While the courageous women and men on the frontlines are fighting to keep this nightmare pandemic from wiping us all out, it’s easy to feel irrelevant, ensconced at home, watching Netflix and worrying about having enough toilet paper. Imagine how older people are coping, especially since many of them are forced to shelter in place and have almost no human contact.

This engenders in them feelings of worthlessness and a loss of purpose and independence, as well as a diminished social recognition of their value. According to research carried out by GEDS, this is a source of anxiety for older people. Staying relevant and meaningful and being a productive member of one’s community is important.

Despite a drive to be productive, many are pushed away from feeling purposeful by a lack of suitable avenues, misperceptions toward them, and their views toward modern social structures.

Similarly, brands, especially those that offer products considered non-essential, which is pretty much anything other than food and water, can feel irrelevant too. Revisiting the research outcomes, including potential opportunities and solutions, there is much to be applied to both people and brands that can help them find a path through these challenging times.

1-  Don’t judge yourself: You don’t need to be a health worker or a pharmacologist working on a vaccine or a ventilator manufacturer to help society. Society has many needs.

Social isolation is already a big problem for many people, as we know from our research with older people who are most of the time socially isolated at different levels. How can you help people with your skills?

PE with Joe, a body coach from London gives daily classes live on Youtube, to audiences of hundreds of thousands opper day around the globe. He donates the money he earns from the platform to the U.K.’s National Health Service. A Berlin theatre company streams its plays with bilingual subtitles. The music group Kardeş Türküleri played live from their living rooms to encourage people to stay home. Istanbul’s Grand Hyatt hotel and the Four Seasons, New York, opened their rooms for health workers. Yoga classes, nightclubs, teachers, and dinner parties all happen on Zoom, a video chat app. This wouldn’t happen otherwise.

2- Create new avenues: Another great opportunity is to set up new channels that people in the community.
Fongogo, a crowdfunding company, opened up its platform to small companies, restaurants, and local stores to raise money. The World Design Organization launched an initiative in partnership with IBM and Design for America to create a global design mobilization effort for Covid-19 and invited designers to join the mission. Jayde Powell, a student from Nevada, created a network of ‘shopping angels’ to bring groceries to the elderly. Brands are constantly looking for ways to give back to coronavirus relief efforts.

3- Take care of yourself. Being a role model is by far the best way to contribute. Avoid infection, stay well, and exercise to reduce the burden on already overstretched health services.

Brands are doing the same. Food company Danone and fashion brand Chanel stopped  the use of short-time working support from the French government. The Turkish division of Japanese carmaker Totoya did the same and also announced that they would continue to pay their workers’ salaries even if they don’t sell any cars and won’t get any support from the Turkish government. These brands want to reduce the burden on the governments.

There is much that can be done to stay relevant. It just requires some creativity and a bit more humanity.

@gulayozkan-April 2020, Istanbul