A number of media brands are opening up their paywalls to provide in-depth coverage of the current pandemic situation. AdWeek is among them, offering free content access for registered members. And they’ve been producing reams of content on how COVID-19 is impacting marketing and advertising, and offering strategic ideas for brands in the wake of these unprecedented times.
“At Adweek, we’ve been hard at work bringing you the latest updates on event cancellations, industry impacts and news about what’s happening—and what’s next—across the advertising, marketing and media worlds in light of the coronavirus,” writes Jess Zafarris in AdWeek. “In fact, in the past week and a half we’ve published more than 130 in-depth articles about how COVID-19 is changing our industry.”
They are doing more than simply reporting, using their industry expertise to offer strategic ways forward for their readers. For example, in an article by Robert Klara titled “What Brands Can Do if the Coronavirus Drags on for Months,” suggesting that brands pivot to e-commerce and alternative ways to market to maintain their business.
Other topics they are covering are the “New World Order” that sales teams must navigate now that the face-to-face handshake is on the sideline and the “new normal for ad tech companies” as they deal with re-evaluated marketing budgets and channel strategies.
Zafarris also points out that now is a good time to reevaluate your brand’s safety tactics.
“As the global calamity unfolds, audiences are naturally turning to trusted online news sources,” writes Sara Jerde. “Normally, large audiences generating record numbers of clicks are good for publisher finances, but thanks to keyword blacklisting around coronavirus-related content, difficulties have arisen for publishers to monetize their most popular content with programmatic buys, further compounding a widespread freeze on advertiser spend. Can these conflicts be overcome as the crisis is set to define the news agenda?”
With so much uncertainty, it’s refreshing to watch AdWeek’s approach, delivering thoughtful content that can truly help in the one area they thoroughly understand. It’s a good example for any brand publishing content into this heightened state.
Let’s all look to solving the problems in our own areas of expertise.