Over the pandemic, the global status quo underwent a fundamental change and so did the form of marketing, which is a chapter in itself. The whole world had to react to the pandemic promptly and the media, not excluding TV, worked at the same speed.
It is not the first rodeo that matters
The first version of the famous advertisement was aired during the Super Bowl in 2002 - five months after the terrorist attacks in New York. It is an advertisement produced by Budweiser, one of the largest beer producers in the world. The sixty-second video features the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales. A team of horses are pulling a Budweiser-branded wagon, going through the city that was the target of the attack. The message matches rather flagrantly the very title of the video - “Respect”. The presentation makes a proud, respectful, peaceful, yet patriotic and determined impression. There is no sign of any of the typical Budweiser products all the time. The ad was intended to pay tribute to all victims, survivors, rescuers and the shocked nation.
Video: Budweiser Clydesdales – Respect 9/11 (2002)
The spot was facelifted several times. Most recently, it has been remade at the occasion of the 20-year anniversary of the fist release in 2021. The resurrected ad premiered again as part of the American football holiday - the Super Bowl. And same as two decades ago, it opened a broad discussion on ethics in TV advertising. As fate willed, its re-launch occurred once again at times when the foundations of the social status quo are shaking. This time, the global pandemic of Covid-19 is to blame.
Video: Budweiser Clydesdales – Respect 9/11 (2021)
As it will be clear from the following specific examples, the “Respect” ad includes all that is typical for marketing in times of social crisis. But first, a bit of exposition…
Let us get the skeletons out of the closet right now
After two years of the pandemic, we can say that to some extent, we have accepted it as part of today’s world, which shapes TV ads responding to this topic. Yet the crucial question has not been answered so far - how thin is the line between socially beneficial advertising that might be motivating and inspiring and the effort of big corporations to capitalise on human misfortune?
An international analysis prepared by DVJ Insights[1] shows that ad consumers definitely do not want the ad creators to address them is a manner detached from reality. Over two thirds of respondents stated in the research that advertising strategies should reflect social developments. Participants of the research believe that muting the advertising presentation of brands may be an effective strategy in certain circumstances, sometimes even a preferred approach. On the contrary, they tend to be very critical to blatant excesses. Compared to them, sticking to the pre-crisis strategies is much better. The research shows that established spots and messages keep more or less the same response. What is surprising are consumers’ responses to advertisements reacting directly to the ongoing pandemic.
TV viewers are on average up to 7% more likely to watch “pandemic” advertisements than the ones ignoring the topic. In the online environment, the trend is completely the opposite. Without the need to explain it any further, this is due to the specifics of consumption of both media. An important finding is that viewers of “pandemic” advertisements tend more to assess them based on their appeal and relevance. Again, it is based on the belief that marketing specialists should not treat the pandemic as a skeleton in the closet but provide realistic reflection of its impacts. To put it simply - brands that accept the coronavirus as a topic make a positive impression on viewers in general.
Nevertheless, we all believe that the crisis will soon be over, which is rather challenging for these ads. If relevance is one of their cornerstones, it is logical that they will grow older with time faster than other, more universal commercial presentations. As such, the amount of investments in such advertisements is also an issue to be considered.
Cookbook of “crisis” TV advertising
How to create an appealing and relevant ad in response to the serious social crisis? The above-mentioned Budweiser ad offers a list of basic ingredients. Over the two years with the coronavirus, there have been many illustrative examples both globally and locally.
There is strength in unity
We know well the concept of rallying around the flag from the political science. The concept provides an illustration of a crisis situation when the society simply puts off its internal disagreements, and the mood of defiance against the “common enemy” starts to prevail. Companies do not avoid this call for togetherness and as it turns out, they are doing the right thing. TV ads they produce may work to some extent as their contribution to the social co-responsibility. Such messages make a good impression on consumers and, moreover, they make brands as such quite visible.
Video: Apple – Creativity Goes On (2020)
The US tech giant Apple released a spot featuring a remarkable number of celebrities, artists, athletes and other public personalities within a record time of two weeks from the outbreak of the pandemic in the US. By showing many people’s idols finding ways to spend time during the mandatory quarantines and lockdowns, the spot puts them on the level of ordinary people having the same troubles. Such a message makes an impression as mentioned earlier - the pandemic makes no differences among people. It has a similar impact on our lives whether we are famous across the world or in a little town. To date, the video has over 4 million views on YouTube. And it ushered in a series of other similar ads produced by Apple in the following two years – this one, however, was the first and undoubtedly the most relevant in respect of the timing of its release.
