This document provides guidance for brands on engaging with customers during times of crisis. It discusses identifying stakeholders and their needs, developing an empathetic communication strategy, and maintaining marketing efforts with appropriate messaging. Examples are given of how brands are helping customers, employees and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic through digital outreach, donations, and modified operations. Personal branding tips are also covered, such as finding a niche, developing an identity and using social media for engagement. Trends in India related to the pandemic, such as increased mobile usage and shifts in spending, are reviewed. The key takeaways emphasize connecting with audiences, tapping trends, and utilizing trends to amplify messaging.

1. ENGAGE WITH
CUSTOMERS & USERS
DURING THE TIME OF
CRISIS
Vikas Chawla & David Appasamy
WHAT SHOULD BRANDS DO TO

2. WHAT YOU CAN
EXPECT FROM
TODAY'S
SESSION
TOPICS WE WILL COVER
THE DOS AND DON'TS OF ENGAGING WITH
CUSTOMERS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
GET INSPIRED BY WHAT BRANDS ACROSS
THE GLOBE ARE DOING
THE INDIAN CONSUMER - A REALITY CHECK
PERSONAL BRANDING - HOW DO YOU GET
STARTED?

3. As the Covid-19 Coronavirus spreads rapidly, brands are
finding it even more challenging to stay connected with their
consumers, vendors and users.
So, how can companies & businesses find ways to engage
users on digital channels?
HOW: TO MAINTAIN
MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS
WHAT PROBLEM DO YOU WANT TO SOLVE?

4. "WHEN IN QUARANTINE"
Online had a different relevance and meaning a long time ago.
THEN NOW

5. IDENTIFYING THE STAKEHOLDERS FOR COMMUNICATION
AUDIENCE - WHAT ARE THEY FEELING?
PRODUCT - HOW CAN MY PRODUCT HELP?
CONNECTING AUDIENCE TO PRODUCT
Getting to know our market, our customers, their needs and
problems, how they solve them today. Positioning why our
solution is superior, and how it contrasts to others

6. READING THE ROOM - COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
The Covid crisis demands that we rapidly expand our empathy:
- we feel what our customers are feeling,
- what our customers’ sources of influence (press, media,
journalists, social influencers, podcasters, YouTubers, talking
heads on webinars) are feeling,
- what everyone is sharing in,
and we respond accordingly.

7. DON’T STOP MARKETING
• Boosts financial performance following a
recession
• Prevents elimination from consumers mind -
avoiding future crisis
• If you’re selling, sell the benefits that appeal to
the moment
THE DOS AND DON'TS OF ENGAGING WITH CUSTOMERS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
Food Tech Brands: Assure customers of sanitation

8. DO AUDIT YOUR MARKETING
THE DOS AND DON'TS OF ENGAGING WITH CUSTOMERS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
• You might have just launched some
timely, empathetic content that nails the
moment… but left up your unfortunate,
tone-deaf “subscribe now!” popup.
Double-check your entire marketing
experience for messaging that doesn’t
make sense right now.
Nike: Social Media addressing Covid-19
Pandemic but website has old pop-up

9. DO SHOW HOW YOU’RE HELPING
• When you sell, you’re giving back and making
life better and easier for others
• It’s also not the right time to directly promote
travel, in-person events, or gathering places of
any kind. Indirectly build brand affinity and
goodwill for even those businesses
THE DOS AND DON'TS OF ENGAGING WITH CUSTOMERS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
Tripoto: PSAs from travel aggregator

10. DON’T CREATE ONLY CRISIS-RELATED CONTENT
• It’s OK to write about, tweet about, talk about
other things. When we socialize at funerals, we
don’t exclusively talk about the deceased, but
what we do talk about is informed content
with context
THE DOS AND DON'TS OF ENGAGING WITH CUSTOMERS DURING TIMES OF CRISIS
LinkedIn: Opens up 16 of its learning courses for free
online

11. BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
HERE'S A LOOK AT WHAT BRANDS ARE
DOING ACROSS THE GLOBE
INSPIRATION & LEARNINGS

12. • SMBs with 1-200 employees are driving the increase in
posting pages
• Members are sharing more posts on #mentalhealth as
they balance the need to stay at home for safety reasons
with the impact of being isolated
• 44% of respondents report spending more time on social
media because of the coronavirus - making it an effective
channel
INSIGHTS FROM LINKEDIN
A STEADY INCREASE IN ENGAGEMENT ACROSS
DIGITAL CHANNELS

13. FASTEST GROWING TRENDS
We also see #webinar as a fast-growing trending hashtag for companies, reflecting the need for brands to move to
virtual events

14. MEANINGFUL ACTION TO
ENGAGE
BRANDS & INFLUENCERS ARE TAKING UP
• MANAGING COMPASSIONATELY THROUGH CHANGE
• LEADING WITH TRUST
• ADAPTING TO DRIVE BUSINESS CONTINUITY
HOW?

