Lexus & Others Sub COVID Response Campaigns in for Sales Ads

It's hard to find news that's NOT about COVID-19 these days. Really hard. And now, it's becoming more and more commonplace for ads to address COVID-19 response plans (instead of pushing consumers to purchase a product).

For example, see AdAge article titled: "Lexus is the latest automatker to pull sales ads in favor of coronavirus response campaign", which states that "The campaign follows similar efforts by other automakers, including Ford, Hyundai and General Motors, which are trying to preserve consumer loyalty in the midst of economic uncertainty."

This ties into my very first blog post about how Emotion may be the new "ROI" for ad spend; granted, some of the media buys being made with COVID response ads may have been previously contracted and thus, these brands MIGHT have no choice but to spend - they've perhaps just shifted the messaging to match the times. However, I'd bet that others are taking advantage of this opportunity to increase (and or build) consumer loyalty by sparking emotions of loyalty & pride in how the brands are responding in such a time of crisis. Again, I see this as brilliant marketing plays.

With that, I ask all of you (even and especially those still skeptical about emotion as the new "ROI" for ad spend): Have you changed your opinion of any brands/companies based on information you've seen on their response to the global COVID-19 pandemic?