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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday April 16, 2020: Time for Plan B
As the COVID-19 lockdown continues, the big question is how soon we will be able to reopen the economy and return to some semblance of what we used to call normal.
The answer seems to differ depending on the locale and the severity of the outbreak in particular areas. But there’s a common thread through all these discussions: how do we open things up without causing more damage, and possibly unleashing a second round of infections?
It appears that we will not be able to go back to a totally open, unfettered existence until a vaccine is developed and widely available–which may take as much as a year or more. Until then, there may be no big sporting or entertainment events with live audiences. Restaurants may need to separate diners and have waiters wear masks. Shopping in malls or other stores may be severely restricted.
What do you do if you are one of the many organizations impacted by this? Well, you could sit and wait for things to return to normal–whatever and whenever that will be. Or, you could be creative and try to find new and innovative ways to offer value to customers.
This goes beyond the initial response to move everything to Zoom. Yesterday, a company that mainly supplies Christmas-related items to stores decided they could leverage their expertise to help get wholesale food items (no longer needed by restaurants) directly to consumers. They came to this conclusion by looking at their expertise–which was delivering large quantities of goods quickly and efficiently with well-established ecommerce capabilities.
It’s time to take a hard look at your core competencies. What is your real expertise? If the world does not miraculously recover in the next 30-60 days, how can you leverage and repurpose that expertise to offer a needed service–and keep your business alive?
It’s time to take a hard look at Plan B. And maybe even Plan C and D, too.
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise – even in a crisis situation.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday April 9, 2020: Different Than All Other Nights
Last night was the first night of Passover, the holiday when Jews celebrate leaving Egypt, moving from slavery to freedom, and to the Promised Land of Israel.
The Passover Seder, retelling the Exodus story (including the Ten Plagues), is traditionally one of the highlights of the year in many Jewish households. More Jews participate in Seders than any other religious celebration throughout the year. This is traditionally a time when homes are opened to all who are hungry and in need–a time of community bonding and celebration.
Except for this year, when homes are not open at all (not even to family members and close friends), because of the pandemic. Christians will face a similar predicament this weekend for Easter.
Technology has helped us. Last night, there were hundreds of thousands of seders shared through Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype. Participants were able to come together to participate in a community celebration, if not the full Seder meal.
The Passover Haggadah says, “This year we are slaves; next year we will be free.”
In our generation, there has not been a time when this message resonated so strongly. We may feel like slaves in our homes right now–imprisoned by the coronavirus. But to a certain extent, we are slaves to our prior way of life–to expectations of how the world works, to what we can expect makes up our daily existence, and to what constitutes a “normal” life.
This is a good time for all of us to contemplate what freedom really means. When we are able to leave our homes and mingle among others again, how will we celebrate our freedom? What story will we tell next year and the years following?
When the plague of Coronavirus has passed, how will we be free?
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise – even in a crisis situation.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday April 2, 2020: Knock, Knock–Who’s There?
One thing we’re all learning through this pandemic is how many things it’s possible to do from home–including having what we need brought directly to us.
Most of us have used Amazon for home deliveries, and some may have ordered groceries or bought merchandise online. Now, DoorDash and GrubHub will deliver restaurant meals with contact-less delivery for safety. Chewy will deliver dog food and toys. Instacart will collect and deliver your grocery order. There are companies who will bring you office supplies, clothing, and more.
If it’s packageable and shippable, someone will arrange to bring it to your doorstep. If it hasn’t been delivered before, someone may still find a way to do it now.
Your customers are likely to be stuck “sheltering in place,” too. The more they can reach out and help their customers, the better off both of you will be. That means the more you can help deliver services to them–whether physically or virtually–the more they’ll appreciate your support.
What new and creative ways can you find to support your customers during this crisis? It’s time to go knocking on their door with help.
What are you doing to make the worst of times a little better for all of us?
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise – even in a crisis situation.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday March 26, 2020: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times
As we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re hearing some horrible stories of bad behavior.
There are people ignoring calls to self-isolate and practice social distancing. There are COVID-19 “cure” scams propagating on Facebook. Amazon has had to remove more than a million dubious listings. Email and phone scams are growing on a daily basis. Yesterday, a woman was arrested for purposely coughing on fresh food at a grocery store–which resulted in the store throwing away $35K in fresh food.
Yet, we also hear about people opening their wallets to those in need. Some are sewing masks for medical personnel. Others are offering free or reduced fee services. Volunteers are checking in on high risk people who may be isolated at home. People are going out of their way to make donations to arts groups that have had to cancel performances. Families are supporting local restaurants through takeout orders and extremely generous tips.
In a crisis situation, for every bad example of human behavior, we see at least one good one–maybe more.
We can’t make the virus miraculously go away, but we can control how we react to the situation. We can choose to be part of the solution, rather than exacerbating the problem.
What are you doing to make the worst of times a little better for all of us?
Contact me to find out how you can get heard above the noise – even in a crisis situation.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com