We, like many marketers, are struggling with how to strike the right tone as we try to stay connected with our customers and clients during this unprecedented time. We’ve seen companies capitalizing on people’s fears and brands that are surprisingly tone deaf, like the retailer who recently sent an email with a “Sun’s Out, Fun’s Out!” subject line encouraging everyone to buy new patio furniture.
As we worry about how the pandemic will impact our families, our friends, our finances and possibly our jobs, we wanted to take a minute to celebrate some moments of giving and give a shout-out to a few companies, and their leadership teams, who seem to be doing the right things.
LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate, is converting its perfume and cosmetics factories in France to produce disinfectant gel which it will donate to health authorities and hospitals.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is waiving its younger renter fee and reducing its minimum age to rent a car from 21 to 18 to help college students get home. (As the parents of college kids, this one is near and dear to our hearts.)
Zoom, which our team couldn’t live without even before the outbreak, is giving free access to its video platform to K-12 schools across the U.S.
Chef José Andrés, already known for his generous community support, is transforming eight of his New York and Washington, D.C. restaurants into community kitchens for people who are struggling during the pandemic.
This list is in no way exhaustive – we are encouraged that so many people, businesses, and community organizations are doing what they can to make life easier for others. As we navigate through this uncertainty, we hope the stories above will give you a little bit of optimism for the future and a reminder of the good in people.
For those of you in the DC area, CHC, a network of DC-based marketers, put together a list of local businesses who, along with their employees, could use your support during this time.
We encourage you to leave a comment below to celebrate other companies that are showing compassion for their communities.
Thank you for celebrating the positive in these scary times.
Be Safe, Be Careful – Virtual hugs to everyone.
Great Email Ceres Talent!
Thank you for sharing your insight.
Terrific examples.
Thanks for sharing, another great example I saw is LogMeIn which is giving a free 3 month Emergency Remote Work Kit to help accelerate efforts to keep employees, students and citizens safe by shifting to remote work. These free Kits include solutions for meetings and video conferencing, webinars and virtual events, IT support and management of remote employee devices and apps.
Thanks for all the info!