COVID - 19: What can your brand do?
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

COVID - 19: What can your brand do?

I’ve specialized in healthcare marketing for 15 years. A consistent lure has been the complex puzzles it presents and the thrill of solving them with a group of wickedly smart colleagues. And knowing we’re all committed to improving the lives of people we serve creates a team environment that I’ve not experienced in any other role.  

As I adjust to working remote to help flatten the curve during the COVID-19 epidemic, I miss seeing my colleagues in the halls. But we’re quickly finding ways to remain connected so that we can continue to solve unprecedented challenges our clients are facing in this moment. In some ways, we’re more in tune to each other than ever before, sharing information and ideas across GSW and across Syneos as we work to help clients determine the right response for their brands. 

It is hard to know for certain what to do since things are changing so quickly. However, there are a handful of themes I’ve been picking up from all the activity and conversations:

1.     Scrub your marketing content for appropriateness. Our healthcare community is on the front lines fighting for our safety, and at-risk patient populations are worried about their well-being now more than ever. Traditional marketing during this time will likely fall on deaf ears given customers’ (understandably) preoccupied state. Or worse, it may be seen as opportunistic, insensitive, or annoying - all qualities that most clients try to avoid having attributed to their brand. Take a moment to adjust content (messages and images!) so your brand is viewed as being connected to your customers’ new reality. The core of your story can likely stay intact, but can you frame it to match their current mindset? 

2.     Determine if your engagement plan is still relevant. Once your content is refined, attention should turn to determining if your channel mix and targeting efforts need to be adjusted. Consider where your customers are spending their time in this moment and flex accordingly. Now that personal promotion is off the table, attention is hyperfocused on how to reach people in the nonpersonal space. As you make changes, it’s important to keep in mind that your competitors are doing the same, with a sharp uptick in emails and direct mail. To avoid getting crowded out, now is the time to explore alternate digital channels such as social media, podcasts, and webinars. Most experts expect this pandemic to shift customers’ expectation of engagement, so ensure you’re planning for the long term and mastering these new channels during this time. This will set you up to better meet your customers’ changing expectations once this pandemic has passed. 

3.     Shift from selling to supporting. All of humanity is being called to contribute what they can to slow this pandemic, and some of the more responsive brands are following suit with brand acts of kindness. This is a great opportunity for your brand to do the same and make a lasting connection. Rather than tout your benefits, can your brand offer support in helping patients gain access to your product in this uncertain time? Rather than telling reps to ask for the next script, can they offer physicians support in educating at-risk patients with safety tips? To maintain employee engagement across teams, can you ask them to report on volunteer activity happening in their local communities? 

4.     Stay connected! The environment is changing real-time, and it can be hard to keep up, if not overwhelming. Several companies are providing up-to-the-minute details on learnings from other countries and sharing data that will help us track trends. Find your favorites and check in regularly to ask yourself how the changes may impact your brand today or in the future. Personally, my most insightful source is still my colleagues. But in addition to having their live, cross-functional consult on issues, they have tuned me in to some new favorites such as IQVIA, WARC, and the Syneos Health podcast series on COVID-19. 

What are some things that are helping you and your brand respond in this moment?

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