Amazon Gives Deliveries a Lyft and Chipotle Goes Virtual
April 8, 2020
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.
Mixing and Matching Brands
Amazon and Lyft normally compete for workers. But these are not normal times. Far from it. Amazon.com is teaming up with Lyft on recruiting the ride-hailing company’s drivers to deliver Amazon packages and groceries as the pandemic keeps people at home.
Corporate partnerships will play a significant role in the battle against the novel coronavirus. Like the Amazon-Lyft effort, the crisis is likely to spur other unique partnerships.
Depending on the scope of the partnership, marketers could quickly find themselves tasked with creating an advertising campaign to get the word out. In the least, both companies will have to work together to craft an initial messaging strategy to make sure that people are aware of what exactly the partnership is trying to accomplish, whether that’s providing new jobs, producing much-needed ventilators, or developing a coronavirus vaccine.
Marketing Resources:
- It’s a Two-Way Street. Industry experts from WPP, Omnicom, Interpublic Group, and Havas Health, among others, weigh in on how to generate more value from brand-agency partnerships.
- Creating Competitive Agile Marketing Organizations. BCG shares the key success factors for marketing organization transformations grappling with a fast changing digital landscape.
- The Attraction of Cultural Magnetism. How brands like New Balance, Michelob ULTRA, and Wendy’s are building lasting connections with their core consumer.
Chipotle Bridges 'Social Distancing’ With Virtual Hangouts
Brands and organizations continue to ramp up their relief efforts to ease some of the pain caused by the coronavirus outbreak. But amid a widening circle of “social distancing” and tens of millions of people urged to stay home, companies are also trying to stay in touch with consumers online and spur a sharper sense of community.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, for instance, hosted a series of lunchtime "Chipotle Together" sessions on video conferencing site Zoom with celebrity guests and as many as 3,000 fans, according to Mobile Marketer. Chipotle posted a link to the virtual hangout each day on its @ChipotleTweets account on Twitter.
With social distancing expected to last several months, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and other social media platforms will be the new town halls. Marketers eager to draw a crowd need to pay careful attention to the nuances of each of the individual social network (and whether the message/engagement/conversation is appropriate for the channel).
Look for virtual hangouts and similar online chats to proliferate at a rapid clip. It’s an opportunity for marketers to bolster their social media efforts and improve the online experience when people are starving for connection more than ever.
Marketing Resources:
- Is It TikTok’s Time? Tips for how to engage users on the wildly popular social network.
- As Reddit Broadens Its Appeal, What’s the Ask for Marketers? Why it behooves marketers to take another look at the website, which draws a much more passionate audience compared to other social media platforms.
- Building an Influencer Marketing Playbook. Molson Coors examines some of the tools needed to build influencer marketing capabilities.
See what you may have missed from previous weeks:
How is your brand adapting to the pandemic? Share in the comments.