Matthew Schwartz

When the coronavirus began to spread in late March, most brand advertising took on a somber tone. At the time, the messages seemed to resonate with consumers. But as the crisis unfolded, people’s appetite for ads that emphasized the impact of the virus started to wane.

Amy Brothers, brand manager for Pebbles cereal, and Brian Hurley, creative director at Public Works, discuss the kid-centric “Daily Yabba Dabba Doo” series and provide insight into the most effective ways for brands to harness user-generated content.

As marketers face a crossroads — and alter both their internal practices and their overall messaging to reflect the larger changes throughout society — they may also consider reevaluating their marketing lexicon and the language they use to communicate with their constituents, customers, and the public.

As the COVID-19 pandemic upended the country, many nonprofits reconfigured their marketing strategies and budgets to place a sharper focus on their missions and help people through a difficult period in inspiring ways. Here are four examples of how nonprofit organizations successfully dealt with the crisis, as well as lessons learned.

Marketing Maestros reached out to a few senior marketing executives to get a better sense of how the pandemic will affect certain aspects of marketing for the long-term and what brand managers can do to respond to the changes proactively.

Drip, drip, drip. The average CMO tenure fell from 43 months to 41 months, according to the 16th annual CMO Tenure Study, continuing a downward trend for the last few years.

A number of inspiring brand stories have emerged over the past several months, with companies providing ample resources to both combat the pandemic and make things easier for first responders. Here’s how Budweiser, Crocs, Publix, and Hyundai, among others, have seized on opportunities to help in the fight against COVID-19.

Valerie Beaulieu, U.S. CMO at Microsoft, brings a highly balanced approach to B2B marketing to tackle the most pressing issues facing marketers.

The novel coronavirus has spurred nonprofits to take action on several levels, including crafting new messages that both acknowledge the severity of the crisis and explain how it might impact the organization.

Marketing Maestros is providing weekly coverage of how various brands are responding to the novel coronavirus outbreak and relevant resources from the ANA's Marketing Knowledge Center to help your brand do the same.

With as much as one-fifth of the world’s population told to stay inside, effects of the novel coronavirus on the economy have been swift and could be long lasting. Here’s how the virus is affecting marketing.