Category: Marketing in the Time of COVID-19

Call for evidence for COVID-19 communication report

Stuart Mitchell

The Government Communication Service (GCS) COVID-19 Advisory Panel has issued a call for information and evidence about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the communication profession. The Panel plans to publish a far-ranging report exploring the impact of the crisis and the opportunities it presents. Areas of interest include: alignment with management, employee engagement, virtual working, real time polling, social listening, and new content and channel approaches. The report will be supported by robust analysis of in-depth research, including interviews with industry leaders. The Panel is chaired by Alex…

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Global Advertising Industry Leaders Unite to Amplify World Health Organization COVID-19 Health Alert

Stuart Mitchell

PVBLIC Foundation, collectively with Mediakeys Group, has organized a global consortium of 21 advertising companies spanning 7 countries, and from 3 continents, to amplify the World Health Organization’s message about COVID-19 across the globe. WHO recently launched a dedicated messaging services in Arabic, English, French, Hindi, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese with partners WhatsApp and Facebook to keep people safe from coronavirus.  The campaign invites people to text “hi” in various languages via WhatsApp so they can receive “prompt, reliable, and official information 24 hours a day, worldwide.” This easy-to-use messaging…

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Cox Curbs Loneliness for Older Adults Amid COVID-19 with One Call a Day

Stuart Mitchell

Cox Communications has announced its One Call a Day initiative, a virtual volunteer program that connects Cox employees with seniors for daily touch base calls. Particularly vulnerable during this crisis, older adults are subject to even more stringent social distancing guidelines leaving them severely isolated.  With the help of Cox volunteers, isolated seniors around the country have received surprise calls offering support, encouragement, and much-needed human connection.  “Many studies pointed to a loneliness epidemic even before COVID-19 with illness, mobility, and the complexity of technology making this more acute for…

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Collaborating with the competition to cope with COVID-19: How Businesses are surviving the pandemic

Stuart Mitchell

Businesses around the world have had to collaborate with competitors in order to survive the coronavirus pandemic – in some cases they have grown – but sharing excessive amounts of information with rivals comes with risks. A new paper published in the journal Industrial Marketing Management has examined coopetition – cooperating with competitors – a strategy used to cope with the unique impact of COVID-19 on retailers, pharmaceutical companies, non-profit organisations and tech firms, such as Google and Amazon. Dr James M. Crick, of Loughborough University, and his father Professor…

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“I Happen to Like New York” – A Loving Tribute to New Yorkers and the City’s Front-Line Workers

Stuart Mitchell

There have been many heartwarming stories to come out of the COVID-19 crisis in New York, but perhaps none as emotionally resonant as the nightly salute to the front-line workers who literally put their life on the line every day. Each evening at 7 p.m., New Yorkers gather on streets (at a safe distance, of course) or lean out of their windows, banging saucepans, clapping, cheering and hollering as exhausted healthcare workers make their way home after a shift. It’s noisy, passionate and emotional: A quintessential New York salute. “It’s…

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