A new normal. And, we will share this moment and the changes that came as a result, with the generations after, when the next “I can’t believe this is happening moment” arises.

Stay calm. Stay Strong. Stay safe.

-Michael Nyman

CEO of Acceleration Community of Companies\ACC

#culture #marketing #people #thrive #innovation #inspiration #branding #leadership #sustainability