Roughing Up the Brand Image

via your classmate Griffin:

“Fighting is a part of hockey; it belongs in the game!” Old and new school hockey fans have clashed over this sentiment for many years, with few NHL organizations actually taking a discernable stance on the matter. However, the Washington Capitals have recently faced criticism on their brand communications regarding the recent actions of the often-controversial Tom Wilson. Wilson drew the ire of hockey fans after pushing the face of opponent Pavel Buchnevich into the ice, followed by what could only be described as a body slam on Rangers star Artemi Panarin. While these actions obviously reflect on Wilson’s motives as a player, how does this relate to the brand of the Capitals?

Well, with the league recently facing accusations of negligence in protecting player safety, the social media manager of the Capitals decided to stir the pot a little bit (see screenshot above). Many fans were upset with the insensitive nature of the tweet, as Wilson’s actions sidelined Panarin for the remainder of the Rangers’ season. While Wilson did not face any disciplinary action further than a fine, the team later deleted the tweet, noting that it “didn’t meet the team’s social media standards”. Going forward, the Capitals may want to consider re-evaluating their social media response strategy, possibly requiring more oversight when posting. Backlash similar to what was observed reflects negatively on the brand the actions that caused it were unnecessary and somewhat callous. Interestingly enough, the Rangers went on to release a statement in which they questioned the fitness of the league for maintaining player safety; they were subsequently fined $250,000 for their actions. Go figure.

To learn more, check out these articles:

https://theathletic.com/2565456/2021/05/04/tom-wilson-the-capitals-tweet-and-what-happened-against-the-rangers/ (paywall)

Washington Capitals quietly delete Tom Wilson tweet after backlash

https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-fines-new-york-rangers-for-comments-on-player-safety-director-george-parros/c-324413156

Alexa, Play the McDonald’s Playlist…?

via your classmate Devon:

With the fight for consumer attention becoming increasingly more complex, Founder & CEO of Believe Advertising, Adrian Falk, says it’s time for brands to create their own Spotify playlists to captivate their audience. This idea stems from the belief that the social media landscape has become overly saturated and companies need to begin their search for the next medium format to amplify their brand presence.

Spotify has millions of active users using their platform and offers the potential for brands to reach new audiences while connecting to them in a most intimate manner: music. With this comes a means to “bring a brand to life,” which I believe is similar to what Wendy’s and many others have done successfully over the past decade while developing their brand personality and voice through social media. Another interesting argument made in this article is how revealing music can be, and how companies can utilize the information about a person’s interests to analyze their customer base.

In my opinion, the most compelling aspect of the article was the example provided through Starbucks. By creating playlists that represent the the brand’s environment, the company is extending their reach by allowing customers to bring the feeling of a warm Starbucks café into their homes.

While originally I thought the idea of this might be slightly farfetched, I had a similar mindset when prominent brands such as Wendy’s and Arby’s started replying on social media to other brands in unorthodox ways, posting memes, and began posting TikTok’s to capture the attention of their audience. I suppose it shows that attempts to garner consumers’ attention are bound to go in unexpected directions.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/369349

We Need Some Q and A about QAnon

via your classmate Emily:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wayfair-online-conspiracy-theory-1.5657192

In summer 2020 a conspiracy theory was circling that online housewares brand Wayfair was trafficking children. Now this is nothing to joke about, but consumers claimed products were named after some missing children and the selling price of the product was set at an unusually high cost. Counterclaims then emerged from people saying their name was used but they were not missing.

The so-called conspiracy was particularly prominent on TikTok with millions of views. Wayfair responded that it uses an algorithm to name its products and have tried to fix these issues, but it is interesting to me how something like this has the potential to deter my generation to avoid Wayfair all together. This is an example of a brand being authored, because influencers on social media and conspiracies circulating in popular culture can damage a brand even with no proof of its authenticity.

The Pandemic Is An Enormous Source of Stress, But It’s Also A Source of Innovation

Via your colleague Zubair:

There have been many kinds of responses to COVID-19 from all kinds of businesses that are either directly or indirectly impacted from the pandemic. Pharmaceutical companies have been at the forefront leading the way in developing drugs, vaccines and conducting various clinical trials to test whether their existing medications can be used to fight COVID-19. Roche Canada, the Canadian division of pharmaceutical company Roche, has launched a creative way to spur innovation to fight various aspects of COVID-19 by employing the knowledge and expertise of individuals across Canada.

The company established a funding program, the COVID-19 Open Innovation Challenge, to support selected applicants in their ideas and research towards addressing challenges faced due to the new coronavirus. There were no specific research questions or themes in order to qualify for the funding, but the company provided examples of relevant topics.

I work in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and found this news when browsing weekly healthcare news at work. While there have been many updates on new vaccines and drugs being developed for COVID-19, this kind of initiative is new in the pharmaceutical space.

Usually funding and grants are provided by the government and specific organizations, and are limited in terms of scope and the companies that can apply for the funding. In this case, Roche is providing funding to any qualifying individual or organization to come up with ideas and innovative solutions to address the challenges or issues the communities were facing as a result of the pandemic. I find this approach particularly intriguing, as it does not meet the usual cookie-cutter responses and actions taken by various other pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies.

Roche is renowned for being the largest biotech company with a stellar reputation for cancer drugs and innovation, but I feel Roche is distinguishing their brand with this initiative. They are engaging the community and promoting grassroots ideas and innovation to find the solutions for communities affected by COVID-19. The fact that there were no defined topics or research areas reflects the openness the company had to new questions and ideas. A variety of ideas were awarded funding, including those which incorporated technological innovations, policy reforms, and artificial intelligence, among others. Some of the particularly interesting ideas include optimizing city operations with the use of artificial intelligence (AI); testing climate conditions on COVID-19; post-discharge virtual healthcare and real-time symptom monitoring and prediction for senior residents empowered by AI.

https://www.rochecanada.com/en/funding-opportunities/covid-19.html