How to build a brand

Table of Conten
Table of Contents.....................................................................................................................1

An Insight into Branding.........................................................................................................3

What is a brand?..................................................................................................................3

History...................................................................................................................................3

Why is Branding Essential?................................................................................................3

What Makes a Brand?.........................................................................................................3

How to Protect your Brand.....................................................................................................4

Brand Name..........................................................................................................................4

Trademark............................................................................................................................4

Brand Communication........................................................................................................4

Why is having a Brand Name Important?.............................................................................4

Recognition...........................................................................................................................5

Perceived Value....................................................................................................................5

Repeat Purchases.................................................................................................................5

Class Symbol.........................................................................................................................5

The Essential Framework to Branding..................................................................................6

Step 1: Discover Your Purpose...........................................................................................6

Step 2: Market Research.....................................................................................................6

Step 3: Build a Mission Statement......................................................................................7

Step 4: Build a brand story and messaging.......................................................................7

Step 5: Create a Brand Logo and Tagline.........................................................................8

Step 6: Integrate the Brand in the Community.................................................................8

Making your Brand Work......................................................................................................9

Market Feasibility of Brand Maintenance...........................................................................10

Dos of Brand Maintenance....................................................................................................11

Do: Keep things simple and focus on your core values..................................................12

 Do: Follow the data, but don’t underestimate emotion..................................................12

Do: Be flexible and adapt to trends..................................................................................13

Don’ts of Brand Maintenance...............................................................................................14

Don’t: Jump on trends without thinking of the bigger picture.....................................14

Don’t: Wait too long to rebrand.......................................................................................15

Don’t: Ignore trends..........................................................................................................16

The Dos and Don’ts of Marketing during a Global Crisis.................................................17

New rules, new plan...........................................................................................................17

Successes in Marketing in the times of Coronavirus..........................................................18

Failures in Marketing in the times of Coronavirus............................................................19

References...............................................................................................................................19
An Insight into Branding
What is a brand?
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other distinctive feature that distinguishes a
products from the one sold by other sellers in the market. Brands are creating in order to store
value. The brand name generates equity for the firm for the benefits of its customers,
investors and owners.

History
Branding has been around since a long time. In the early time people use to identify
livestock’s quality depending upon its owner. As some people were very reputed and popular
for treating their animals well and maintaining its quality. Overtime branding was used for
differentiating between similar products.

Why is Branding Essential?

The world is getting more and more competitive day by day. It’s not very easy to develop
new products. Firms and people try to gain market share by using branding as a tool. For
example the products of Nike and Adidas are not anymore questioned about their quality
because the brand has made a name for itself over the past years. The goods sold at bazaars
are sometimes of very good quality. They are cheap because branding hasn’t been done.

What Makes a Brand?

Name: The word or words used to identify a company, product, service, or concept.
Logo: The visual trademark that identifies a brand.
Tagline or Catchphrase: "The Quicker Picker Upper" is associated with Bounty paper
towels.
Graphics: the "dynamic ribbon" is a trademarked part of Coca-Cola's brand.
Shapes: the distinctive shapes of the Coca-Cola bottle and of the Volkswagen Beetle
are trademarked elements of those brands.
Colors: the instant recognition consumers have when they see Tiffany & Co.’s robin's
egg blue (Pantone No. 1837). Tiffany & Co.’s trademarked the color in 1998.
Sounds: a unique tune or set of notes can denote a brand. NBC's chimes provide a
famous example.
 Scents: the rose-jasmine-musk scent of Chanel No. 5 is trademarked.
Tastes: Kentucky Fried Chicken has trademarked its special recipe of eleven herbs
and spices for fried chicken.
Movements: Lamborghini has trademarked the upward motion of its car doors.

How to Protect your Brand

Brand Name
This refers to the identification of the brand. A brand name is supposed to include words,
phrases, signs, symbols, designs, or any combination these.

