In this environment, talking about marketing can feel like we are taking advantage of the current crisis. Selfish and VERY strange. But it is exactly during these times of crisis that we must step-up and examine the role we play as marketers and brands to drive the economy. The consumers who buy our products on the shelf at the store (or online, with this new normal) are made up of people, just like you and me. If you work in advertising, the same goes for the brands that you serve. These are all people; they have fears and dreams. Mortgages and stock options. Friends, neighbors, siblings and grandparents. There are so many things to worry about. Our brand partners are also worrying about their people – the staff that work in fulfillment centers, the customers they serve and the communities they volunteer in. The lives that we touch as marketers are in the millions, and even in the face of uncertainty, we must continue on. But we must do it with empathy, keeping all of those people in the center of the choices we make. At MMI, we are here to serve you, both the brands we work with and all of our sister agencies and small businesses who are looking for help. We are undaunted by the task ahead of us. To help you manage your business through this time, we have created a brand playbook you can use. It’s compiled of actionable next steps based on our long experience with consumer understanding and our path-to-purchase obsession, as well as our deep understanding of integrated communication crisis strategy for global brands. We have also leveraged global learnings from our sister agencies, ForwardPMX and HarrisPoll.

1. Business Continuity Planning
MA NA GING C OMP L E X C H A NGE : C OV ID -1 9

2. 2
Our business was founded to help brands reach their
consumers in new ways that fuel growth, and we have
been doing that with a passion for 33 years. The current
health crisis makes what we do as an agency more
important than ever before.
We are undaunted by the task ahead of us, and we are here
to serve you as your partners. We have created this brand
playbook based on our long experience with consumer
understanding and our path-to-purchase obsession, as well
as our deep understanding of integrated communication
crisis strategy for global brands. We have also leveraged
global learnings from our sister agency, ForwardPMX, for
your consideration. We know you are experiencing great
changes in your world, from supply chain volatility to
messaging challenges to consumers turning inward. We
encourage you to be bold during this time and to make
choices that will continue to strengthen your business.
We hope this playbook serves to inspire you in this time
of adversity.
This playbook can be used in several ways:
• Internally, you can use this as inspiration to consider
what proactive and reactive solutions will get you
through this time of crisis during what we know is a busy
time for your business.
A Note to Brands
M A G G I E M A L E K , C E O
• Externally, you can share this with your other agency
partners as thought starters for conversations as you go
into planning for the new fiscal year.
• From a long-term perspective, we hope that this playbook
will be useful to you in thinking about messaging and
crisis preparedness through any business challenge, not
just the one we are facing as a team today.
The health, safety and general well-being of our MMI family,
our clients and the communities that those brands reach with
their messages is always our top priority. Like many, we are
working from home. We are taking care of our loved ones and
doing our best to protect those around us. But in this time of
adversity, we also believe in our commitment to the
work we do to drive the economy and keep businesses
thriving.
Our MMI family is agile, scrappy, creative and dynamic.
Although we are separated by distance, we remain
together in spirit. We are each facing very different
circumstances, but we are facing them together. We will
help our brands drive their business. We will help your
consumers get what they need to not only survive, but to
flourish. And, we will do it together.

3. All brands should be asking questions to help identify appropriate messaging or to help make strategic
campaign decisions that are authentic. As the situation evolves, so too should your messaging.
Change is inevitable. Asking the right questions can ensure a solid strategy.
Are your customers looking for your product/service amidst the COVID-19 pandemic?
Are your customers looking for relief from constant health crisis news coverage?
How are customers consuming content/information during the COVID-19 pandemic?
How has customers’ behaviors changed?
T H O U G H T- L E A D E R S D U R I N G T I M E S O F C R I S I S
During uncertain times, people look to experts and organizations they trust for advice, guidance
and assurance. How are you or your organization responding to and supporting the current landscape on a
global scale, for employees, for your customers, or at a philanthropic level?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4. 4
Global Industry Impact
It’s important to understand that not all
industries are suffering. Industries that focus
on digital products and services have, in
general, seen an uplift in sales. There has also
been an increase in the insurance and health
care sectors.
Travel and luxury have seen the biggest
impact to their bottom lines. The good news
is that businesses in these sectors typically
have powerful brands with years of equity.
Taking appropriate steps now positions them
well for a strong recovery.
T H E F A C T O R S I N F L U E N C I N G
M A R K E T E R S D E C I S I O N - M A K I N G
The need to adapt
marketing strategies
depends greatly on
the penetration of
the virus.
The ripple effects of
supply chain disruption
need to be considered
to mitigate future
economic and
consumer impact.
Outbreak maturity
needs to be
understood to
correctly manage
the marketing
approach.
NUMBER OF CASES OUTBREAK MATURITYSUPPLY CHAIN
Travel
Luxury
Retail
FMCG
Norm
Health care
Insurance+ -
G L O B A L I N D U S T R Y I M P A C T

