Social Influencing at a Social Distance

By Arianna Van Sluytman & Frank Poe

  At Central Entertainment Group (“CEG”) we bring people and brands together. In a time of fear and uncertainty over COVID-19, we are stepping up and encouraging businesses to continue to provide a public service. With social distancing being the main effective measure to prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19[1] [2], now is the time for brands to utilize influencer marketing to increase awareness, provide services, and enrich the lives of the average person in quarantine. 

During World War II, Abraham Maslow developed his Hierarchy of Needs[3], which posits that human beings rank their motivations by level of needs, starting with the most basic physiological needs, followed by those of security, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. CEG has identified brands that fit into the various categories: from the bottom of the pyramid, physiological needs and safety/security, through to the top of the pyramid at self-actualization, the desire to improve one’s self.[4]

Brands that cater toward the former, physiological and safety/security may not have to resort to traditional customer acquisition strategies when marketing themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic because the general public actively seeks them out to survive. Alternatively, they have adopted the strategy of maintaining their presence in the social conversation and provide new value to distinguish themselves from other brands. On the very basic, physiological levels, Home Chef and Nurture Life providing food and food services or brands like Liquid IV providing hydration products are engaging consumers to develop alternative content to strengthen the bonds between brand and the people that utilize their services: 

https://www.instagram.com/realhomechef

https://www.instagram.com/nurturelife

https://www.instagram.com/liquidiv

According to Maslow, these brands catering to the most basic needs are ascending the pyramid to reinforce a sense of safety, security, belonging, love, and esteem in their consumers. This is also during a time when the delivery supply chains, including Amazon, have to reassess their priorities and modify their processes to attend to immediate, basic physiological needs.[5] This begs the question whether brands should maintain their momentum and remain in the conversation and be of service on these higher levels of the pyramid, even when there are challenges below with fulfillment. Some brands may be struggling internally, with their workforce shrinking due to the effects of the pandemic. Social campaigns in those instances are vital to communicate the challenges that these brands face. Brands have reported to CEG that they are continuing campaigns because they are taking on these challenges, and that social media messaging is not a “fair weather” endeavor.

Meanwhile, brands that cater toward self-actualization and promote luxury items might, at first, seem frivolous and insensitive during an economically strenuous time, but these brands have been successful at working their way down Maslow’s pyramid and developed initiatives to address basic needs[6]. McLaren and other Formula 1 racing teams have repurposed their factory spaces to develop ventilators to serve those infected by the virus. CEG has collaborated with Gimme Beauty, a brand specializing in varieties of hair ties, to continue to develop at-home hair and beauty content for people to watch, enjoy and stay connected. Under the Maslow formula, brands like Gimme Beauty have descended from the higher points of the pyramid to one or two steps to serve central needs of belonging and sociability. 

On the level of safety and security, or in some respects, a “needs+” value analysis, brands are integrating themselves into the base needs category above in order to remain a part of the conversation. While vitamins and other life-enhancing products and practices are important to daily lives, the average consumer has devoted more time to their more urgent needs. Brands in this mid-tier category can still be of service to the community during the pandemic by supplementing Maslow’s base, needs category or elevating themselves to enhance social connectivity. Verb Energy has been providing its healthy energy bars to healthcare providers around the country who are working incredible shifts to combat COVID-19 and those infected by it.[7]  Similarly, brands like Care/of generate plans, formulae, and strategies to encourage healthier living in the face of the pandemic.

https://www.instagram.com/careof

On Maslow’s level of love and belonging are brands who have forged important relationships to their customers: through fitness products, such as Fabletics, skincare companies like Timeless Organics or through the use of keeping the homebound children educated with Homer or KiwiCo. These brands have reinforced the need for connectivity during this time, but also descend Maslow’s pyramid toward security and safety needs, by providing structure and self-care. After the average consumer puts away their excess of toilet paper and meat products from the markets, they seek a return to that connectivity with their tribe: friends, family, and the greater community. They need that reassurance that this pandemic is a temporary, stitch in time, and that the world will be back to school and work shortly, so there is no need to barricade the windows and shutter relationships.  

https://www.instagram.com/fabletics

Timeless Organics, a traditional skincare company, has recently implemented a hand sanitizer line. Hand sanitizer has become extremely hard to come by today, with people hoarding it in obscene quantities and some companies even increasing its price exponentially.[8] Timeless Organics saw the desperate need to come out with a product to make their customers feel safer. This is an example of a brand traditionally being in the love and belonging category pivot during these times and creating a product that falls more within the safety and security category of Maslow’s pyramid. 