Trademark
A trademark is the name legally protected. If the trademark is not registered anyone is free to
use your name on their own product and affect your reputation and earn huge profits on your
hard work. Brands also patent their new findings and technologies so that their competitors
are not able to copy them. Patents help the company maintain its exclusivity so that they can
earn profits over it.

Brand Communication
It is essential for companies to make their customers remember their brand. Otherwise the
brand equity will eventually become obsolete. For example there is hardly anyone who
doesn’t know the name of Pepsi, however, Pepsi spends huge amount of money each year on
communication to its customers. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is the
consistency with which a brand communicates with its stakeholders. IMC includes 5 main
key points: advertising, sales promotions, direct marketing, personal selling and public
relations.

Why is having a Brand Name Important?

Recognition
The main aim of branding is to get recognition by the consumers, usually the logo is the most
important feature of branding. it should be as such that the consumers are able to create a
picture in their head and are able to remember it. The logo should make an impression of the
brand in the head of the customers.
Perceived Value
The satisfaction a consumer acquires by using your product depends upon their perceived
value. The more that is, the more amount the customer will be ready to pay for your product.
Companies use lots of tactics in order to increase their perceived value like packaging, after
sales services etc.

Let’s take an example. A $20 unbranded shirt and a $200 branded shirt might not have a lot
of difference Afterall. But the customer will be happy to pay $200 for the latter because of
the branding. In order to compete in today’s market it has become a necessity to do branding.

Repeat Purchases
No matter how good quality product you make if the consumer doesn’t know your brand
name or even if they know if they have to search for it that means you are losing a really big
opportunity which can be cashed upon.

There are some examples of branding with huge success like pampers and fridge. Most
people don’t even know that these 2 words are the brand names and not really what the
product is really called. The products are actually diapers and refrigerator. Due to branding
people have forgotten the name of the product.

Class Symbol
People use a lot of brands because they want other to see them that they belong to a certain
class. For example the user of Rolls Royce spends a fortune not just to enjoy what the car has
to offer but also the image and reputation people will have of them. These days most people
are very conscious about the brands they use. Because the ones we do are attached with our
image and affordability.

The Essential Framework to Branding

Step 1: Discover Your Purpose
Every successful brand has a powerful purpose behind it. As Simon Sinek said, “People don’t
buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody that
needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
Hence, it is essential to answer the following four questions while defining the brand purpose
to ensure the effectiveness of the branding strategy.

1. Why do you exist?

2. What differentiates you?
3. What problem do you solve?
4. Why should people care?

These answers give ideas to form the foundation of the branding strategy.

Step 2: Market Research

Audience: It is very important to know exactly what target audience is being focused. It
should start by targeting only a specific niche audience, first. It is essential to know the
age, gender, location, income and education level etc. of the target audience. It ensures that
the brand message comes across crystal clear to the intended recipient. However, with time,
it tends to expand as brand loyalty grows.

Identifying the target audience for your services or products is an exercise that will affect and
benefit all areas of your brand building process, particularly marketing efforts. It needs to be
made sure that the content reaches the right people at the right time.

Competition: No brand should ever imitate exactly what another big brand is doing in the
industry. However, at the same time, it is important to be aware of what they do well or
where they fail. It is important to differentiate your brand from the competitors’. The
ultimate goal is to convince a customer to purchase from you over them!

SWOT Analysis: Internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats
should be taken into consideration to make better use of the available resources.

Step 3: Build a Mission Statement

The mission statement is the purpose for the brand to exist and what value it provides.
Everything from the logo to the tagline, voice, message, and personality should reflect that
mission.
The mission statement should be able to convince your target audience to choose your brand
over another competing brand in the market.

For Example, Nike’s mission statement is “To bring inspiration and innovation to every
athlete in the world.” it further goes on to add; “If you have a body, you are an athlete”. Their
mission can be seen everywhere. They focus on all types of athletes using Nike products. The
company has built up such a reputation and brand following, that it’s able to increase the
target to accommodate every “body”.

