Alyssa Toro
Senior Partner, Chief Creative Officer

For over 20 years, I drove to the South End on autopilot. I walked the same brick-lined streets and up 5 flights of stairs to the old piano factory we renovated. The business can get repetitive after that long, but somehow we always kept it interesting. So many things changed in that space as we grew from 4 to over 100. People would come and go, but some things have always remained consistent:

We’ve always been about the people. 

Without sounding too cult-like, we seem to attract the same type of people. Kind, empathetic yet ambitious and really clever. It’s funny because in many ways we all couldn’t be more different, but we are strongly united by a common purpose.

We blast music at every turn.

It’s ever present and eclectic and sometimes, entirely too loud.

We have an intangible energy.

There’s a certain energy in the air when visitors come for the first time. You get the sense that everyone really wants to be there. We’re there to create. That energy defines who we are and even though we aren’t there at the moment, I can still sense it.

Despite all of that consistency, every few years we are hit with a big shift in this ever-changing industry. And this one, by no fault of advertising, is certainly a doozy. We are fortunate to be able to work from home and still respond to client needs quickly. Our process is to define human insights and use it as a roadmap to create distinctive work. And what’s more human than the entire universe going through the same pandemic protocol? Relatively speaking.

There’s so much empathy and understanding to be had. And humor to get us through it all. We are proud to have the trust of our clients and thankful for their support.  I suspect we will emerge from this crisis with a new perspective as we have in difficult times before and I really do hope we can hang onto it. Our shared experience will help us come up with more insightful ideas making us well poised to tap into how people are feeling right now and respond in a way that creates connection.

So much has happened over 20 years, but what’s happening right now, at this very moment, is the thing that will propel us to be a stronger company. Here’s a quick snapshot of the brands that contributed to our success over the last 20 years.

Steve Connelly, president and copywriter at Connelly Partners, contributed the following thought leadership piece that ran in AdAge on April 2, 2020.

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No one should tell you how to feel right now. Your emotions are yours and yours alone.

But no matter what those emotions are, they are no doubt pretty intense. Some of us are panicking, some are dismissive. Some are paralyzed by the stress caused by this virus of uncertainty, others are stressed by the mandated cure of isolation.

This is not a time to debate, lecture or shout opinions. This is a time to respect each other, see all sides, care for each other, do everything we can to come together as this virus, the media, and an election year do all they can to pull us apart.

As an amateur anthropologist and agency founder, human behavior is a passion. I am forever trying to understand what drives our actions, decisions, emotions. Not the actions themselves, but the motivations behind them. The kind of observation that generates human insights that we can use to better understand and connect people.

And what I see right now is humanity holding a flashlight and pushing back the darkness. I see the elevation of simple things, of positive things, of defiantly human things.

Now certainly, there is a bunker mentality out there and times like these can bring out some less than attractive human traits. But there’s enough negative out there right now. Instead, I choose to see the positive. We are surrounded by positivity, you just have to allow yourself to see it.

I see people outside taking walks. I see kids running across their front yards. I see parents marooned at their desks, hopelessly trying to answer the call of both kids and work but with good humor, intentions and compassion. I see Scholastic supporting parents with open-access lesson plans and activities for kids through a new digital hub.

I see people FaceTime-ing, Google Hangout-ing, Facebook Live-ing. I see people who want to look into other people’s eyes digitally and feel comfort. I see people digitally connecting to talk in groups and meet in groups. I see people exercising in groups. I see brands from local health clubs to international brands like Nike offering free access for digital workout classes.

I see people coming together as our experts recommend keeping us apart.

I see dogs getting more attention from their humans than they ever have. I see comfort food, comfort TV shows, comfort music being consumed at all-time highs.

I see people who have every opportunity to sleep late and slack off, but instead are working, grinding, innovating and creating at levels we rarely see. People care about their jobs, their responsibilities, the people they work for and with. I see innovation from big and small businesses. I see Tito’s Vodka using their distilleries to make hand sanitizer.

I see people thinking of others in ways that we have never seen before. I see people checking in on senior citizens with regularity and compassion. I see people going to Mass on TV.

I see people applauding health care workers. I see brands reinventing to produce masks for doctors and nurses. I see Ford offering a car payment relief plan. I see internet providers like our client Atlantic Broadband offering free internet to people without it, and another CP client Gorton’s Seafood spreading the goodness of the sea by donating 500,000 servings of seafood for people in need.

The anthropologist in me sees human kindness. The marketing guy in me sees some brands shining a light on our capacity for kindness. Some smart, forward-thinking brands are fueling positivity by simply framing it. They are not self-serving, they are not editorializing, they are not benign white noise. Rather, they are empathetic and earnest, choosing to connect us as humans rather than sell as marketers. They are the brands that will see success tomorrow by being out there with positive messaging today.

The question all of us face right now in the face of this inhuman assault on our lives, is “What do I say?” Many brands, like many people, are paralyzed. But I would suggest expressing the simplest of messages would have the most resonance. Honest and human. Frame and remind people to see the wonderful things happening around us at a time when we all feel under siege.

Of course I also see some people out there seizing the opportunity to pontificate, to benefit, to impose their opinions and amplify their platforms. I see fear, I see uncertainty, I see tragedy. How can we not?

But right now, I also see people thinking about others. Worrying, caring, thinking, talking, connecting. I see what’s good about humans. I see brands reminding us all of that collective good. As is usually the case, bad times reveal the good in us all.

I see a time of darkness. And at the same time, I see the light of humanity shining through it. What’s needed right now is more human creativity to help us all see that light.

Steve Connelly

President & Copywriter

Opinion: Brands Have an Opportunity to Frame the Torch of Humanity That is Illuminating the Darkness

https://adage.com/article/opinion/opinion-brands-have-opportunity-frame-torch-humanity-illuminating-darkness/2248001