Using the pandemic-induced new priorities to create meaningful campaigns

Neurokinex kids

Being creative during a pandemic has been especially tough – when there has been very little in the way of inspiration due to us all being in captivity on and off over the past year. For those whose creative processes have typically involved collaboration, it’s been a very rough ride!

Not being able to attend galleries, theatre shows, gigs, festivals, see new films, meet new people, experience new sights, sounds, tastes meant that creative brains screeched to a halt. Where once you could get new ideas simply from boisterous chats with friends over drinks, we were left to brainstorm by ourselves in our homes with very little imaginative alchemy. Without any stimulus or even much new ‘news’ the creative well ran dry for many agencies and we had to look inside ourselves for ideas, rather than the world around us. When you have clients that need to connect creatively and authentically with both the media and their customers – we had to really look at how the cultural barometer had shifted, and incorporate the new redefined values into our work, and create meaningful campaigns.

Now that arts, culture, entertainment and socializing are back on the table, it has eased the creative blockages, but we have found that implementing a new set of creative systems and processes manifested during Covid is still relevant. It is a time of such huge cultural and behavioral change, it’s worth redefining what useful stimulus looks like:

Create memorable experiences  

Events are back! And an essential way for consumers and media to experience brands. Now people want to connect more deeply with brands that are prioritizing philanthropy, social cause, health and wellness and self-care, the nature of creating the genesis and flow of an event has shifted. People want to experience more health-centric events and they expect their workplace benefits to reflect these new priorities. We concepted an event that combined these priorities recently for our workplace wellness platform client, Gympass. A compelling activation that combined the best of London’s wellness and fitness brands with an opportunity to explore our city again.  The Wellness Tour was our first real event back after lockdown and was a resounding and welcome success that showcased just how important mental and physical health has become.

Meaningful campaigns = Do more good

We want to see this world change for the better – people want to see good and feel good. We became more attuned to injustices for vital services during the pandemic, and it really hit the vulnerable the hardest. Charities and foundations found donations vastly decreased, with many facing bankruptcy. It was causing a very real problem – and we wanted to do something about it.  On behalf of an important spinal cord rehabilitation client – Neurokinex – we launched an emergency charity appeal to help save this life saving charity in the midst of the pandemic. We created its logo and visual identity and launched the ‘Step Up Appeal’ that raised media profiles and donations to support six clients who had benefitted from the facility who were completing physical challenges to raise money for the charity.  Our role was to use craft their stories and challenges into media-worthy case studies. This resulted in 16 pieces of local coverage, two national articles appearing in The Sun and on ITV’s website, three TV news features across BBC Meridian, BBC Points West and ITV West Country and five local BBC radio interviews. We were able to reach an audience of over 1.5 million people.

We have used the shifting priorities of our collective consciousness during this pandemic as THE creative stimulus to connect authentically and deeply with our clients customers and the media, ultimately creating meaningful campaigns.

If you have a new brand or want to inject life into an existing one, get in touch with us at: info@action-group.co.uk

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