5. Communication and Content
As ForwardPMX found, previous health crises, such as SARs, have shown a dramatic shift in consumer behavior
and sentiment. Fear drives consumers to respond physically ("nesting" behavior) and psychologically (risk
aversion), which has a considerable knock-on effect to how people relate to brands. Understanding these
shifting behaviors and providing timely solutions to consumer needs can be the differentiator that brands need
to successfully navigate disruption.
+20% mobile usage in China
during self-isolation

6. 6
Communicate authentically in an uncertain time.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and each element of your communication strategy might differ depending on the industry,
location, marketing tactics, primary communication channels, audience demographic and type of product or service.
A U T H E N T I C I T Y A N D R E L E V A N C Y
• Be adaptable and adjust messaging according to the increasing state of
anxiety many will be feeling while remaining authentic to the brand.
• Think globally, execute locally – this crisis is happening on a global
scale; however, each individual is experiencing it in a different way
depending on their location and socioeconomic status. Broad brush
statements won’t work. Targeted messaging is critical.
• Avoid leaning into messaging around the health crisis if it doesn’t make
sense to your brand. It is critical to stay natural and organic to your brand,
product/service and tone of voice.
• If acknowledging the health crisis, be mindful and empathetic to the
human impact.
• Messaging should be tailored to the channel. For example, Instagram is
being used as an escape where people are seeking content to "take a
break" from the health crisis while Twitter is serving more as an
information source for immediate commentary on the current landscape.
• Avoid inserting your brand into any conversation on social unless it’s
from your fans/followers.
• Risk assess topics that might appear tone deaf and either rework or
shift content to a later date.
• If relevant to your industry, share official government account content.
• Reconsider earned public relations strategies unless directly related to
the current crisis. Media will be on round-the-clock breaking news cycles
for the foreseeable future.
• Transparency will be key around several topics; however, make a
judgment call on how and when this information is communicated.
Topics could include:
• Current sanitation practices for distribution centers or retail
• Shipping times and cutoffs
• Operating hours for you and your partners
• If employees are currently working, and if they aren’t, if they
being paid
The messaging used during a health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can either reinforce brand trust or erode it. To
help guide organizations, the following key principles are worth considering.

7. 7
• Assess messaging daily during a crisis. Behaviors may shift over time,
so it’s vital to be alert to the changing needs of your customers.
• Evaluate competitor content to see how the industry is positioning
and reacting.
• How are their customers reacting to content you like and content
you don’t like?
• How often are competitors in your industry communicating?
• Be flexible with content posting.
• Be flexible in posting times and number of posts and be willing
to reschedule or repost if needed.
• Evaluate content for relevancy and shift if needed.
• Revise or remove copy if it seems tone-deaf.
• Example: "#SundayScaries, Let’s go outside; Hang out
with your girlfriends and have a spa party!"
• Ensure content stays true to brand promise.
• Balance a sense of urgency without inducing panic. CTAs like
"limited time only," or "supplies running out" may drive CTR, but
they might also induce panic buying that
negatively impacts inventory.
Adapt key messages and tactics.
Assess current messaging every day and adjust to ensure relevancy in the current environment.
• Consider what the audience is most looking for – a reprieve from
the stress of the crisis, online ordering of products, shared
experiences of social distancing from trusted influencers, tips on
working from home with family, pets, roommates and children, and
exercising out at home.
• Consider where your audience is right now and be dynamic.
• Online shopping and home delivery are steeply increasing.
Pivot in-store activations and promotions and drive followers to
e-commerce and online sites.
• Consider how your audience is consuming content right now.
• Leverage more video content.
• In the current environment, you might see more appetite for
long-form content.
• Monitor consumer sentiment and media performance by leveraging
digital tools, platforms and lean tactics to get insights quickly.
• Mine this data for insights to further evolve your messaging,
creative and media choices as a crisis unfolds.

