We are all in this together.

The other day one of our team’s young son asked ‘will I be talking about this with my grandkids?’. Even children understand that what we are living through today will populate  history lessons in the future. But, the fact he is focusing so much on the future whilst coping with the here and now of his newly curtailed life comes as a welcome ray of sunshine.

So we are all in the middle of week 2 of our newly adjusted lives with everyone experiencing their own individual professional and personal highs and lows. We, at Boxed Red Marketing in Knutsford, are a tightly knit team so our 9am group video calls have become the perfect way to start our days. We plan the day, but more importantly we have a good old chat. On our team we have a real mix – parents of little ones that need time and attention, parents of bigger ones who are missing their social lives and even had their final university year cut short, younger team members who are missing their friends and partners, there’s a mum-to-be, and we have a husband of a critical care nurse working crazy hours & often coming home from her night shift when we are on our morning call. This eclectic mix of lives and circumstances makes for a whole host of stories every day – and invariably, a lot of giggles!

As a Marketing Agency based in Cheshire, near Manchester, we are constantly looking for opportunities for our clients based on the most current affairs and insight. As the abnormal becomes more normal over the next few weeks, we want to focus on six big dynamics we believe will have the biggest impact on our lives professionally and personally. We will also share our highs and lows as we navigate through this unchartered territory as a team.

Your home has become your world:

Whether you are working from home for the first time, living alone and feeling lonely, or you have kids to entertain and educate, your home has suddenly become your everything. You will have already recreated your little pleasures – your garden will have become your beer garden or the playground (or both!), your kitchen has become your restaurant, your lounge has become your cinema, you may have turned your bedroom in to your gym and that cupboard may have been cleared to become your office. Your broadband may be suffering under the weight of streaming, Fortnite playing, working and Skyping. We will be offering helpful hints and tips to help you through the day in your new smaller but more connected world.

Physically distant but digitally together:

Never have we been so pleased about the existence of social media, Facetime, Whatsapp, Skype, Slack and all the other amazing platforms which help us connect. Whether it’s keeping in touch with loved ones who you can’t physically see, (even if they live down the road!) or ensuring you keep your business visible and your team connected, we will be giving ideas and advice on how to ensure you make the most of the swell of usage of all the amazing digital and online realm.

The world is online more than ever:

With the huge recent increase in digital usage this is a perfect opportunity to ensure you are visible in this increasingly cluttered space. We will guide you through our advice on how best to gain and retain this visibility – all from our very experienced digital marketing team.

The online “basket boom”:

We all know how e-commerce has increased over the past ten years driven by pioneering companies like Amazon, but this has swelled over the last few weeks more than we could have ever predicted. What have you bought online recently which you may not have done before? Be it home gym equipment, arts and crafts, dartboards, eggs, meat, wine, home desks or face masks. For many businesses ensuring you not only have a website with e-commerce functionality, but also ensuring you are visible, will be a way to win in this on-line basket boom.

Rise of community spirit:

Boxed Red’s offices are based in Knutsford. For those of us who live in Knutsford the sense of community in our hometown over the past few weeks has been amazing and inspiring. This is the same for the local communities of all our team members – from Sandbach to Wilmslow to Congleton and beyond. The sense of ‘we are all in it together’ is quite overwhelming. Community spirit within business has also been lovely to witness. Marketing, PR, Digital, Influencer, Shopper, Media and Social Agencies all pulling together as a community as never before. Social responsibility has also seen a huge increase as companies proudly show how they are helping in these uncertain times. We will provide advice as to how to ensure your business is best placed to ensure you are speaking the right language to the right people at the right time.

It won’t last forever:

Although we are just at the start of this journey – one thing is for certain, this won’t last forever. Businesses who can make time to concentrate on the future alongside navigating the present will undoubtably be the most successful on the ‘other side’. We will provide help with strategy and planning principles to ensure the most chance of future-proofing your business.

That’s it for now – watch this space for the next instalment later this week.

Stay physically distant, stay digitally close – but above all, stay safe.

Your team at Boxed Red Marketing