Community: We’re all in this Together
Civic Capitalism – Do What You Can to Preserve Incomes
April 11, 2020 – Never has the word ‘community’ been so relevant. To all of our friends and family – our staff, clients and ecosystem partners in this class – you are OUR community and you can count on us, now and always.
d2H is a small business and for the last month due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, we have most definitely felt vulnerable to the economy and consumer demand in the near future. No doubt, we share in the insecurity of the times. But being small does not mean we cannot do big things.
Supporting Media Partners and Vendors
My Co-Founder and Partner Patricia and I are committed to doing our part for the economy as responsible corporate citizens. During this Covid-19 crisis, there are externalities that we cannot control. But there are some things within our power, the most important thing of which is to preserve livelihoods. We take this to mean not only the preservation of the incomes of our employees, but also our contractors in the short and long term. It also means maintaining regular payments to our media partners and vendors for the sake of their employees.
What is at stake? Thousands of people work in the Hispanic advertising ecosystem across call centers, fulfillment centers, media outlets, producers and agencies. And the vast majority of these are Hispanic agents, line workers, representatives and executives. Not to mention all of the minority entrepreneurs like us. We estimate that our agency alone is single-handedly responsible for about 750 full and part-time jobs directly related to the sales funnels of our clients.
We are grateful to be in a unique position as a small business among other industries that are so challenged right now. d2H clients sell products and services that Hispanic consumers need now as much as ever. To us, it follows that keeping our clients’ phones ringing is more than just the usual business imperative. It actually represents the means to driving our own destiny through the current Coronavirus crisis.
As long as our clients do not give up on their customers , we feel a responsibility to not give up on anyone working for us directly and indirectly through our ecosystem. This ecosystem includes our competitor agencies, our media partners and all of the vendors that make direct-to-consumer sales possible.
Aside from networking our operation to work from home, – which is no small feat given that we normally work in one huge open space – we have witnessed our industry making some heroic adjustments to keep our sector of the economy going during this pandemic. Particularly our call centers without whom we would have no business and who have reworked their systems to move their agents home. We have also kept our creative and production juices flowing and by shifting from live productions to the ideation of graphics-driven commercials and recycling existing assets in virtual edit bays.
Advertising Drives Calls & Click
I suppose that anyone who reads may be looking for a call-to-action. Let’s be flexible and rethink our business rules to power through the economic downturn. Consumers are nesting. Advertising legend Bruce Barton once quipped, “In good times people want to advertise. In bad times they have to.” In other words, marketing leaders who power through crises come out on the other side with stronger brands, more loyal customers and valuable lessons going forward.
We can keep the phones ringing and the clicks coming whilst we incorporate the new Covid-19 social distancing requirements.. All of us in the DRTV industry, particularly our media partners, are uniquely built to rise to precisely this occasion. And along the way we can honor our cause to protect the livelihoods of the employees who keep all of us business owners in business.
We think of this as more than an imperative for survival. We see it as a mandate for “civic capitalism.” The rules are simple – do what you can to preserve incomes, do not exploit any vendor as long as you can make regularly scheduled payments, work with partners to overcome mutual needs , and leverage what the CARE Act has to offer but not a penny more than you need to.
We are truly all in this TOGETHER and would love to hear your thoughts and how your business is adjusting to these shifting times. Stay healthy & safe.
For more discussion about d2H, check out our website, www.d2hispanic.com
Marcelino Miyares, Jr. – Managing Partner – D2H Partners, LLC – 2020
About d2H Partners – Los Angeles based full-service Hispanic Advertising Agency focused on D2C and B2B Spanish language campaigns targeting immigrant, first-generation and “billenial” Hispanics. d2H specializes in creating, adapting, and delivering targeted messages to Latinos to profitably enculturate your message, media and metrics.