Step 4: Build a brand story and messaging

This part of the brand development process defines the key aspects of:

 Who are you?

 What do you offer?
 Why should people care?

A brand story is an opportunity to communicate on a human level, making a direct emotional

connection with your consumers. Connecting with your prospects before going in for the hard
sell builds trust, and helps your prospect have a more positive experience with your
company’s brand.

Moreover, people love stories that move them - emotionally and to action. A strong brand
identity can establish an emotional connection with consumers, which can be a solid
foundation for building a lasting relationship with a brand.

For example, TOMS Shoes clearly defines their message through every touch point a
consumer has with the brand: “Improving lives. With every product you purchase, TOMS
will help a person in need. One for One.”

Step 5: Create a Brand Logo and Tagline

Visuals are very important when it comes to building a brand. The logo will appear on
everything that relates to the business. It will become the identity and the visual recognition
of your promise.
Moreover, the product itself, its packaging, or the way it’s presented - all play a part in your
brand identity. Visually representing your business in everything you do will create
consistency and help create a familiarity with your consumers.

McDonald, the globally leading fast-food chain, has used an interesting form to create the
iconic "M," which is now recognizable all over the world. [ CITATION Son19 \l 1033 ]

Step 6: Integrate the Brand in the Community

Now that the brand has been established within the company, the next step is to integrate the
brand within the community and one of the most successful ways to accomplish this is for
your brand to provide quality content.

Language: Choose a language that matches the personality of the brand. If the brand identity
is high-end, professional language should be used. However, if the brand is laid-back, the
language can be more conversational. The chosen language will be integrated throughout the
entire business; hence, it is important that the tone correctly matches the personality of the
brand.

Advertisements: whether traditional or digital, advertising is the most efficient way of

introducing a brand to the world. It's a way to get the message of the brand seen and heard by
your target audience. However, it may not always be budget friendly.

Social Media: Another way to establish a connection with your consumers is through social
media. It is relatively cheaper and offers up a ton of digital platforms to interact with your
audience and establish the brands identity. It also offers direct, two-way communication with
the audience. [ CITATION Kat20 \l 1033 ]

Making your Brand Work

In order for a customer to remember your brand, the logo is not the only thing that matters. A
brand is everything that represents your company, from the logo, to the managers, to the way
they treat their customers, to the way their salespersons dress, the products and everything
that comes in between. Brand Maintenance is all about being proactive and developing and
maintaining a solid relatable brand that caters to the needs a customer never knew they had.
There are no defined steps a company can take to create a lasting image in the minds of the
people. However, there are still things that a brand should be doing to develop and maintain a
healthy and unbreakable relationship with their customers. Whether the customers remember
you does not only rely on the fact that your logo is really good or your products are over the
top. A customer is more likely to remember that when they chose your brand, they felt good
about it and you created an emotional connection with them by catering to the touch points
strategically. [ CITATION Joh17 \l 1033 ]

In the case where you have an outlet, this is easier to accomplish since you can always treat
your walk-in customers in a way that they feel extremely special and wanted by your brand.
For example, the luxury brand Louis Vuitton really personalizes every purchase their
customer makes for them. They ensure that with every purchase, their customer gets a
personalized note directed to them, thanking them for their purchase. This way, the customer
automatically is likely to feel inclined toward the brand.

However, what can a company do if they do not have a retail outlet, instead are an everyday
grocery item available in grocery stores? How can they ensure their customer remember them
and keep coming back to them?

