Necessity: Drives us, drives our brands

How do we refrain from focussing too much on the here and now during times of crisis? For me, it’s about turning off the emotional monster that saw me nick Panadol from Costco. It seemed 100% right at the time but sure feeling sheepish now.  

In a crisis, getting to safety is arguably the easy part. It’s right in front of you, it’s supported by stakeholders and it’s required by your customers. The motivation is easy to find. But what happens when we realise our competitors have recovered more quickly and are already adjusting their long-term strategies for a changed future? 

Looking up from the trenches

In 1940, France was knocked out of the war, and 340,000 British troops had to scramble to escape over the beaches at Dunkirk. The Germans had absolute control of all of Europe. It seemed impossible that Britain could survive. With almost no hope left, the nation turned to Winston Churchill. 

This was when he made his rousing, “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,” speech. Churchill also advised during this time, “If you are going through hell, it’s better to keep going.”

The reason I love this quote so much is not necessarily because of what Churchill said, but because of what he didn't say. The sentence fails to mention any destination or even a rough description as to where people are headed after walking through Hades. 

The message spoke to the need to look beyond immediate action, yet all the while taking it; it spoke to the permanence of change; it spoke to the history of his country; and, most importantly, it spoke to the heart of his people. So, one question that comes up during a time like this is, who is your Winston? In this day and age, it should be you because, even though you're simply stepping one foot in front of the other at the moment, you need to look up at the long road ahead.

Has your thinking changed?

In times of crisis our brain chemistry changes. Our amygdala which controls our emotions immediately shuts down the pathway to our prefrontal cortex, which controls reason. Our ability to make complex decisions and hold multiple viewpoints disappears. Our attention narrows, we find ourselves trapped in the right now and we lose sight of the future impacts of our actions. 

This is how we feel at the moment, as globally the perceived importance of the ‘here and now’ far outweighs a long-term outlook. Politicians walk the same tightrope we must as business owners, directors, marketers. Yet, our focus must be two-fold. We need to address the here and now, but we must also build the what comes next.

Maintaining orientation during mania

The first step is to address the immediate needs of your consumers. This week has seen most organisations that are still operating focus on operating more safely. Car washes moving from removing grime to doing hospital grade germ cleaning; Bunnings moving from managing line-ups for the Saturday sizzle to managing number of customers in-store; doorstep delivery moving from doorsteps to the end of the drive; and Zoos and artists moving from in-person experiences to streaming free content online. While I love me some penguins roaming free and some home delivery safely delivered at a distance, this is only the first job to be done. 

What are you gonna do if you can’t make hand sanitiser?

You must adjust your future plans for a changed future. How do you calm yourself and your organisation to look beyond the crisis to see what comes next? Despite Scomo and the Donald saying she’ll be right that will not be the reality. If you look to China for hope about how they have ‘flattened the curve’ you should also look at how they have flattened economic output. A return to normal could happen but you are better off planning for change while hoping for none.  

What we have been focusing on at The Contenders is assisting our clients to understand: What does this all mean beyond the first response? How do we adjust our market orientation while maintaining our business strategy? We believe there are three things to focus on, Rewrite, Reframe and Redirect: rewrite your objectives, reframe your brand (and its products and services); and redirect the organisation's resources.

The primary driving force for anything new is a need. This ‘new’ is going to look different for almost every organisation. Trick is to lift your head up enough from the here and now to figure what your ‘new’ is, use it to adjust your strategy, and guide you to take Churchill’s advice and keep going.

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Be better to each other.