8. Based on Nielsen data from
prior major crises in recent U.S. history that
forced consumers to stay home,
total TV usage increased by nearly
60%.
Live streaming across YouTube, Twitch,
Facebook and Mixer grew by more than
66%
in Italy between the first week of February
and this past week, according to StreamElements.
Paid Media

9. 9
Responsive, agile media and creative are key.
As a crisis evolves, brands must maintain continuity and flexibility to sustain consumer confidence.
Consumers’ media choices are hugely impacted by the growing work and travel restrictions. Behaviors may shift, so
it's vital to adapt to the changing needs of your customers.
Embrace change, empathy and quick wins to better protect the brand
and media investments against a volatile market.
• Avoid committing to creative or channels with huge production lead times or
little value to consumers outside of their homes.
• Pause ads against news channels, media or geographies where consumers need
critical, life-saving information. A brand’s pre-roll or text overlay should never delay
lifesaving content on social channels or livestreams.
• Proactively update brand safety whitelists and blacklists for consumer searches.
Brands may want to remove themselves from a conversation completely to ensure
audience targeting is relevant and timely.
• Invest in biddable media that can be turned on or off quickly as the crisis matures.
• Ensure your promotional calendars add value. Promotions and messaging should
be in service of your consumers and their needs at this time without seeming
opportunistic. If possible, prioritize investment in promotions for must-have products
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Communicate if your products are available for BOPIS (buy online, pick up in
store). Online ordering and order pickups will increase as consumers stock up for the
unknown and consumers try to avoid contact with others. If retailers still have foot
traffic, focus ads on product bundles for added cart value.
Boldly invest and fill the
funnel now to gather data
and protect the brand as
future supply chain and
fulfillment risks are higher
than ever.

10. 10
The pandemic is global, but the impact is hyperlocal.
Media and creative should be able to be flexible by channel for national, regional and hyperlocal updates to
ensure the brand's messaging is timely and relevant. People are experiencing varying degrees of disruption in
their lives and local communities as the crisis rapidly evolves. Our media choices should adapt accordingly.
• Facebook feeds often include livestreams from local officials or vital
community updates. While it may feel like there’s been a spike in
Facebook activity as friends and family connect and seek out
community news, brands need to ensure they have something
valuable to add to the coronavirus conversation.
• Instagram or TikTok may be more appropriate for light-hearted
communication about #quarantinelife updates – as long as this
content was authentic to the brand audiences pre-crisis.
• eCRM can provide in-depth business updates and directions to
safely and conveniently purchase products.
• Print consumers may have very real contact safety concerns, and
print advertising requires little to no flexibility or agility against
potential disruption to mail services.
• Influencers can create content about ways to reduce stress, educate
audiences about online purchase opportunities, and create high-quality,
longer-form content.
• Paid search spend can be an effective way to gain excess share of voice
if spend is maintained while others cut costs.
• Display advertising opportunities may increase with app downloads
as people spend more time at home. Delivery and game app downloads,
in general, have surged as a result of the coronavirus. In China, app
downloads over the first two weeks of February were 40% higher than the
average for all of 2019.
• TV on demand content will explode even further as theaters shutter their
doors and consumers crave quality, longer-form content.
Brands can't stay silent forever, but they do need to understand human behavior and people’s emotional state of mind.
Consumers will remember where and how brands spoke to them during a crisis.

11. 11
Leverage existing creative assets.
Activate quickly and make the most of your existing creative assets by repurposing them across the appropriate digital platforms.
S O C I A L W E B S I T EC O N N E C T E D T V D I G I T A L B A N N E R S
Leverage existing longer form motion and static assets in the
following ways:
• Cut down long-form video to create shorter assets for social,
connected TV and digital banners.
• Create 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16 formats to maximize in-feed and story
placements across social.
• Leverage static imagery to create animated montages by
zooming into or panning across existing photography.
• Create multiple versions of animated assets by incorporating
various messaging concepts.
Optimize brand websites with the following considerations
in mind to:
• Ensure the fewest clicks possible to drive to an online retailer or
convert to a sale on DTC.
• Allow for easily shopping top-selling products from the homepage.
• Update content on PDPs if needed to feature products, products in
use, how-to content, and less obvious features of products.
• Ensure that content on PDPs is optimized for fastest page loading.