This usually becomes a challenge for the company because they have to do their branding
without any help other than their advertisements and of course their quality. Taking the
example of the detergent “Surf Excel” in Pakistan. Surf has become the generic word for all
kinds of washing detergents. This could be highly due to the fact that Surf Excel was the first
ever washing powder launched in Pakistan and was able to create an image in the minds of
the market way before any other brand did. It automatically created an emotional connection
with the women by their advertisements that the washing powder will make their life easier
and they will not have to spend hours washing with a soap. It also catered to a need that
customers perhaps did not know they had. Therefore, another step for brand maintenance
could be being the first in the market and gaining first mover’s advantage. [ CITATION
Lar15 \l 1033 ]

Moving on, it is a given fact that customers want to feel like GOD. They want to be felt as if
your whole brand and company relies on them and without them you are nothing – which is
the hard truth. Customer feedback is also an integral part for maintaining your brand because
a customer wants to be listened. They want to be understood. Hence, when they suggest
something and a brand listens to them, they are more likely to remember you.
Furthermore, making your brand relevant to the needs of the customers also contributes a lot
to brand maintenance, because in the mind of the customer you, as a particular brand, were
there for them to fulfill all their needs in a way that they want.

Another way a brand can maintain its existence in the minds of the people is by being honest
with their customers at all times. For example, if they have made a mistake or done
something wrong, the way a brand tackles the situation and caters of the customer’s needs
before their own really tells a lot about them. This way, they will automatically gain goodwill
from the customers. For example, when Johnson & Johnson was hit with the Tylenol
tampering incident, although the company had nothing to do with it and it was proven that the
tampering had been done at the retailer level, they still dealt with the situation in such a way
that even though at first their sales fell drastically, they regained them and instead achieved
even more sales than before. All this by gaining the trust and sympathy of the customers so
that they can maintain their goodwill.

Market Feasibility of Brand Maintenance

Brand management is the science of creating and sustaining a brand. It has to do with both,
the tangible and intangible aspects of a brand. Customers recognize a company, their status,
their product or service, and their quality through the way they have kept their brand. Even
the best brands fall apart if they are not well maintained and managed. [ CITATION
Why19 \l 1033 ]

If a company is able to maintain their brand well, they will not only be able to generate sales
but will create True Friends customers along the way that prefer no other brand but theirs,
increasing customer commitments. Customers are also likely to talk about a particular brand
in their circles, automatically increasing the company’s advertising reach.

Brand management also is about making promises to customers and making sure to
maintaining it. This helps the company to gain trust of the customers, by which they are
likely to rely on the company for anything. It also increases the goodwill of the customers for
the company. Customer trust will be gained not only in the brand itself but in the whole
company.
Moreover, due to the development of brand loyalty, customers are likely to prefer other
brands of the same company over other companies, because their experience with a particular
brand was outstanding. They are also likely to remember and compare a brand even if they
purchase other ones. This way, a company is likely to stick in their minds and increase brand
equity.

Brand maintenance ensures that your brand never falls behind because you have to keep on
updating it as the needs of the customers change with time. This helps in keeping the
company innovative, by increasing their growth period and avoiding the decline period.
[ CITATION San16 \l 1033 ]

Dos of Brand Maintenance

Creating a brand identity is more than just your logo. A brand identity is visual and emotional
and communicates relevance and trustworthiness. Building an effective brand identity takes
years of hard work and perpetual tweaking, but is necessary for the success of your company.

When it comes to building and maintaining a brand identity, every little detail matters. It’s a
delicate task of following your core values while being brave enough to adapt to changing
market forces. This task is so hard that not even multibillion-dollar companies get it right
every time. [ CITATION Kat19 \l 1033 ]

A strong brand identity can do wonders for a company; it can have people humming your
tune and thinking of your company when they see a certain shape or color. In the tech
industry, Amazon and Apple are obvious winners, as they’ve been able to translate their
brands to mobile. Their brands are infused throughout many verticals and products, which is
not an easy thing to do. In my experience, it takes strict brand guidelines and a strong focus
on keeping your brand elevated no matter what.

Do: Keep things simple and focus on your core values.