Some brands such as Native and Openfit are going full-steam ahead with their influencer marketing during this time. Both of these brands, Native creating natural deodorant and Openfit providing in-home workouts, fall arguably within the middle of the pyramid structure, providing its consumers a feeling of belongingness and esteem. Native has communicated to CEG that although they understand that their natural deodorant is a higher order, rather than basic need, it is important for their consumers to feel normal by going through their regular beauty and health regimen during this time. Openfit has come to realize that now more than ever, their consumers must be provided with an alternative workout when gyms across the nation are closed.[9]  Other functional vanity and jewelry brands such as Necklet and Rocksbox, who fall within a higher self-actualization category of Maslow’s pyramid, have decided to hold off on product launches to match consumer sentiments and habits. Brands in this category find themselves moving into other categories within Maslow’s pyramid to keep consumers aware of their place during the crisis, but also provide comfort to the self-quarantined masses.

Due to the pandemic, schools around the world have completely closed to combat the spread of COVID-19, creating a massive disruption in childhood development.[10] Meanwhile, early education services for children such as HOMER, KiwiCo and ABCmouse, continue to offer free and discounted 30-day trials of their products. While medical experts are unable to predict how long people will have to continue to self-quarantine their families[11], a 30-day trial is a matter of relief for those furloughed parents who need to attend to growing minds. These brands can maximize the value of very minimal change from their original acquisition model, and yet, they provide a vital service, at a time when consumers are watching their spending habits as unemployment rises.[12] 

https://www.instagram.com/kiwico_inc

The COVID-19 pandemic is an era of rapid change and adaptation, with incredible impact on daily life. Before it ends, a new “normal” is solidifying its place in cultures around the world. The social media influencer is able to deliver messages remotely, with very little overhead, and with the ability to adapt to messaging that appears to be ever-changing. Brands on all levels of Maslow’s pyramid are shifting up and down into new categories in order to adapt to their own challenges. Conveying these shifts by way of the social media influencer is a service to the community, to inform people on how to attain basic needs and to enrich people’s lives with brand-generated content and messaging that brings people together, at a social distance.

About CEG:

With over 20 years of success in the entertainment industry, Central Entertainment Group has become the leading agency for any and everything reality television and social media. With talent representation ranging from celebrities and cast members of TV shows such as The Bachelor, The Housewives Franchise, Bravo and MTV to the leading fashion and mom influencers in the space, our diverse roster of clients speaks for itself. While once a live booking agency, CEG has expanded our expertise to help grow and scale the industry leaders in the social media space, curating brand specific talent partnerships. Whether a small brand looking to scale up, or a Fortune 500 company looking for impressions, our agency takes a personalized approach developing in-depth creative campaigns spanning all social media platforms.

For more information, please visit https://www.cegtalent.com

[1] https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-social-distancing-and-self-quarantine

[2] https://nypost.com/2020/03/26/nyc-outlines-street-closures-to-promote-social-distancing-during-coronavirus-shutdown/

[3] https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm

[4] See also: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lwSsQzvnonLLQ_tJvKsO3c219Xn8JFCE/view

[5] https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-delays-shipments-of-nonessential-items-in-the-us-by-up-to-a-month/

[6] https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikescott/2020/03/25/uk-calls-on-f1-teams-carmakers-and-aviation-groups-to-meet-ventilation-challenge/#701c538d5c4b

[7] https://www.shipbob.com/blog/how-brands-fight-covid19-coronavirus/ 

[8] https://nypost.com/2020/03/23/danish-market-creatively-prices-hand-sanitizer-to-discourage-hoarding/

[9] https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-03-17/gyms-and-trainers-move-online-as-coronavirus-closes-fitness-facilities

[10] https://time.com/5810017/coronavirus-school-closings-education-unesco/

[11] https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/covid-19-predicting-the-path-and-analyzing-immunity/

[12] https://www.epi.org/blog/coronavirus-record-breaking-spike-in-ui-claims