Video: Barilla – The Rooftop Match (2020)
Let us remember other successful advertisements made in a similar vein. The global pasta producer Barilla organised an exhibition training with tennis legend Roger Federer on the roof of his house. The ad lets us know that even a player of his calibre cannot just go to the court as he wishes.
Amazon told a story of a professional prima ballerina who was preparing for her great performance - to find out it had been cancelled the night before due to the valid coronavirus restrictions. These are relatively usual stories, and exactly that is the question. Freedom of all of us is restricted equally during a pandemic.
Video: Amazon – The Show Must Go On (2020)
In the Czech environment, the car manufacturer Škoda played excellently with its name. ‘Škoda’ means shame in Czech. “It would be a shame to give up” is what Škoda’s pandemic spot says in the first seconds. It is primarily intended to motivate and emphasise that the only way to overcome hard times is relying on togetherness. The ad shows typical pandemic scenes - finding distraction in imposed quarantines, keeping in touch with our loved ones through communication platforms allowing for video calls or teleconferences, working from home and other.
Video: Škoda – We will make it together (2020)
Leading local breweries came together under the wings of a specific advertising appeal. Brands such as Gambrinus, Krušovice, Staropramen or Budějovický Budvar have become the voice of pub owners, restaurateurs and in fact the entire service segment that has suffered as a result of the coronavirus restrictions. Together, they were calling for respect, unity and mutual help.
In Czechia, masks became the dominant symbol of the first wave of the pandemic in spring 2019. For example, local brand Kofola used this in its presentation, urging everyone “to cover their mouths with masks”. There have been loads of such messages over the past two years.
Video: Staropramen – We stick together (2020)
A nostalgic journey into the recent past
Probably most of us wished at some point during the pandemic that everything was the same as before the crisis. The hope that everything would return to normal was what kept many of us afloat. Although we are not talking about any distant past, the pandemic has shown us that nostalgia for what used to be plays an important part in our lives. There is no better way to remind people of the past times than using audio vision. After some time, companies started to remember us things we used to love, emphasising that we should not stop looking forward to them. Travelling, culture, meeting friends... all that will be back again and our companies hope in it as much as you do. This model even has its own name - nostalgia marketing.
Video: Google – Get Back to What You Love (2021)
A typical example of an advertisement working with this concept is the one released by Google last year. As is typical for this tech giant, it is applying its classical strategy of building a contrast based on brief entries in its massively used internet search engine. The hierarchy of the messages used should demonstrate a turnover from gloomy to cheerful, from depressing to optimistic mood. At first, a user makes entries such as “coronavirus” or “quarantine” but as the video continues, the search words change to include, for example “wedding”, “family activities” or “happy hours”. The campaign has a fitting name Get Back to What You Love. And this is what it encourages ad viewers to do.
Video: Walgreens – This Is Our Shot (2021)
As part of the pandemic, and predominantly during its second year, an ad format responding to vaccination started to appear. It was not easily accepted by the public as it was a topic that split up society. If we take no account of national vaccination campaigns, there is a number of private international companies that participated in the vocalisation of the topic. It is not surprising that they often include pharmaceutical companies. Let us mention at least the TV campaign This Is Our Shot of the US company Walgreens, which was presented to the public in two stages. During the campaign, the company partnered with the popular singer John Legend. In the first spot, Legend describes what has changed due to the pandemic. In the second spot, which is also an official first release of the singer’s new single, Legend urges everyone not to delay vaccination. The message and its design itself are far from being controversial. But given the social sentiment, it will definitely not take everybody’s fancy.
Video: Czech Railways – Let’s go with us (2020)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXS9rrwyYQQ
There is also a relatively safe approach to working with nostalgia. We can find evidence in the Czech Republic again, in our national railway company České dráhy. The video features the popular Czech artist Ivan Trojan who confides in viewers that he is fed up with the travelling between bedroom and living room and that it is time to go for a trip. Since the impossibility to travel was a very hard challenge to face by many, the message will undoubtedly meet with a warm response from quite a few people.
