To Standout During a Pandemic, Provide Services Your Consumers Can Use
As you watch TV, listen to the radio or your music streaming service, or surf the web, you may have come across a few, or maybe even dozens of advertisements from companies highlighting how they will be there for you during these “difficult,” “troubled,” and “challenging” times.
These ads are coming from major multi-million or even billion-dollar companies from every industry – Samsung, Publix, Lincoln, Toyota, Budweiser, Heineken, Facebook, Nationwide, and many more. And the messages they share do seem heartfelt, and shared with genuine concern for people, as we all know that the coronavirus is affecting the lives of everyone across the globe and no one is immune.
Despite the sincerity of these companies, they are not able to ensure that their ads or their messages are not lost in a cluster of other companies sharing the exact same message.
Can anyone now tell the difference between the ads from Apple, or FedEx, or Chick-Fil-A?
Having your message lost in these uncertain times is no fault of these companies. Plus, most if not all of these companies are also making huge contributions in the fight against COVID by donating to healthcare workers, manufacturing ventilators, facemasks and hand sanitizer, donating food to various charities or healthcare and first responders, and keeping staff employed even as storefronts are closed.
All amazing and critically important measures to help people across the country, and the world.
But there are some businesses that have made notable and headline-worthy impacts on the lives of millions through actions to help those who are worried about contracting the virus or need real help in paying bills or have to find a new job.
Dominoes for example instituted Contactless Delivery, which allows pizza lovers to request a delivery driver to leave a pizza at a location requested by the customer – such as a bench on your front porch.
Due to increased demand for online purchases during quarantine, Amazon set a goal to hire 100,000 new employees, which will be incredibly helpful for individuals who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. To ensure their health and safety, the company is checking employees’ temperatures at its facilities daily, and it is also providing face masks to all employees.
To help ease the financial burden of his tenants, Brooklyn landlord Mario Salerno who owns 18 apartment buildings, told his tenants that they don’t have to pay rent for the month of April.
Insurance companies are also looking to help their customers. Allstate for example refunding about 15% of premiums, or $600 million, paid by customers in April and May.
To help college students manage the closure and move out from their colleges, U-Haul has made available 30 days of free storage.
And for the kids, Burger King is now giving away two free kids’ meals with any purchase made through the company’s app.
These are just a few examples of the unique ways companies are taking noticeable action to help people combat and manage their time under the COVID-19 lockdown.
For additional information, or for any questions regarding health and safety during the pandemic, please visit Xenophon’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Team webpage at: https://xenophonstrategies.com/covid-19-response.
Getting Back to Work is an ongoing series on health and safety regarding COVID-19 from Xenophon Strategies, in partnership with Dr. David Hamer, a professor at the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine with more than 30 years of experience in epidemiological diseases. Through the partnership Xenophon is working with Dr. Hamer to provide science-based recommendations and guidance on how employers, employees, and families should best respond to and combat the COVID-19 pandemic.