The sudden shift to remote teaching and learning following the Covid-19 outbreak and global pandemic has been a remarkable experiment for students, faculty, instructional staff and colleges and universities at large. We are learning on the fly, from one another and through trial and error about how to teach online, how to communicate with students…
The Covid-19 outbreak upended daily business operations and consumer habits in nearly every industry. In the world of legal cannabis, restrictions on business and travel are creating seismic shifts that could potentially restructure the unique culture and idiosyncrasies that define the industry. Dispensaries are quickly pivoting to ecommerce to stay competitive, consumers are starting to…
Last week, my daughter invited me to a Pinterest board called “Things for our puppy.” Except we don’t have a dog. We have no plans to get one. But for a girl who effectively had her 13th birthday canceled due to Covid-19, things are turning around. She’s ready to plan for the future again and–at…
The game of tag got away from us. We were constantly “it,” never quite catching up to our audiences and getting tired. Need a campaign? Tag that influencer over there. Have a project? Tag eight agencies to pitch for it. Need to stay relevant? Tag something with a lot of views and slap a logo…
Covid-19 has cut off many paths of traditional advertising, leaving brands unsure about how to reframe marketing. This is the second time I’ve encountered a Covid-19-like moment. Fortunately, the first was a drill, a brief from a client years ago: What should we do in a world without paid advertising? What should we do in…
The contentious relationship between journalists and publicists is not new. Neither are the myriad articles and tweets that criticize the PR industry. But the global pandemic has fueled a new wave of journalist frustrations about the way publicists do their jobs. Admittedly, many of these criticisms are valid. Publicists: Get the journalist’s name right, do…
As widespread quarantines propel online grocery shopping for both delivery and pickup, we’re seeing a different motivation take over. Before Covid-19 disrupted our world, online was about control over time; what I want when I want. Now it’s about control over environment; what I need without leaving the safety of my own home. In other…
The world we know looks different, so it follows that the way we visualize our new realities must also shift. There’s an incredible opportunity for creative contributors to capture the elements of life today on behalf of businesses and brands around the globe, big and small. Even though it may feel like everything has been…
In mid-March, marketers were faced with a sudden new reality: Content, across every vertical and topic, had a through-line of Covid-19. This required a rapid response to an unprecedented issue. The first step many advertisers took was to avoid Covid-19 content by asking legacy brand safety partners to block keywords like “corona” and “Covid-19” when…
We should all be actively involved in collective work, meaning work not focused on the next big quarter but instead on tearing down the collective apathy of our future. This is the work of our lives: not against the government or each other or to collectively make someone a billionaire many times over. Instead, it…
You might fondly remember Earth Days past when poetic responders covered our various screens to give us all the feels. Many of those were brands celebrating the happy glow of loving the planet we’ve taken for granted. Crayons, furniture, beer, clothing, pharma concerns, condoms–name your category, and there’s an Earth Day homage tucked away in…
Perhaps like me, you have ordered something small from Amazon and had it shipped to you in a box that was twice as large as needed. Or you placed multiple orders over a few days and the items were shipped in two packages when they could have easily been shipped in one. Perhaps you’ve noticed…
For years, social media teams for brands all over the world advocated for resources to be more than just a distribution channel for marketing assets. They presented data, they touted growth numbers, and they elevated the best of their community content to executives to show just how powerful these channels were. How do I know…
In this era of Covid-19, we’re settling in for the long road ahead. Given the uncertainly of tomorrow, doing our best in new business has never mattered more. Stuck inside and working from home, the ad business is learning how to perfect the virtual meeting. Whether it’s Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams or a different…
It goes without saying that everyone’s day-to-day lives have been turned upside down by the COVID-19 outbreak. In the short term, this upheaval abruptly changed consumers’ interactions with a brand, from how we perceive and define them to which ones we engage with. But the long-term effect is even greater. It could spell the end…
Amid the massive uncertainty that surrounds most every part of our lives we can be certain of two things at least: We have more questions than answers, and anyone who suggests otherwise is a shill. And the past provides no actionable blueprint for moving forward. As marketers–let alone humans–we’re hungry to look backward to find…
Brands and organizations need to prioritize responsible outreach during these uncertain times, and one of the best ways of doing so is with influencer marketing. Influencer marketing during Covid-19 is not only a fast and effective way of reaching target audiences, many consumers believe brands can help with navigating this crisis. Not surprisingly, in-home data…
Crises make transitions irrelevant. In regular times, we can test how smoothly to move from the past to the future. But emergencies drag us into the moment. Amid the chaos, the only time that matters is now. I speak from experience. When we started Pereira O’Dell, The Wall Street Journal wrote a story about the…
With the vast majority of businesses on hold, marketers are struggling with what to say, if anything at all. Spending against working media has been brought to a virtual standstill, and there is very little in-market activity that resembles anything before COVID-19. None of this will likely change until public health, governmental and medical innovation…
Two weeks ago, right when schools, restaurants, gyms, parks and offices of nonessential businesses closed, I started my new role as an account director for Exponent PR in Minneapolis. That’s for Exponent, not at Exponent. I haven’t spent a day at my new office yet. Physically being there will have to wait, unfortunately. During my…
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
