An Open Letter to Brands During Unprecedented Times

Thank you for all that you're doing to support and uplift the community during this time of need. From Anheuser-Busch reallocating your facilities to produce and distribute hand sanitizer, to L.L. Bean deploying your fleet of trucks to deliver food instead of flannel, and to New Balance for manufacturing masks instead of shoes. You are making an impact. Please, we need you to keep your efforts on the present. While doing so, it's also time to focus on your future.

Dear Brands,

You seek to speak authentically with your audience.

To show up fully for them and establish an emotional bond that creates loyalty and advocacy. Experiential Marketing is your gateway to achieving that goal.

And your experiential agency is the connective tissue that gets you there.

They are the lifeblood pumping creativity into your brand by dreaming up initiatives and then executing upon them to create lasting impressions.

Now is the time to create experiences.

We are craving them more than ever. We need community. We need interaction. We need connection. And though doing so in-person is temporarily on hold, you can still forge ahead. 

Your experiential marketing partners are the individuals that have the brain power and human power to reimagine what it means to create a live experience in this current landscape. Your goal should be to stay relevant during this time in an effective and authentic way.

Be around for the rebound.

Do so, while also supporting your partners who always show up for you and are the ones who you have hired to help you achieve that very goal.

These are really difficult times for all of us. It starts at the agency level and has a trickle down effect on the industry partners, like us here at O Hello Media down to your influencers, brand ambassadors, event staff, labor workers, welders, craftsmen, photographers, videographers...the list goes on. 

This is a call for you, the brands, to keep moving forward - to press play even though live events are on pause. To #BeAroundForTheRebound.

HERE ARE THE CHALLENGES YOUR EXPERIENTIAL PARTNERS CAN HELP TO SOLVE:

Fuel the momentum in a world on pause

• Keep the emotional juices behind your brand flowing
• Continue to foster positivity, joy and happiness as attendees look forward to your live experiences
• Position your brand as an advocate to generate loyalty and trust
• Forge an emotional connection with your target demographic

Establish a sense of security

• Effectively communicate to your audience
• Create balanced and sensitive correspondence to mitigate fear
• Spread awareness & information regarding your intended safety measures and sanitary tactics 

Communicate your original message intended for the live experience

• Provide thoughtful messaging with all of the important talking points you intended to convey face to face
• Ensure that no messaging is lost on the individual through missed interaction with a brand ambassador 
• Ensure your message is heard by your desired audience

Widen your net during a time of increased digital attention

• Create innovative and engaging content to cast a wider net
• Charting unfamiliar waters
• Extend the experience beyond the moment and into the hands of those who may have not been there “in person”