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?
This crisis has blurred the lines between public and private and we are all dealing with people on a much more open human level. We are in our co-workers’ and clients’ kitchens, bedrooms, and living rooms. We are seeing their kids, pets, bookshelves, and laundry. Pants are not required and makeup is only for people you’ve never met. We are staring at each other, across screens—around the corner or around the world—as human beings without all the social and professional filters. It’s funny that the more physically isolated we become the more emotionally and empathetically close we grow. Hopefully, all of us, we ad folks and brands, can hang on to some of this humanity after the crisis.
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.
I think it is really important for everyone, including the ad community, to do whatever they can to help battle this pandemic. My agency, Fancy, just finished a campaign for a brand new startup that has devised a smart and effective way to help solve the lack of protective PPE for medical professionals working on the front line of the COVID19 crisis. Due to the current circumstances, photography was not an option so the creative is all bold type with pithy short copy, that quickly gets the message across. And our talented team had only 24 hours to complete the work. A great example of how, if you have the will and the mission, there are always ways to succeed regardless of time and production limitations. Sometimes the limitations can actually make the work better.
