Communicating through a crisis: The five themes most resonant during Covid-19

So, what’s the recipe for success? Is there even one? Opinium’s Brand & Comms team have been looking at the brands daring enough to have started those conversations to understand which approaches are cutting through, resonating and strengthening connections.

Using a cut-down version of Opinium’s advantage advertising optimisation tool, the team analysed 18 ads that have addressed coronavirus, covering all angles from the likes of HM Government, frontline retailers such as Lidl and Amazon through to services like Deliveroo and FMCG giants such as McCain. The full list of ads is shown at the bottom of the article.

From the group of 18 ads, five key themes emerge that have resonated most with viewers at this current time.

Keeping it simple

Many of the stronger performing ads are not creatively challenging. Relatively straightforward, they do not challenge consumers visually or in terms of message processing but given the current state of uncertainty, keeping things simple has been appreciated.

Comforting normality

Brands that have been at the forefront of the crisis such as supermarkets and that have chosen to supply comforting normality in their communications have also been appreciated. Aldi and Cathedral City top the charts in terms of sincerity and evoking an emotional reaction of comfort.

Although elements of our daily lives have been thrown upside by the coronavirus restrictions consumers have welcomed signs of normality – particularly from those brands that form part of everyday life.

Tell me the facts

It’s fair to say in normal times a government ad delivering information straight to camera wouldn’t exactly set the world alight, and creatively it doesn’t right now either.

However, the clarity of concept and message, and obvious relevance and sincerity of this execution means that consumers have appreciated the role that this type of communication has to play in the current climate

Offering some hope

Google’s real-life footage ad is easily the most enjoyable and instinctively engaging execution of the group. Delivering a strong positive emotional reaction.

The fact that nobody knew what brand the ad was for was the problem. Under the current circumstances, however, this is perhaps not such an issue: the purpose of the ad is really to share the love and offer hope and positivity that we can get through this thanks to the NHS, which viewers have warmed to.

Reassurance

As the UK has adapted to the new world we find ourselves living in, the dependence on certain retailers has significantly increased.

Reassurance from those retailers that they are acting responsibly and looking after their staff as simply shown in the execution from Amazon has been welcomed. The use of appropriate content, the tone of voice, and evoking a feeling of security were are also key strengths of the ad.

It does seem that as we have all been adjusting to our new lives under coronavirus restrictions that the need to be entertained and challenged in ad breaks has been put on hold, while we recalibrate, get our bearings, and understand what we want to hear from brands in the our new day to day lives.

List of ads tested:

• Aldi
• Amazon
• Barclays
• Cathedral City
• Deliveroo
• EE
• Facebook
• Google
• ITV
• Lidl
• Lucozade
• McCain
• Microsoft Teams
• Nationwide
• NHS/HM Gov
• Tesco
• TikTok
• Vodafone

Steve Looney, research director at Opinium.