BRAND REACTIONS TO COVID-19

With the current Covid-19 pandemic effecting every part of our lives, we are really seeing the brands who will do that something extra to help us in this difficult time, or just even little alterations to their site to fit the current world, it shows which brands are on top business and consumer reach. It crazy to me how quickly brands can change features, advertising and even release products to keep up with the times.

I've been collecting posts, adverts and details I have noticed from brands as a reaction to coronavirus, one of my favourites comes from one of my favourite brands, Oatly. I saw this first as a sponsored post Instagram, it's called 'Oatly department of distraction services'. This is something they are running on their website, a section full of fun activities for all ages to take part in. There is such a variety of things to do, from making a nacho boat to colouring in photos, there are so many great ways to keep busy whilst also reusing the milks packaging, giving it a new end purpose whilst keeping people entertained.

Another amazing campaign I saw someone share on Twitter was Netflix, they started a campaign called "You should have stayed home" which is a series of posters with major series spoilers in aim of getting people to stay at home and stop the spread. I love this as it is such a unique strategy and very comical. It's such a huge brand which doesn't need further promotional advertising but as everyones staying home and watching a lot more TV they are showing they really care about you and it gives quite a human tone of voice from the company.

A small detail I noticed and quite liked was on ASOS they titles a category 'Activewear, for front-room gyms' as everyone moves to home workouts it really highlights they are with the time and adds a little humour.

Another small detail I noticed was on ZARA, when you open up the app there is this small animation of the logo letters going from being spread apart to being close together. It starts by saying 'Respecting social distancing' showing that they as a brand are keeping their staff and customers safe and following the guidelines, but then changes to say 'But staying closer than ever' showing that they are still there for you to online shop. They

have also extended their returns to 2 weeks after stores open again, which really helps those who are not able to go out to a post office and they don't want to put anyone at risk.

PrettyLittleThing are doing live streams of at home workouts, this is great to get viewers involved and a lot of people won't have done home workouts before as they prefer to go to the gym and a lot of people have been using this time to finally getting round to start working out so this is a great way to engage and educate viewers. They also gave away 100 pairs of pyjamas to NHS staff to give something back to those working so much.

Snapchat always does easter egg hunts around easter on the snap maps where you have to walk around and find the eggs, but they changed it this year so that you just have to scroll across the map and find the eggs around the world to encourage people to stay home. They also added this feature to when you edit your Bitmoji selfie which is usually just different facial expressions, they have given you the option to add a facemask to your person to mirror what you may be wearing in real life.

I loved this when I saw that Depop were partnering with Hermes to offer a discounted rate for at home deliveries, this way people who don't want to or can't go to the post office are still able to sell their items or even run their business' from the comfort of their home and don't have to come into contact with anyone as they can just leave it outside to be collected.

I SAW IT FIRST very quickly produced new clothes and facemasks to fit the times with a variety of patterns and designs if you want to style up your facemask and also t-shirts which say motivational quotes, but not only are they raising awareness and support they are donating 100% profits to the NHS.

I saw this Ben&Jerrys advert all about people in immigration detention centres being at a high risk of the virus and how they can't self isolate in these unsanitary conditions and then ask you to join the petition to help protect these people. They have also released this new flavour 'Waffle Cone Together'. I love how they are trying to make a big difference for a subject which isn't spoke about much, rather than just the generic support the NHS they are really trying to change the world and help these people.

Cadbury came out with this advert about how lockdown has changed us and how generous and kind everyone is being to one another, checking up on neighbours and helping others with their shopping and needs when they can't get out. The message behind their advert is that this doesn't need to change back after lockdown is over and that we should all continue to support one another. As Cadbury is already a huge brand known buy all they don't need to actually advertise their products so they can use their platform as a way of spreading a positive message and I think they have done a great job as it also highlights all of the good there is in the world at the minute even when we are going through such a terrible time.