Allowing your brand to be ‘naked

By Trudi Bishop Director Bee Licensing trudi@beelicensing.com

Allowing your brand to be ‘naked’ in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis

There have been few truly global events that have affected our world so deeply across the economic, social or environmental aspects of nations. Many comparisons have been made of COVID-19 to past pandemics – the Spanish flu, AIDS, SARS, Ebola, Smallpox, etc. As world leaders try to figure a way through this, war metaphors seem to be favoured, including the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutiérrez, quoted here from the G20 COVID-19 summit in March, “We are at war with a virus – and not winning it”, going onto say, “…This war needs a war-time plan to fight it.” US President, Donald Trump has called himself a ‘war-time president’. It feels easy to make the virus the enemy in need of fighting as its easier to get people to comply and rally behind leadership decisions. But it also helps divert attention away from the why’s (why did this happen, why is it happening everywhere) and the how’s (how did this happen, how do we prevent it happening again, how do we ever recover from this). One thing we know and unites the world is that COVID-19 does not discriminate – across race, religion, gender, business or nation. In attempts to answer the why, it is tempting to play the blame game. The wet markets of China have been waved as the cause, but they are only part of the story. It has been shown

that this and many other (more recent) pandemics (and more that are sure to come) have been the result of how we have been mistreating the planet for decades. In our pursuit for cheap food, fuel, clothing, consumer goods, we have ravenously consumed the world’s natural resources. Deforestation, drilling, the destruction of habitats/ecosystems and trading of wildlife has meant

diseases that would normally stay in their animal hosts are looking for new homes as animals lose theirs. Humans are becoming the Airbnb of the virus world. We are all to blame. The effects of this are indeed going to be similar to those of WWI and WWII and it is how governments, businesses and people act during and after that will shape our future world. As we face the pandemic together, we are seeking truth, honesty and courage – from ourselves, brands and our leaders. A crisis can bring out the true nature of people and brands. As Warren Buffet says, “...when the tide goes out, you can see who’s been swimming naked…” As the economic lockdown tide goes out, we are witnessing the ‘naked swimmers’ among the brands. The nakedness has shown the good, bad and in some cases the very ugly. We have seen companies who have asked for bailouts from governments while using tax havens to get richer, forcing staff to come into work despite a government’s advice not to and ‘just-in-time’ supply chains switched off resulting in, at its worst, people starving in countries like Bangladesh. The consumer backlash has been visceral against some of these self-serving brands. Then there are the brands who have generously donated money, food and PPE equipment. These businesses in the ‘business of doing good’ are resonating with consumers. Moving their brand purpose to more of a ‘servant mindset’ is building on their integrity when it’s needed most. Building on a brand’s integrity is vital at this time as we see a values shift in people. Revaluating those things that are truly important to us – family, friends, nature. The pandemic has made us all more ‘human’ and feel more vulnerable. Brands that are resilient during this time will be the ones who have the courage to be ‘naked’ in front of their consumers, showing their vulnerabilities. But also, courage to make economic decisions that hurt in the short term in order to protect their whole value chain – from consumer back to the raw product producer. And being open about this to their entire customer base. Recent research by Futurra has shown that trust in brands has been steadily going down over generations from the ‘boomers’ through to ‘millennials’, with the lowest trust level coming from Gen Z. This crisis and the enforced lockdown can give brands the opportunity to sit back and breathe. Assessing their business to really understand what they’re in the business of doing and how they’re using this for doing good. Concern for the environment and sustainability is moving up consumers’ agendas. With that they are searching for more authentic brands who resonate with their own moral compass. Often this is showing to be (for Gen Z) smaller companies, not large corporations (where trust is low for this generation). Transparency in relation to sustainability and corporate ethics has also become high on the agenda for companies and consumers. The BCorp and FairTrade movement has helped to accelerate this. Consumers are not expecting perfection but are expecting them to acknowledge where improvements for the better of the planet and its people are needed and change accordingly. Brands can turn this crisis into change. Rebuilding trust and becoming more ‘human’ as a brand. Moving from transparency to honesty. Honesty is active not passive. As this decade has been labelled the ‘decade of action’ under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, brands who act in open, honest ways for the greater good across their whole value chain will come out more resilient, with a more loyal fan base in their consumers.