Author: Chris Talbert

If you’re anything like us, your year thus far has been full of questions. No corner of life has been spared from inspection, review and — let’s be honest — at least a small dose of uncertainty. Whether it’s evaluating if the vacation plans you made months ago are still valid or safe, determining if sending your children back to school is right for your family, or even just deciding how many masks you need to get through the week, every day seems to be full of an unprecedented number of questions. 

It can all be a little exhausting. But, arguably, it would also appear that this current reality is forcing us to be extraordinarily present. 

For the team at Designsensory, being present has meant a whole lot more than just keeping up with refilling our hand sanitizers! In particular, it’s meant taking stock of three key indicators: 

1. The need for content: Crafting the right conversations with your customers to educate and inform, as well as maintain engagement
2. The demand for content: Answering the call of households across the country to replace activities that have otherwise been paused, as well as maintain a connection to the outside world
3. The role of content in our economy: Continuing to support and employ the tens of thousands of citizens — and their hundreds of millions of dollars in economic output — that rely on the production industry

Alongside our financial responsibility to our clients, we all have a responsibility to our colleagues and communities to stay safe and minimize risk, which brings me back to the concept of “questions.” As part of our work servicing the State of Tennessee, our agency was deemed “essential” as early as mid-March, with production services continuing in an adapted, but uninterrupted format ever since. 

Over the last six months, we’ve worked with respected institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Motion Picture Association to develop a rubric to determine the format and production envelope that is most appropriate for your situation. These guidelines have not only provided consistent evaluating criteria for assessing our work, they have also served as a daily touchstone to determine if we need to adjust our strategy or approach. 

Question 1: In order to create your “safe” set, is a set even really necessary?

Although answering this question will likely touch on the topics of budget, timeline, audience, message and usage, at the heart of it is the understanding that “further is safer.” 

For the team at Designsensory, this meant plotting all of our production options along a spectrum from contactless to conventional. These options include:

• Animation: Our work with the Tennessee Office of the Governor required that we unpack extensive and sometimes confusing  guidelines for everything from applying for the Paycheck Protection Program to equipping gyms, salons, and restaurants with best practices for reopening their businesses. Furthermore, these projects required the content be fully developed, designed and delivered within 48-72 hours. Videos featuring animated text and illustrations provided a solution that could be executed quickly in-house, even while staff were working from home. They also provided a shareable, digestible means of communicating complex recommendations and restrictions. 

• Sourced and Archival Material: In an age of increasing customization, it can be easy to quickly dismiss the value of “stock material.” However, in the case of clients like the Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, footage from past shoots provided easily accessible imagery that capitalized on the timeless, iconic attractions they have to offer, while also providing the viewer with an opportunity to escape momentarily to a happier time. Furthermore, “sourced” doesn’t necessarily mean “stock.” For clients like Memphis-based Old Dominick Distillery, sharing free product with influencers embedded within target markets resulted in custom, original content. At the same time, this content benefited from the organic discovery of each influencer’s niche following in lieu of typical budgets for paid and boosted media. In the case of Zoo Knoxville, a call to action via social channels for fans to share photos and videos from past trips engaged the audience, activated their nostalgia, and quickly generated a robust repository of material. 

Question 2: Can you start small?

For some clients, unprecedented times mean unprecedented content. Reflecting a new reality may mean that capturing highly specific footage is simply unavoidable. 

For the team at Designsensory, this need drives us further down the spectrum, including:

• Studio Productions: We may not be able to go out or travel as much as we’d like, but luckily the magic of e-commerce allows us to bring some of our favorite brands to us instead. With clients such as Old Dominick Distillery and Biltmore, launching new product lines required product photography, both for marketing and promotional purposes. Utilizing our in-house photography studio, a crew consisting of an art director, photographer, and digital imaging technician we were able to divide and conquer, maintaining distancing while setting up equipment, styling, and managing media.  

• Small-footprint Productions: For clients like Regal Cinemas, making guests comfortable in coming back meant implementing extensive procedures and guidelines within their locations. Original capture was the only option that made sense to showcase these policies in practice, but a condensed production envelope consisting of a director, a camera operator with a long lens and on-screen talent were sufficient to tell this story visually. For clients like Zoo Knoxville, however, content not only provides a means of staying connected to your audience during a time of reduced capacity, it also creates opportunities for connections with educators, either professional or temporary, who are suddenly confronted with the challenges of at-home or virtual learning environments. In this instance, a mid-form episodic digital series called “The Wild Life” allowed Zoo Knoxville to showcase their animals, as well as their staff’s work behind the scenes, all while educating and entertaining. Given the nature of on-the-fly unscripted content, two cameras and an audio operator were necessary to ensure no magical moment was missed. 

Question 3: Can you accommodate COVID-safe procedures?

