Correctly Masking Your Marketing Message

It seems a safe conclusion these days that coronavirus isn’t going away so fast, and may even come roaring back by autumn, despite current efforts to contain it.

This reality has universally forced essential businesses to shift their marketing efforts. Messaging has changed drastically, with most companies pulling their “Fun in the sun” campaigns just as prime selling season was gearing up.

The obvious challenge: how to maintain visibility for one’s product or service without appearing to be tone deaf.

Layered atop this reality, non-essential businesses are now dipping their toes in the water to once again attract business.

We ventured Into this brave new world today to buy some groceries, encountering the now-expected social distancing, one-way aisles, and toilet paper shortages. Here we discovered an opportunity available to all.

Staffing the deli counter was an employee wearing a face mask…from fish taco restaurant WAHOO. She was surrounded by co-workers wearing blank masks. All purchased, none homemade.

Compare this to Frontwave Credit Union, whose tellers typically wear black face masks with the company logo imprinted in white. This matches their overall branding, delivering a subtle messaging opportunity for outward-facing employees to the buying public.

As of May 1, all San Diego County residents are required to wear face coverings while in public whenever you’re within six-feet of a non-household member. County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher calls this "life in the new normal."

So why not take advantage and make face masks part of your overall marketing effort?

Any brick & mortar operation attracting customers…even for curbside service…can use this to turn lemons into lemonade.

Admittedly, a home-based employee or a solopreneur will get limited value. Given minimum purchases and setup costs, the $500 barrier to entry may not be worth it.

But anyone with a staff, or who’s looking to distribute goodies keeping their name before the buying public, should seriously consider investing in this item.

Face it: pens and coffee mugs, while inexpensive, are a saturated category. Bottles of hand sanitizer are desirable, but generally remain unseen.

But face masks lend themselves to any business, any geography, any branding.

Because regardless of the number of employees you have, investing a few dollars in branded face masks provides the perfect moment to get into…or onto…your customer’s face.

And isn’t that the ultimate objective of your marketing?

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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