Businessesonthefiringlineincluderestaurants, bars, movietheaters, gyms, hotels, cardealershipsandfurniturestores.
“Wehavecutbackhoursforourservers, butI’mtryingnottocutjobs,” saidTedTeschner, owneroftheMr. Dunderbak’srestaurant/pubinsideVolusiaMall. “We’relikeafamily. Manyofouremployeeshavebeenwithusforyears.”
“Butwecan’tkeeppayingthemthroughJuly,” hesaid, referringtoreportsonhowlongthecoronavirusoutbreakandtheneedforsocialdistancingcouldlast.
Itcouldbefarworsethanthat. U.S. TreasurySecretaryStevenMnuchinonTuesdaywarnedRepublicansenatorsthatthenationalunemploymentratecouldriseashighas 20% iftheyfailedtopassaproposedcoronavirusrescuepackage, accordingtonumerousnewsreports.
- Coronavirus: ShutdowncouldtriggerlayoffsinDaytonaarea, News-JournalOnline.com, March 18, 2020.
3. Adskeepmissingthegoalpostsontheclimateemergency, diversity, oceanplastic—pickatheme. Behindeverymisstepisbadadvice, lackofunderstandingorsomeonewhodidn’tlisten.
Themajorityofacompany’svalueisinevitablytiedtothebrand. Misstepscancostbillionsintheshortterm, like #DieselGateforVW, andothertimescanprovenearfatal, aswasthecaseforAmericanApparel, whichisnowonlifesupport.
Mostagenciesandmarketingdepartmentsareill-equippedatunderstandingandrespondingtothechallengesofourtime. Andsorrytosay, thereisnoquickbrandingfixtosystemicracism, rampantcarbonpollutionoranexcessivebuy-and-throw-awayculture. Butit’sundeniablytimetoliveuptooursharedresponsibility, whateversideofthetableyou’resittingon. Climatechange, populationgrowth, resourcescarcity, biodiversitylossandincreasinglyacidicoceansareonlysomeoftheissuesthatwillchallengeallbrands’ profitabilityandlong-termgrowth.