India Doyle is deputy editor of Canvas8's Library where she oversees the editorial direction of research across content types. India has worked as a journalist for 10 years, interviewing industry and cultural leaders including Christy Turlington, Olympic boxer Ramla Ali and CEO of Rolls-Royce Torsten Müller-Ötvös, and has contributed to SHOWStudio, Dazed and Confused, ekathimerini, Wonderland and Dapper Dan magazine.

“Contemporary culture and branded culture overwhelmingly suggest that we are invulnerable and in control of our lives,” explains Soma Ghosh, a senior analyst and director at 

, addressing the immediate challenge facing brands as they seek to respond ‘authentically’ and impactfully to the COVID-19 crisis. “Now we’re in a time when people want community because it’s being taken away from them. People want to feel safe and they want to be useful. They’re looking to [brands] to re-situate the self-esteem and sense of belonging that many people get from going to work and hanging out with their friends.” 

With 78% of people globally feeling that brands should help them in their daily lives during the pandemic, the pressure on brands to create the ‘right’ response has never been higher. 

 Although the climate protests throughout 2019 established a crisis narrative in the public consciousness, the immediate impact of COVID-19 has escalated the stakes for brand responses as people look for reassurance and grapple with the long-term implications. In this context, brands have a significant role to play in staving off fear, with research finding that 52% of people agree that seeing or hearing adverts creates a sense of normality. 

Recognising the need to respond to mounting concerns, brands have adopted a variety of strategies to communicate with their audiences. Yet a recurring pastiche of piano-backed ads and a deluge of ‘we’re here for you’ emails highlight the need for more nuanced creative and informational communications. Just as people have quickly called out celebrities for their misguided attempts at being relatable – e.g. the 

 video or Madonna’s musings about how coronavirus is the great leveller – so too are brands facing close scrutiny for their emotive calls for togetherness, especially as COVID-19 exposes the underlying fractures and inequalities prevalent in society. 

 So, how have brands positioned themselves so far and what strategies have proved most successful? And as we move forward into a new post-COVID-19 era, what brand communications will best resonate with audiences?

In the absence of contact with colleagues and friends, people are looking to brands to help them feel valued. Yet while they may previously have pushed aspirational messaging around luxury products, new travel experiences, or exclusive events, brands are now forced into a stagnant space. “We don’t know absolutely what is going to happen, we can’t promise tomorrow,” explains Ghosh, outlining how aspirational brands that have traditionally built themselves on “rising above the now, rising above limits” may struggle to connect with people. 

Instead, some brands are using an aspirational moral framework to help people define and reorientate their sense of self. While continuing to appeal to individual instincts, they’re navigating “around the difficulty of not appearing too selfish or narcissistic. At the moment, there’s a tribal push on people not to be selfish.” This is a notable transference of power, notes Ghosh, as “brands have historically attempted to take up a patriarchal relationship with their consumer – to provide an objective story and say that everything’s going to be alright.” In a more open-ended and uncertain time, it is individual choice that defines the collective outcome. 

With the slogan ‘If you have ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world, now is your chance’, Nike’s 

 campaign taps into the idea of heroism at a time of widespread restrictions. “There is, of course, this sense of expanding what the individual does for others, but with the grandeur of abstract words like ‘dreams’, ‘millions’, and ‘world’, Nike is offering heroism and celebrity – the opportunity to use the coronavirus to boost your skills, your popularity, and your kudos,” says Ghosh. 

 Given that nearly 80% of Americans feel the coronavirus outbreak is out of their control, Nike’s communal heroism speaks directly to this instinctive need. 

 A similar approach can be seen in the British government’s message to ‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’. 

Spheres of control may be shrinking, but people still want to make a difference

While communal heroism appeals to the moral good of large-scale inaction, other brands have harnessed the power of ‘homely heroism’, notes Ghosh, wherein simple domestic signifiers are turned into symbols of activism. Pret a Manger, for example, displayed a thank you letter to NHS workers in each branch, advertising its discounted drinks for staff and essential care workers with a green, leafy heart bandaged in apple peel.“The image aligns the brand to the history of medicine and natural health,” says Ghosh. Though simple in its execution, Pret’s campaign “is radicalising the semiotics of the domestic. This persona-like letter, this handwritten font… is evocative of cutesy nourishment but backed up by real action.” 

