Welcome to Tempo, the Rhythm Communications quarterly newsletter.
This publication will focus on how Rhythm will seek ways to ensure our clients are on Tempo with the beat of the marketplace with their campaigns and communications, while remaining up to speed on marketing trends and techniques. Our content focus will range from marketing trends, themes, case studies, agency news, and more.
As we kick off 2021, it is important to share our key learnings of 2020 that have impacted our solutions we are recommending for our clients.
Community is Key, Choose Charity
In recent years, community giving campaigns and community involvement were nice-to-haves and were known for increasing brand affinity. Since the difficulties of 2020, there has not only been a requirement to support your community for temporary practical purposes, but there has been a market shift in public opinion. People believe that companies that don’t give back don’t deserve consumers’ business. Consumers are choosing products not merely based on their product merits but are researching companies that give back and are preferring more charitable brands.
Rhythm is so proud to represent successful corporations of all sizes giving back to their local communities ranging from:
- Chaparral Boats donating food and PPP throughout the pandemic
- Barberitos raising funds for meals delivered healthcare workers
- Mill Town Music Hall hosting a virtual concert and hosting vaccine days to support our area seniors needing their vaccines in a socially-distanced venue
The exciting news is that every one of our clients has plans for continued community efforts in 2021 after seeing the tangible benefits of these programs. We will work to keep you informed of best practices for community-support programs.
Hybrid is Human
In 2020, virtual events were no longer trendy; they became commonplace. Two of the greatest examples of successful virtual events that Rhythm helped to plan and promote include:
- The Forcura Connect Summit: an all-day, healthcare community event sharing best practices for continuity of care. View some of the presentations here.
- The AGC Georgia SIR Awards presentation, which recognized the accomplishments of our client, Randall Redding, CEO of R.K. Redding Construction.
In 2021, there is a prediction that in-person events will open up, but many people still feel at risk. Rhythm is promoting that hybrid events will be the winning solution. For every in-person event, there needs to be a well-architected virtual solution. Be ready with contingency plans for all-virtual events. It will make your attendees and your team members feel safe and valued.
Investing in Children is Good Business
Let us never forget that ‘Children are our Future,’ and they need our support more than ever.
With virtual schooling, the upheaval in college admissions, mandatory masking and the overall stresses caused by the uniqueness of 2020, investing in our children is good business.
Some of the best work we have seen has been led by our friends at www.UCEazy.com who run an online academy dedicated to college readiness and college admissions assistance.
We also enjoyed working on the Athlete 2 Athlete Speaker Series with Hall of Famer Rennie Curran and our client Sports Turf who sponsored and promoted the events. This program armed athletes with good advice for life skills and coached the information as preparation for playing at the next level in college. As a result of the great work in 2020, this series will continue in 2021.
Flexibility is Fashionable
In 2020, we learned some very valuable lessons about being flexible with your customers and your employees, whether it is allowing them to step away to help a child with schoolwork to calming down their dogs who were confused by all of the noise coming from your computer.
In 2021, that exhibition of patience will still be required, and we recommend our clients embrace ways to be flexible and supportive, showing that we are in this world together. Small but thoughtful gestures create and encourage unity and corporate commitment.
Examples include:
- Digital gift cards from Uber for food deliveries during a scheduled company meeting.
- Get Well program to send food and cards to the homes of your employees with Coronavirus and their immediate family members.
- Host virtual movie screenings and/or cocktail parties allowing your team to socialize, creating those ‘water cooler’ experiences that are not available while working in virtual environments. Our favorite movie launch this year to work on and enjoy as a team was Disney+ movie, ‘Safety,’ featuring the life of our incredible client, Ray McElrathbey.
At Rhythm, we try to practice what we preach. For our holiday party with our clients and our employees, we hosted a virtual concert. Unlike our annual lunches and gifts, we sent a private, live link and sent gift baskets to client and employee homes. This event received more accolades than ever before, and it was the highlight of our year.
In closing, the team at Rhythm wants to thank you for your business in 2020, and we are very honored and excited to represent you in 2021. We look forward to sharing the ‘Tempo’ of the market in next month’s edition, as we understand that communication is key to our mutual success.
Sincerely,
Your Team at Rhythm Communications