Last year, was the year of voice assistants, with Amazon’s Echo
products dominating the market. With Echo, Amazon moved ever-
closer to delivering on its company mission statement to be “Earth's most customer-centric
company.”

Amazon’s relentless focus on customer experience stems beyond its friendly representatives
and lenient return policy. With voice, Amazon is strengthening its brand identity as being the
most customer-centric company on earth by making it easier than ever to buy what you want,
whenever you want.

By focusing on its core value, Amazon not only manages to delight its customers with a low-
friction shopping experience using voice but also fosters trust that Amazon will always put
them first. Companies should identify what makes them unique and allow that to guide their
core values. With these things in place, messaging and brand identity will become apparent.

Do: Follow the data, but don’t underestimate emotion.

When Netflix transitioned from its DVD-by-mail rental service, it followed data but forgot to
take into account one important thing: customer emotion. In 2011, the company announced it
would be splitting its DVD and online streaming services in two; Netflix would stream video
while Qwikster would deliver DVDs by mail. Combined with a price increase a few months
earlier, customer backlash was immediate. The company lost 800,000 subscribers and lost
goodwill because it didn’t take into account customer emotion.

This didn’t stop Netflix from bouncing back and maintaining its dominance in the streaming
video space. The company quickly nixed Qwikster and its CEO publicly apologized.
Although months of planning and rebranding were wasted, it showed that companies that
accept and rectify mistakes can recover their brand identity.
It’s easy to get lost in the numbers as a data-driven business but it’s also important to take a
step back to make sure you don’t forget to ask obvious questions like how customers will
react to change. In my experience, one easy way to gauge user sentiment is through surveys
and beta tests before finalizing updates to a product.[ CITATION Kat18 \l 1033 ]

Do: Be flexible and adapt to trends.

If you’re looking for an example of an established company
successfully adapting to trends, look no further than
McDonald's. The fast-food giant was struggling in the era of
clean and healthy eating, but it managed to stay relevant with a
renewed brand identity. Last year, McDonald's announced that
its most popular menu item, the chicken nugget, would be free
of artificial preservatives, adding to the company’s artificial-
preservative-free pork sausage patties and egg offerings.
[CITATION Bet16 \l 1033 ]

But getting rid of artificial preservatives was just one aspect of

McDonald’s renewed, health-conscious brand identity. The
company announced it would move to using cage-free eggs exclusively by 2025.
Additionally, the company moved to using sandwich buns free of high fructose corn syrup.

By identifying food-specific trends, McDonald's rebranded itself as a fast food chain for new,
health-conscious consumers who still value convenience. This is not to say that McDonald’s
food is actually good for you, but it shows how an established brand adapted to changing
consumer tastes. The brand's strategy seems to be working as its shares surged thanks to
stronger than anticipated sales.

Brands should always be analyzing the market for changing consumer behavior and needs.
Beyond looking at your product, look at the entire consumer flow from start to finish to
identify what pain points need resolving. Look at what competitors are doing and see what
you can do better. In my experience, taking all of these factors into account can lead to a
healthier brand identity that's relevant to its consumers and the current times.
Don’ts of Brand Maintenance
Your brand is the core of your outward-facing identity, in my experience, so it’s important to
understand the implications and circumstances in which it will be used. Your brand is meant
to highlight your company and be consistent with the way you think and speak about your
company. The last thing you want is for your brand to distract your business.

In the world of mobile apps, for example, a common mistake I see is to focus too much on
the branding of a specific product, rather than on the corporate brand. This can lead to brand
confusion, especially when it comes time to cross-promote a suite of apps.

It is important for marketers and brands to learn from the mistakes already made when
planning for success, and here are three lessons to note. [ CITATION Fel19 \l 1033 ]

Don’t: Jump on trends without thinking of the bigger picture.

One of the biggest brand identity failures in recent history came from Pepsi when it uploaded
an ad, which was quickly pulled and never made it to TV, showing Kendall Jenner solving
social issues with soda.

