COVID-19 pandemic has force brands to adopt unique marketing strategies than the regular yearly plan that they follow. Things have changed upside down during this lockdown, your employees must be working from home, at places your product deliveries are paused, etc. Now it is a difficult station for the brands to survive and at the same time keep your consumers engaged. Your customers will remember you for what you have given them (approach) in this period.
There are few brands that have taken pandemic as a challenge and given out some extremely brilliant ideas of marketing on social media to the next level.
Here are a few examples of brands supporting to flatten the curve
Stay away from crowds, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. #StaySafe
Audi India
Stay at home, keep your distance, stay healthy, support each other – we are in this together. As a global company and a global community, our highest priority is to identify any opportunities to #flattenthecurve. Stay safe.View this post on Instagram
To help kids feel empowered and safe during the pandemic, we created COVID WARS.
All Birds
o our US healthcare community – we want to thank you for being on the front lines and helping to keep our communities healthy. We appreciate and admire everything you are doing. We hope a pair of Tuke Matcha Wool Runners on us might be a small token of our appreciation. Thank you.View this post on Instagram
We spun the charkha with our hands and won our freedom. Now, we must extend our hands to donate to all those in need and win the war against COVID-19. #HUL & #UNICEF urges you to be kind and generous in these trying times to help #BreakTheChain#VirusKiKadiTodo#BeKind
Tackle the #Coronavirus bouncer with a safety-first approach Follow all precautionary measures and stay safe. Let’s come through this pandemic together. #YehHaiNayiDilli #ThisIsNewDelhi #DelhiCapitalsView this post on Instagram
These were a few of the spotlight coronavirus ads supporting the cause, if you think we have missed on a few more best examples, please let us know in the comment section!
Watch Iconic COVID-19 Social Media Posts That Made an Impact
For Curious Minds
The pandemic accelerated the shift from abstract brand purpose to tangible, community-focused action. Companies recognized that maintaining relevance required them to address the immediate, collective anxieties of their audience rather than pushing products. For brands like Hindustan Unilever, this meant leveraging their massive reach for social good, understanding that building long-term trust was more valuable than short-term sales. This pivot to public service messaging reinforced their commitment to consumer well-being, transforming their role from a mere seller to a responsible community partner. This strategy demonstrates that in times of crisis, your brand's most valuable asset is its ability to provide genuine support and clear, helpful information. Learn more about how purpose-driven marketing builds resilience by exploring other examples in the full analysis.
Empathetic marketing during a crisis is defined by prioritizing audience well-being over commercial goals, communicating with sensitivity, and offering genuine support. It helps maintain engagement by reinforcing the human side of your brand, ensuring you remain memorable and trusted even when transactions are not possible. By focusing on shared experiences and offering support, as Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. did with its #CareWillOvercome message, you transform your relationship with customers from transactional to relational. This approach works because it acknowledges the current reality of your audience, builds emotional connection, and fosters loyalty that will outlast the crisis period. The full article provides more examples of how leading brands successfully implemented this strategy to stay connected with their communities.
Contributing to public service messaging was strategically crucial because silence during a collective crisis can be interpreted as indifference, which severely damages brand perception. By actively participating in spreading vital information, brands like Audi India and Hindustan Unilever demonstrated that they were invested partners in the community's well-being, not just passive commercial entities. This pivot from commerce to communication served two key purposes: it provided a genuine public service by leveraging their large audiences to amplify health guidelines, and it built significant brand equity and trust. In a world where consumers increasingly align with brands based on values, being a helpful and present voice during a difficult time ensures you are remembered favorably long after the crisis has passed.
Choosing between a broad message and a targeted action depends on your brand's core identity and operational capacity. Nike's #playinside was a brilliant use of its established brand voice, inspiring a global community through a shared value without needing complex logistics. In contrast, Allbirds' initiative to give shoes to healthcare workers was a tangible, direct act of service that aligned with its identity as a purpose-driven company. When deciding, you should evaluate:
Brand Authenticity: Does the action align with what your brand stands for?
Resource Availability: Can you execute a logistical campaign effectively?
Audience Connection: Will a broad message resonate more, or does your community value concrete support?
Both strategies can build immense goodwill if executed authentically. Dive deeper into how to select the right crisis response for your brand in our complete guide.
Indian brands like Dineout India and Delhi Capitals successfully pivoted by shifting their focus from their core offering to public health advocacy and community solidarity. Instead of promoting dining out or sports events, they used their platforms to reinforce crucial messages like social distancing and safety precautions. Their strategy worked because it was hyper-relevant, locally resonant, and demonstrated social responsibility. Regional businesses can learn that during a crisis, their most powerful tool is their connection to the local community. By pausing regular promotional content and instead amplifying helpful information and messages of unity, they build trust and maintain top-of-mind awareness for when normal business operations resume. Explore more examples of effective regional marketing pivots in the full article.