12. 74.6%
of U.S. internet users said they'd be
likely to avoid shopping centers and
malls if the coronavirus outbreak in the
country worsens and over half would
avoid shops in general.
E-commerce

13. 13
E-commerce is surging.
In a period of growing unease and supply chain volatility, now is the time to overdeliver on brand and
operational strengths while planning business model contingencies.
Growing fears in the crisis are leading to an increase in online sales. China’s largest online retailer, JD.com, saw sales of common
household staples quadruple over the same time period last year. Brands that can support e-retail or DTC services should
communicate clearly and quickly and remove barriers to purchase where possible. It's a risky time for brands to launch a wholly
new, untested DTC environment if your brand can’t keep pace with demand or deliver true value to consumers in need.
T E C H N O L O G Y
• Check your technology stack to ensure it can support an additional
increase in traffic loads.
• Make payments convenient and policies clear.
• Explicitly state a refund policy online if you don’t have one already.
• Ensure the checkout process is as seamless as possible. Consider
payment integration with Amazon, PayPal and Apple Card.
• Offer compelling online coupons in the absence of any print
coupons.
• Be on the alert for possible fraudulent bulk orders and work with
payment gateways or platform technologies to reduce these
attempts. An e-store management can help mitigate these practices.
• Host events online using streaming technology or recordings.
S U P P LY C H A I N
• Think carefully about sales channel prioritization and inventory
needs. Certain online retailers can punish products that are out of stock
for extended periods of time.
• Manage strong relationships with retailers. Merchants, like Target and
Walmart, will almost certainly experience supply chain disruption, a
drop in casual in-store shopping, and an increase in purchases of
essential toiletries, groceries and health care items. However, online or
order pickup surges may skyrocket. If a brand's own DTC supply chain is
disrupted, driving traffic to a retail partner's product pages may be a
solid alternative to drive purchases online.
• Set up inventory alerts and ensure a seamless connection between
media, e-commerce and media teams.
• Communicate any safety measures the brand takes around
manufacturing, shipping and handling to build consumer trust

14. 14
E-commerce continued
C O N T E N T
• Review your retailer product detail pages to ensure the
messaging is still timely and relevant to the current climate.
• Update your brand website and social media with any changes to
your work hours, shipping delays or event/service cancelations.
• Link to a COVID-19 landing page with information on shipping,
sanitation practices and employee safety.
• Answer these FAQs:
• Is it safe to order and why?
• Are you paying employees who can’t work right now?
• What do shipping timelines look like?
• Is there a cap on what I can order?
• Write a blog article or develop a landing page that details what
your business is doing to keep your products and customers safe.
• Update promotional language or offers to be sensitive to current
consumer hardships.
S E R V I C E S
• Invest in solid customer service and support.
• Leverage a live chat function to update customers in real
time.
• Create or support a forum (either on-site or in social) and
actively respond to questions and concerns from your
community.
• Use email marketing or text message alerts to communicate
changes to your business or offerings.
Embrace change,
empathy and quick wins
to protect your brand.

15. 15
Immediate Actions
ü Review all active and planned messaging with a hypercritical eye.
Remove or change anything immediately that can be misconstrued as
insensitive or does not align with official guidances (i.e., promoting
social gatherings).
ü Review all media plans through the summer and determine
contingency plans for OOH, events and production. Ensure you have
clear dates for when decisions/swaps need to be made.
ü Review retail messaging and determine contingency plans to pivot
to e-retail or e-commerce, if possible.
ü Consider pivoting messaging in owned influencer content from
"inspirational" to "practical" and "helpful" within the current
environment.
ü As conversations around self-care and online shopping are on the
rise, look for ways to genuinely be a part of those conversations,
and monitor for changes as the crisis evolves.
ü Proactively update brand safety whitelists and blacklists to
remove the brand from consumer searches and conversations.
What steps can brands
take today?

16. Thank you.