Vineet Singh, Group CMO, Embassy Group says that leveraging on the consumers’ need for a sense of community and togetherness will be the cornerstone for communication going ahead   Covid-19 has called for a reset. Through all the change and uncertainty, a new world has emerged. As the days turn to weeks and to months, our new normal is gradually taking shape. With screen time at an all-time high and a DIY attitude, where does it leave our favourite brands and businesses? While some have taken time to re-evaluate, others have quickly pivoted their businesses to suit the changing needs of today’s consumer. Brands are forced to get creative to engage their audiences, but not all will be able to keep up and deliver impactful results. What is most important at this time is our continued yearning as consumers for a sense of community and togetherness. Touching on this uniquely human need will be the cornerstone of communication for any smart and future thinking business. Marketing strategies, therefore, will take on a new look as they shift to focusing on bringing the brand to life and connecting on a human level. As internet consumption soars, we’ve been catapulted into the future, one we knew was on the horizon but suddenly, it is here. It’ll be imperative for brands to forge powerful digital connections. Face-to-face connections can be replaced with online ones, a meaningful lesson for marketers, who will have to mimic these same connections in their marketing strategies. Those that appear tone-deaf will quickly fall to the wayside. The surge in screen time may not change going forward in a post-Covid world. In light of this barrage of content, strategies should focus on messaging that stands out and makes an impact. Relevant content around the realities of our world can resonate and portray an authentic side to your brand – a more human one. At WeWork, our focus has always been on digital outreach and engagement. Our longstanding strategy of connecting online has put us in good stead as we navigate this time. Having said that, today more than ever before, we realize the importance of creating meaningful conversations on our platforms to ensure our community stays supported and engaged. For us, our members and employees are at the forefront of everything we do. We understand that there has been a shift in working environments and keeping in constant touch with our community is imperative. We ensure there is a constant line of communication with our members and employees. Recently, WeWork organized a ‘WeWork Wellness Week’ designed to help employees, colleagues and their friends and family prioritize their wellness during lockdown. A virtual Health and Wellness IP LIVE hosted on our social page saw multiple sessions led by wellness influencers to help our community refine their lifestyle whilst in lockdown. Members could put their green thumbs to use and learn to grow their own greens at home. In the month of June, as the world looked to celebrate Pride Month, members and employees of WeWork India were determined to show solidarity and stand with the LGBTQIA+ community across the country, even if it meant from a distance. We launched an initiative, known as ‘#PrideStreetofWe,’ a campaign aimed to move the on-ground experience of a celebratory parade online through a microsite. WeWork embodied the spirit of what would normally be a bustling month lined with innumerable parades, activities, events and the coming together of people across genders in support of the highly marginalized LGBTQIA+ community. If brands change their strategies now, it can act as a long-term investment once normalcy returns. The need of the hour is to rethink and consider the experiences we’re all going through and practice empathetic communication while sustaining meaningful conversation. The current situation will not last forever, but there are some invaluable lessons which have emerged that we can carry forward to better our connection with audiences.