Amazon
COVID-19 Response
When the pandemic hit, Amazon became an essential service to the entire world overnight. This came with controversy, and I led Amazon’s social response to the public outcry about the treatment of Fulfillment Center (FC) workers. The PR team had tried focusing on the safety protocols and financial investment, but a barrage of stats wasn’t landing. I found a way to reach the world.
Role: Strategic Comms Advisor + Creative Director
- Strategic comms narrative and messaging framework
- Tone-of-voice development
- Social content editorial plan (organic and paid)
- Concepting, scriptwriting, and copywriting
I developed a 2-phased comms and messaging strategy that focused on thanks, humanity, and heroism first. I led a social campaign of recognition that brought the public up close with those getting essentials to people in need—turning FC workers into public service heroes on par with medical staff. Words mattered in this moment, and I created a messaging framework used throughout social and PR that focused on care and humanizing the team: “Safety measures for staff” became “Protecting our people”, “On-time delivery” became “Delivering safely”. The comms strategy also involved leveraging both external social channels and internal comms channels to the FC workers.
The sentiment shift was dramatic. People started posting their own content about what they were doing to show thanks and appreciation to delivery drivers. Instances of negative press were decreasing. And the FC workers themselves also started posting their own stories of why they were proud to do this work, which we would then amplify on the corporate handles.
With the conversation shifted to bravery and pride, we could start phase 2: Communicating the hard facts of the safety protocols and massive financial investment made to keep Amazon’s people safe. My 2-phase approach is how the message finally got delivered.