This article originally appeared on MediaPost. In the face of the extended crisis that is the COVID-19 pandemic, every business is being challenged to make timely decisions right for employees and customers alike. Here are five ways your brand can help inform your efforts to give back during this crisis. Consider your audience Your audience … Continued

Kate Floyd

May 2020

Top CMOs are a fast-acting and strategic bunch capable of responding to urgent challenges and, at the same time keeping long-term brand building in mind. Siegel+Gale’s Future of Branding roundtable series convenes marketing and innovation leaders across industries and around the globe to explore how the biggest challenges and emerging trends of today will impact brands tomorrow.

Margaret Molloy

May 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the world into an unprecedented halt. What now unfolds, are waves of reverberations which will leave lasting imprints on our future. To withstand what’s ahead, brands need to jump in with both feet, embracing change by allowing it to change them. They must adapt. Yes. But, how?

Siegel+Gale

May 2020

Voice is important in times of crisis, not least because there’s an unprecedented volume of communication happening right now. Not all of these messages are coming from brands, but still, it’s important to keep in perspective just how dense the forest of communications is right now. It’s also instructive to examine how different brands are putting voice to good use in order to transcend the transactionality of the typical day-to-day and rise to the current occasion—or not doing so. Saying “we care, and we’re doing something” might seem cut-and-dry, but plenty of brands have been criticized for coming across as boastful or sales-focused in communicating their Covid-related efforts or responses.  

Derrick Mead

May 2020

In SMPL Q+A, we interview practitioners on all things relevant to branding, design and simplicity. Here, we speak with our colleagues about our partnership with Tugende, a for-profit social enterprise in Uganda that helps motorcycle taxi drivers buy their own motorcycles, giving them the means to control their own tools of employment and kick starting a path to financial independence.

Stephanie Down, Will Bosanko + Deva Corriveau

April 2020

Brands that deliver—literally or virtually—at-home experiences have come to dominate our suddenly-narrowed brandscape, along with those that have suddenly moved from the realm of the discretionary to the essential. This raises a question as we look beyond the current, difficult time. Will the brands we are relying on now like never before command long-term loyalty, or will we want to put maximum distance between ourselves and Netflix serials, eschew Deliveroo for dine-out, and reject online retail in favor of a trip to the shops?

James Withey

April 2020

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is causing disruption in nearly every facet of our lives. There is uncertainty that lays ahead, but one thing is for certain. Life and business as we know it is altered, and this change is not just for the short-term. Companies must begin to embrace that this is a … Continued

Yasmeen Coning

April 2020

Our new normal is unavoidable: every day brings new questions and uncertainty given the COVID-19 epidemic. Between dealing with personal implications of social separation and approaching the immediate crisis communication needs appropriately, it can be hard to find time to focus on other priorities. These pressing requirements can mean that the core asset, key to not only survival, but ultimately long-term growth post-crisis, is not forgotten: the brand.

Brian Rafferty

May 2020

Our Future of Branding roundtable series convenes marketing and innovation leaders across industries to explore how the biggest challenges and emerging trends of today will impact brands tomorrow. Since we could not break bread in person, our program went virtual—the first in the series of conversations on brand leadership in the COVID-19 era.

Margaret Molloy

April 2020

We can learn from recent crises to inform how brands should react and adapt to the current environment. Using past recessions and the 9/11 terrorist attacks as historical guides, here are six strategic behaviors to help your brand navigate a yet-to-be-defined future.

Kaitlin Smith

April 2020