Hey, how you doing? Well, “no one told me life was gonna be this way”.
The whole coronavirus situation right now is a mess. I can hardly find anything “new” on news coverage of all major newspapers at the moment. I know. It changed everything. We no longer live as we used to. We no longer work as we used to. We no longer go to supermarkets as we used to. We no longer stand in a long queue in front of Walkabout before we got drunk and shook the stress away, as we used to. Oh, speaking of it, can I order some glasses of Prosecco, Vodka lemonade, double, please? This COVID-19 tires me out. I want to get out of it. Sometimes, I wish everything they are talking about C word was just an A-B conversation, the rest of the world and the virus, so I can C my way out? Wait, isn’t it I am living in this world? We have to face it anyway.
There is no doubt about it, what we are going through is unprecedented. What we are facing is a global public health crisis which has affected many aspects of our daily life. It made me think about what we might need in this situation.
First things first, share accurate and reliable information. In times of crisis, what we need more than ever is the credibility of information. It’s not any more the game of celebrity endorsement where people look for credibility from some kinds of celebrities and talk about or buy products. We need accurate and reliable information that sticks to scientific facts and figures. It is the information that keeps people on the right track, keep them calm and carry on with a conscious mind and comprehensive knowledge of the whole situation. It is the information that helps to mitigate the uncertainty. Don’t let the misinformation spread faster than the virus, just please remember we’re living in a world where we are already being buried with fake news and stuff every day.
How about having a sense of community? I just felt uncomfortable whenever I saw the news about racism on news coverage. Coronavirus is not an excuse to be racist. The virus doesn’t discriminate. It is not perfect timing, and never perfect timing to blame anything for being racist. As an Asian student, I found myself lucky not having to experience this. We are living in a same world, we are put in a same situation at the moment and we need to stick together. We should and must practice social distancing. This living apart together is helping millions of people. Help minimize the risks. Help #flattenthecurve. Even if you are a young, healthy, twenty-something student and have a great immune system, you should stay at home. It’s never about you, it’s about the risks for the elderly or those who have weaker physical condition. Btw, by a sense of community I mean we can help each other by not panic buying toilet rolls which have been out of stock in Morrison’s for more than a week. S.O.S! I have only 5 rolls left at home.
It is even not only critical time for us but also for companies and brands. They should be well aware of the current situation. Communications is more important than ever both externally and internally. “Sometimes the best communication is not communication at all”. However, it doesn’t mean that you do nothing with your communications strategy, you disappear then come back when the storm has passed. The storm will pass but what you chose to do stays. One of my friends mentioned that: “I do feel like it is important for companies to take a stand right now because it will have nothing to do with sales generation but actually doing proper CSR which will benefit them.” I couldn’t agree more. It’s not the right time for an opportunistic marketing campaign. You don’t take advantage of a health scare. You can still spread brand’s images or increase brand’s awareness, but remember to communicate wisely and sensitively. Coca-Cola Vietnam suspends advertising to donate marketing funds, about 7 billion VND to Vietnam Red Cross Society to support COVID-19 relief and response. Another example is Lush, which recently invited the UK public to wash their hands in-store for free. Yes, wash our hands and give a hand.
I want to get back to normal life as soon as possible. For me, I prefer working in office, having physical connection, a sense of physical activities to working through a screen. My internship is on hold. Our social lives are on hold. Our daily routines change. This is not normal. I remember the opening scene of “Justice League” where Superman is dead, everybody loses their hope and the world is a scene of utter chaos. “Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed”. Do we need a Superman in real life? No, we don’t. We need to go through this together.