Pepsi saw growing political unrest, including protests led by the Black Lives Matter activist
movement, as a trend, and they jumped without thinking of the bigger picture. The tone-deaf
commercial went viral and spawned an unrelenting torrent of criticism across social media.
Pepsi had to offer a public apology and take the ad back down.
While jumping on trends can be good for your brand identity, it’s important to only
incorporate trends that are relevant to your company and product. If you’re a soda company,
you should probably avoid getting political.

While it may be easy to jump on hot trends, not every trend will be beneficial to your brand
and some may even cause damage. Before leveraging trends, think ahead to how your
messaging can be misconstrued or considered disingenuous. Including trends in your
marketing will always be risky, so make sure it’s worth the reward.

Don’t: Wait too long to rebrand.

MySpace and Yahoo, two internet giants of the 2000s, waited years to rebrand and, as a
result, continue struggling to this day. Yahoo rolled out its exclamation-mark-less logo in
2013 but failed to show how the company was adapting to bigger trends. Instead, the
company kept its services the same and was eventually bought by Verizon in 2017 for $4.48
billion.

Similarly, MySpace revealed its new logo in 2010 but

failed to distinguish how the company would change.
Facebook became the social network to beat and
MySpace languishes as a strange amalgam of an
entertainment and music discovery site.

The failures of Yahoo and MySpace show that brand

identities are more than just a logo. Your brand has to mean something and must differentiate
you from competitors.

Some of the biggest reasons to rebrand are when you’re trying to appeal to a new
demographic, you want to shake an old image, you need to adapt to market trends or you
simply want to grow further than the company’s original mission. Thoroughly consider your
reasons for rebranding and strategize accordingly so that your efforts are effective -- but don't
wait until it's too late.
Don’t: Ignore trends.
Campbell Soup Company may still be popular among Generation X and baby boomers, but
millennials are shunning the 148-year-old company. In the Morning Consult’s Most Loved
Brands survey, boomers and Gen Xers ranked the soup company at No. 2 and No. 5
respectively, while millennials ranked it at No. 27, next to Hershey’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Where McDonald’s identified and adapted to trends, Campbell’s has struggled for relevance.
The company repackaging its soups and tried selling them in microwavable bags, but neither
worked to rejuvenate the brand. Campbell’s acquisition of Bolthouse Farms is a step in the
right direction, but there’s nothing associating Bolthouse’s healthy products to its parent
company. To many millennials, Campbell’s is an outdated brand with an outdated product.

Companies should constantly be analyzing the behavior and needs of its customers.
Customers will literally tell you what their needs are and will help you identify trends that
will assist in shaping your company’s brand strategy. You can select random customers to
participate in surveys or focus groups, and you can also study reviews for your products or
services. These methods also offer opportunities to engage with your users and find out what
they truly care about.

Building and maintaining a strong brand identity is half art form, half experimentation. The
brilliant thing about digital advertising is that you have data available to constantly build, test
and target. You must be diligent in identifying and analyzing trends, have strong values and
be data-driven. Values are important, but it’s equally important that these values are
questioned and tweaked constantly to keep your brand identity relevant and strong.
[ CITATION Kat181 \l 1033 ]

The Dos and Don’ts of Marketing during a Global Crisis

It’s COVID-19’s world right now. Consumers – and marketers – are just living in it. The
virus is having a palpable impact on how consumers shop and consume media and goods, and
marketers need to figure out how to communicate with people in a new way. Or not
communicate, as the case may be.

“The first thing brands have to do is not think about today, but about how they want their
brand to be perceived when the world starts to return to normal,” said Jim Nail, a principal
analyst at Forrester. “The last thing you want to do now is appear tone deaf or opportunistic
or otherwise taking advantage of the situation in any way.”

New rules, new plan

Media plans that made sense two weeks ago might come off as dissonant today. Set-it-and-
forget-it is never a good idea, but especially not now.

