THE Pandemic Pivot
My Pandemic Pivot Inspiration
If you’re like me, your business has slowed down considerably due to Covid-19. Sure, we all hope the vaccines will save the day and we can all return to normal. But with a year-long shutdown, government assistance lacking and far between, some states opening up too early (howdy, Texas), and 39% of Americans saying they won’t take the vaccine, we don’t have any idea what the future holds. We need to prepare for whatever is next, right now.
So, I wanted to create Covid-19 pivoting resources to help us all adapt to our new normal. Or, rather, our “next normal.”
First I did some research, started brainstorming, and questioned: What do organizations and businesses need to be doing? Initially, we should address what we are currently doing to slow down the virus and to protect ourselves, our teams, and our communities.
Secondly, I thought, what are things we can do to pivot our own operations? Where are the opportunities to adapt to our new situation? How can we help ourselves, by helping others?
Next, I researched how our society’s needs have changed. What are the new growth industries? Pivoting operations entirely. Perhaps that’s a reinvented pivot worth considering?
And finally, I thought, what can I do, as a designer/visual communication professional, to help organizations and enterprises adapt their brands and let their audiences know what they’re doing differently in the time of Covid-19?
Promote How You’re Taking Precautions for Covid-19
Promote your own branding by letting your communities know if you…
Provide help and protection for our employees (including keeping them on payroll)
Provide deep cleaning/disinfecting our place of business
Create PPE (Personal Protection Equipment: masks, gloves, gowns, plexiglass barriers, etc.)
Shift services to help Covid-19 patients or first responders
Reconfigure our physical space to accommodate health care or first responder needs
Offer discounts for first responders
Contribute a percentage of proceeds to Covid-19 relief efforts
Create strategies for contactless services
Offer (no or minimal contact) delivery services
Feed people who are most vulnerable
Provide grants or loans for those hardest affected
Offer emotional and mental health support
Ease the burden placed upon marginalized communities
Adjust or create offerings to help impacted customers or prospects
Cut fees and/or add products/services
Provide scaled-back offerings
Repurpose/reposition existing products or services
Serve a different audience based on current need
Retrofit your offerings in line with new consumer demands
With schools in flux, offer students, caregivers & teachers access to resources
Create online content (entertainment, education, etc.)
Offer virtual classes or online workshops
Move from physical to virtual galas and fundraisers
Offer subscription or gift boxes
Offer more volunteer opportunities
Form strategic partnerships with like-minded businesses or organizations
pivot ideas
Tangible Pivots
Consider home delivery
Consider curbside pick-ups
Offer free shipping, local delivery, and pickup
Pivot from product offerings to service offerings
Create TO-GO packages
Create date night boxes
Discount underperforming stock
Produce care packages
Go mobile: Go to them
Offer family size packages
Offer DIY kits
Create an emergency kit
Cater to healthcare workers and first responders
Provide sanitation services
Going Virtual Pivots
Promote a remote culture
Provide entertainment
Livestream some classes
Offer virtual classes
Offer video consulting
Stream live events
Repurpose your content for digital consumption
Shift away from face-to-face to video consultation
Offer virtual workshops
Offer online training
Provide online group viewing or chat parties
Shift to video consultation
Provide virtual workshops
Build a shoppable Instagram feed
Think Like Your Customers or Clients. What Do They Need?
Throw in a free sample with orders
Enroll in an after-pay service so consumers can pay over time
Offer a loyalty program
Promote gift cards
Bundle like services or products
Create social experiences on social media
Provide ways your customers/clients can still support you
Offer Buy Now-Pay Later options
Offer pre-buy or pre-scheduling discounts
Provide free inspections & estimates
Support your community with your business-specific donations or services
Pledge a percentage of proceeds to an aligned, suitable charity
Try Focusing on an Inward Pivot
Diversify your offerings
Serve a different audience
Go where the market leads
Cater more to indoor lifestyles
Utilize the same basic ingredients, but pivot to a different product
Utilize the same product, but pivot to a different delivery system
Utilize the same product, but pivot to a different customer
Utilize the same product, but pivot to a different customer experience
Growth opportunities
Pitching To Home Base
Consider offering E-Learning
Provide professional stylists coaching for home haircuts or beauty treatments
Rebrand existing textiles as paper-towel replacements
Offer outdoor home services including gutters, roofs, and painting
Provide fitness coaching and/or in-home exercise equipment
In Demand: Fitness equipment retailers
In Demand: Online fitness coaching
In Demand: Outdoor furniture
In Demand: Online groceries and last-mile distribution centers
In Demand: Food delivery services
In Demand: Telemedicine & online healthcare (supplies, pharmaceutical, insurance, etc.)
Provide delivery services (pharmaceutical, alcohol, grocery, daily essentials, take-out, etc.)
In Demand: Sleep & loungewear
In Demand: Home storage solutions
In Demand: Kitchen accessories
Home & Recreation
In Demand: Ergonomics equipment
In Demand: Routers and signal boosters for home internet
In Demand: 5G and the growth of bandwidth requirements
In Demand: Laptop stands & lap desks
In Demand: Virtual meetings, video conferencing, & workplace collaboration platforms
In Demand: Cybersecurity software, consulting, and insurance
In Demand: Social media services
In Demand: Online media & entertainment
Live stream events, concerts, & performances
In Demand: Online dating, dating apps, & matchmaking services
Podcasting is growing, plus its related software and equipment
In Demand: Playspaces for kids
In Demand: Gaming entertainment
In Demand: Gaming consoles, platforms, & accessories
In Demand: Online bars
In Demand: Virtual vacations
Host virtual game nights, DJ dance parties, etc.
Keeping It Clean
Develop bacteria-killing paint or surfaces
Create contactless door openings
Offer hygienic kiosks
Offer Full Body Sterilizers
In Demand: Disinfecting drones
In Demand: Lean retail storefronts with direct shipping versus capital-intensive footprints and staffing
In Demand: Dark kitchens (virtual restaurants without tables; delivery/pickup)
Provide PPE
Give out branded hand sanitizers
Provide personalized face masks
Future-Focused Growth Industries
Robotics
Augmented reality
Freezer and cooler supply chain
Localized sourcing
Supply chain resilience
Shipping & logistics providers
Power & utility retailers
Resilient ecosystems
3D printing services
Sharing services (trucks, equipment, tools, etc.)
Volunteer management
Pivot back into business by letting your audiences know what you’re doing to deal with Covid-19. Show and tell what you are actually doing to alleviate the Covid-19 situation. That’s where Graphic Granola’s own Pandemic Pivot steps in. We’ll take your specific Pandemic Pivot message(s) and help you spread it across social media, with your own visual branding.
Graphic Granola’s
Pandemic Pivot Package
3 Social Media Platforms + 3 Different Messages
Choose up to 3 different social media platforms with 3 different messages to let your audience know what you’re doing to alleviate the Covid-19 pandemic.
With Your Visual Branding
You just supply us with your logo, brand colors, and any other brand elements you have, and we’ll craft your graphics to reflect your established visual branding.
In a Discounted Package
That’s 9 different branded graphics to publicize your own PANDEMIC PIVOT all over social media, altogether for a package rate of only $500 (valued over $1,000).