“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Sage wisdom delivered from Mike Tyson could not feel more relevant right now. In the midst of this crisis, we’re seeing great resolve, adaption and collaboration from businesses who’ve stepped up to both protect their workforce and serve the greater good.
At lightning speed we’ve seen global companies pivot their supply chains, switch their production lines, and repurpose their factory floors to manufacture the equipment the world needs to safely and swiftly navigate through this pandemic. We’ve seen businesses form alliances and support each other to mitigate job loss and help others cope with increased demand.
In a show of solidarity, Aldi and McDonald's in Germany have assumed a staff-share strategy where employees who have been furloughed or lost their jobs from McDonald's while the fast food chain keeps all of its German restaurants closed are able to work for the supermarket giant. Once it’s safe to reopen, employees can simply return to their jobs at McDonald's.
Dyson, best known for their premium vacuum cleaners and hand dryers put their engineering mettle to the test and designed and built an entirely new ventilator, called the "CoVent” in just 10 days.
H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer quickly rearranged its supply chain to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) that will be provided to hospitals and healthcare workers.
These are just a few of the brands demonstrating how they are living up to their purpose and delivering products, services, and experiences in a completely new way, bringing into sharp focus just how brand and business go hand in hand.
While brand purpose has been a buzzword for quite some time, what we’re seeing is how it comes to life operationally. It’s about creating real value for people and its times like this we see who is (literally) putting their money where their mouth is. We’re seeing purpose in action.
Brands are having to show real value in real time, completely exposed, at an unprecedented pace and scale. They’re doing so in the midst of a crisis where the circumstances are changing day to day. And while extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, we’ll remember these brands that have balanced their say/do ratio to serve us all.