Where scripted content is concerned, crews can often only be optimized to a point, with departments like wardrobe, hair and makeup, and art being integral to telling the correct visual story. 

In these instances, the team at Designsensory believes achieving safe sets can be accomplished in the script, as well as the situation:

• Formulating narrative solutions: In many instances, taking a creative pass through your script will identify opportunities where small adjustments allow for characters to be distanced and/or separated. Often, these choices also impact the crew and departments involved behind the scenes, as they may be styling, directing, lighting, etc. fewer characters at once. After pushing the filming of a longform children’s pilot for the Tennessee Aquarium, our executive producers and screenwriter went back to the writer’s room to identify conversations in the script that could be accomplished via video conferencing. The adjustments not only meant fewer folks in a space at one time, they also increased the content’s sense of timeliness and authenticity

• Orchestrating a safe set: In an effort to set sterling standards for safety, it’s important to integrate the intention of policies like distancing and sanitization within every layer. Start by limiting the size of each department, then scheduling work to leapfrog departments as often as possible. For instance, sending a camera team into a location to establish a frame and then activating Grip and Electric means the teams never have to be in the same space. Next, when choosing your location for filming or base camp, look for a space that allows teams to occupy separate rooms (i.e. one holding room for talent, another for HMU, another for art, etc.). Within each room, take the time to lay down tape marks or decals and hang signage to guide the occupants on how to maintain distancing while in the space. Obviously avoiding the possibility of introducing the virus to the crew is ideal so, if the budget allows, consider contracting a service to provide quick-turn testing for the cast and crew 24 hours before principal cinematography begins. Past this, designate a Sanitization Officer on the crew tasked with checking in cast and crew members each day, along with performing a temperature and symptom check. For multi-day productions, consider using a different color of disposable bracelet each day to clearly indicate who has and has not gone through this process. Aside from outfitting each space with sanitizing supplies, equip your production staff with appropriate sanitizers to wipe down high-touch surfaces regularly. Mandating that masks be worn by crew at all times, and the cast anytime they aren’t actively filming, adds yet another layer of protection — literally. Single-serve snacks, drinks, and boxed meals also eliminate an additional point of contact. Finally, if the budget allows, consider integrating certain technologies into your gear package to allow footage reviews to take place remotely. For instance, the Teradek Serv Pro system allows camera operators to easily share their feed to Apple and Android devices, as well as stream securely online for offsite audiences. 

This is a developing situation; a choice made a few weeks ago may not be a good fit a few weeks later. How exactly do you come to that determination? It’s not enough to ask questions; you must ask the right questions — and ask them frequently.

Let’s face it: as creatives, we’ve made a career out of thinking outside the box. And while this pandemic may present us with unique challenges, we’re all in this together. We may not be able to come together physically right now, but we can come together collaboratively. It may mean that the only thing we get comfortable with over the coming months is being uncomfortable. But if necessity truly is the mother of invention, then our best days are still ahead of us.

Before Covid-19, disability in advertising was on a positive upward trend, with creative recognition at Cannes and brands formalizing inclusive efforts for the 2020 summer Paralympics Games. But over the past several weeks, the exponential upward trajectory of Covid-19 cases, state lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, industry furloughs and layoffs have seemed to create a downward spiral in momentum for disability in advertising, and it couldn’t come at a worse time.

Most, if not all, of the precautionary measures we are taking—from simple handwashing to sheltering in place and social distancing to facemasks—help prevent the spread of the virus to populations that may be more susceptible to contracting it. This group includes millions of people with disabilities, yet among the PSAs and brand messages of hope, disability is somehow not part of creative considerations.

Advertisers such as Campbell’s Soup have captured society’s collective moment in what many see as heartfelt commercials celebrating everyone together staying apart. But these attempts at unity are framed from an ableist viewpoint, vacantly inconsiderate of audiences with disabilities. We are comfortable documenting the wine toasts in Zoom meetings and social sing-alongs among the 80% of the population the virus is least likely to impact and at the same time are oblivious to the erasure of disability and those in the 20% that are most susceptible.

This acknowledgment of a lack of disability visibility in advertising’s current state isn’t a nudge to suggest the industry do better someday down the road in a new normal. It’s a plea for immediate action. Alarmingly, when news headlines suggested hospitals may not be able to handle the surge of patients, the disability community had to fight for their voices to be heard in literal life and death scenarios, where based on medical guidelines, some may have been passed over for treatment. Many are feeling like society, including brands, have disregarded them as second-class citizens in this crisis.

As we plan advertising’s roadmap forward, where will disability fit in? We are all isolating, but that does not mean we need to forgo inclusion in recognizing the value and voice disability brings to brands and society.

Six tips for implementing immediate disability inclusion in advertising:

Include user-generated content from brand ambassadors with disabilities

People with disabilities are sheltering, working and parenting from home just like everyone else. If you’re capturing content by reaching out to brand ambassadors, consider connecting with someone in the disability community.

