Michael Hampton, Pamela Herring and Britnee Spelce-Will crafted a case study that looks at the fallout from a party gone wrong.HamptonHerringSpelce-WillB_J607CaseStudy
Case Study: Agency Management and Trust
on Category: covid
on MABR Cohort Perspectives: Thoughts on the Restaurant industry during and after the pandemic
on Today we feature two MABR students’ opinions on marketing during and after a pandemic. In this piece, Julia Gesink shares her thoughts on Bagging COVID: Restaurant’s Responsibility in the Pandemic and the Fight Against Plastic Pollution”
Before COVID-19 rocked the restaurant industry in early March, it seemed progress being made when it came to sustainable efforts within restaurants. Perhaps you noticed your favorite restaurant making the simple switch from plastic to-go materials, or the banning of plastic straws. Maybe you even noticed restaurants implement food waste composting. Regardless, it was proactive and important. These sustainability efforts shouldn’t be pushed to the side during this pandemic.
As we all know, when COVID-19 hit, many restaurants were forced to close abruptly for several months. When restaurants began re-opening in late May, sustainable practices recently put in place, were decimated. Fearful of spreading the virus through reusable glassware, plates, and silverware, restaurants provided single-use plastic for dine-in customers and take-out orders.
It’s no secret that plastic pollution is detrimental to the environment, but in April 2020, research also found that “the virus remains viable 3x longer on plastic than any other tested surface,” (The New England Journal of Medicine).
I currently work as a server at a popular Eugene restaurant, and for the first few weeks of the pandemic, corporate believed that using disposable cups were the safest alternative for customers. In addition to this afront on sustainability, most dine-in customers demanded plastic to-go silverware because they didn’t believe our dishes and reusable flatware were safe. For months, I cringed as I served these plastic ramicans, disposable cups, and silverware. All the while, asking myself, “is this pandemic a free pass on sustainability efforts and the ongoing climate crisis?”
According to The Economist, “The International Solid Waste Association estimates consumption of single-use plastic may have grown 250% to 300% in America since the coronavirus pandemic began.”
Although handling the pandemic is at the forefront of every business right now, it’s crucial that the restaurant industry recognizes its role within the climate crisis, and it takes new approaches in order to lower that 300% increase in plastic pollution.
During this pandemic especially, restaurants should immediately stop the use of single-use plastics for dine in, and disposable utensils and sauce packets should only be available upon request for to-go orders. Although restaurants were already cleaning dishes extensively in pre-pandemic times, new sanitization procedures approved by the CDC could be adopted in order to further gain trust with customers when it comes to reusable utensils and glassware. If financially possible, restaurants could also invest in more eco-friendly dishwashers and appliances, especially if during the pandemic things are being cleaned several times before use.
It’s imperative that restaurants find the balance of following protocols and precautions in regard to COVID in order to keep everyone safe, and that they explore solutions against single-use plastics throughout this global pandemic and beyond. The planet simply cannot afford another disastrous year of plastic pollution and extreme waste.
Links:https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org
https://www.economist.com/international/2020/06/22/covid-19-has-led-to-a-pandemic-of-plastic-pollution
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973
College students, the pandemic, #BLM, and shopping habits
on That’s a lot for a single post, but a new report from the research firm Student Beans shares some interesting information.
The pandemic has caused many students to shop online more often than before. As a result, some students are doing less impulse buying, and are many college students spend time searching for more ethical companies to purchase from. They look to family and friends, social media, and TV for what to purchase (so for responsible brands, social and TV are important media). The top two platforms for searching for products and services are YouTube and Instagram–meaning multimedia and visuals continue to be important motivators for today’s college students.
The #Black Lives Matter movement has impacted student shopping. According to the report:
The Black Lives
Matter movement has also shaped this year for many young
people, and our survey shows it has had a significant impact
on their purchasing decisions, just like the pandemic. In total,
71% of students have changed their shopping habits due to
Black Lives Matter. 44% want to support more Black-owned
businesses, 40% want to buy from brands who support the
movement, and 40% will try not to buy from brands that have
been linked to racism in the future.
Students continue to look for products that are gentle to the planet, and look closely at labels and ingredients.
Student Beans is a company that offers coupons to students. To learn more about the report, click here.
Pandemic Lessons part 1
on It seems like a lot of pundits are publishing lessons for brands from the pandemic this month. Seems a bit early given that we’re still in the midst of it, but here are a few that I learned today from an Adweek article that focused on changes to luxury purchases.
1. Blogs are back! Many brands are feeling that advertising seems to be tone deaf, and that blogs can be more authentic. Blogs can be one way to provide content that makes people feel better and informs and inspires them.
2. Perceptions of luxury have changed. People have traditionally bought luxury goods as a way to communicate their status to others. In a pandemic, that signaling stopped, and luxury good sales decreased. Now that people are thinking about purchasing luxury again, they seem to be appreciating lower price points. Maybe the ‘break’ from buying a lot of stuff has re-set our minds about the appropriate prices for things?
3. Consumers have become accustomed to ‘waiting’ for products given shortages earlier in the pandemic and with shipping time lags. The value of ‘overnight delivery’ from Amazon and other companies may be diminished.