As part of our new series, ‘Marketers Playbook for 2020 Post COVID-19″,  Ashim Mathur, Senior Director Marketing, Emerging Markets, Dolby Laboratories says that brands need to remember the strength in collaboration and joining forces with others to make a difference.

As the world continues to grapple with the pandemic, we are all witnessing challenging times. The governments and healthcare systems around the world are working dedicatedly towards controlling its spread, yet individuals and organizations are feeling its impact. Our communities need each other now, more than ever before. People need reassurance, support, understanding, education and resources. With an uncertain business environment, companies are trying to replough the resources in new creative ways.

Brands are thinking, operating and reinventing their marketing approach in novel ways that does not deplete their equity and trust. Brands can play a critical role to winning the fight against the ongoing pandemic by focusing on ‘Solving and not Selling’. And this could be the new normal hereon.

I see brands chartering a near term and a long-term view for their GTM approach. In the immediate to near term, rather than being dormant, I see brands playing a critical role by using their resources and creativity to make a difference. We have been reading about many brands channeling their production acumen to produce lifesaving equipment and partnering government agencies etc.

Brands need to remember the strength in collaboration. Joining forces with others to make a difference. People are extremely creative, extremely innovative. We should learn & work with them, collaborate and use their strengths to strike meaningful conversations. For example, at Dolby, we realize that in this age of live streaming, musicians and content creators around the world are creating their music at home and live streaming it for their audiences on social media to keep them entertained and more crucially, indoors. With this high demand to capture great sound at home, we gauged the need for a music and video recording app and introduced Dolby On, which is made available globally for both Android and iOS users. Dolby On is an app which easily records and live streams audio and video with superior audio quality using just your phone, so you can capture the moment when it strikes with incredible Dolby sound.

Similarly, we are constantly developing numerous collaborative partnerships with streaming services and OEMs to ensure that our consumers get an immersive cinematic experience at home, without stepping out. Through our digital presence, we are working on awareness and education campaigns for consumers on Dolby technology and how they can make the most of it while they stay home and stay entertained.

But as we travel through these difficult times, brands must be conscious and empathetic to the world’s concerns. Companies must aim at promoting positive messages and feel-good content that will help reduce anxiety and at the same time build confidence in the brand. Consumers can perceive genuineness and true purpose. Companies need to show that their offerings hold the merit and are not directed at commercial gains.

As long as we remember to ‘solve and not sell’, in the long term, our customers will be reassured by our current positive brand actions and commitment shown now. Remember to communicate with compassion, empathy and with facts.

Unquestionably, world communication has taken a new form, but work must go on.