Consider disabled influencers and actors

There are amazing disabled influencers and talent available to work with. Blind influencer Molly Burke and Paralympian Amy Purdy are just two examples among thousands of talented disabled influencers, actors and athletes ready to add their voice to your brand message.

Use appropriate disability stock photography

If you don’t have the budget for influencers or the time to research brand ambassadors, consider using stock photography featuring authentic disability representations from Getty’s Disability Collection.

Ensure your digital ecosystem is accessible

During these challenging times more than ever, people are embracing social media and getting information online. Digital accessibility needs to extend beyond your brand’s website to social media and email to ensure that people with disabilities can connect with your brand and important information where and when you need.

Be informative to everyone

Brands that are essential businesses and organizations need to be informative to all audiences, including those with disabilities. If there is a press conference, video or other messaging platforms, be sure to incorporate alternate forms of messaging. Interpreters and closed captioning allow D/deaf to connect; live text across digital platforms support screen readers; audio captions allow blind and visually impaired users to gain information; and alternate forms beyond digital, such as phone messages, support those that may not have internet access.

Plan ahead

As creative teams, agencies and advertisers look ahead, everyone needs to ensure strategic planning efforts as we emerge from the crisis include diversity and disability representation. Just because the Paralympics are postponed for a year doesn’t mean disability in advertising should be postponed. If your is brand trying to better understand the mood and momentum of customers, bring people with disabilities into that research.

We all know that advertising can’t cure Covid-19, but it can be curative. Advertising has an opportunity to be a powerful voice of support and solidarity during this challenging time.

Ah, Knoxvillians… Bless our sweet-tea-swilling, backyard-grilling, orange-and-white-cheering hearts! Here, in the Maker City, we don’t mind a little red on our necks and a whole lot of blue in our grass. But nowadays (during these Mad Max-esque times), the only color we see is gray.

The quarantine has been tough on all Knoxvillians. Sure, there ain’t no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top… but we sure as hell got to keep paying those Verizon bills!

We are a proud community, self-conscious of who we are and what we love. We are a strong tribe of creatives, entrepreneurs and kind-hearted souls.

Chances are you’ve heard it said – or sung – that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well, I recently came across a new take on the phrase, courtesy of the one and only Dolly Parton: “Storms make trees take deeper roots.”

Here are 12 examples of people & local businesses going through the storm and making deeper roots:

1) Paris Woodhull & WRTHY  | Wash Your Hands Tee

For the first time in our lifetime, arenas, fields, gyms and stadiums are silent, and if you’re sitting back, steeped in the “woe is me … I wonder when we’ll get the green light to function normally” attitude, you are in serious trouble. Now, as we face the challenges of partially opening the economy, marketers and sports brands are wrestling with hard questions: 

• “What must we do both operationally and in our communications that assures fans it is safe?”
• “If we open now, will enough people return to make the cost worthwhile—short term and long term?”
• “Will our messages be well-received?”
• “What incentives will bring people back?”

As we walk down this unprecedented path of COVID-19, we need to make decisions now and—in the moments that follow. We can’t rely on pulling from our lifetime of experiences that usually feed our decision-tree wisdom. We need to find a fresh bank of information to inform every step moving forward. 

That is exactly what NASCAR wanted to know when they turned to us to help uncover answers to questions like: “We need to know what the sports fan is thinking and feeling … specifically, our fans.” Will NASCAR fans stay loyal to the sport? Will they return to the stands? How will they engage with us, and how do we leverage those expressed behaviors for the long-term health of the sport and the sport-fan relationship? 

Rather than speculate on a “wait and see” approach, our Designsensory Intelligence team is talking to fans now – and continuing every three weeks – to gather their exact feelings and anticipated behavior once this crisis is past us. It really is interesting to see how those feelings change as our daily outlook on life changes.

Not long ago, everyone we talked with was happy to ingest sports on broadcast/cable/streaming platforms knowing well that they were reruns and thus knowing the outcome of the competition. Today, that has changed—nearly 1/5 of sports fans are choosing to wait until action returns. 

Additionally, we know that one in four fans will head to the track as soon as the action starts, but that isn’t enough to sustain the business model. It will take a sincere strategy to build trust and confidence that measures are in place to protect the nearly 70% of fans who either aren’t sure what it will take … or acknowledge that they will just need to feel psychological comfort to be part of a large crowd again.

New operational imperatives will prevail, and marketing will be deployed to allay any fears, but the changes to operations – and the entire business culture – must be genuine and honest. Trust and safety will be the dominant attributes that ooze from the event for fans to be present in the seats. And we can’t wait!    

Keeping track of fan or customer feelings in relation to reactivation with a brand, venue, attraction or team is an ongoing activity, and we’ll be here each step of the way.  Stay in touch and informed to make wise decisions.