The 3 Rs and 3 Cs of Crisis Marketing
Make crisis marketing real, relevant, repeated, compact, safe, and collaborative
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 88%
The 3 Rs and 3 Cs turn crisis marketing into six practical filters. Start with real: expose authentic people, settings, and behaviour rather than polishing away the circumstances. Make the offer relevant to what customers need now, then use repetition so the message reaches people who are distracted or absent the first time. Package ideas in compact formats that are quick to consume. Account for contactless expectations by reducing physical contact and friction in how the offer is delivered. Finally, use collaboration with trusted creators, partners, or communities whose audience overlaps yours. Together, the filters connect brand behaviour, message design, delivery, and distribution to the customer’s present reality rather than merely changing campaign vocabulary.
Origin
Shama Hyder presented the 3 Rs and 3 Cs as a high-level framework for marketing as businesses began reopening during the coronavirus pandemic.
Core principles
- 01Real experiences build trust
- 02Immediate relevance beats generic messaging
- 03Repetition creates recognition
- 04Compact content lowers the cost of attention
- 05Customer safety shapes the offer
- 06Collaboration borrows trusted reach
How to run it
- 1
Make the brand real
Show genuine people, environments, and constraints. Let the audience see behaviour that supports the brand’s words.
Pro tip Use candid, useful material when polished production would create distance.
Watch out Authentic language cannot compensate for contradictory company behaviour.
- 2
Find present relevance
Identify the audience’s immediate problem and connect the brand’s value to that moment. Adapt the offer rather than forcing an old campaign into new circumstances.
Pro tip Ask how the message helps the customer right now.
Watch out Do not exploit a crisis merely to gain attention.
- 3
Repeat the message
Deliver the same useful idea more than once and across appropriate touchpoints. Assume most of the audience will miss any single exposure.
Pro tip Repurpose a live session into short clips and follow-up messages.
Watch out Repetition amplifies weak or irrelevant content too.
- 4
Compress the content
Turn the message into quick, focused units that fit reduced attention and faster consumption. Keep each unit valuable on its own.
Pro tip Lead each short asset with one customer problem and one useful response.
Watch out Compact does not mean vague or empty.
- 5
Reduce contact and friction
Adjust the customer experience to current safety expectations. Use digital, remote, curbside, or other low-contact delivery where it genuinely helps.
Pro tip Treat delivery changes as part of the product, not just the promotion.
Watch out Do not advertise safety changes the operation cannot reliably deliver.
- 6
Collaborate for trusted reach
Choose partners who already reach and retain the trust of the intended audience. Build a useful exchange for the brand, partner, and customer.
Pro tip Check audience overlap and trust before checking raw follower count.
Watch out A large but poorly matched audience wastes reach and can weaken credibility.
In the wild
OneDine responded to restaurant closures by rapidly adapting its guest technology for contactless ordering, payment, and curbside pickup. It offered the capability free, helping roughly 1,500 restaurants continue operating while demonstrating support through action rather than generic reassurance.
→ Restaurants received immediate operational value and the brand earned durable customer trust.
When an entrepreneurship event was cancelled, Founders First used its speaker relationships and audience fit to assemble a virtual business summit in about a week. The replacement was relevant, collaborative, digital, and timed to the moment.
→ The summit attracted 2,400 live attendees plus later downloads.
Common mistakes
Changing words but not behaviour
Empathetic crisis language feels false when policies, leadership actions, or customer treatment contradict it.
Waiting until the moment passes
A relevant response loses much of its value when approval delays push it weeks beyond the customer’s need.
Choosing partners by reach alone
Collaboration works when audience overlap and trust are present, not simply when a partner has many followers.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for brands adapting campaigns, channels, or offers to a fast-moving disruption.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for brands using crisis language without changing their actions or customer value.
From the transcript
“I think this is the new framework right that we have to think about as we move”
“we need people I think we're hungry for the real”
“repetition say it say it again”
From the episode
Shama Hyder: Marketing in the Age of Coronavirus
Shama Hyder