Spirit Airlines learned that the hard way when it sent promotional email messages last week
with the cheery subject line “Never a Better Time to fly” – the day after President Trump
announced that the United States was instituting a 30-day ban on travel from Europe. “The
perfect time to treat yourself? Right this minute,” the email chirped.

According to the airline, the messaging was created months ago and sent accidentally. That
was an automated mishap and evidence that the safest thing for some categories to do is to
pull all of their advertising during a quarantine.

But marketers will also have to review their media strategies for a scarier reason: the rapidly
deteriorating economic situation, said Andrew Frank, VP of research and a distinguished
analyst at Gartner. Organizations are going to have to start prioritizing cost cutting alongside
escalating concerns about fulfillment capabilities and employee welfare, Frank said.

Some sectors, however, "might have a case for increasing media spending,” Frank said,
pointing to movie studios planning digital releases or political campaigns forced to abandon
rallies and traditional canvassing tactics. Retailers with ecommerce sites are also keen to let
consumers know that they’re open for business, even though their brick-and-mortar locations
are not. For obvious reasons, clients are quickly reallocating investments toward digital and
ecommerce and away from out-of-home, events and drive-to-store campaigns, said Tim
Lardner, a client strategy partner at digital agency PMG. With fewer channels at a brand’s
disposal, the messaging and creative become that much more important. It’s about striking a
balance between staying top-of-mind without appearing to capitalize off of a global health
crisis.

“Brands can stay relevant by telling stories about what they’re doing to have a positive
impact on their communities, their store associates and their customers,” Lardner said. “Some
examples include why they’re being proactive about store closings in order to contribute to
efforts to ‘flatten the curve,’ showing how the brand is supporting employees and their
families and being a positive voice among a sea of chaos and confusion.”

There are also opportunities to align the message with consumer sentiments and desires for
specific products and product attributes, such as immune health, said Frances Zelazny, CMO
of Signals Analytics. "A crisis is temporary, but displaying the sense that you are in tune with
your customer and providing specific messages can instill a sense of trust and value that will
be long lasting," she said.

Successes in Marketing in the times of Coronavirus

In that vein, it’s less about advertising and more about trying to be helpful, useful and
informative, said Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence at GroupM.

“And that could even lead to new and different consumer behaviors in and of itself,” Wieser
said, pointing to Chipotle’s coronavirus strategy as a prime example. “They’re providing a
distraction with custom entertainment for people who need it.” In addition to announcing free
delivery on orders of $10 or more through a partnership with Uber Eats, Chipotle is hosting a
series of virtual “lunch parties” on Zoom this week featuring interviews with celebrity guests
and the chance to win free food. Up to 3,000 people can join each hangout at a time.

Other brands are also rising to the challenge in ways that go beyond run-of-the-mill corporate
social responsibility. Ford, which temporarily halted all auto production this week, is offering
payment assistance to vehicle buyers and existing owners through its financing arm, Ford
Credit. The car manufacturer is also in talks with the government, along with GM, to
potentially produce medical equipment, including ventilators, at its now-idled auto factories.
Louis Vuitton’s parent company, LVMH, converted three of its perfume and makeup
factories into hand sanitizer production facilities with a plan to produce around 12 tons, all of
which will be donated to French hospitals.

Failures in Marketing in the times of Coronavirus

The Miami New Times reported last week that Norwegian Cruise Line managers were
encouraging their salespeople to share falsehoods about the coronavirus in order to drum up
bookings, including that the disease doesn’t spread in hot weather.

A whistleblower leaked emails in which a manager shared talking points for sales reps to use
if potential customers expressed concern about COVID-19, such as “The only thing you need
to worry about for your cruise is do you have enough sunscreen?” After the story broke, an
executive sent an internal memo with the statement: “One of our own ratted.” That email was
leaked as well. There is no worse situation than that for a brand. [ CITATION All20 \l 1033 ]

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