Disclaimer: the content of this article is primarily about my personal reaction to the Covid-19 crisis, and how our brand is reacting to it. It is not meant as a long-format status update on the team’s incredible effort in distributing masks to healthcare providers. Where the article started was as a status update, but then quickly changed due to an unexpected encounter with a firefighter (don’t worry, the encounter was totally benign and unrelated to the current crisis). To him, and to everyone else who’s dealing with real Covid-19 issues, thank you. What you guys are doing is truly heroic.
As I sat down to write this article at 11PM Saturday, I intended it to be framed from the perspective of optimism in uncertain times. The Trilogía team had spent the past three weeks in top gear, with the ‘soul’ mission of getting masks to the front lines. During that time we raised $45,000 and counting to buy over 20,000 masks for medical care providers. You can visit www.trilogia.com to learn more about the campaign.
I had only really knew that the title would be “Covid-19: a Defining Moment For Brands” when the fire alarm in my son’s room started to beep. Calmly my wife soothed our crying baby while my 4 year old miraculously slept through the beeping in our bedroom. I proceed to scrub a number of YouTube videos to find a quick fix. We changed the batteries, but the alarm still beeped. We reset the alarm, it still beeped. We went through blogs, more YouTube videos, and even a few text messages to find a solution; unfortunately nothing was working. At midnight, out of concern for waking up our neighbors, we called the fire department.
A firefighter came almost immediately. He wore a surgical mask, and was polite and cordial when entering my home. On the opposite side of the transaction was me, also polite and cordial, but acutely aware that this man has been on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis here in Seattle for over a month. I didn’t think to ask him his name, and in retrospect, he probably sensed my anxiety in his presence. I did ask him how he was doing, and he simply replied he was “hanging in there.” When I probed further, specifically about Covid-19, he said “I’ve been dealing with it non-stop.”
He was in our condo for less than 3 minutes. He immediately identified the problem, explained it concisely, and fixed it. I thanked him, and he was gone, back outside to deal with far more harrowing emergencies. After he left my wife and I sanitized all of the areas where he had been, and what he touched.
Now, sitting back down at my computer to the blank page and only the title, I realize what a watershed moment Covid-19 represents to me personally, my company, and our culture.
About two months ago I was at peak optimism. The Trilogía team had worked our tails off to prepare for Expo West, every single one of us contributing to our brands first real moment in the sun. In the weeks leading up to the show information about the Corona virus (at the time newly coined “Covid-19”) started to spread. Our team vacillated on attending, varying from “no way we’re not going” to “maybe some of us, the immune compromised, should sit out.”
Ultimately the team decided we had to go. We thought the risk low, and we worked too damn hard not to attend. If you’re interested to see some of the amazing work we did for that trade show, so am I, because it never came to be. A few days before our flights the organizers of Expo West canceled the show. In an e-mail they let everyone know that everything was being set up, and that there were already hundreds if not thousands of people in Anaheim unpacking their booths. As a team we didn’t know what to think, nor how to react, except to simply put another foot forward and say “well, we’ll be more prepared next time.”
My optimism dissolved quickly in the proceeding weeks. Investors got cold feet. Opportunities stalled. The money in my life (what I like to think of as a form of energy) still flowed, but slower and weaker, and in one direction. Through this process, what emerged from the meltdown was hardened and more focused. My priorities shifted quickly, I began to plan more (a lot more), and looked less into the distance and more into the immediate future for solutions. In life I’m naturally bullish. Put your head down, and go. Currently, I am very bearish.
What does it mean to be bearish? As a brand, as a father, as a person? The term “bearish” is typically associated with a falling stock market. Because of this, bears get a bad wrap. Fundamentally, bear markets mean a period of prolonged price declines. People sell stock, often out of widespread pessimism and uncertainty. During these times, a few people, the bears, can actually make a lot of money.
Bearish Brands
Bearish brands are tight, strategic, conservative. That doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to be innovative. It means we’re rebuilding to last through a longer-than-usual winter. Bearish brands realize that resources are more precious, and time the most important of all. Bearish brands focus on putting food on the table, on identifying where the next win will come, and how to stack those wins together to ride out the winter.
In terms of branding specifically, there’s a lot less bullshit, because the bull is out of the picture entirely. The dance with the matador is over, and the crowds are gone. Focused, honest, and responsible is the way forward. Now is the time to forage, conserve, and prepare.
Cal Chan is the President of Trilogía, a Santa Cruz Wellness Company. Check-out Trilogia.com to learn more about us, and the things we believe.