15. MANAGING COMPASSIONATELY THROUGH CHANGE
Facebook leveraged an employee
who has WFH for 2+ years to share
tips on working remotely with kids.

16. LEADING WITH TRUST - DIGITAL

17. LEADING WITH TRUST - COMING TOGETHER
DocuSign and Cisco both share
the financial contributions their
brands have made to assist
people affected by COVID-19.
Microsoft’s CEO shares the
commitment to support the world
and showcase what
Microsoft is doing to support.

18. LEADING WITH TRUST - COMING TOGETHER

19. LEADING WITH TRUST - AUTO INDUSTRY
Toyota & Hyundai: Offers buyer protection to car buyers who may lose jobs/ cannot pay in the next 6 months

20. LEADING WITH TRUST - AUTO INDUSTRY
Ford: Offers credit support to customers impacted by COVID-19

21. LEADING WITH TRUST - TECH INTEGRATIONS
Snapchat: Partners with WHO to provide users with credible
information & rolls out “Here for You” tool to help users
manage coronavirus anxiety
World Health Organisation & GOI: Whatsapp
helpdesk/chatbot to answer COVID19 related
queries

22. LEADING WITH TRUST - SAME PASSION COLLABORATIONS
Partnering with brands that share the
same audiences. ETMoney wants to be the
investment partner in these tough times
of COVID-19 so they partner with experts
from Mirae Asset and
Edelweiss.

23. LEADING WITH TRUST - ASSURING SANITATION
Urban Ladder: Assuring customers of safe furniture
installation by providing masks to delivery boys for
the visit and ensuring hygiene checks
F&B Brands: Turn to social media and newspaper ads
to assure customers of hygiene measures

24. LEADING WITH TRUST - MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
T Series & Govt of Maharashtra: Unites Bollywood Influencers
in a PSA Video appealing the country on behalf of the
government, in the wake of partial lockdown in Mumbai
addressing:
• Hand Sanitation
• Staying at home
• Boosting health & immunity
• Taking care of the elderly
• Symptoms to be wary of

25. LEADING WITH TRUST - TRAVEL
Vienna Travel offers a virtual tour of museums while Las Vegas Tourism lets travelers know
that they are thinking of their health

26. ADAPTING TO DRIVE BUSINESS CONTINUITY - BANKING
Financial Support during the
Covid-19 Pandemic has been
highlighted by many Banks.

27. ADAPTING TO DRIVE BUSINESS CONTINUITY -
HEALTHCARE
CEO of Royal Philips shows executive leadership by
demonstrating an authentic voice around and
showing a sense of connectedness in helping the
medical community.

28. ADAPTING TO DRIVE BUSINESS CONTINUITY - INNOVATION
Australian paper prints extra pages to help with toilet paper shortage

29. ADAPTING TO DRIVE BUSINESS CONTINUITY - INNOVATION
Restaurants roll out a new investment opportunity: ‘Dining bonds’
With Dining bonds, the would-be diner puts money in the
hands of local restaurants right now and receives a gift card
that they can use for discounted food & drinks at those
restaurants once the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.
The idea is to start planning ahead in terms of what the action
plan is for the coming months.

30. BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS
PERSONAL BRANDING
INSPIRATION & LEARNINGS

31. PERSONAL BRANDING - CAN I DO IT?
Nearly anyone willing to put in the time, effort, and build their
niche can become a ‘thought leader’ who gets all of the traffic
(and customers) in their space.
It won’t happen overnight, of course.but how do you get
started?
Let's take the example of Karthik Srinivasan, Ace Celebrity &
Fashion Photographer in Chennai, India.

32. GETTING STARTED
Pick something specific that you can do better than 90% of the
world.
You can probably do a lot of good things, but that doesn’t mean
you’re an expert in every single one of them.
The only way to create a personal brand is by becoming the go-to,
recognized authority on a specific topic.
Karthik Srinivasan has owned the space of Photography - while
services include videography - he amplifies his content to do with
photography - whether it's the tools he uses, or a showcase of his
recent work.
Step #1 - Start by finding your brand niche and amplifying it

