In an effort to expand on my last post, I am sharing case studies of those we endorse that are doing a fantastic job in reinforcing their mission and effectively extending their brand during the current health and economic crisis.
I was VERY deliberate to pick organizations that are wildly different in scale, product, and audience. The purpose is to show how strong brands remain relevant in challenging markets.
ALL of these examples are organizations who are firmly rooted in their mission and understand what it means to shift positioning in order to be appropriate for the change in market conditions.
In the previous post, I summarized the following about brand direction during the crisis:
Re-evaluate and re-tune important metrics: What’s most important right now as you navigate the pandemic? What can you do to be well-positioned for when we come through this?
Be human: To your employees. To your customers. To prospects. Language matters.
Operationalize listening: What’s most important to employees? Customers? Prospects?
Be timely and respond: How can you operationalize your teams to be quick to respond to constantly changing scenarios. Act quickly and respond. Respond iteratively if need be. Do not have great be the enemy of good.
Hang in there! We will get through this. Together.
#RocketStories Vol. 1: The First in a Series
Highlighted below are Dominion Payroll (headquartered in Richmond, VA), Unilever/Dove Soap, and VyStar Credit Union (headquartered Jacksonville, FL).
These are the first three case studies. We are on the hunt for more stories to share.
If there are companies large or small that we can highlight here, please use the contact form on the page to send us your favorites.
Dominion Payroll, (headquartered in Richmond VA):
COVID-19 Response Education/Web Town Halls
Dominion Payroll and its founders have long been about community service particularly to causes in and around Richmond, VA and the other communities throughout the country where they have offices.
The primary business function of providing workforce management solutions for SMB’s helps fuel their overall vision for healthy communities.
It’s no wonder that given the current challenges facing business, they’ve doubled down on providing resources to their customers and the broader business community for which they feel a responsibility to serve.
I asked Dominion Payroll CEO David Gallagher why he feels it’s important to offer these critical resources.
He said, “Dominion Payroll provides services to thousands of clients around the country.
While each client is different, they are all affected by COVID-19.
Each entity has to change and adapt.And, we saw a common thread in the questions that were coming in individually to our service team so we decided to widen our service approach quickly.
[To address our clients’ common needs] We opened up web ‘town-hall’ meetings twice per day, allowing clients to join in and ask questions to our most educated team members.
We felt like this gave the greatest education, to the greatest number of people.”
When asked if the recent crisis has ‘forced’ him to re-think go-to-market plans, Gallagher went on the say, “Yes, it has. But one thing remains, people want to deal with people. Our only pivot is the ‘how’ we connect, now virtually.
We have found we are able to increase our speed of service, reduce operating cost and generally continue our top-notch service levels.
Going to market for new clients remains direct, but we are reaching out with content rather than offers.”
Unilever / Dove: “Courage”
We get it. You think because Dove has global reach and infinite ad dollars that of course they can create a deeply meaningful campaign around the COVID-19 crisis.
On the one hand, you are right. However, the power is in the simplicity of the execution and the deeper connection to the “humanization” of their brand.
Dove has long stood for re-defining what beauty means in a very crowded category.
They understand their guiding light, and in this instance have expanded their role by further humanizing the toll the fight is taking on the faces of health care workers on the frontlines.
Watch the video below to understand why they are included here.
VyStar Credit Union (Jacksonville, FL):
Loan Forbearance and Small Business Relief
The mission of the credit union industry is to serve the financial well-being of their members. VyStar Credit Union ($9B in assets) is living their values by serving the needs of their community and doing it at the short term expense of profitability and loan growth. Investing back in the community, they are meeting people “where they are” during challenging economic times.
From the Jacksonville Business Journal:
“Since our founding in 1952, VyStar has been committed to the City of Jacksonville and to its people. Whether in times of prosperity or times of need, our commitment has never wavered when it comes to our members, our neighbors and our communities,” VyStar CEO Brian Wolfburg said in a statement.
