On Monday 13 April, the Pat onBrands Dialogues hosted Xolisa Dyeshana, Chief Creative Officer at Joe Public to share insights on the role of creativity during the lockdown.
It is without a doubt the lockdown has presented huge challenges for brands from a communications point of view given the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic. Brands have to answer pertinent questions around who do they become during this time. “One of the biggest tragedies for brands during the lockdown will be losing sight of who they are”, Xolisa Dyeshana. He further added that brands need to remind themselves that they still have a place in the world. They need to stay in their lane, a soap brand can speak about hygiene, for example.
Brands need to be sensitive
Xolisa cautioned brands to be sensitive to the situation irrespective of whatever they choose to do. This is the time for brands to put people first. and the brands that are going to do that are going to benefit hugely from the positive sentiment later. Understanding what people are going through is very important and whatever piece of communication the brands will have a purpose.
Don’t push out communications for the sake of it.
Most brands feel the need to say something around the current situation. However, not every brand has to say something. To be honest a lot has been said already, however, there is an opportunity for an unorthodox way of thinking and for brands to come up with unforgettable pieces of communication that resonate well with the audience. For example, a brand Chicken Licken did not focus on putting out on an empathic type of messaging like how people are missing Chicken Licken wings, they focused on using humour watch it below. In a nutshell, if a brand is not going to say anything different, it rather say nothing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-rx3O5DRxv/
TikTok TikTok
Whilst we are still battling with flattening the curve of the spread of the coronavirus, the user curve of TikTok is on an upward trajectory. The Guardian dubbed TikTok as the social media sensation of the lockdown and this year it surpassed Facebook and WhatsApp as the world’s most downloaded non-gaming app. The reason I am highlighting this is that of all the social media platforms, the content TikTok is highly creative and fun. If brands want to showcase their fun side this is the platform that they should be playing on.
Creativity goes on
To conclude, although we may be on lockdown and our movements are restricted, creativity goes on. Apple has reminded us of this in this beautiful montage footage.
https://youtu.be/Kl1NW7h7lrY