Marketing when marketing seems irrelevant

Everyone is intently watching Russia’s war on Ukraine.

It’s the world’s biggest story.

At this time, marketing can be off-side.

It seems wrong to be pushing sales when innocent people are losing their lives.

Sadly, Applebee’s discovered this reality when its light-hearted ad (five boneless wings for a dollar with the purchase of a hamburger) appeared during CNN’s live coverage of the war.

We need to be empathetic, self-aware, and rally around our values as companies and marketers.

There are times when not marketing is the right thing to do.