Enormous Challenge OR Massive Opportunity?
Where there is enormous challenge there is also massive opportunity.
Much like the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the global pandemic of 2020 has presented challenging times for everyone.
But, on a scale never before witnessed or experienced.
Can you recall the exact moment when you first realized the magnitude of what was happening?
Could you have ever pictured a business world —from the factory floor to individual consumers—in which human contact could be virtually non-existent?
No one was fully ready or prepared for the shock and awe brought on by the coronavirus. Not even the so-called change experts.
Since early May, some business pundits have contended that COVID-19 exposed weak, outdated business models. They insist the coronavirus was the inevitable, metaphorical freight train coming from the wrong side of the tunnel that smashed some companies to smithereens. For good reason.
Especially debt-heavy, bureaucratically bloated organizations that refused to see the glaring truth of what’s required to compete in the Digital Age.
Keeping the doors open is the biggest challenge facing small to medium-sized businesses today. According to Yelp’s Economic Impact Report released last month, about 60% of businesses that closed this year won’t reopen. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says only 26% of its 110,000 members are reporting normal sales volumes. The rest are at risk of going under.
In the midst of this darkness, however, there are some shining stars who have grown by leaps and bounds. No different than what happened during the “Dirty Thirties” when companies like Procter & Gamble took to the airwaves and introduced what became known as soap operas. P&G wound up attracting huge audiences, sold a ton of products and became Goliath of the entire packaged goods industry.
Print and radio boomed during the depression. Nowadays, your ability to be a determined David and attract an audience hinges on how you communicate digitally. How well you pivot, adapt and embrace YouTube, live streaming, teleconferencing and other such platforms that place a human face in the digital space.
The trends we’ve been seeing since March are like an angry, unstoppable locomotive that’s not slowing down any time soon.
And the name of that steam engine can be summarized in two words. Digital Fluency.
Which is why your business and brand needs to be on track and well positioned for what’s on The Other Side of the Tunnel on this edition of Leaders & Legends.
“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the railroad tracks of the present to wait for the train of the future to run over him”.DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
On March 18, 2020
At the beginning of the pandemic, I hosted upwards of 50 different ZOOM conferences with CEO’s, business leaders, executive coaches, published authors and many others. I became more convinced with each conversation that high levels of Digital Fluency would be the #1 success factor in a post-pandemic business world. Those who quickly solidify their online presence stand a much better chance of survival as opposed to those who relied heavily on traditional advertising or in person sales methods.
You may have heard that this pandemic has been referred to as a war against an invisible enemy. It’s true.
This is a supreme test for any business leader. A monumental struggle for mental well-being, physical health and healthy families. It’s also a daily battle for companies, customers, careers, cash flow and the restoration of confidence that better days are ahead. In this global conflict, three types of businesses have emerged with respect to the priorities they have placed on Digital Fluency.
A.W.O.L. – Absent Without Leave. Those are the companies with that have little or no online presence. There are no active social media accounts. You can’t find their YouTube channel because they don’t have one. Cleary, these are the firms that have gone MIA with a complete denial of present-day circumstances.
Basic Training – Many companies have a website, but it’s little more than an online brochure. It’s not being utilized to its full potential. For the most part, the website as well as the social media platforms are just an afterthought - not part of a comprehensive brand strategy. One of the tell tale signs is not having a story-based, signature “movie trailer” that clearly captures your brand personality and establishes what makes you different.
Combat Ready – These are the companies who have recognized the value of creating their own content, published on a consistent basis to a growing and thriving audience. Supported by a website that functions as a digital story hub, these companies are publishing stories that are either informative, entertaining or inspiring in a way that communicates who they are – beyond their products and services.
The surest path to business success in the face of these new realities will be created by those who double down on marketing and innovation. This was the single greatest economic truism of the Great Depression. Companies that survived and grew during the 1930’s didi not fall into specific market categories. Instead, they were the ones who saw the opportunity in the obstacle. They tinkered. They experimented. They did whatever they could to keep their brand relevant in the minds of the public. Successful Depression-era businesses didn’t know how or when the catatastrophe would end, but like Procter & Gamble, they knew they could not sit on the marketing sidelines and wait things out. They had to leverage the technology of the day to attract favorable attention; with full confidence that attention equals currency.
Business Leaders
There has never been a more opportune time for leaders of small to medium-sized companies to pause, take a look at everything around you with respect to your marketing efforts and ask:
Where are we now and how did we get here?
What’s not working and why?
What needs fixing?
In a world where most people are stuck at home and spend most of their time on the internet, having a more digitally fluent approach to marketing is one of the surest ways to connect with an audience that would care about your products, services or expertise.
Wating until this all blows over is one of the riskiest moves any leader can make as it makes your business vulnerable to more daring and proactive competitors to swoop in and earn favor with customers you are trying to reach.
Maybe you have been pondering for a while that it’s time to let everybody else zig while you ZAG. If you're feeling now is the perfect time to RE-DEFINE, RE-POSITION and DIFFERENTIATE your company or organization, you might want to saddle up for a metaphorical road trip called THE BRANDING HIGHWAY. Our in-person or virtual "Executive Bootcamp" serves as both journey and destination to help you emerge as an undeniable, undisputed, "Category of One".
For more information send us a note here.
As always, we are open to serving small to medium size business owners with an open heart and no strings attached. That's why we always schedule a limited number of FREE 20-Minute Discovery Sessions via ZOOM. If you are facing a business or branding challenge that you are not quite sure how to handle, we’re only a click away.
Every week someone asks me a question about our videos and more specifically our media partner responsible for the production and editing. Based in London, Ontario, Defiant Astronaut Media also posts a monthly blog, showcasing a curated selection of story-based videos that inspire others to re-think what's possible with this art form and how it can help build your brand.