 The coffee chain’s approach has evidently resonated with the public. According to the YouGov Brand Index, its response led to a 3.7 point increase in the brand’s weekly ‘buzz score’. 

According to an analysis from cloud security company Netskope, an estimated 66% of Americans were working remotely by the end of March. 

 Yet while the mass shift to domestic operations may be preserving people’s health, half of all Britons working from home due to lockdown measures say they’re unhappy with their work-life balance. 

 To help people cope with being cooped up for a prolonged period, some brands are promoting the notion of self-isolation as a radical act of care. The swift repositioning of 

 to ‘Time In’ is another example of this ‘homely heroism’. By striking out its usual logo and graffitiing over the ‘Out’ with ‘In’ in a lipstick red, the brand alluded to the idea that whereas staying in used to be a cop-out, it’s now a charged act. With people set to stay homebound at least in the near future, Ghosh says “we will increasingly see this DIY trope that borrows from punk signifiers.” 

Simple semiotics resonate as they respect the viewer’s intelligence and effort. In Cottonelle’s 

 campaign, we again see the domestic space repositioned to be something charged and powerful – a place for action rather than passivity. The advert features a shrinking white square overlaid with blue text, all set to ‘pandemic piano’ music, and seeks to reassure people that there is enough toilet paper to go round. “The text in this ad flatters their spirit of generosity,” explains Ghosh, noting that while the call to action (‘there's no shortage of kindness, share a square’) invites empathy and compassion, the very existence of the advert suggests that there has been a shortage of kindness. The sacrifice of restraint, therefore, becomes another means of fighting the pandemic together. “There’s an interesting line of flattery as brands struggle to find a new relationship with their normally individualistic, aspirational buyers,” Ghosh adds. 

Domestic symbols are being repurposed to send powerful messages

Grappling with uncertainty, people are embracing the comfort of the past for reassurance. It’s a behaviour manifesting in food choices (sales of Campbell’s soup in March 2020 were 59% higher than in March 2019) and entertainment (even pre-COVID-19, 

 was Netflix’s most-streamed show), but is also a trope that brands have been swift to lean into to spotlight their value in people’s lives. 

 “Understandably, at a deeply uncertain time when we can’t promise the future, looking back at times when we have survived offers reassurance,” says Ghosh. 

, a swiftly repositioned campaign sought to bring together “the homegrown, the heroic and the historic within a nationalistic concept that they built for America,” explains Ghosh. The automaker’s spot highlighted its heritage, noting that for over 100 years Ford has supported Americans through wars, hurricanes, and fires. Now, during COVID-19, it’s aiming to show that it’s here to support again. This focus on core American values is smart given that 55% of US consumers say the origin of their car is very or somewhat important to their purchase. 

 What’s more, the brand’s approach tied in the comforting appeal of national pride and nostalgia. “[Ford] marries this to the lonely individual,” says Ghosh. “The text in the ad is ‘built to lend a hand’ and ‘built for right now’. It’s text appearing across the screen, [targeting] the people who are working from home.” 

American Airlines, which returned to marketing after four years, similarly leaned into the comfort of brand continuity with its COVID-19-related spot. The campaign – again set to piano music – opens by explaining that in the 94 years of the brand’s history, it’s had to weather “many hard times, coming out the other side always better, always stronger.” Through the ad, history also becomes a means of justification as many airlines have faced backlash for sending empty planes in order to keep airport slots. As people take note of the improving air quality and lack of noise pollution, American Airlines’ use of history seeks to dodge environmental criticism and promote positive values “because people need to get home, and life-saving equipment needs to get to the people whose lives need saving… And we keep flying for one reason: you.” 

Nostalgic adverts play on a desire for both triumph and normality

Amid uncertainty, Ghosh explains that “the most successful communications are those that don’t try to tell us a complete story or present a master narrative.” Using the example of 

, she notes that the slick production values, street photography, and narration from poet Kate Tempest form an “expertly driven emotional ride [that] could leave us feeling passive... There is a problem here where expertly delivered stories are clearly undermined by the facts of the day – the experts themselves are struggling.” 

 In this light, brands may consider pursuing narratives that remain open-ended, allowing for optimism without becoming histrionic. For example, Nationwide’s approach invited customers to record a message to themselves in six months. While leaning on emotional cues, the building society handed over the narrative to individuals, offering authenticity rather than a polished script. 

