Brands and the crisis

It is often in difficult times that you can recognize your friends. And this is also true for brands. Because it is also during crisis that brands are judged for what they really are. In troubled periods, a brand that has previously taken the time to define itself well, to establish a solid and coherent platform guiding its discourse and its commitments, has a better chance of being supported by its employees, its investors and its customers.

Carrying a brand vision, a view of the world

A brand is the bearer of a vision. Not just a corporate vision that consists of setting commercial objectives, but a brand vision, i.e. a view of the world and an ideal that goes beyond simple financial ambitions (admittedly legitimate), the conquest of markets or one’s own success.
Not developing a brand vision means depriving oneself of a relational lever and an essential link with audiences who expect brands to contribute to the improvement of our lives as well as to support societal causes that are deemed essential to the future of our society.
And in times of crisis, without this vision and without this ideal, the company risks acting erratically, guided only by urgency or opportunism. It will then lose its grip and will not be able to clearly assert a personality that would distinguish it and make it more endearing.

Values

As with all of us, values guide a brand’s behaviour. Any crisis is a challenge in that it requires companies to remain true to their values, to express them concretely through their actions and behaviour. This is why it’s essential for a brand to define its values in such a way that it can make them tangible in all times. 
Values are not words that the brand is content to display like banners to give itself an image, but commitments that it makes to itself, its employees and its public. These values are essential for adherence, and it is precisely the feeling of adherence that will strengthen the brand when it has to face difficulties.
In light of coronavirus, for example, and the current situation, brands that have said that innovation is one of their primary values should also be able to prove it in this context by acting in an innovative way… As a brand value, innovation is first and foremost a state of mind, the ability to see things differently and to provide new answers, and not just to propose a product evolution. Not an easy task… And this shows how defining the values (and therefore the culture) of a brand requires special attention and in-depth reflection.

Engagement

Commitment is putting the vision and values of the brand into action. It is proving that words mean something, that they truly reflect the spirit of the brand. And it’s engagement that will build support and nurture the relationship throughout its existence.
In times of crisis, brands that make a concrete commitment, in line with their values, their ideal and their raison d’être, strengthen loyalty and can, more than others, count on the support of their staff and the majority of their audiences. They then have the best chance not only of overcoming the crisis, but also of strengthening the ties they have with all their stakeholders.
Brands that made a commitment in good times and remain true to their core values in the face of the crisis will undoubtedly be the big winners.

Coronavirus: a revealer of purpose

Every brand today must be aware of its purpose. In other words, what is drives its passion, its vocation and its business skills, but also, and above all, what it intends to bring to the world.
Thus, the crisis linked to the coronavirus that we are facing and whose long-term repercussions will affect us all, is also an opportunity for brands to assess and to express through their attitudes and reactions what makes them useful to the world. It is an opportunity for brands to reinforce their legitimacy and affirm their purpose through action.
Once the difficulties have passed, brands whose commitment was merely an ad hoc reaction, an opportunity to artificially polish their image will have a crucial choice to make:
either take advantage of this opportunity to question themselves, redefine their platform, cultivate their inner drive and give more meaning to their activity;
or become once again brands with little meaning, mere images without a soul that the public consumes one day and forgets the next!