How have you adapted your behavior, practices, policies, approaches, ways of thinking and doing business in response to the pandemic?
It would feel unimaginable to say you’re ready for something like we’re seeing now, but we’ve had the range of thinking and built-in speed of making needed now, for years. And now it’s being particularly stress-tested. We’ve found the way to wed great thinking with quick action, and this capacity has more inspiration than ever.
Were you in the midst of a particular project when the coronavirus outbreak hit and how did you manage to deal with that situation?
Many active projects of ours felt the brunt of the rapid change that occurred over the past month. There are so many talented, committed and sincere people across the production industry, I think many of us have banded together across businesses in ways we haven’t seen, to help solve against the disruption. A lot of transparency has seemed to be the best course.
What’s your biggest takeaway or lessons learned from your experience dealing with coronavirus concerns thus far?
It has been remarkable to see how all forms of media has prevailed through this, and will continue to. This should signal what we’ve known but not adopted enough, that storytelling can be created through a variety of sources and means of production. A network newsroom can look like a Tik Tok video.
What advice, if any, would you offer to your counterparts at other companies/agencies, your clients and collaborators?
Aggressively embrace change. It is wise to guard against overreaction but meanwhile recognize if fear is what’s holding you back.
Contingency plans have been prepared by many in light of the situation. Please share any aspects of those plans or tell us how your short and long-term business plans have been affected.
We simply have to operationally believe that we’ve always had diverse talent and the tools to tell stories. There’s never been one or three or a dozen ways to tell a story or create a useful experience, there’s been infinite ways. Find those outlets to give ideas life, and tell your clients you can do it.
It’s said that strength emerges from adversity. Do you see any silver lining or positive dynamic emerging for our industry/marketplace from this global health crisis?
We’ll experience new ways for stories to be told. New artists and heroes will emerge. Oh, and I think many brands will be heroes as well.
Have you deployed your company’s creative and communication skills to address the pandemic (PSAs, educational videos, other initiatives)? Please tell us about these efforts.
We’re leaning more heavily than ever on our curated partnerships. Areas like #TheResidNYC (for BBDO NY) are now rich with partners to carry forth worthy experiences for our clients and causes (best when both). Media experience will now more markedly shifted to social communities and platforms, so partnering here is critical to reaching people in genuine ways.