33. BRINGING OUT THE SOUL OF YOUR BRAND
It’s about your point of view or ‘tone,’ which will help differentiate you
from anyone else who talks about those same topics.
Karthik Srinivasan is associated with fashion, celebrities with various
testimonial pictures to prove it!
According to one academic study, 94% of the time someone’s first
impression is based on design, and it only takes 50 milliseconds for that
split-second decision to get made.
A massive part of creating a personal brand is looking the part in the first
place.
Step #2 - Inject personality into your personal brand
Step #3 - Create a brand identity

34. HOW DO I DO IT?
There’s a TON of noise out there. You’ve probably already heard
all the statistics. Like the one that says there are two million blog
posts are published daily.
And that’s from years ago… so how many do you think are there
today? Possibly even three or four million?
Not only does your stuff need to be good, but it needs to be
going out frequently, too (like several times a week at least).
He updates his website with his latest shoots and creative work
to showcase his ability.
Step #4 - Create and redesign your own personal site

35. HOW DO I KEEP USERS UPDATED?
Social Media needs to be frequently updated with
content that best showcases your personal brand.
Few pointers to help create content include:
What is your brand all about?
The first few steps answer this
Who is using your brand?
Testimonial content
How, When & Where is your brand used?
Usecases
Step #4 - Carve out a social strategy to increase engagement

36. Let's take into account what the reality of the
Indian consumer is
THE INDIAN CONSUMER

37. COVID-19 CASES IN INDIA HAVE INCREASE BY 2.5X OVER THE LAST WEEK,
WITH THE MAJORITY OF CASES CONCENTRATED IN 8 STATES

38. 25% OF TOTAL WORKFORCE IN INDIA ARE CASUAL LABOR WITH
POTENTIAL HIGH EXPOSURE TO ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF COVID-19

39. AWARENESS & SOCIAL DISTANCING HAS COINCIDED WITH
INCREASED MOBILE USAGE ACROSS THE APAC REGION

40. IN INDIA, WE KNOW THEY ARE ON THEIR PHONES....

41. MAPPING OUT INDIA'S COVID JOURNEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

42. With limited activity out of home, people are reading, contributing & influencing on social media.
The total volume of COVID related conversations reached 22.3 mn on March 24 in India.
Social media conversations indicate that India perhaps leapfrogged through the stages, reacting,
and then was quick to adapt to the situation.
MAPPING OUT INDIA'S COVID JOURNEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

43. WHAT ARE THEY DOING ONLINE?

44. AND WHERE ARE THEY ?

45. AND... WHAT ARE THEY FEELING?

46. Digital India - A Reality Check
KEY TRENDS OBSERVED

47. WHAT'S
TRENDING?

48. WHAT CAN WE
EXPECT?
F&B M&E Essentials First Aid Savings
150
100
50
0
AS PER CONSUMER SENTIMENT
RESEARCH SURVEY
BY BCG

49. ESSENTIALS, SAVINGS, HEALTH & WELLNESS, AT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
& EDUCATION ARE MOST LIKELY TO WITNESS AN INCREASE

50. TRAVEL, OUTDOOR LEISURE ACTIVITIES & DISCRETIONARY SPENDING
LIKELY TO BE HARDEST HIT BY A PLANNED REDUCTION IN SPENDS

51. CLEAR SHIFT TOWARDS ONLINE SPENDING, EVEN FOR TRADITIONALLY
OFFLINE CATEGORIES

52. KEY
TAKEAWAYS
CONNECTING WITH AUDIENCE IS ESSENTIAL
• Find meaningful ways to connect the audience to your product
• Don't stop marketing, and always audit your marketing for
continuity of the message
• Speak with empathy but plan ahead for how to innovate post
lockdown and recession
TAP ONTO TRENDS
• Use digital to take action & engage through
- Managing compassionately through change
- Leading with trust
- Adapting to drive business continuously
• Engage with your customer with what he is actually speaking
about
• Personal Branding requires strong positioning and brand
identity with consistent amplification
UTILIZE TRENDS TO
AMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGE

53. KEY
TAKEAWAYS
COVID-19 IN INDIA IS ON THE RISE
• Potential high exposure to economical impact lies in the
unorganized sector of casual labour
• Overall also seen a rise in the usage of mobile devices and digital
channels
INCREASED MOBILE USAGE
• High trend in news, social networking and gaming
• Growth in App Usage is higher than offline calling etc
• Downward trend in visits to public spaces - not likely to rise soon
• Upward trend seen in image/video editors, travel/booking apps
ECONOMIC TRENDS
• Spends on Essential, Savings, Health & Wellness, At Home Media
& Entertainment are likely to increase
• Spends on Travel and Outdoor Leisure likely to decrease
CLEAR SHIFT TO ONLINE
SPENDING, EVEN FOR
TRADITIONALLY OFFLINE
CATEGORIES

54. THANK YOU