People want escapism but they’re not looking for brands to play the proverbial clown in the middle of a calamity. Brands have largely switched on to this, with 

, for example, modifying its messaging in light of the fact that 57% of people think brands should stop putting out light-hearted ads during the crisis. 

 There are potentially serious implications to using humour in advertising during the pandemic. Using the example of 

 in India, Ghosh notes that by turning public health into entertainment via a TikTok hand-washing challenge, there is a danger of creating a passive rather than proactive behaviour around an essential act. “Although we are shown all the steps, there’s no need to do any of them because it’s all been done for us,” she says. “[It’s] the same way that we enjoy celebrity through spectatorship, it doesn’t require anything from us.” 

 In an interesting twist, Cardi B opted to put her money where her mouth was by partnering with Fashion Nova to give away $1,000 an hour until May for those who were most in need of it. Here, the power of celebrity offers a means of entertainment but is cushioned in substantial action, rather than light relief. 

Heroic tropes require responsible positioning

“The rhetoric of heroism leads to [an] unforgivable act of violence done to our heroes: it silences them,” writes Dahlia Lithwick for Slate. “The cost of being a hero today is that in return you are meant to accept your halo and wings and then die quietly.” 

 Though brands may be quick to position themselves as supporters of essential workers, it’s worth being mindful of their role in creating complex narratives that render these ‘heroes’ powerless. While cause-based marketing resonates, appealing to individuals and acknowledging their routines can be as powerful as deifying key workers. “People want to feel that more is being done and that it’s being done right,” says Ghosh of action-based brand responses. Citing Lyft’s approach to the crisis, which involved publishing a 

 about the ways it’s supporting communities, she notes that “we have hefty paragraphs of small print – it doesn’t matter what’s in there, it suggests a bureaucratic approach. They’re explicitly not attempting to be emotionally perceptive. They say, ‘we know no words would do justice to everyone’s individual experience.’“ 

 For those stuck at home, small acts become imbued with significance, and brands can acknowledge the drudgery of the domestic without overblowing its meaning. For example, Tesco paid tribute to small acts of love – like cooking for children – as a means of celebrating everyday triumphs. 

Soma Ghosh studied semiotics and literature at Oxford University and has been a senior analyst and director of Practical Semiotics since 2006.

Global

Advertising

Interview with Soma Ghosh conducted by the author

'Just 8% of consumers think brands should stop advertising due to the coronavirus outbreak', Marketing Week

'Twitter publishes new research on what consumers want to see from brands during COVID-19', Social Media Today

'Coronavirus is 'the great equalizer,' Madonna tells fans from her bathtub', CNN

'Thriving in the new normal', Thrive Global

'Coronavirus: stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives - web version', Gov.uk

'Pret A Manger’s COVID-19 response earns admiration from the British public'. YouGov

'Remote work increasing exponentially due to COVID-19', Netskope

'Half working from home during lockdown are unhappy with work-life balance, survey finds', People Management

'‘I just need the comfort’: processed foods make a pandemic comeback', The New York Times

'‘The Office’ is Netflix’s most popular show, even though it was made for and originally aired on an old-school broadcast network. Oh, the irony', The Chicago Tribune

'Over half of Americans prefer purchasing cars rather than leasing', YouGov

'American Airlines returns to brand marketing after four-year hiatus', The Drum

'People record messages to themselves in six months' time in Nationwide's coronavirus ads', Ad Age

Edelman Trust Barometer 2020 - Special report: brand trust and the coronavirus pandemic', Edelman

'Cardi B & Fashion Nova will give away $1,000 an hour until May 20', Highsnobiety

'America’s heroism trap', Slate

'Tesco's lockdown 'food love stories' let people dedicate their cooking to loved ones', Ad Age

COVID-19 could potentially reshape people’s shopping habits based on the way that businesses respond to the crisis. Canvas8 spoke to semiotics expert Soma Ghosh to learn how brands are honing their communications to reassure and empower audiences – and win their loyalty in the process.

What can I do!? The science of seeking control

How are people reacting to the impact of COVID-19?

Can possessions bring comfort in a crisis?

People are open to ‘normal’ ads unrelated to COVID-19