Navigating uncertainty: What brands can do now

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Uncertainty is one of the defining characteristics of 2020, for both consumers and businesses. With Coronavirus cases rising across much of the world and political uncertainty in the US, brands are again asking themselves how to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances and changing consumer sentiment.


Increased news coverage, polarized social conversations, and potential social unrest is the reality we need to navigate now. The decisions a company makes in these circumstances must be made carefully and tailored, taking into account risk tolerance and other key factors.

Should you distance yourself or lean towards political conversations?

Forward-thinking strategies can help marketers chart a path forward, partners email database making balanced decisions that align with their brand values.

Implement additional administration and protocols

To avoid controversial content, it’s important to quickly establish additional management considerations and protocols across all channels.

Social media remains an environment shrouded in opposing viewpoints. While many platforms are working to create safe environments for brands, including implementing more measures to stop the spread of misinformation, there are still humans involved in the conversations and content posted.

This makes it essential to navigate social conversations with keywords and contextual alignment, in some cases working with a third-party brand suitability partner (such as IAS, DoubleVerify, Moat, OpenSlate, and Pixability) to protect your brand from content you want to avoid.

In addition, a periodic review of verification settings and a reassessment of the social climate and campaign performance will likely be necessary.


Beyond social media, we are guiding our partners to begin screening more programming, particularly late-night and talk shows, as well as news magazine channels.

It will also be important to monitor the positioning of additional modules around programming adjacent to political coverage. Consider developing an enhanced content inclusion/exclusion list , with appropriate partners and environments, should a shift in media investment be warranted.


Marketers must proactively align themselves with reinvestment scenarios now, to execute quickly if media disruptions continue.

Align reinvestment scenarios

Across national television, we are seeing an increase in news coverage resulting in preemption of regularly scheduled programming. As we look ahead, all signs point to continued disruption to network schedules. And many broadcast partners did not develop contingency plans to manage this increase in preemptions.

Marketers must proactively align with reinvestment scenarios now, to execute quickly if media disruptions continue. Identify the safe content environments that best align with your plan’s objectives.


Can volume and reach be replaced with the next best thing? If so, it's worth considering and planning where your money will be spent to maintain that reach. If not, what trade-offs can you expect?

Evaluate options for re-planning media weight and spend , then consider how that may impact existing plans and goals.


Since negative sentiment can surround the election, brands will need to evaluate whether their tone and creative are relevant to consumers in the moment.