Why are people launching things during a pandemic?
Four weeks ago, companies that I haven't heard from since the GDPR regulations came in, started sending me heart-felt messages telling me they're here for me during this "unprecedented situation."
Now I'm beginning to see different kinds of posts on LinkedIn: "It's a weird time to launch anything, but…" "Here's some good news amongst the bad..."
Yes, we have now entered what I'm calling the second stage of lockdown comms.
When we first went into lockdown due to Covid19, I predicted that there would be an initial knee-jerk reaction to start launching everything and anything. Ideas that companies have had on the backburner for ages due to the lack of time and resource have been dusted off or hastily adapted to new ways of working. It's fair to say there's been a baby boom of sorts in the content marketing world...
With confirmation that we’re on track for a great depression and predictions that spending in the marketing industry will shrink by $20billion, the stakes are incredibly high. Launching a new business, product or service into the oblivion could be considered the ultimate Nietzschean act of nihilism...
Over the last few weeks, brands have crashed and burned as they tried to communicate effectively during the pandemic. Campaigns were poorly adapted, or hastily created using stock footage and "heartfelt" voiceovers. The dirge landed on deaf ears - brilliantly parodied by Samantha Geloso in this video. With shot after shot appearing over a delicate piano track by Einaudi, a friendly voiceover picks apart the now well-worn marketing strategy. The script is laugh-out-loud funny:
“Hey, we’re a brand. Things are pretty crazy right now, huh? Maybe you’re a little scared. We are too. Scared of losing sales. But our advertising agency said that tragedy wins awards. So here are some sad pictures of places you probably recognise. Like this. Look, it’s a Target, but empty. We’re going to show pictures of people now to remind you that brands are also humans... And now, an emotional montage because we want you to remember life before THE THING: Hugging, Dancing, Old person in front of birthday cake, TikTok, Baby, Bees, Finally, a crisp white screen. Is this the end? No. It’s just the first part of the tagline. And now... the second. Finally, we’re going to ask you to do something for us. And if you don’t do it, you’ll feel like a bad person. Thank you.
Yes, marketing has been well and truly put back in its box, rightly eclipsed by the heroic efforts of key workers keeping the world functioning as we take on an invisible enemy that we don't truly understand. I’m sure there are going to be many more bumps along the way... but you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Whatever happens, I'm just going to continue reading and writing. I'm learning a host of new skills every day and that makes me happy because in the future I'll be able to say that even in the toughest climate, I managed what was within my control.
If you’re willing to accept the risk that your launch might crash and burn too, and that nobody really cares anyway...because everyone's got so much going in their lives normally and that's been exacerbated ten-fold due to Covid19, the fear disappears. Instead of thinking of all the reasons why you shouldn't do something, you end up with a serious case of "Why the hell not?!" and I can confirm that feeling is incredibly liberating!
Weirdly, I’ve found that if you can visualise the worst-case scenario and come up with an idea of how you would respond, then launching something or doing anything in fact, feels less intimidating. That's something useful that I've learned during this pandemic that might just help me beyond it too!
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