Do you remember some of the first days of COVID lockdown for your area? I do, especially since I already needed to grocery shop! I remember going to 4 different stores before finding toilet paper. At the sixth store I found paper towels. I was over the moon when I was able to find hand soap some time later.

My aim is to highlight interesting, empathy-driven choices that I see brands and companies making each month. While I don’t have any insider knowledge of these strategies, I have been around the business block and seen enough to make educated guesses on how these strategies are addressing real human needs.

Founder and president of SEEK Company, Tim Urmston sits down with host Lane Byrum to discuss the role that culture plays in the success of a company, as well as how Tim has managed to develop and maintain an award winning culture at SEEK Company.

I shook hands with someone.

Picture it: The Flatiron Building in downtown Cincinnati. I’m reporting for my first day at work at SEEK + Directions, and I decided to come into the physical office to get my badge, laptop, etc. It also happens to be many folks’ first day back in the office in more than a year.

My aim is to highlight interesting, empathy-driven choices that I see brands and companies making each month. While I don’t have any insider knowledge of these strategies, I have been around the business block and seen enough to make educated guesses…

As my first Mother’s Day has come and gone, I can’t help but think of the past year and how for the first time in a long time, I felt like a brand new consumer. Not only did I enter a new phase of life, I entered a whole new category -- one filled with SO MANY options and opinions on what’s “right” and “best” for your new baby.

The Hidden Brain Podcast IS A FAVORITE around the hallways/zoom screens of SEEK. While all of their episodes tend to be great, the April 19th episode titled Humor Us was one of those mind opening, life changing episodes.

SNL has done it again, which means we did, too.

Similar to our #NOFILTER ANALYSIS OF THE ZILLOW SKIT, we used this approach to dig into another RECENT SNL SKIT that saw right through people like me – in this case, people who are obsessed with murder shows. (I prefer the title “MURDERINO,” but I won’t hold that against them.) It was only a matter of time for SNL to catch on and once again use satire to see straight through many viewers' deep, dark secrets. First: browsing Zillow. Now: watching murder shows as self care.

As I'm starting to see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, I've begun reflecting back onto how I mentally and emotionally survived the past year.

The first and most immediate way (although not the purpose of this post) was gardening. I transformed my backyard from an overgrown disaster to a place with two seating areas, and an organized flower bed. Fingers crossed the plants survived the winter!

For April’s installment of “STRATEGIES WE’RE WATCHING,” I am featuring sustainable business strategies in honor of EARTH DAY this month. While many of us can quickly rattle off the 3 Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), I want to focus today’s post on 3 other “Rs” that are equally important: Repurpose, Restore, and Refurbish.

In 2019, we featured empathic marketing in our monthly “BRAND MOVES WE LOVE”  blog posts. Last year, we highlighted companies we thought were humanizing innovation in our “INNOVATIONS WE LOVE” monthly feature. For 2021, I’m challenging the team to find and feature “STRATEGIES WE’RE WATCHING” to highlight interesting, empathy-driven choices that brands and companies are making. 

An SNL episode that aired on February 6th, 2021 featured a skit that hit a little too close to “home” for many -- myself included. ZILLOW, a real estate company that is designed to make house-hunting a more seamless and enjoyable experience for consumers, was reimagined to mirror the same “desire” and sex-appeal as the old erotic chat lines from the last century. (I remember those commercials coming on our televisions late at night all too well.)

On the recent occasion of my first anniversary of working at SEEK Company, I took some time to reflect upon what was a very strange and tough year. And, in a clear case of scope creep, I couldn’t help but consider where my career began and what led me to join SEEK in the first place, which included working with SEEK in my past work life as a client. This exercise in reflection led me to a few lessons.

In 2019, we featured empathic marketing in our monthly “Brand Moves We Love” blog posts. Last year, we highlighted companies we thought were humanizing innovation in our “Innovations We Love” monthly feature. For 2021, I’m challenging the team to find and feature “Strategies We’re Watching” to highlight interesting, empathy-driven choices that brands and companies are making.

You are probably already diving headfirst into your New Year's resolutions, but consider making empathy a top priority in 2021 and set aside time throughout the year to grow in this area. Perhaps this sounds clichè to some, but it could be just the ticket you need to spark creativity. Let’s face it, 2020 has left us all a little weary. By fine-tuning your empathic skills (your ability to see, hear and feel through the lens of your consumers) you can generate fresh new ideas—and put 2020 behind you.

If you had one word to help guide your outlook, attitude, actions, behavior and decisions for 2021, what would that word be? 

TIKI entered the Fire Pit category with a new-to-world product. As the category was a new realm for TIKI to play in, the opportunity to create lifelong loyalists was high, but understanding of their target consumer and their role in TIKI’s aggressive market entry plan was minimal. SEEK’s Creative Team was tasked with creating a relatable and impactful strategy in the product’s positioning to garner the hearts of their audience.

As we prepare to turn the page on another year in the calendar, many may be thinking about New Year’s Resolutions and how they want to make 2021 different than 2020. Even though I am not typically a “New Year’s Resolution” kind of person, this year feels different. As such, I want to highlight the products and services that piqued my interest as particularly relevant for this moment in history.

As the wild year of 2020 comes to a close, there are hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic will soon come to an end, as well, so we can get back to “normal” (whatever that really means). While there is plenty that I am ready to say goodbye to, there are a few changes the pandemic brought on that I hope stick around.

Preparing for another COVID winter doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. In this month’s installment of Innovations We Love, our Senior Vice President of Operations, Courtney PeGan Stevens, takes a look at innovations that are trying to make the most of staying inside at home this winter. From improving the quality of Zoom interactions to safely engineering indoor play spaces to introducing new virtual entertainment options, we love the brands delivering new ideas and products aimed to make the winter months inside more bearable.