These chaotic times make it difficult to know what you should be doing with your brand. You want to connect with those you hope to serve. At the same time, you don’t want people to feel like you are one of the many opportunists out there who see the state of our world as a chance to profit from people’s uncertainty.

How do we make a judgment about what we should do?

A rule to brand by

One of the greatest urgings I’ve heard during the pandemic is to ‘help others live without fear’.

If we're considering a brand effort and we're wondering if we should or shouldn't do it, this one axiom can become our guiding principle. Should we proceed? If our effort will profit by exploiting someone's uncertainty, the answer is no.

In fact, if our effort is sowing seeds of uncertainty, we should look at what we're doing and see if we can reposition it so our brand can become a champion for helping others live without fear.

There is a lot of uncertainty out there. People don't need us to push them over the line that separates uncertainty and fear. But more than that, there is a real opportunity here to do something that can help those we hope to serve. Our brands can become the promoters of hope.

Embracing that stance has long-term implications for our brands that exploiting fear simply can't match. There is a halo effect that can surround our brands. A halo powered by hope.