Visual communication was highly effective during the pandemic because it cut through the noise and conveyed complex information quickly and universally. McDonald’s India cleverly adapted its iconic golden arches to visualize social distancing, a concept that became instantly understandable without words. This approach transforms a brand's assets into educational tools, making the message both memorable and shareable. Similarly, Disney's “COVID WARS” used familiar creative styles to empower children and reduce their anxiety. These examples prove that a strong visual can simplify a serious message, increase its emotional resonance, and significantly boost its reach on crowded social media feeds. The complete post highlights other brands that mastered visual storytelling during the crisis.
Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. effectively built trust by shifting its focus from policy-centric communication to a deeply human message of hope and collective resilience with #CareWillOvercome. In a sector that people often associate with difficult claims and cold calculations, this campaign positioned the brand as an empathetic partner rather than just a provider. The strategy was successful because it directly addressed the widespread feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, offering emotional support instead of a sales pitch. By producing a message of solidarity, the company reinforced its core promise of “caringly yours” with a tangible, emotional demonstration, strengthening customer relationships at a time when genuine care was most needed. See how other financial sector brands adapted their messaging in the full analysis.
To pivot your social media strategy during a crisis, you must shift your focus from selling to serving. The core goal is to build community and trust by providing value beyond your product, as seen in the campaigns from brands like Nike and Audi India. A clear plan involves several steps:
Pause and Listen: Halt all scheduled promotional campaigns and monitor social conversations to understand your audience's immediate concerns.
Re-evaluate Your Messaging: Rework your content pillars to focus on empathy, support, and helpful information.
Provide Genuine Value: Create content that helps, entertains, or informs your audience in their new context.
Engage with Your Community: Actively respond to comments and foster a sense of togetherness.
This pivot ensures your brand remains relevant and respected. For a more detailed breakdown, examine the other successful case studies in the article.
The pandemic has permanently raised consumer expectations for brand responsibility and authenticity. The success of purpose-driven campaigns from companies like Nike and Hindustan Unilever shows that audiences now expect brands to act as positive societal forces, especially during crises. Going forward, a brand's values and its actions must be perfectly aligned, as empty gestures will be quickly called out. Companies should adjust by integrating corporate social responsibility directly into their core marketing strategy, not treating it as a separate function. This means having a crisis communication plan ready that prioritizes community support and clear, empathetic messaging. The full article explores how these new expectations will shape brand-consumer relationships in the years to come.
The pandemic cemented the evolution of corporate social responsibility from a siloed function to a central pillar of modern marketing strategy. The consumer response to campaigns from Nike and Audi India proved that purpose-driven actions are now a key driver of brand loyalty and differentiation. In the future, CSR will not be about an annual report; it will be about integrating societal well-being into every brand touchpoint. Marketing teams must now think like community leaders, asking how their campaigns can provide genuine value beyond the product. This means your brand's commitment to social issues must be authentic, consistent, and visibly integrated into your core brand narrative to meet the heightened expectations of today's consumer.
A common and critical mistake is 'purpose-washing', where a brand's supportive messaging is not backed by meaningful action. This often comes across as tone-deaf and exploitative, damaging brand trust. To avoid this, companies must follow the lead of brands like Allbirds, which didn't just talk about support but took the tangible step of donating shoes to healthcare workers. Authenticity in a crisis is demonstrated, not declared. The solution is to ensure your communication is directly linked to a concrete initiative, whether it is donating resources, leveraging your platform for public service announcements, or modifying your services to help the community. Your actions should always speak louder than your ads. Discover how other brands aligned their words and deeds effectively in the full analysis.
Dineout India solved the problem of irrelevance by completely inverting its core call to action, demonstrating remarkable agility and social responsibility. Instead of ignoring the reality of the lockdown, the company embraced it, using its influential platform to champion the public health message of staying home. This counterintuitive strategy worked because it prioritized customer safety over immediate business interests, building immense long-term credibility. By aligning its brand with the collective goal of public health, Dineout India maintained its relationship with its audience and kept its brand top-of-mind. This case shows that the best solution to a relevance problem is often to serve the community's most pressing need.
Amol has helped catalyse business growth with his strategic & data-driven methodologies. With a decade of experience in the field of marketing, he has donned multiple hats, from channel optimization, data analytics and creative brand positioning to growth engineering and sales.
Growth Strategy and Planning
