Without a doubt this is a real tangible scary time, but collectively we simply have to believe we can pull through this crisis. The one thing history has taught us in times of crisis is that when humans pull together we can do amazing things. 

Some of those amazing things today are being felt within the healthcare sectors around the world by so called ordinary people being asked to do extraordinary things. These are indeed proving to be the real heroes of the hour and we all salute and thank you and your families from the bottom of our hearts.

Businesses around the world are taking one almighty kicking, as such we've all realised that no matter what our company does, or what our job title is we are all just customers of someone else's business. If we continue to think that way perhaps we will help each other to recover from this now very real crisis.

All forms of the retail ecosystem are being threatened and tested by this crisis like no time in history. 

Online players who had the ability to kick the retail can a few more weeks down the eCommerce Covid-19 road are also feeling the pinch in the same way that their physical counterparts have been experiencing for sometime - there will be casualties.

None of us could have predicted this crisis (apart from that 5 year old video from Bill Gates we didn't pay attention to) and the ensuing impact on how fragile humans and our global economies have been hit. 

The B2C eCommerce world is used to dealing with hundreds of thousands of customers. Pre-crisis it spent considerable sums on creating 'paid adverts' along with occasionally creating some interesting creative content.  Post crisis those budgets will not be as freely available as business looks to maintain fiscal responsibility and prioritise survival for who knows how long.

Today mainly because of enforced 'work from home' and self isolation we can binge watch box sets of TV shows or movies anywhere, anytime, and on any device. Apart from actually having the luxury of time to do this we will have selected stuff based on our collective interest, or a topic suggested by someone we know.

Just a few months ago we were exposed to all those perennial Christmas adverts which of course are designed to draw us in by telling really great stories, yet seem to miss the point for the rest of the year.

My guess is you, your friends and family will remember more about those Movies and TV shows including those 'Christmas Story' adverts than you will from the last 3 digital soundbite intrusive adverts you saw today?

Do you remember the movie 'What Women Want' with ‘Helen Hunt’ & ‘Mel Gibson? 

From a freak accident he’s empowered with the ability to ‘hear’ what women are thinking. He uses his new power to win a major deal for his ad agency firm with Nike women’s division, he also wins, loses, and gets the girl back.

Oddly enough, we all have that same ‘SuperPower’, and we don’t need the freaky accident to use it. It’s called ‘Social Listening’, and from what I can evidence far too many companies seem to be missing this most crucial and powerful element on Social Media.

An engaging Social Media strategy is just that, it requires a strategy not a load of marketing tactics, it requires you to pause 'paid media' thinking, and revert back to being social. 

As a B2C marketing company, maybe you should be sharing information about your brand that appeals to every user, with stories and content that entices engagement, with the goal being to encourage people to want to 'share it'. 

If you’re prepared to unlearn what you ‘think’ about Social’, and learn how to ‘listen’ I will show you, your Company and colleagues not only how to unleash that ‘SuperPower’ but also how to do this consistently.