Stop the spread of COVID-19 emails.

Is there a cure for COVID-19 emails coming from every brand or product or service you can think of? There’s certainly a test for it. My diagnose? Stop the emails, the tweets, the obvious paragraph after paragraph repeating what every other brand says. This bandwagon brands are jumping on is like a virus that needs to be contained fast. 

The Test. 

Ask yourself as a brand manager if you would welcome your own emphatic email telling people the obvious; that your service isn’t being effected, that you’re throwing in a 10% off coupon or free shipping. Better yet, you’re offering free returns. Wow. Thank you. The car brands are doing even worse. Quick turn arounds on TV spots are telling us to log on and order a luxury car right now! They’ll deliver the car to your home. And some offer you not to pay for a 120 days. Not bad. Especially since you don’t know if you still have a job or business after those 120 days. So putting up the $50K or more needed to splurge is a safe-to-spend deal. Thank you Cadillac.

The Cure.

Stop the fake emotional updates. Go social and go real. Do something meaningful like giving back to your customers or employees. Tell us something new you can do within the boundaries of social distancing. Tell us how not to go insane working at home while taking care of young kids. Tell us a joke. Make us laugh. Share stories of your employees. Show us you are just like us. Share anything but a coupon. And never tell us to spend huge amounts of money in a time where millions are wondering if they will have a job left when this passes. This is not a hard pill to swallow. It’s just asking brands to let their guard down and be like the rest of us.