THE FIRST FREEZE

As story after story about the Coronavirus spilled into my life, at first I was slightly in denial. It couldn’t be that bad, could it? Then, like dominos, one-by-one, Austin events got cancelled: Rodeo Austin, Willie Nelson's concert, the Kite Festival, … and then… SXSW. SXSW!!! What? Wow, that one hit home. It’s the biggest, multifaceted event (music, film, interactive) we have in Austin. Not long after, it was March 25th when Austin Mayor, Steve Adler, announced our Shelter In Place order (aka Self Quarantining) for the foreseeable future. Uhhh. What is my reaction? Fight, flight, or freeze? Fight? Fight what? Flight? Nowhere to go. So, yeah, FREEZE was my knee jerk reaction. Then after 50+ days of quarantine, and no PPP or CARES $ in sight, my two+ month long FREEZE started to thaw. Self-preservation kicked into gear. But what to do?

As I voraciously devoured any news item I could find, I kept getting riled by these astoundingly tone-deaf advertising pitches which left me disgusted. You know the drill:

In tough times like these…
We care about you.
We’re all in this together.
Now buy a car.

Ugh! Spare me. This dealership does not care about you or me. They aren’t helping our community. They are “purpose washing” to serve their own interests. A purpose charade parade. Right now, more than ever, we expect and demand more social impact from companies and not just over-reaching, fluffy, well-meaning marketing campaigns.

THE REFREEZE

So I started pondering: How could Graphic Granola approach our own services differently? At first, I considered giving away services to do-gooder orgs and biz. After all, I know that marketing budgets are the first to get cut in though times. Especially with the non-profit and do-gooder clients we serve. Sure, pro-bono work is all well and good, until I don’t have housing, bill, or food money to survive. OK, OK. What to do? Enter stage two of me stuck my my FREEZE zone.

I started looking around social media. What is it that I see too much of? Lots of bitching and grousing about our current state of affairs, including our own government’s beyond paltry response to our national crisis. Politicians publicly spouting that our economy is more important that the very lives of its citizens. Appalling. I do my fair share of RANT posts on my own social media feeds. But what about solutions? Or ideas to turn this around? I started searching for groups addressing this ripe and timely topic. And I came up empty. Where I see a need, that’s what I intend to fill.

PREPARE FOR DEFROST

So, first things first, I started a Facebook group all about exploring SOLUTIONS. With all the flaws this Covid-19 crisis continues to expose in our system, what opportunities are there now? What has this enforced pause brought forward? Exploring what's possible. As in new ways to structure our society. New, more productive and benevolent ways to live, share, connect, and thrive together. Celebrating interdependence, how we, as a community, can come together and create something which serves us all. How can we use this cataclysmic event as a springboard to create something new, something better, where everyone benefits.

A second aspect to this Facebook group is all about exploring how people are pivoting their businesses, their services, and their nonprofits, etc. in this time of Corona, our new normal. That research led to the idea of creating a booklet addressing ways in which you may already be pivoting, ideas for future pivots, what are growth areas to explore during the pandemic, and lastly to my own Graphic Granola pivot offering.

Check out the Positive Pandemic Pivot Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PositivePandemicPivots/

As Buckminster Fuller said:
“You never change things by fighting against the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.”

SLOWLY MELTING

Finally, I thought long and hard about what my clients need right now. Well, certainly, everyone is pivoting their purpose right now. Helping and serving in our new normal. Certainly their audiences need to know what they’re doing differently. Brands that are selfless or innovative for the greater good are making an indelible impression on the people that matter. And since we’re all sheltering in place, social media usage has shown a massive spike in numbers. Content creation on these platforms is critical because it gives them the opportunity to showcase thought leadership.

Eureka! Yes. Let’s promote what everyone is doing in response to this Coronavirus crisis. Creating visually branded social media packages with content detailing those Covid-19 pivot updates. Of course, you need to let your customers, clients, colleagues, and other audiences know what you’re doing to pivot your own products and services during the pandemic.

BIG THAW: My Pandemic Pivot

It took me a while to pull this all together. First needed to research and create the Doing The Pandemic Pivot booklet PDF. That took a couple of weeks. Then, how will I promote this? First a blog post (this very one), then a post to the Positive Pandemic Pivot Facebook group, then promote on all my social media platforms. First, I’d like to offer Graphic Granola’s Pivot deal to my current and past clients. And then, to cast that net even further, branch out into Facebook and Google ads.

So here we are. Two months later from when I started, and I’m just launching my Pivot inspired project now.

Since 5/22, we’ve had the lockdown lifted in stages. Sadly, way too early. We all knew what would happen when our Governor opened too soon. But that didn’t stop them, with our President scrambling to lift the economy, even at the cost of more lives. And that’s exactly what happened. Our Texas Covid-19 numbers have since skyrocketed. And while Governor Abbot refuses to issue a second stay-at-home order, those of us in the high risk category, knew enough to stay home anyway. And it has been such a long self-quarantine, I gotta say!

4/2/2020
3/24/2020
7/20/2020
17 weeks
119 days
4 months
32% of a year
6/26/2020

Stay at home first issued
But I started earlier
As of
I’ve been home

Reinstituted restrictions

No wonder I’m going stir crazy. I started my own self-sufficiency garden. Like you, I turned to digital media for socializing. Virtual happy hours. Video chat gabfests. Group games on Facebook. Online book clubs. Thank goodness for social media. Can you imagine if we had quarantine without the miracle of the internet?

At this rate, there’s no telling when we’ll be able to safely venture beyond home base. Certainly not until we have a vaccine, widespread testing, and contact tracing in place. All the more reason to work on your own Pandemic Pivot right now.

After that long-rambling background story, now I’ve brought us up to date.

Check out the Positive Pandemic Pivot Facebook group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PositivePandemicPivots/

Please check out and download our FREE Doing The Pandemic Pivot booklet PDF here: https://graphicgranola.com/pandemic-pivot-pdf

And if you’d like to learn more about Graphic Granola’s branded social media Pivot Package, click here: https://graphicgranola.com/pandemic-pivot-package

In solidarity, with kindness, cooperation, and mutual interdependence, we venture forward. Pivoting all along the way.

My Own Pandemic Panic Freeze, then (eventual) PIVOT

THE FIRST FREEZE

THE REFREEZE

PREPARE FOR DEFROST

SLOWLY MELTING

BIG THAW: My Pandemic Pivot