Home School and a Reminder for Empathy

Author’s Note: These essays are from the “unprecedented” year that was indeed like no other – 2020. The audience was marketers, but I think many of the lessons learned apply to many of us and will last far beyond the time that the word “unprecedented” (thankfully) no longer describes the times we live in. This one was addressing how complicated life became for families everywhere.

Volume 9: July 23

I imagine for many of you, your dinner table conversation, like mine, has been dominated by the question of the day — will there be school or not?

To be clear, I have no clue. But what I do know is that the “back to school” experience is a national shared experience — a mindset — as much as it is an actual activity. And as you will read below, it has also become big business.

But like just about everything in our lives, thanks to COVID-19, this year going back to school will feel anything but normal and how people experience it will be very different from family to family and from city to city. In just the last week, through my dinner table conversations, I have come to see just how differently people are thinking about and processing this issue. My stepson, a single father with 6-year-old twins and a full-time job is understandably panicked about the possibility of homeschooling and working. My niece, a first-grade teacher in a private school in Chicago, misses her kids desperately and knows they need attention they can only get in person, but she is also aware there are many teachers who are really uncomfortable about being in the classroom and she worries about them too. My friend, a high school math teacher in the suburbs, has decided with great sadness that he will retire (definitely before he planned to) rather than deal with the uncertainty of the whole situation.

As a marketer, when you communicate your “back to school” message, it is important to remember that the consumers who receive it will potentially be dealing with a variety of reactions spanning fear, anger, worry, anxiety, uncertainty and most likely all of the above! Taking advantage of the marketing opportunities of back to school has never been so fraught with risk. That doesn’t mean we sit this one out this fall, but rather we need to be extra thoughtful and remember the “rules of engagement” that worked for us at the very beginning of the onset of COVID-19. We must always consider the different places and perspectives people come from on this topic and communicate with empathy. Now would also be a good time to re-emphasize the challenge to be helpful or be quiet.

Can your brand to provide support or add value to any or all of these groups grappling with the many emotions associated with the 2020 version of “back to school?”

If so, what an incredible opportunity to build brand trust and loyalty for the future.