The Marketer’s Guide for Turning National Pain into Profit
How to use a national tragedy, serious illness, and our broken society to hit your marketing KPIs.
As an American, my news is a never-ending stream of national tragedies. And as a marketer who doesn’t know the meaning of “Work/Life Balance”, I don’t have time to pause and reflect in between horrifying, shocking events that would make any just society ashamed of itself.
That’s why in today’s article, I’m going to answer the question, “Isn’t there a way to both live in our dystopian hellscape AND qualify for my quarterly performance bonus?”
Thanks for our ethical, not-at-all vampiric friends on the Forbes Communications Council (membership fee-based), we’re able to know exactly how a normal personal with very normal feeligns and priorities should react.
You know it’s credible because they paid to be on the council!
We’re going to review this brilliant piece, “Eight Factors To [sic] Consider To [sic] Avoid Turning A [sic] Local Or [sic] National Tragedy Into A [sic] PR Disaster”. (Journalism may not be dead, but AP-style compliance sure seems to be.)
Let’s start off with this gem of a lede:
“Communication in the 21st century is rapid, and because of that, the news makes it way around the globe in a matter of seconds.”
Special thanks to the first-year communications major intern for writing such a profound sentence. “Communication is fast, and because of that, communication is fast.”
“Businesses may often choose to utilize a news story and incorporate it into their brand’s storytelling, but there are also times when tragedy strikes…”
I, too, spend the least amount of time on my intros.
Let’s dive into the actual factors the reputable “Forbes Communications Council” offers to help people like you and me somehow maintain productivity while society collapses. Now, I know this advice is complex, multi-faceted, and not-at-all surface level bullsh*t.
Factor: Your Existing Relationship With The Community
“If a company is active in a community that has been affected by tragedy, then it makes sense for them to respond and show their support. . . . Sometimes pausing your social posts, blogs or newsletters for the day is the best way to pay respects.”
Dumb.Marketing says: sad news bad 🙁People no buy sad days
[Marketing spend statistic: How much we spend on marketing “consultants” while we spend so little on housing]
Factor: Alignment With Brand Strategy
“Not to sound callous, but you have to make sure responding is in line with your brand strategy. If you're a community business and the event is local, you should respond. If the event affects your industry even tangentially, respond. But don't just toss out platitudes.”
Dumb.Marketing says: Tossing out platitudes as a last-minute contribution to an international media outlet is apparently fine. As is just throwing some pink on the damned thing and pushing the client’s post live.
Factor: Your Audience’s Expectations
“Tragedies can elicit powerful emotions, and communications teams often feel a sense of urgency to react, especially when the tragedy is trending. It’s critical to first determine your “why” before weighing in and to do so well in advance. Prepare now by answering these questions: When does our audience expect us to respond? Why? How can our responses genuinely reflect our community’s values?”
Dumb.Marketing says: how does a mass shooting at a shopping mall affect our mission “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – oe person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time”? Based on our data, it seems at least 61% of the addressable market segment thinks we should at least “probably” or “definitely” make a statement that condemns the shooting. (I am good at data and needed a graph to tell me this.)
While we’re at it, here are some fun facts:
Our industry has no problems, everything is very fine and normal and aligned with the realities of human beings.
Influencer Post of the Week: Struggling with Mental Health After Surviving Gun Violence? Clear Up Your Pores & Your Heart with Biore <3 <3 <3
Is this real? Very likely, yes. Kudos for the team at Biore for finding a clever solution to the whole “commenting on a tragedy” thing: make an influencer do it for you!*
It’s not your brand making controversial, tacky claims; it’s the influencer!
No, no, no, you’re not profiting from horrifying tragedy; it’s the influencer!
Glad to see we’re now openly treating them with the same respect we show commercial actors.
*Sorry for linking to the NY Post, I know it's a rag.
