Six months ago North Americans were ordered to stay home.
For many of us, we haven’t seen our colleagues since March 13th. Many of us haven’t even seen some of our friends and family. We haven’t gone to sporting events or concerts, or done so much of what was normal just six months ago.
It’s remarkable how much has changed in so little time — both personally and professionally. My business, for instance, transformed in what felt like an instant.
On Monday, March 16 I approached Sticky Branding’s clients and said, “We’ve been plunged into a recession, and you may experience revenue declines of 30% to 50% this year. We need to get ahead of this now!”
This was the start of Crisis Marketing. In one week, Sarah and I reimagined our purpose, services, and why we exist.
We framed our services around two objectives:
- How to recover the customers and revenue taken by Covid-19.
- How to slingshot your business out of the crisis so that it is stronger than ever.
The pandemic empowered us to think differently about strategic planning and the importance of strategy execution.
We coupled this with a need for speed. The traditional approach to strategic planning — with workshops, offsite retreats, models and whiteboards — wasn’t going to cut it when entire sections of the economy were suddenly shut down.
The situation was (and is) fluid, so we worked on the strategy every single week.
I meet with the leadership teams of each of my clients for a 1-hour strategy huddle every week. We work on the business, analyze and respond to internal and external forces, and emphasize accountability and execution above all else.
It’s simple. In a crisis, strategy AND speed are everything.
The results have been phenomenal. I described several of our clients’ outcomes in my ebook, Crisis Marketing. Each client worked to act fast, adapt faster and thrive.
It hasn’t all been easy, but I am so proud of the accomplishments Sticky Branding’s clients have achieved in the first six months of the pandemic. The work they’ve done has helped them avoid layoffs, capture market share, launch new services, and grow their brands.
As we enter the fall, we are facing a new set of unknowns and challenges. There are signs globally of a second wave with the possibility of new lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders.
Fortunately, we aren’t operating blindly anymore. You do have data and experience from the first six months. Knowing what you know today, what would you do differently if there is a second wave?
There is no “new normal.” Nothing about this year can be framed as normal. But you can determine how you will move forward. The actions and steps you take today will shape your business for months, if not years to come.
Crisis Marketing
Sticky Branding works with you to recover the customers and revenue taken by Covid-19, and to develop the strategy to come out of the crisis stronger than ever. If you’re interested, call me (Jeremy Miller) directly at 416.479.4403, or check out our Crisis Marketing services.
