What makes a brand generous in these COVID19 times? Really, it is the people behind these brands being generous with their skills and living out one of their core values. I wondered whether generosity was stated in their vision/mission and value statement. So, I went to explore…
The first of the generous brands that influenced my home, was Cool ideas who are internet service providers (ISP). They gave us the gift of doubling our internet speeds for April and May. Wow, what a difference that has made to our little family who are homeschooling, attending business meeting on teams and skype, and staying connected on Zoom, never mind the endless downloading of movies. This has positively affected us both on a work front and a social front.
I believe what goes around, comes around, and it’s highly likely that we will upgrade our package at the end of this lockdown, on the back of their generosity.
Back to the original question, is generosity part of their value statement? Indirectly I do believe it is. I checked out their website and their stated company culture is all about working hard, playing hard, and customer service. I particularly liked this statement “We are a friendly treasure trove of information for our clients”. I love the definition of trove – a store of valuable or delightful things. They went beyond the call of duty and delighted their customers with a valuable resource – fibre speed, what a delight! https://www.cisp.co.za/
The second South African brand I found abundantly generous is Adene’s flower farm. Just before lockdown they flower bombed an old age home. Flower Bombed? You’re probably thinking “huh”?
Adene’s flowers is flower farm in Wolseley, Western Cape, dedicated to producing high quality, beautiful and long-lasting fresh-cut flowers and foliage. Established in 2016, their focus is on using eco-friendly growing methods, being environmentally responsible and balancing farm with family.
With the shutdown looming and cancellation of events & orders, they were sitting on bunches and bunches of beautiful flowers. Instead of destroying them, they went out and used them to decorate the outside of Huis Vergenoegd an old age home in Paarl – much to the delight of everyone, the Tannies and Ooms came out to the safe pavement, and many a passerby hooted with delight. “These flowers brought so much joy”
Their generosity, which is clearly part of their ethos, was even picked up by the BBC and broadcast around the world. I bet customers are going to be lining up to buy from Adene’s in the future, and the generosity will come in full circle https://www.adeneflowers.co.za/
The last brand example I want to feature is Barrows Global, a company that designs and manufactures POS/merchandise for a host of big brands. They pivoted their production line away from POS to produce protective medical screens for hospitals, ambulances and retail till points to prevent the spread of Covid19.
Generous does not mean charity, as I am sure Barrows are being remunerated for their efforts. For me it was the speed at which they manage to turn around production which was phenomenal, the generosity of teamwork between designers, suppliers, men and women working the production lines and the teams that are distributing these screens to retailers and hospitals.
So, is generosity a value Barrows claims? this is their mantra:
We harness the energy of our people, the creativity of our products, and the spirit of our organization to create amazing retail experiences and to drive positive transformation.
Yesterday, I stood in front of one of these screens in a store and was chuffed that Barrows had transformed what is a risky situation for checkout staff into positive one for both retailer and the shopper. This they did within 2 weeks of shut down. Shout out to Barrows! https://www.barrowsglobal.com/#about
I am loving collecting these stories of generous brands to share with my clients now and tomorrow. Please share additional ones with me. It makes me smile and I’m sure that we can keep the creativity flowing and come up with more inspiring ideas!