Coronavirus Champions: Brands That Deserve a Shout Out

In our industry weamp8217ve seen brands put business and product promotion aside and instead shift to using their marketing muscle to help lift up communities and salute first respondersamp160 There have been some truly heartwarming efforts by brands and I wanted to recognize a few of them that really stood out to meamp160 I sincerely hope the efforts I am sharing will lift some hearts as they have lifted mineOne of the earliest efforts by a brand to offer support during these difficult times came from Zoom CEO Eric Yuanamp160 He announced on March 13 that Zoom would be giving K12 schools his video conferencing tools for freeamp160 His offer applied to schools in the US Japanamp160and ItalyCocaCola also stepped upamp160 The beverage marketer is running an ad on its Times Square billboard that features its brand name amp8212 normally written in tightly connected Spencerian script amp8212 with space between each letteramp160 amp8220Staying apart is the best way to stay connectedamp8221 appears below the separated lettersamp160 Full disclosure Iamp8217m a Diet Coke addict so itamp8217s good to know I can continue downing those silvery cans and feel good that one of my favorite brands is sending positive messages to the worldMcDonaldamp8217s also has been running ads urging social distancing as has Nike which released a new ad that focuses on staying apartamp160 The ad says amp8220If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world now is your chanceamp160 Play inside play for the worldamp8221Starbucks closed its US locations that did not have drivethru service for 30 days and promised employees theyamp8217d receive their full payamp160 In addition the company is providing free beverages for first responders at all drivethru locationsLexus replaced all of its sales advertising in the US in favor of a campaign that reinforced that the company is in the amp8220people businessamp8221 not the car businessamp160 Lisa Matterazzo Lexus vice president of marketing told Marketing Daily amp8220Our humancentered philosophy guides every decision we makeamp160 In looking for a way forward during difficult times this guiding principle is more relevant than everamp160 We believe in taking care of people first and the rest will followquotAnd another luxury automaker Porsche used digital billboards to thank everyone who is doing their part to help out in their communitiesamp160 The copy on digital billboards throughout Atlanta read amp8220A heartfelt thankyou to everyone in our communities actively helping othersamp8221Gap literally shut down its clothingmaking operations at facilities around the world so that those plants could instead produce muchneeded masks and scrubs for healthcare workersamp160 Gap also made the decision to temporarily close its company owned and operated stores across North America including Old Navy Athleta Banana Republic Gap Janie and Jack and Intermix brands effective March 19AnheuserBusch amp8212 creator of Budweiser Bud Light Michelob Ultraamp160and several other wellknown beer brands amp8212 has retooled its manufacturing facilities and is set to produce more than 1 million bottles of hand sanitizer that the company will donate to hospitals and frontline medical personnel throughout the worldamp160 AnheuserBusch joins other alcohol makers including Pernod Ricard the maker of Jameson Whiskey and Absolut Vodka which announced last week that it is putting facilities in Arkansas West Virginia Kentuckyamp160and Texas to work producing hand sanitizerItamp8217s important to remember that the brands giving back arenamp8217t just those with global ad budgets Zoos across the country are live streaming critters to help families keep their housebound children entertained with something other than social media and online videos Our householdamp8217s personal favorite baby hippo Fiona pictured at top at the Cincinnati ZooItamp8217s times like these that show the good in corporate Americaamp160 When the chips are down companies can really focus on whatamp8217s important and thatamp8217s peopleamp160 Itamp8217s the people who buy their product and the people who make those products that matter more than anything else I thought it was important to take a little time to acknowledge these efforts and simply say thank you amp8212 and bravoDon39t stop nowamp160 Read more fromamp160Outfront Media InSitesamp160on outofhome and trends and strategiesClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsamp160amp160The opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views ofamp160MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160amp160amp160

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Coronavirus Champions: Brands That Deserve a Shout Out

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Rob McGovern

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