The seller of formal men’s suits Bandi bucks the trend that has spread out together with the pandemic more than ever. It is the “sportswear” fashion that has experienced unparalleled yet logical boom in recent years. The company invites its customers not to “turn their backs to life”. Subliminally it says that its products will come in useful again. In short, do not give up the hope that your favourite ways of spending your time will come back.
Video: Bandi – Start living again (2020)
Everyday heroes
Any society-wide crisis defines a new idea of real heroes in a way. It would be naive to think that such tribute will be paid to politicians or celebrities. A hero in the crisis is often a typical “working class hero”, i.e. somebody whom we would not consider a hero under normal circumstances at all. Somebody, who has a crucial position in a crisis situation. During the coronavirus pandemic, we started viewing health care workers from this perspective.
Video: Dove – Courage Is Beatiful (2020)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=csIerE0578w
“Courage is beautiful”, says the TV ad of the personal care brand Dove. The mission is accompanied by shots of the daily routine of doctors, nurses and other persons involved in maintaining the health care infrastructure. Given the company’s business activities, the ad is focused on the state of skin of these everyday heroes. It draws attention to the fact that many of them do not remove their protective masks and do not take off their protective clothes for hours and hours. Their commitment is audio visually put in a context in which they have no spare minute to think about themselves. This requires a lot of courage. These heroes deserve our respect and gratitude beyond all question. This is the subliminal message of Dove.
Video: Adidas – Thank You, Healthcare Workers (2020)
Adidas celebrated health care workers in a similar way. In its ad from spring 2021, the company relied on a shocking sincerity. Health care workers talk directly to viewers and express their latest worst experience and worries towards future. Such intensive statements must be rather frustrating for viewers, however, they inspire admiration and gratitude that you do not have to be the one who sacrifices every day to the care for the sick in overcrowded hospitals. In addition, Adidas’s spot commits the company to something specific. At the very end, it contains information that the company started cooperation with Carbon, which will lead to the massive production of 3D print protective shields to be delivered to hospitals.
Video: Google – Thank You Healthcare Workers (2020)
Everyday heroes do not necessarily have to study medicine for years. This was an idea promoted by the campaign of the Czech charity initiative Chráním tebe. Similar to Kofola mentioned above, the initiative put a bet predominantly on protective aids and their all-embracing symbolism. The campaign pointed out to many local small businesses and individuals with no business experience who set down at their sewing machines in the first months of the pandemic and started to produce protective equipment on an unprecedented scale when there was a desperate shortage of these supplies, at least those delivered from the official sources. Figuratively speaking, anyone can be a hero if they behave considerately and limit their needs not to put anyone else at risk. The number of heroes in our neighbourhood can skyrocket.
Video: I protect you - stay at home, wear a mask (2020)
Time to review priorities
What do the above-mentioned examples have in common? If you blink for a second you might endlessly contemplate what you have just seen. Was it an advertisement? If so, for what product? Marketing responding to a social crisis has one significant specific feature - basically absolute sidelining of individual brands’ product identity. Of course, the brand or logo appears somewhere at least once in the advertisement but that is often all. Companies often manage to balance on the already mentioned thin line between a socially responsible comment and tasteless freeloading.
Video: Coca Cola – For the Human Race (2020)
Mission for the entire human race. Videos or photos from overcrowded hospitals, people in personal protective equipment, empty schools, soldiers organising the admission of patients to hospitals and many other scenes. Until the very last moment you do not know that the nearly three-minute spot is an advertisement produced by Coca Cola. During the crisis, the company does not want health care workers to, for example, sip the popular drink on a break. The main thing is to let everyone know that the producer is still here and is willing to help immediately.
The operator of carsharing transport service Uber even thanked to its employees for staying at home and not going anywhere during the pandemic. And mainly for avoiding carsharing, which is all against the company’s business strategy.
Video: Uber – Thank You For Not Riding (2020)
Unusual times bring about unexpected paradoxes. Companies forget about certain elements that traditionally form part of their self-presentation. They are certainly doing it because it is the only right thing to do - only an incorrigible cynic would think about it in such an isolated manner. It is much more beneficial to realise that even behind the world-famous brands there are specific names. And since we are all in it together, these people also want things to turn around as soon as possible.
[1] Source: www.dvj-insights.com
