What Should Brands Be Doing Now?

It should be clear to all now that COVID-19 is not just a bad dream. We won’t suddenly wake up and everything will be back to normal. When we come down from this emergency we’re going to land on a different planet. And it’s likely to be a rough landing. Brands need to be thinking about who they were yesterday and who they’ll be tomorrow. How will their markets have changed? How will their relationships to their markets have to adapt? Make no mistake. All brands are on trial now. Billionaire Mark Cuban put it best a couple weeks ago. Paraphrasing him: “What a business does now will define its brand for the next two decades.” He’s absolutely right. Markets are watching what businesses are doing now. They are likely to be severe in their judgement. There are going to be winners and losers. We may see some of the old, legacy brands fold up like Sears. We’re already seeing some new brands, like Zoom, becoming rock stars. But both of those names were already at the extremes of the success/failure scale. Most businesses are in the middle. If they start doing the right things now, they’ll move toward success. If they make a misstep, or do nothing, they’ll be paying for it for years. Read more.